Chinese scientists want to extract rare Earth minerals from ferns

New Delhi: Researchers from the Guanghzhou Institute of Biochemistry under the chinese Academy of Sciences have discovered that edible fern species Blenchnum orientale contains high concentrations of rare-earth elements. These elements were crystallising within extracellular tissues under ambient conditions, forming dendritic nanoscale monazite through self-organisation in combination with mineralisation. This is the first time that biological mineralisation of rare-earth elements in natural plants have been discovered. These minerals typically form through processes such as magmatic or hydrothermal activity, that require far higher temperatures. The research identifies a new mechanism by which plants detoxify the rare-earth elements while mineralising them.

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