Pollution Busters

Who ya gonna call??

Pollution-Busting Plants

Transgenic trees and plants may break down the pollutants left behind at sites ranging from former factories to firing ranges

By David Biello

A French hybrid of an aspen tree may one day rid water supplies of the industrial degreaser—and human carcinogen—trichloroethylene (TCE), one of the most common contaminants at toxic waste sites in the U.S. And the tiny, but tractable, Arabidopsis plant may mop up the residue of RDX, a military explosive blasted into the soils at firing ranges.

"Plants are a good method for remediating soil and water," says Stuart Strand, an environmental engineer at the University of Washington who has worked on creating the genetically modified pollution-gobbling aspen tree. Even in their natural state...(complete article here).

Genetic engineering is definitely here to stay. I have mixed feelings about it because scientists don't know where to draw the line. But, I do believe there are worthy applications.

Questions: If human conducted genetic engineering creates a new creature/plant/organism for a specific purpose, is that saying that scientists are smarter than God? Or, is it saying that we don't yet know the consequences of our God-playing? Or, is it the desired result of the cumulative knowlege of our God-inspired species and is part of His plan? No wonder few scientists believe in God. They think they are one.