Scientists noticed; Plants with large roots absorbing nutrition and to fix itself in the soil. A hectare of rye root added up to 140 million kilometers long, even longer than the distance of the earth from lycopene for skin the sun. And don't like the ground part of the plant the root of the plant has thorns or wax membrane protection, is vulnerable to microorganisms and insects.
The roots of plants, therefore, can only rely on produce some chemical substances to resist the damage. A few years ago, ruskin, etc to research how to use the plant roots to absorb harmful chemicals to purify the soil. Then to study how to make use of plant roots and control useful substances. Their research idea is: with fungi or bacteria stimulate plant roots, help plants to produce some chemical substances to kill these organisms, experimental results confirmed that the scheme is feasible.
After they realize they can use soilless cultivation technology, the plant cultivation in contains nutrients in the water, so that the roots of synthetic chemicals will be secreted into the water, from water to extract the medicinal value of matter than from organic solvent to extract much simpler. Also is the advantages of this kind of extraction, resulting from mulberry leaf extract weight loss the roots of plants just hundreds of compounds, the relative to the whole plant to produce tens of thousands of kinds of material is much easier to operate. Scientists have in consideration and implementation using transgenic plants to produce protein of human need, these proteins will be widely used in medicine.
Gene engineering technology usually taken now generate proteins from bacteria and animal cells, but the protein generation process is very complex, in the generation before and after modification of sugar and lipid with activity. The synthesis of protein or animal cells by bacteria often less active, worse these heterologous proteins to enter human body still can cause immune response.
And the use of plant protein synthesis is very similar with the body's proteins, and purification of these proteins will be a very simple process.
Researchers have done the experiment: the human placenta enzyme gene, a phycocyanin spirulina bacterial enzyme genes and jellyfish fluorescent protein gene and coding of endoplasmic reticulum signal peptide (is a secreted protein into the endoplasmic reticulum signal, only into the endoplasmic reticulum protein after processing can be secreted) the DNA sequence of connected, it transferred into tobacco.
The results show that the product of these three genes have 80% by tobacco roots secretion into the culture. If later can continuously from the synthetic protein through the culture medium, the economic benefit is very considerable.
Ruskin and colleagues' research focus is now looking for antibiotics and anticancer drugs, they can have a chance to get drugs for the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Although there are still need to rosmarinic acid supplement improve this method of extraction of plant medicine, the extraction of compounds to be used for clinical need detailed and validation. But some experts believe that it is the use of the plant to develop new drugs a new train of thought, the possibility of pharmacology to open a new page.