Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from house Stop works dot com where
Speaker 1: smart happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, how
Speaker 1: does the herbicide round up work? Round Up, which is
Speaker 1: a trade name used by Monsanto, and other herbicides based
Speaker 1: on glyphosphate, which is the generic name, are probably the
Speaker 1: most commonly applied weed killers in use today. These herbicides
Speaker 1: are used by everyone from farmers to foresters, to gardeners
Speaker 1: to biologists who are trying to control invasive exotic plants.
Speaker 1: Glyphosphate based herbicides all work on the same biochemical principle.
Speaker 1: They inhibit a specific enzyme that plants need in order
Speaker 1: to grow. The specific enzyme is called EPSP synthase. Without
Speaker 1: that enzyme, plants are unable to produce other proteins essential
Speaker 1: to growth, so they yellow and dye over the course
Speaker 1: of several days or weeks. Majority of plants use this
Speaker 1: same enzymes, so almost all plants to come to round up.
Speaker 1: If you've read the How Stuff Works article called how
Speaker 1: Cells Work, you know a good bit about DNA and
Speaker 1: how it produces enzymes in the same way that many
Speaker 1: antibiotics gum up enzyme production to kill bacteria. Glyphosphate gums
Speaker 1: up enzymes and plants to kill them. Glyphosphate kills plants
Speaker 1: like antibiotics kill bacteria. If you've been following farming news
Speaker 1: or the genetically modified food debate, you know that glyphosphate
Speaker 1: tolerance seeds are now available. You can buy genetically modified corn, soybeans,
Speaker 1: and so on that are immune to glyphosphate. These plants
Speaker 1: use an enzyme that performs the same function as EPSP synthas,
Speaker 1: but is not inhibited by glyphosphate. Round up will kill
Speaker 1: almost any plant, including aquatic plants, so you want to
Speaker 1: be sure to avoid spray drift onto other plants or
Speaker 1: into the water. Any pesticide should be applied carefully. Do
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