Belfast
News Letter

Cells Clue To Better Crops

Scientists have accelerated a plant's growth by making its cells split faster - a technique that could some day lead to heartier crops, shorter growing seasons and less use of herbicides.

One expert called the findings "astonishing".

But the technique needs more testing on a range of plants, and public fear of genetically modified food is jeopardising support for such experiments, especially in Europe, researchers said.

The experiment, reported in the latest edition of the journal Nature, was carried out by a team at Cambridge University.