They provide us with food and are pretty to look at, and now they may even save out lives.
For unlikely as it may seem, scientists have developed plants that can detect bombs.
They have taught plant proteins to change colour when in the presence of certain chemicals.
The implications of the study are not hard to see – ringing an airport security gate, for instance, with such plants could prove a lifesaver should a terrorist approach with an explosive and a whole wall of leaves turn white.
Maybe we can develop a plant like the maneater from “little Shop of Horror” to actual capture the bad guys and quietly dispose of them.