Manna trees are one of the most beloved engineered plants. They are one of the many children of celebrated bio-hacker Gloria de la Poer, who gave away their genome for free, hoping to improve her reputation. Manna trees are designed to be of use to humanity in as many ways as possible. They bear two types of fruit (one highly nutritious, and one containing water), their inner bark, like willow bark, contains aspirin, their leaves can be easily made into paper or fiber, their metabolisms sequester airborne pollutants, and their wood is strong and resistant to rot.
After the destruction of Earth, few manna trees remain. Pre-Fall, only Mars and Titan hosted living trees. Genetic material and information from manna trees was briefly one of the most valuable commodities on the planet. Currently, groves of manna trees can be found growing on Mars, Luna, Titan and Ganymede, but most habitats capable of supporting tree-growth will keep at least one.
Notes
Inspired by the trees of the same name from Paul McAuley's The Quiet War.
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