Gold helps grow easy-care grass

Hate to mow your lawn? Gold might help you.

Robert Harriman, vice-president of Scotts Co. in Marysville, Ohio, says researchers are developing a genetically engineered grass that would be slow-growing, weed-resistant and capable of withstanding pests. It would also require little water. This is being accomplished through the use of a so-called “gold gene gun” to inject genes with certain characteristics into grass cells.

Scientists took a certain bacterium that was immune to the herbicide Roundup. They collected genes from this bacterium, replicated them and mixed them with gold dust. The gold dust absorbed the gene material, which were shot into grass cells using an air gun device. The gold particles give the gene enough heft to penetrate the cell walls but do not combine chemically with anything inside the cell. The particles are then flushed away.

As the cells grow, they become immune to Roundup, so homeowners can spray the herbicide on gardens and lawns without fear of killing the grass. Pending federal approval, the new grass, dubbed “Roundup Ready,” could be sold as early as 2003 to golf courses.

— From Gold News, published by the Washington, D.C.-based Gold Institute.