Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Plants May Be Able To Correct Mutated Genes

Posted by timothy on from the early-stages dept.

ddutt writes "NY Times is running a story that talks of an exciting new discovery, which, if confirmed, could represent an unprecedented exception to Mendel's laws of inheritance. The discovery involves.. 'plants that possess a corrected version of a defective gene inherited from both their parents, as if some handy backup copy with the right version had been made in the grandparents' generation or earlier.'"

3 of 363 comments (clear)

  1. Hmmmm, like RAID for plant genes.. by the_rajah · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Now is that RAID 1? I never can keep those straight.

    Seriously this is a very interesting development with important implications.

    --


    "Do the Right Thing. It will gratify some people and astound the rest." - Mark Twain
  2. Here's a hint: by ironflippy · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Always back your genes up before you reproduce.

  3. Re:How this impacts evolutionary theory by Artifakt · · Score: 1, Redundant

    That's not really ture for humans. Reproduction for humans involves getting your kids raised, not just born. As long as even grandparents and great grandparents may sometimes be healthy enough to contribute more to their offspring's survival than to diminish it, that is an evolutionary pressure for longer lifespans. In fact, that probably explains why we have the potential to live so much longer than any similar species.

    --
    Who is John Cabal?