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 would say I'm skeptically optimistic.

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

I'm Saifrey producer Rachia Arredi.

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 Flado.

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 the 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.

No, a study in the journal I science says that the new record holder is a fern.

Yes, a fern found on the island of New Caledonia in the southwest Pacific.

To put it in perspective, one of this ferns 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?

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