“Plants can’t run away”

Plants hold a special fascination for biologist and Wittgenstein Award winner Jiří Friml. Since they can’t escape danger by running away like humans or animals can, they have developed special abilities to adapt to their environment. A single cell is sometimes enough for a plant to completely regenerate itself. Friml is interested in how plants have developed these survival mechanisms and how they work.

His groundbreaking research led to the discovery that the hormone auxin is the most important mediator between the environment and cell communication in plants. The researchers working with Friml were also astounded to discover that animals and humans use the same component in the auxin signaling pathway as plants. Do we have more in common with plants than we realize?