Genetic engineering in solving “unsolvable” problems of soil remediation
A. A. Gulevich, E. N. Baranova, I. G. Shirokikh, A. A. Shirokikh
Section: Theoretical problems of ecology
Many centuries of cultivation of plants allowed human civilization to significantly increase the population of the planet. However, as a result of economic activity, many areas have turned into waterless deserts, salt heaths, dumps and waste pits that remain after mining. Classical technology has been developed for many decades, but this has not led to an effective solution of the problems that have arisen, and humanistic values do not allow for the reduction of the population.
In this review, new approaches are considered that can significantly improve the efficiency of remediation. The solution involves combining biotechnologies: genetic engineering of plants, fungi and microorganisms; in the compartment with
the application of nanotechnology recultivation and creation of artificial analogues of soil and new materials of geoplastics for the creation of an artificial landscape. The principal possibility of creation of plant complexes and microbes-rescuers
on the basis of potentially resistant organisms capable of effective interaction is considered. The review deals with the genetic modification of plant and bacterial organisms that allow to accelerate in principle the formation of biogenic matter
on disturbed and remediated soils, including man-made soils. This can restore the ecology of the abandoned lands destroyed by mankind over the centuries of its existence.