Plant 'hairy root' culture

Due to their fast growth rates and biochemical stability, 'hairy root' cult ures remain unsurpassed as the choice for model root systems and have promi se as a bioprocessing system. Applications are wide-ranging, from the produ ction of natural products and foreign proteins to a model for phytoremediat ion of organic and metal contaminants. Hairy roots will have a continuing r ole as an experimental model in plant metabolic engineering.