Can genetically engineered cottonwood trees clean up a site contaminated with toxic mercury? A team of researchers from the University of Georgia - in the first such field test ever done with trees - is about to find out.

The results could make clearer the future of phytoremediation - a technique of using trees, grasses and other plants to remove hazardous materials from the soil. [...] We hope to see a significant difference in the levels of mercury in the soil within 18 months, perhaps as much as a twofold reduction,« said Richard Meagher, professor of genetics at UGA.