Monday, May 23, 2016
Carver would love this
Carver defined science:
Look about you. Take hold of the things that are here. Let them talk to you.
Botanists at UW did exactly that. They LOOKED at some poplar trees that are growing strongly on bare rocks with no nutrients. Where are the trees getting their nutrients? From bacteria around the roots, like clover? Then the botanists literally TOOK HOLD of the branches. They LET THEM TALK by running experiments. Some of the cut branches were sterilized, some not. Some were exposed to lots of nitrogen, some not. The unsterilized branches picked up nitrogen and grew, the sterilized ones didn't.
Turns out the poplars are storing bacteria in their branches just as clover and alfalfa store bacteria in their roots.
Conclusion is straight out of Carver:
One of the next great challenges will be maximizing food and biomass production in a sustainable way. Tailoring of the microbiome of plants can increase growth with reduced inputs [of external fertilizer].
This is an experiment that COULD have been done in Carver's time, or even in Darwin's time. No genetic sequencing involved. It wasn't done because NOBODY BOTHERED TO LOOK. Botanists were blinded by theory until recently.
Hooray for open eyes!
Labels: Carver, Grand Blueprint, Smarty-plants
¶ 8:51 AM
