Russian scientists have almost solved the problem of restoring forests and preserving the Taiga. Biologists from form Irkutsk in Siberia developed genetically modified aspen or trembling poplar that grows 30-40 percent faster than ordinary ones.
The idea was put forward several years ago by a group of researchers headed by the Corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ryurik Salyaev. According to the scientist, timber is grown by outdated ways across the world. The large-scale felling of trees in forests is not only very expensive but also causes incorrigible damage to the planet, says Ryurik Salyaev.
"We are intruding into the Taiga, building timber factories, constructing roads and carrying away timber," says Ryurik Salyaev. "This is outdated. Oak plantations have almost disappeared in the Russian Far East. When we started the research work we felt that it would be better if there are permanent plantations around timber processing plants to supply them with the necessary raw materials. To this end, there is a need to speed up the growth of trees," Ryurik Salyaev said.
Research work by a fellow scientist, Dr. Natalya Rikoslavskaya, provided an impetus to breeding the fast-growing aspen. The scientist singled out a gene that induces growth of maize. This study was the starting point of the new research, says Ryurik Salyaev.
"The maize has a gene that is more active compared to that of other plants," says Ryurik Salyaev. "We chose aspen because its timber is universal, although its pith decays. However, we hoped that genetically modified aspen will not suffer from this disease owing to its fast growth. We achieved this. We introduced a gene from maize, and the aspen started growing fast," Ryurik Salyaev said.
The group of scientists grew an aspen grove. But they cut the trees when they started flowering to prevent them from crossing with ordinary aspens. According to Ryurik Salyaev, it's too early to use the new technology for the large-scale growth of trees. There is a need to discover a method to prevent interbreeding of new trees and ordinary ones. This will pave the way for changing the timber growing radically, and upgrading the timber processing industry.
At present, two other groups of scientists at the Siberian Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry of Plants are ending research on speeding up the growth of poplar. So far experiments are successful. In the near future, most likely, the plantations of fast growing trees will be grown around industrial enterprises without harming the environment.
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