I\'m wondering if a plant can be programmed (by modifying its genes) to grow int
ID: 35828 • Letter: I
Question
I'm wondering if a plant can be programmed (by modifying its genes) to grow into any shape that it's programming instructs.
I understand that a plants genes are its instructions of how to convert the nutrients in the soil into the plant we see. So, instead of producing an apple tree or a giant sequoia, couldn't a plant be programmed to shape itself into a house, desk, or even at a stretch of the imagination, a bioship?
I'm looking for any links, or explanations of why this could/couldn't be done by anyone with more experience than I that could guide my research.
I am hoping that a plant behaves just like any other system. That it has inputs (nutrients, sunlight etc.) a function that describes it (its genes) and an output, the plant that grows. With this in mind, I suppose it would only be a matter of modifying the genes to produce the desired output (with the constraint being the available input).
Explanation / Answer
It could not fit in a comment...
1) Any material have some physical limitations and living tissue are not exceptions. A plant cannot resist to very high pressure without changing shape for example. Outside of these problems of material sciences I think the major considerations are technical