Scientists are working to develop a tree that could ease the production of paper, resulting in less energy use and less pollution. So ordinary looking that, when Jack Wang was presenting it once, someone nearly set a drink down on it by accident. "Almost gave me a heart attack," recalled Wang, a geneticist here at North Carolina State University. The thin, white, coaster-size circle of paper Wang was holding in his lab was anything but ordinary. He and his colleagues made this piece of paper from genetically edited wood - a material his team hopes will transform the way paper and other wood products are produced.

Source: Washington Post August 02, 2024 04:02 UTC