Researchers solve mystery of the mutated oil palms Elizabeth Pennisi 9 September 2015 3:45 pm.
That vegetable oil in your kitchen cabinet comes at a price. Demand for the oil used in everything from food to biofuel is so high that oil palm plants have taken over large swaths of the world's rainforests. About 40 years ago, researchers hoped to reduce rainforest destruction by cloning the highest yielding oil palm trees(Elaeis guineensis), thus boosting oil. production. But when the supposedly identical trees matured, many failed to produce oil-filled fruit. Now, researchers think they know why.