Use the pulldown menus to visit other Food Central sections:
Recipes ---------- Today Recipe Swap	Resources ---------- Additives Alcohol Beer Beverages Coffee Dairy Fat Fruit Grains Herbs Italian Meat Organic Seafood Snacks Southern Sweets Tea Veggies Vitamins	Restaurants ---------- Atlanta Baltimore Boston Chicago Dallas Denver Detroit Fort Worth Houston Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami Minneapolis New Orleans NYC Orlando Philly Phoenix Pittsburgh Salt Lake San Antonio San Diego San Fran Seattle St. Louis Wash, D.C. ---------- Amsterdam Athens Bangkok Beijing Berlin Brussels Cairo Copenhagen Dublin Florence Frankfurt Hong Kong London Madrid Mex City Montreal Moscow Munich Nairobi Paris Prague Rio Rome Singapore St. Pburg. Sydney Tokyo Toronto Vienna Zurich

Implanted gene may help crops survive freeze

January 28, 1999
Web posted at: 12:11 p.m. EST (1711 GMT)

HAYWARD, California (CNN) -- California researchers say they have found a gene that could help protect fruit and vegetable plants from freezing weather.

Scientists at Mendel Biotechnology said they have isolated a gene from the mustard plant, or Arabidopsis, that helps other genes in the plant adapt to sudden temperature drops.

The researchers' goal is to implant this "freezing tolerance" gene in crop plants to help them survive unexpected low temperatures.

Scientists isolated the freeze resistant gene from mustard plants

The method would be natural and the produce would be safe to consume, the scientists said.

"It's the same thing plant breeders have been doing for a long time, which is reshuffling genes and finding combinations that give a better plant," said Michael Fromm of Mendel Biotechnology.

Mendel scientists say they'll first test the gene on canola and soy crops.

If the tests prove successful, farmers may be able to use the new technology within the next four years.

In December, California's orange growers lost at least 50 percent of their crops, or more than half a billion dollars, to freezing weather.