{"id":210538,"date":"2025-04-04T06:25:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T11:25:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/fluorescent-biosensor-tracks-plant-rna-in-real-time-for-better-crops-and-biosecurity"},"modified":"2025-04-04T06:25:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T11:25:44","slug":"fluorescent-biosensor-tracks-plant-rna-in-real-time-for-better-crops-and-biosecurity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/fluorescent-biosensor-tracks-plant-rna-in-real-time-for-better-crops-and-biosecurity","title":{"rendered":"Fluorescent biosensor tracks plant RNA in real time for better crops and biosecurity"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/fluorescent-biosensor-tracks-plant-rna-in-real-time-for-better-crops-and-biosecurity2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed the first-ever method of detecting ribonucleic acid, or RNA, inside plant cells using a technique that results in a visible fluorescent signal. The technology can help researchers detect and track changes in RNA and gene expression in real time, providing a powerful tool for the development of hardier bioenergy and food crops and for the detection of unwanted plant modifications, pathogens and pests.<\/p>\n<p>RNA is a signaling molecule inside cells that is used to read the deoxyribonucleic, or DNA, code and convert it into functional parts such as proteins that are essential for <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/tags\/plant+growth\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">plant growth<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/tags\/stress+response\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">stress response<\/a>. The ORNL-developed biosensor continuously monitors RNA levels in live plants, replacing a traditional destructive, time-consuming method used by scientists for collecting, processing and analyzing tissue.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith this biosensor, scientists gain real-time insights into how cells reprogram themselves at a molecular level under changing environmental conditions such as drought or disease,\u201d said Xiaohan Yang, lead for the project at ORNL. The approach streamlines traditional methods used to verify <a href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/tags\/gene+expression\/\" rel=\"tag\" class=\"\">gene expression<\/a> in modified plants and can better detect plant physiology related to disease or nutrient stress, accelerating the development of better crops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed the first-ever method of detecting ribonucleic acid, or RNA, inside plant cells using a technique that results in a visible fluorescent signal. The technology can help researchers detect and track changes in RNA and gene expression in real time, providing a powerful tool for the development of [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1506],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical","category-food"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}