There’s a new way to track plant stress. It may sound like science fiction, but it’s very real. Genetically modifying plants, combined with satellite imaging, is allowing for early disease detection in plants. “We engineer plants that signal optically when they’re under stress,” said Sean Yokomizo, vice president, Innerplant. “We put another piece of code in there that says when you’re responding genetically to an infection from fungus or an insect attack, also make this fluorescent protein and that fluorescent protein is visible from as far away as space.” During a Peterson Farms Seed event, Yokomizo said a signal occurs within 24 hours of infection. “That is four-to-six weeks before a trained individual would be able to see those symptoms in the field.”
