Some plants can pull metals out of the earth.

Could this be a green solution to mining?

I'm a researcher, so I guess I was saying I'm skeptically optimistic.

It's Wednesday, June 12th, and you're listening to Science Friday.

I'm Cyfry producer of Rasha Iridi.

Plants, of course, can suck up water and nutrients through their roots, but some have evolved to absorb large amounts of metals like nickel.

And scientists are wondering, could we tap into that power and use plants to mine for metals?

We'll discuss if and how that could work.

But first, a humble organism just broke the world record for the largest genome ever discovered.

Here's Ira Flato.

Scientists just unearth the largest genome of any living thing on earth. That means if you split open one of

its cells unwound the DNA that's coiled up in the nucleus, it would stretch out more than

300 feet. That's taller than this Statue of Liberty. Now, any guesses as to whom this giant

genome belongs?

You might be tempted to say maybe a complex being like a person, a human,

or a behemoth like a blue whale or a giant squid,

or maybe your mind went to a fancy fungus.

Nope, a study in the journal, Eye Science, says that the new record holder is a fern.

Yes, a fern found on the island

of New Caledonia and the southwest Pacific. To put it in perspective, one of this fern's cells

contains more than 50 times more DNA than one of ours does. Wow. So how did this tiny

fern end up with a giant genome? And what cost? Let's talk about it.

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