Researchers have succeeded in tweaking tobacco plants so that they grow leaves that contain fewer dangerous compounds and reduce the level of addictive chemical nicotine. The findings open the way to potentially change other plants to make them healthier, such as removing troubled compounds or enhancing benefits.

The work came from researchers at North Carolina State University, where they created new techniques to reduce some dangerous compounds found in tobacco leaves without negative impact on other aspects of the factory. This includes reducing the number of nitrosamines found in tobacco, as well as nicotine levels.

The idea of ​​using special techniques to reduce the number of dangerous compounds found in plants is not new. What distinguishes the latest work is its ability to reduce this carcinogenic substance without accidentally increasing the number of other harmful compounds. The achievement is possible by mounting with DNA and tobacco plant genes.

Decreased levels of unwanted compounds found in modified factories grow outdoors and in greenhouses. The study reported that four carcinogenic compounds found in tobacco leaves “significantly reduced” using researcher techniques, which might be used with other plants to make them healthier and improve the properties that benefit them.

This study is the latest example of how to modify the plant can help promote and protect human health. For example, researchers in Japan reported last month that they had succeeded in developing cholera vaccines that came in the form of rice. Rice that can be eaten tweaked so that it produces a non-toxic form of toxin cholera, gives the body’s immune system the opportunity to build immunity when someone takes rice.