One of the lead researchers, Professor Micheal Strano said this experiment is a "novel demonstration" of how we have managed to overcome the plant-human communication barrier.
Using nanotechnology, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US have managed to engineer spinach plants capable of sending emails. The applications of this technology that falls under the category of 'plant nanobionics' range from detection of explosives for sampling groundwater.
According to engineers at MIT, the engineered spinach roots can detect the presence of nitroaromatics in groundwater. This compound is widely used in explosives such as landmines.
Once the engineered spinach roots detects nitroaromatics, the carbon nanotubes in the plant emit a signal that wirelessly relays this information to an infrared camera that sends an email alert back to the scientists.
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