A few years ago we aired a “Creation Moments” program about how plants seem to have pain and alarm responses similar to humans and animals. Of course, we don’t know if plants have feelings as we know them. But when a plant is injured, it produces a chemical called jasmonic acid. This acid produces a vapor, similar to the jasmine in commercial perfumes, that is sensed by surrounding plants. They, in turn respond to the signal.
When humans feel pain it is due to chemicals totally unrelated to jasmonic acids. As we all know, aspirin is important to pain management for many people. Aspirin works by disabling the chemicals that cause our pain. Now scientists have discovered that aspirin also works to shut down a plant’s response to injury. Aspirin shuts off the plant’s production of jasmonic acid, even though jasmonic acid is not at all similar to human pain-causing chemicals. More amazingly, aspirin’s chemical reaction is of the same kind in plants and humans. So the next time you accidentally injure your favorite house plant, it might appreciate a small dose of aspirin!
While we can be thankful that God placed substances in the creation which help us manage pain, we should never forget that nothing in this creation can deal with the underlying cause of pain. Only Jesus Christ can bring healing from our sinful condition that results in both spiritual and physical pain.
Notes: S.M., Aspirin works on plants, too, Science News, v. 154, p. 106. Photo: Courtesy of Mosesofmason. (CC BY-SA 3.0)