What does a seed look like as it germinates?
Researchers have wondered what the inside of a seed looks like as it is germinating. Now, an Australian artist has created a video showing what happens inside a seed as it germinates and grows, Cosmos magazine reports.
Erica Seccombe has created a series titled "Grow" that shows the transformation of seeds as they germinate to first leaf stage. The video was created by using micro-CT scanning and data visualization technology.
According to the Cosmos article, "Seccombe images 'slices' of the seeds by rotating it in a 3-D microcomputed X-ray tomography machine. The data is then visualized using the open source Drishti software, with support from the Australian National University's Department of Applied Mathematics."
The new view has raised the interest of scientists at Australian National University's Research School of Biology. What they are most fascinated with is a "bubble" that appears to be growing inside of the mung bean depicted. The bubble is intriguing scientists who wonder what processes are going on inside the seeds.
The current theory is that the bubbles are actually carbon dioxide that builds up inside the seeds as part of the germination process. The pressure that builds up inside the side may actually help break the seed open.
To read more about the research and watch the video, click here.
