Carbon nanotubes can double growth of cell cultures important in industry

A dose of carbon nanotubes more than doubles the growth rate of plant cell cultures -- workhorses in the production of everything from lifesaving medications to sweeteners to dyes and perfumes -- researchers are reporting. Their study, the first to show that carbon nanotubes boost plant cell division and growth, appears in the journal ACS Nano. Mariya V. Khodakovskaya and colleagues  University of Arkansas at Little Rock explain that their previous research demonstrated that so-called multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) can penetrate through the thick coatings on seeds, stimulate germination of the seeds and stimulate the growth of certain plants. MWCNTs are wisps of pure carbon so small that thousands would fit on the period at the end of this sentence. Plant cells of many plant species, grown in large industrial vats, find extensive use in producing medical and commercial products.