Recently, the reporter learned from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences that Zhu Jianxi, a researcher of the Academy, found a large amount of enriched rare earth elements in a fern called "Dryopteris nigra", and observed for the first time that these rare earth elements "self assemble" between plant tissues and cells, forming a mineral called "lanthanum monazite". This is the first time that scientists have discovered the biological mineralization phenomenon of rare earth elements in natural plants. The research results were recently published online in the international journal Environmental Science and Technology. Researchers have found that the black fern belongs to a special type of rare earth "hyperaccumulating plant", like a "rare earth vacuum cleaner" in soil, which can efficiently absorb and concentrate rare earth elements dispersed in the environment. Research has shown that rare earth elements absorbed from the soil in the vascular bundles and epidermal tissues of its leaves precipitate in the form of nanoparticles and further crystallize into phosphate rare earth minerals. This process is actually a self-protection mechanism of plants, just like plants' packaging and sealing 'toxic substances in their bodies, firmly locking rare earth ions that may harm cells into mineral structures, achieving passivation of rare earths and natural' detoxification '. ”Zhu Jianxi said. Monazite is an important rare earth ore in industry, but natural monazite often contains radioactive uranium and thorium elements, which pose challenges to mining and application. The pure and radiation free monazite formed by the natural growth of black fern under normal temperature and pressure conditions shows great potential for green extraction. For a long time, the 'mineral manufacturing ability' of the plant kingdom has been underestimated. The discovery of rare earth mineralization in the black fern not only refreshes human understanding of the biomineralization mechanism of plants, but also opens a new window for the study of nearly a thousand known hyperaccumulating plants. This study not only reveals the detoxification and biomineralization mechanisms of plants towards rare earths, but also provides a new path for the sustainable utilization of rare earth resources in the future: by planting hyperaccumulating plants such as ferns, high-value rare earths can be recovered from plant bodies while repairing polluted soil and restoring the ecology of rare earth tailings, truly achieving a green cycle mode of "simultaneous restoration and recovery". (New Society)