New age in gardening

A biotech company today unveiled the first of a number of extraordinary advances being made in bioengineered plant design and the company says it hopes to announce several more over the coming months. On display yesterday was a new ‘breed’ of bushes whose RNA has been redesigned to enable them to grow into a number of predetermined shapes. Currently, the shapes are all geometric – pyramids, cones, castellations, even a dodecahedron – but Guy Cotter, marketing manager of Modified Growth, said that they expect to be able to offer far more complex shapes in the not too distant future: “We expect to be able to deliver a range of exciting options. Genotopiary is remarkably adaptable. We are close to designing shrubs that grow into animals and it may even be possible to program the countenance of a loved one into the genostructure of the hybrid stock.” The company, he added, was expecting to be able to bring to market different coloured grasses (including red and blue), luminescent borders, and blooms with multiple fragrances. “Even musical trees may be possible one day” he said.