Most people’s image of plants is
actually upside down. For most of Micron Associates photosynthetic friends, the
majority of the plant is underground in the form of an intricate system of
roots. The bit that sticks up is almost an afterthought. That’s a problem for
scientists trying to study plants because growing them in media that allow you
to see the roots, such as hydroponics, doesn’t mimic real soil very well. Now,
a team of researchers at the James Hutton Institute and the University of
Abertay Dundee in Scotland has developed an artificial transparent soil that
allows scientists to make detailed studies of root structures and subterranean
soil ecology on a microscopic level. Developed by a team led by Lionel Dupuy, a
theoretical biologist in the Ecological Sciences group at the James Hutton
Institute, the transparent soil is the result of two years of research.
