Plants that mend their wounds

·      How do the parts of plants, the leaves or branches of which are ruptured or eaten by animals grow again?

·      How does the plant produce  buds and grow after a branch is broken off and put under the ground?

·      How do the plant’s ruptured organs manage to grow more rapidly and efficiently?

Plants, which have a very important role in the maintenance of the ecological balance and life  in the world, have many superior qualities. One of these qualities is that they can mend and renew their ruptured organs.

Cells begin to multiply rapidly again  after a certain loss of tissue occurs in the plant, and they fill in the area where the ruptured organ was. This incident and the increase in the number of cells are realized through mitotic division.

The Speedy Repair Mechanism Right After Injury

After plants are injured, the chromosomes in the cells multiply and in this way they can produce more of the protein required for growth and multiplication. Normally, chromosomes in the cell nucleus are doubled every time the human cell is divided. However, chromosomes are copied again in the parts where the plant is ruptured, but since there is  no growth, the cell has double the normal amount of chromosomes. And as this process continues, chromosome copies invariably increase. In this way, the ruptured parts of the plant are mended.

An experiment, which scientists did on peppergrass, clearly shows this perfect characteristic our Lord bestowed to plants. When the bud of the peppergrass (Arabidopsis thaliana) is picked up, it has only ten chromosomes per cell and after a couple of copies, the number of chromosomes rises up to 320. In this way, in certain types of cells, the number of chromosomes increases and the plant grows in a faster and better way. Such endroreplications (increase in the number of chromosomes) are common in the placenta of nematodes, grass seed and rodents. The fact that the cells in a plant know that the number of chromosomes needs to increase for the repair of the injured part cannot happen via possibility calculations or through the help of coincidences. The one who carries is not  the plant or the minerals in the soil or other outside elements. This is because all of these are a part of the system that forms the plant. Just as there is an engineer who gives the same production data to all of the robots in a factory, and it is not possible that computers could gather this data on their own, in the same way it is impossible that every part of the system in plants could get such data on their own.

Allah is the One Who places the necessary information in plant cells, as in all living things in the world, Who creates all things perfectly and Who knows every creation. Allah reveals this truth in many of His verses:

“He who created the seven heavens in layers.You will not find any flaw in the creation of the All-Merciful. Look again – do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your sight will return to you dazzled and exhausted!”(Surat al-Mulk, 3-4)

Plants Repairing Their Injuries is a Manifestation of Almighty Allah’s Compassion and Mercy Over These Beings

In serious injuries like traffic accidents or workplace accidents, people’s organs may be ruptured . There are some conditions for people’s ruptured organs to be made functional  again. It is required that the ruptured organ is still intact, that it is not harmed too much, and that the vascular systems are in good shape. In addition, the ruptured organs need to be kept in a cold and dry environment, at a steady temperature of +4 degrees and they need to be taken to the hospital immediately. A certain field of specialty is required to repair  the ruptured organs . Ruptured organs can be sewn, meaning transplantation surgery can be carried out by surgeons who are trained for microsurgery or transplantation. This is because microsurgery stitching techniques are quiet different than normal ones. Surgeons generally learn microsurgery methods during their specialty training, by attending microsurgery lectures and making vascular or nerve studies. During surgery, appropriate surgery tools, microscopes (or loop goggles) and operating room conditions are needed. In some cases, more than one micro surgeon is needed. As it is seen, stitching a ruptured organ back together requires great care and experience. If there is any complication before or after the surgery, it is impossible that the organ could carry out its functions. Most important of all, if this organ cannot be stitched back together or successfully transplanted, the human body cannot produce a new one to replace the ruptured organ.  This situation, which is created by Almighty Allah specially to show human beings their weakness, is very different in plants. This is because plants are able to renew their ruptured parts like a broken branch in a very fast way.

However, there is no intelligence, willpower or consciousness in any plant, or in any part of the plant, as a result of its own being. Allah, the All-Knowing and the Almighty, is the One Who controls plants and all of their systems, and Who plans everything to the finest detail. Our Lord makes these systems active through His command and creation. Every event, living and non-living, happens with Allah’s creation moment by moment. Allah reveals this secret in one of His verses as such:

“It is Allah who created the seven heavens and of the earth the same number, the Command descending down through all of them,so that you might know that Allah has power over all things and that Allah encompasses all things in His knowledge.”(Surat at-Talaq, 12)

As it is seen in this example, all living things in the world are created with systems, every detail of which is finely planned, depending on very sensitive balances. We see this everywhere without  exception in every place we look. All living things present Allah Who created them. There is no doubt that Allah is the Only One Who is worthy of praise and Who created all beings with their unique characteristics. Like everything in the world, all plants maintain their existence thanks to the systems Allah specially created; so they are all under His control:

“And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasures-none knows them but He; and He knows what is in the land and the sea, and there falls not a leaf but He knows it, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a clear book.” (Surah al-Anaam, 59)

The plant does not know about its own existence and the miraculous functions it carries out. Because it is under the control of Allah Who planned its every characteristic, created it like everything in the universe, and continues to create every moment. This truth is revealed in the Qur’an as such:

 “The stars and the trees all bow down in prostration.” (Surat ar-Rahman, 5-6)

There is no doubt that Allah, the Lord of all things, shows us the evidences of His superior existence and His unique creation. Allah reveals these evidences in one of his verses as follows:

“It is He Who sends down water from the sky from which We bring forth growth of every kind, and from that We bring forth the green shoots and from them We bring forth close-packed seeds, and from the spathes of the date palm date clusters hanging down, and gardens of grapes and olives and pomegranates, both similar and dissimilar. Look at their fruits as they bear fruit and ripen. There are Signs in that for people who have faith.” (Surat Al-An‘am, 99)

Plants That Continue Their Lineage By Separating From The Main Plant

Some plants can continue their lineage through a single species reproducing in several ways and without any sex discrimination. This reproduction is called asexual reproduction. The new generation, which comes out as a result of this reproduction, is just the same as the generation that preceded it. This is because in every one of plants, which reproduce asexually, there is the same genetic information. In this way, the parts that fall off the plant can form a new plant, which is just the same as the main plant. The most common forms of asexual reproduction in plants are budding and breaking into pieces.

This type of reproduction (budding or breaking into pieces) that takes place with the help of some special enzymes that can be seen in many plants. For example, grass and strawberries reproduce using their horizontal tentacles called “suckers”. The potato, as a plant that grows under the ground, reproduces by producing  buds from new special sections that form in these parts.

In some types of plants, a couple of leaves falling on the ground is enough for a new plant to grow. For example, the plant called “bryophyllum daigremontianum” reproduces thanks to the buds that grow on the tips of its leaves. Every one of these buds turns into a new and independent plant and begin to grow just as they fall on the ground.

In some plants like the begonia, it can be observed  that as fallen leaves are placed on wet sand, after a while small leaves begin to form. So these leaves begin to form a new plant, which is the same as the main plant, after some time. Almighty Allah draws attention to the great miracles of His art of creation in one verse as follows:

“Do you not see that Allah sends down water from the sky and then in the morning the earth is covered in green? Allah is All-Subtle, All-Aware.” (Surat al-Hajj, 63)