Cut the Mowing

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Nov 22, 1999 | by Stephen Goode

It's the answer to every couch potato's prayer and probably won't be unwelcome to many others besides. In October, researchers at the University of Nebraska and South Korea's Kumho Life Science Laboratory announced they uncovered a protein molecule that controls how light affects plant growth and development.

What that means is scientists might be able to produce genetically altered seeds that would produce a lawn that grows at a noticeably slower pace than the grass we have now. University of Nebraska chemistry professor Pill-soon Song told the Associated Press that his motivation for the research that led to the discovery was entirely practical: "I hate having to mow my lawn every week."

The pragmatic-minded and obviously public service-oriented scientist also added that the discovery would help produce more-robust lawns, as well as rice plants with larger grains. That's good, too. But for the people remains mesmerized by the possibility of slow-growing lawns, however "robust" they may be.

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