Many defense, industrial and agricultural industries have and are contributing to the current contamination of sediments, air, and water.  Numerous heavy metals and toxic organic pollutants have been dumped into our soils and waterways for years.  There is a large effort to clean up many of the environmentally hazardous areas.  Unfortunately, high cost and low funding hinder the clean up of every polluted site in the United States.

Phytoremediation is a relatively new alternative technology that utilizes plants to remediate areas
contaminated with heavy metals and organic pollutants.

Transgenic Plants are plants that have been genetically modified to express an introduced gene.

It seems clear that using transgenic plants is not only a possibility, but can provide tremendous potential for enhancing phytoremediation of heavy metals.  The examples brought forth here are not exhaustive but are meant to demonstrate this potential.

Designed by Tyler Thomas, M.S. Candidate - Colorado State University