Plant Indignity

According to Alison Abbott in Swiss ‘dignity’ law is threat to plant biology (Nature News), “The Swiss federal government’s ethics committee on non-human biotechnology has mapped out guidelines to help granting agencies decide which research applications deeply offend the dignity of plants — and hence become unfundable.”

Maybe I need to rethink my Grumpy Flowers post. Perhaps they’re a bit put off because they’ve been relegated to the back door, in a somewhat neglected flowerbed next to a sidewalk, where they’re essentially ignored by employees hurriedly entering or leaving the building.

Just imagine how the corpse plant (Amorphophallus titanum) plant must feel — a double whammy of indignity!

Actually, I have real difficulty in believing that any plant’s dignity could be offended, deeply or otherwise.

image: Clips Ahoy!