Rubber grows like a weed
ScienceDaily
Rubber plantations are currently under threat of a fungus epidemic. But German researchers have developed a way to produce natural latex for rubber from a weed: Russian dandelions. They have already genetically modified the dandelion so the latex easily flows out when it's picked. Now they are planning large-scale cultivation of the rubber-rich weeds.
So what?Successful cultivation of the optimized Russian dandelion could yield up to 1,000 kg of latex per hectare of plants every growing season. And unlike rubber tree latex, dandelion latex has so far not caused any allergic reactions.