Researchers have developed a plant that can purify the air in your house
A common houseplant has been genetically altered by researchers at the University of Washington to eliminate benzene and chloroform from the air. The plants have been genetically modified to produce a protein that can convert these dangerous substances into chemicals that the plants may utilize to fuel their own development.
How the Air-Purifying Plant Works:
1.Absorption: The plant takes in polluted air through its leaves and roots.
2.Detoxification: Enzymes produced by the modified plant break down toxins into non-harmful molecules.
3.Release: The plant releases clean, purified air back into your home.
Commonly prevalent in houses, chloroform and benzene are potentially dangerous chemicals that are too tiny to be captured by air filters.
“People haven’t really been talking about these hazardous organic compounds in homes, and I think that’s because we couldn’t do anything about them,” said senior author Professor Stuart Strand. “Now we’ve engineered houseplants to remove these pollutants for us.”
A protein known as cytochrome P450 2E1, which is found in the liver of humans and all other mammals, was the target of the team’s investigation. Within our bodies, 2E1 transforms chloroform into carbon dioxide and chloride ions and benzene into a substance known as phenol.
“We decided we should have this reaction occur outside of the body in a plant, an example of the ‘green liver’ concept,” said Professor Strand. “And 2E1 can be beneficial for the plant, too. Plants use carbon dioxide and chloride ions to make their food, and they use phenol to help make components of their cell walls.”
The gene that controls the shape of 2E1 in rabbits was created artificially by the researchers. To ensure that every cell in the popular houseplant pothos ivy expressed the protein, they dispersed it throughout the plant.
Long Zhang, the principal author of the paper and a research scientist in the UW Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, stated that the entire procedure took more than two years. Compared to other lab plants, which might just take a few months, that is a lengthy period. However, since pothos are a hardy houseplant that thrives in a variety of environments, we wanted to use them for this.
The team placed the modified plants in test tubes with conventional pothos ivy and then added either benzene or chloroform gas to each tube to assess the plants’ ability to detoxify. After that, for 11 days, the researchers kept an eye on the contaminants’ levels in the tubes.
The levels of chloroform and benzene in the ordinary plants remained constant over time. However, after three days, the chloroform levels in the transformed plants decreased by 82%, and by six days, it was essentially undetectable. The content of benzene had decreased by around 75% by day eight.
According to Professor Strand, the purifying plants will function most effectively in the house if they are combined with a fan or other device that circulates air.
“If you had a plant growing in the corner of a room, it will have some effect in that room,” he said. “But without air flow, it will take a long time for a molecule on the other end of the house to reach the plant.”
A protein that can degrade formaldehyde, another dangerous household chemical, is currently being added to the plants to increase their potential.