Plants engineered to always be on alert don’t grow well
Scientists bred a weed to lack proteins that help stem production of insect-repelling chemicals
![thale cress](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/102218_jl_plant-defense_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
FIGHT OR SLIGHT In lab tests, a plant called thale cress (shown) that was engineered to be nearly always on alert for leaf-eating predators tended to be smaller and produced fewer viable seeds than its normal kin.
Robert Vidéki, Doronicum Kft./Bugwood.org (CC BY-NC 3.0 US)