Radiation Resistant Plants

Here's a bit of good news. New Scientist is reporting on a study on plants found inside the radioactive Chernobyl accident site that are developing radiation resistance. Here's the good part (emphasis added):

Compared to the plants grown in normal soil, the Chernobyl soya produced significantly different amounts of several dozen proteins, the team found. Among those are proteins that contribute to the production of seeds, as well as proteins involved in defending cells from heavy metal and radiation damage. "One protein is known to actually protect human blood from radiation," Hajduch says.

That's fantastic - plants that can not only survive in radioactive areas, but can actually help humans survive as well. These aren't genetically engineered plants either, they developed radiation resistance in response to their environment. That means it's pretty likely that other plants will develop similar traits in similar conditions.

There's also a related article on radiation loving fungi, but no word on if they pass along any rad resistance.

Via New Scientist