Prize seaweed

Pioneering work that unlocked the genetic secrets of seaweed’s ability to
soak up heavy metals has won a prize from the Welsh Development Agency. Viola
Sampson, an undergraduate at Cardiff University, identified a gene that makes
the protein that sponges up the heavy metals. “This is the first time it has
been found in seaweed,” says Sampson. The finding could lead to a new heavy
metals detector.