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UConn plant biologist Roberto Gaxiola led a group of scientists in a research project that used a special gene to mutate a plant so that it would live well in salty water and soil. They put chemicals into the plant that would make the vacuoles work differently.
These chemicals took poisonous chemicals, like salt, out of circulation. When they did this, it maximized the amount of chemicals that can go into the cell.
The plants also resisted drought. As you can imagine, this expirement could help farmers all over the world, because there is drought in many parts of the world.
Minerals, such as sodium, or salt, in the soil are also ruining plants, but as soon as these mutated plants are able to be used there will be a decrease in damaged crops. According to scientists, it will take 2-4 years (as of 2001) before the new mutated plants are ready to be used.
You can think of mutated plants like a new teacher. When you have a new teacher you will probably learn differently. If there is a new student in your classroom you might want to make them welcome, so you might do something different at recess. This is like a mutated plant, because even though you are doing the same job, it is done differently. Sometimes the new way of doing things works out and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on if the new way of doing things is well thought out.