It may sound like some kind of irredeemably bizarre science fiction, or some kind of preposterous fever dream, but a new study from Virginia Tech suggests that our household plants—among others—may actually be talking back and forth using a previously undiscovered form of language. But as it turns out, passing information isn't the only thing these plants are doing according to the study.

The study in question, entitled “Genomic-Scale Exchange of mRNA Between a Parasitic Plant and its Hosts,” recently saw publication in the journal “Science”, and offered up a staggering vision of plants capable of not only talking to each other, but also passing genetic material back and forth. Jim Westwood, professor at Virginia Tech who focuses on weed science as well as plant pathology and physiology, made the discovery by taking two plants—Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant said to be related to things like cabbage and mustard, and tomato plants—and introducing a parasitic plant known as dodder to the mix. Dodder uses what's called a haustorium in a bid to not only wrap itself around the host plant's superstructure but also penetrate said superstructure to get access to the water and nutrients the host plant is processing.

But what Westwood found was that the haustorium wasn't essentially just a straw jammed in the metaphorical neck of its host, but rather, a mechanism that allowed for a transfer of genetic material, specifically, messenger RNA (mRNA). The mRNA is typically involved in providing instructions on the cellular level, handling things like protein synthesis. That in turn might make it more likely for the dodder plant to gain access to the host plant's systems by essentially hacking the plant, convincing the host that it is supposed to be there and that resources should be routed in its direction.

Naturally, this is just a start—Westwood plans for additional studies to consider the impact of mRNA on parasitic plants—but if it turns out that the use of mRNA is being used to allow parasitic plants a foothold, then that may in turn be the means to stop said plants dead. It could lead to a kind of new weed killer system that focuses on that connection, allowing plants to actually fight off parasites potentially without chemical aid. Naturally, there would likely be some trepidation on this point—after all, most commonly don't like the idea of genetically-altered plant life, especially when it comes to eating the produce of same—but if it can be done simply, and only addressing this point without changing the nature, taste or quality of output, then maybe it would be worthwhile. Plus, the value of increased plant yields and the like would certainly make such a measure valuable, especially if applied over a large number of tomato plants or the like. It could well mean the difference between a bumper crop and a bust year for tomato farmers.

Still, it's an interesting new position all the same, and it may well be that soon we'll be able to attack weeds and other invasive plants by targeting mRNA transfer mechanisms rather than with blades and sprays.