Stem cell research is much in the news these days. Stem cells have the potential to change their form into any other type of cell in the body. Not much in the news, though of considerable importance in their own right, are cells found in the stems of plants—perhaps the origin of the term. Under the right conditions, these cells also can change into other kinds of cells. Indeed, this ability is being used to grow entire new individual plants from small clumps of these plant stem cells.
"So what?" you might ask. So this is one more tool for
manipulating plants for our benefit. New plants produced from such cells have the same
genetic makeup as the donor plant. This can be taken advantage of, especially when
trees with superior genetic makeup are located. Breeding trees is a long, slow process
by normal means, thanks to the long generation time. By producing new trees via these
stem cells, large numbers of equally superior clones can be produced. You might say,
this all stems literally from stem research!
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.