At the current population growth rate, we will soon be unable to meet increasing food demands. As a consequence of this potential problem, considerable efforts have been made to enhance crop productivity by breeding, genetics and improving agricultural practices. While these techniques have traditionally been successful, their efficacy since the ‘green revolution’ has begun to significantly plateau. This stagnation of gains combined with the negative effects of climate change on crop yields has prompted researchers to develop novel and radical methods to increase crop productivity. Recent work has begun exploring the use of nanomaterials as synthetic probes to augment how plants use light. Photosynthesis in crops is often limited by their ability to absorb and exploit solar energy for photochemistry. The capacity to interact with and optimize how plants use light has the potential to increase the productivity of crops and enable the tailoring of crops for different environments and to compensate for predicted climate changes. Advances in the synthesis and surface modification of nanomaterials have overcome previous drawbacks and renewed their potential use as synthetic probes to enhance crop yields. Here, we review the current applications of functional nanomaterials in plants and will make an argument for the continued development of promising new nanomaterials and future applications in agriculture. This will highlight that functional nanomaterials have the clear potential to provide a much-needed route to enhanced future food security. In addition, we will discuss the often-ignored current evidence of nanoparticles present in the environment as well as inform and encourage caution on the regulation of nanomaterials in agriculture.

The electronic structure of glycan functionalised carbon nano-dots is greatly affected by the choice of carbohydrate.

Assessment of catecholamine production and excretion is important in the laboratory detection of pheochromocytoma, a rare but curable cause of hypertension. Advances in catecholamine and metabolite methodologies have enhanced the diagnostic acumen by increasing analytical sensitivity and eliminating many of the interferences observed with earlier methods. Estimation of urinary catecholamines metanephrine and vanillylmandelic acid is routinely used in the biochemical detection of pheochromocytoma and in monitoring the completeness of tumor excision as well as the possibility of recurrence. Traditional spectrophotometric and fluorometric methods for urinary catecholamines and their metabolites are being replaced by highly sensitive and selective chromatographic methods. The ability to quantify individual catecholamines and metanephrines by high-performance liquid chromatography is of particular value for detecting familial forms of the tumor that may secrete epinephrine. Plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine measurements are of additional diagnostic value in determining recent catecholamine release and response to clonidine suppression. For either urine or plasma measurements, appropriate patient preparation, sample collection, and method validation along with an understanding of the variable pattern of catecholamine secretion and metabolism in pheochromocytoma are essential. Advances in laboratory methodology and reference intervals for catecholamines for clinical interpretation are reviewed.

From global food security to textile production and biofuels, the demands currently made on plant photosynthetic productivity will continue to increase. Enhancing photosynthesis using designer, green and sustainable materials offers an attractive alternative to current genetic-based strategies and promising work with nanomaterials has recently started to emerge. Here we describe the in planta use of carbon-based nanoparticles produced by low-cost renewable routes that are bioavailable to mature plants. Uptake of these functionalised nanoparticles directly from the soil improves photosynthesis and also increases crop production. We show for the first time that glucose functionalisation enhances nanoparticle uptake, photoprotection and pigment production, unlocking enhanced yields. This was demonstrated in Triticum aestivum 'Apogee' (dwarf bread wheat) and resulted in an 18% increase in grain yield. This establishes the viability of a functional nanomaterial to augment photosynthesis as a route to increased crop productivity. Materials and Methods Statistics and significance Data were initially analysed for significance using analysis of variance (ANOVAs) and P-values were calculated using the

Potential innovation in Plant research through the use of gene-edited and genetically modified plants iscurrently being hindered by inefficient and costly plant transformation. We show that naturally occurring carbon dots (quasi-spherical, <10nm nanoparticles) can act as a fast vehicle for carrying plasmids into mature plant cells, resulting in transient plant transformation in a number of important crop species with no negative impacts on photosynthesis or growth. We further show that GFP, Cas9, and gRNA introduced into wheat via foliar application (spraying on) of plasmid coated carbon dots are expressed and, in the case of Cas9, make genome edits in SPO11 genes. Therefore, we present a protocol for spray-on gene editing that is simple, inexpensive, fast, transforms in planta, and is applicable to multiple crop species. We believe this technique creates many opportunities for the future of plant transformation in research and shows great promise for plant protein production systems.Recent advances in plant biotech, particularly manipulation of photosynthesis, have shown the ability to obtain huge increases in plant efficiency and yield. For example, the RIPE project 1 obtained up to a 15% increase in biomass 2 and a ∼40% increase in productivity 3 by reducing photoprotection latency times and by avoiding photorespiration. These examples show the true power of GM -not only could these changes increase global food security (a growing issue with our population still increasing 4,5 , and climate change conferring multiple environmental stresses 6-8 ), but since these advances also increase the amount of carbon being fixed, it could have potential for also mitigating climate change 9,10 . This is important because, as noted, the effects of climate change exacerbate food insecurity further.Plant biotechnology can also enhance food security and biomass production by improving crop resistance to herbivores, pests, and environmental stresses. Additionally, GM techniques can enhance the nutritional value of the food produced, as seen with purple tomatoes 11,12 , enhancing the lipid content of oil crops to provide an alternative to dwindling fish oil stocks 13,14 and improving the quality of staple crops such as wheat 15,16 .However, the scope extends beyond edible compounds, as plant biotech is allowing the production of biofuels 17 , and has shown success producing pharmaceuticals 18 , including the efficient and speedy production of vaccines 19 . These advancements have been aided by new fields such as Synthetic biology, and gene editing tools becoming more versatile and useable.However, there is currently a significant bottleneck 20 limiting the potential application of these ideas and advances, and that is the cost, both in time and resources, of current plant transformation methods. All plant transformation must currently utilise either Agrobacterium tumefaciens 21 , biolistics 22 , or regeneration from PEG transformed protoplasts 23 , as a vehicle to introduce DNA, regardless of whether the changes are transient (n...