Plant biointelligence: A genetic, biochemical, molecular, and cellular perspective
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The concept of plant intelligence (PI), once controversial, is gaining empirical traction as a novel paradigm for understanding sophisticated plant behaviors. This review synthesizes the biological foundations of this intelligence across genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and cellular biology, arguing it emerges from decentralized, integrated systems. Specifically, we dissect its foundations in genetics (e.g., hereditary information and evolutionary constraints), biochemistry (e.g., metabolic networks and signaling molecules), molecular biology (e.g., signal transduction and gene regulatory networks), and cellular biology (e.g., cellular sentience and tissue-level communication). We critically examine the methodological and conceptual challenges in studying non-neural cognition and highlight how contemporary tools such as live imaging, single-cell omics, optogenetics, and systems biology are overcoming these hurdles. Looking forward, we explore how nascent frontiers such as synthetic biology, plant-computer biohybrids, and artificial intelligence-driven in silico models promise to revolutionize the field. Overall, the present study contributing on opening a new research direction of plant biointelligence (PbI) is of fundamental implications on stimulating innovations in fundamental biology, providing blueprints of synthesizing PI with frontier biotechnologies, and offering profound insights into the nature of intelligence and, even, life.
Source: Current Plant Biology
Author: Yi Lin
Language: English
Subfield: Plant Science
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,440
OpenAlex ID: W7222976654