[Ipg-smz] Today's great real email sub, "Great Rabbit gene helps houseplant detoxify indoor air"

[Daniel Dern]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2018 08:05:27 -0500
From: American Chemical Society <ACSPressPac at acs.org>
Subject: Rabbit gene helps houseplant detoxify indoor air

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ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
Rabbit gene helps houseplant detoxify indoor air
Environmental Science & Technology
 
A genetically modified houseplant can efficiently remove toxins from the air.

Our homes are supposed to be safe havens from the outside world. However, studies
have shown that household air is more polluted than either office or school air,
exposing children and home workers to higher levels of carcinogens than the
general population. Now, researchers have made a genetically modified houseplant
that can efficiently remove at least two toxins from the air. They report their
results in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Indoor air often contains volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde, benzene
and chloroform. These toxins come from many sources, including cooking, showering,
furniture and smoking. House plants can remove some toxins from the air, but they
aren't very efficient: A homeowner would need more than 20 plants to remove
formaldehyde from a typical room, researchers estimate. Stuart Strand and
colleagues wondered if introducing a mammalian gene called CYP2E1 to a common
houseplant, pothos ivy (Epipremnum aureum), would boost the plant's detoxifying
potential. This gene encodes cytochrome P450 2E1, an enzyme that breaks down a
wide range of volatile organic compounds found in the home.

The team introduced rabbit CYP2E1 to the ivy's genome and injected benzene or
chloroform gas into closed vials that contained growing plants. After 3 days, the
concentrations of these compounds in the vials had dropped dramatically, and by 8
days, chloroform was barely detectable. In contrast, the compounds' concentrations
in vials containing unmodified ivy or no plants did not change. The researchers
estimate that a hypothetical biofilter made of the genetically modified plants
would deliver clean air at rates comparable to commercial home particulate
filters.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Science Foundation, Amazon
Catalyst at the University of Washington and the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences.

 
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ARTICLE #2 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Greatly Enhanced Removal of Volatile Organic Carcinogens by a Genetically
Modified Houseplant, Pothos Ivy (Epipremnum aureum) Expressing the Mammalian
Cytochrome P450 2e1 Gene"
 
DOWNLOAD FULL-TEXT ARTICLE
 
CONTACT: Stuart Strand, Ph.D.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington  98195
Phone: +1-206-543-5350
Email: sstrand at uw.edu