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YouTuber accidentally crashes the rare plant market with a viral cloning technique - Dexerto

https://www.dexerto.com/youtube/youtuber-accidentally-crashes-the-rare-plant-market-with-a-viral-cloning-technique-3289808/

While exciting, this means that basically anyone can mass-produce many rare plant species, rendering their ‘rare’ status on the market, well, not-so-rare anymore.

It’s also put quite a dent in the illicit rare plant market, where plant smuggling across international borders is common. Proponents of tissue culture argue that cloning is a better alternative to this, which can result in rare plant species being harvested into extinction.

Plants in Jars compared this debate to the marketing around lab-grown diamonds and naturally mined diamonds, noting how the demand for mined diamonds fell significantly when lab-grown gems became more popular.

happybadger [he/him] - 1w

ecoterrorist

Propagation isn't new, but I really like disruptive techniques like this or mycology's PF Tek. You shouldn't have to spend money on a drug as beautiful as psilocybin because it's the easiest species of fungi to grow. You shouldn't have to spend a premium on any kind of ornamental plant because the use-value is the same as the most generic Pothos, taking on the responsibility of caring for a lifeform that replaces some more toxic decoration.

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kristina [she/her] - 1w

Dude we been doing this for like a thousand years lol

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