Nanotechnology, after expanding its horizon in leaps and bounds, has eventually penetrated the world of plant biology, thanks to a team of U.S. scientists. They have used nanotechnology for penetrating the walls of plant cells. With the use of nanotechnology, the experts have delivered a gene and a chemical into the cell walls to precisely trigger the expressions of the genes. This innovation with introducing nanotechnology to plant biology and agricultural biotechnology has helped in creating a powerful tool to target plant cell-deliveries. Though, scientists have already successfully introduced a gene into a plant cell, unlike this new application, in other cases, chemicals are used to just activate the functions of a gene. But, the process is not as precise as the new nanotechnology-based one, and the chemicals could also be toxic to the plant. It is a real breakthrough by the team of Iowa State University researchers. Study leader Professor Kan Wang said, With the mesoporous nanoparticles, we can deliver two biogenic species at the same time. We can bring in a gene and induce it in a controlled manner at the same time and at the same location. That`s never been done before. So, here comes ‘nanotechnology’ to help a more precise gene activation in plant cell as well as trigger their expressions at the same time. Image