Coloured cotton plant tissue will soon grow into plants. (ABC Landline: Tim Lee)
A few dozen petri dishes in a high-tech greenhouse in Canberra hold the potential to transform the global textiles industry. They contain plant tissue, which within days will grow into cotton plants: not standard, everyday white cotton, but ones with a dazzling array of colours. They are the product of CSIRO plant breeders dedicated to producing better, sustainable natural fibres that will hopefully one day lead to wrinkle-free, naturally dyed, stretchy cotton to outperform synthetic fabrics. Colleen MacMillan leads the team of scientists who have cracked cotton's molecular colour code, adding genes to make the plants produce a colour.
"Having the cotton produce its own colour is a game changer," Dr MacMillan said.
"We've seen some really beautiful bright yellows, sort of golden-orangey colours, through to some really deep purple," fellow scientist Filomena Pettolino said.
It will be several months before the colourful plant tissue they have created grows into flowering cotton plants; only then will the scientists be absolutely certain of their success. But everything points that way.
Colleen MacMillan is hopeful her team's research will be a "game changer". (ABC Landline)
Another positive sign is that coloured cotton genes, inserted into green tobacco plants, have shown up as coloured splotches on the leaves. If the leaves of the biotech (genetically modified) cotton are coloured, the all-important fibre will be as well. For the scientists involved, the discovery was a eureka moment.
"When we saw the results, it brought a tear to my eye because it was a very special moment," Dr MacMillan said.
[...]
28.06.20, 19:25
CSIRO scientists discover how to grow coloured cotton
Linear-Darstellung
