'Ray guns' let scientists use light instead of DNA to tell plant populations apart

Using a handheld device that looks a little like a ray gun, scientists recorded how plant leaves on different Alaskan mountains reflect light. And, it turns out, different populations of plants of the same species -- for instance, plants living on neighboring mountaintops -- reflect light differently, in ways that echo their genetic variation from each other.

source https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211019123544.htm