Luminous plants will replace lanterns and lamps. Free Technical Library News

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Luminous plants will replace lanterns and lamps

16.12.2017

Up to 20% of electricity produced is spent on lighting streets and apartments. One option to reduce these energy costs could be the use of bioluminescent plants. The idea sounds fantastic, but developments in this area using genetic engineering are already underway.

Nature has endowed many organisms with the ability to glow, but so far bioluminescent plants are found only in the science fiction film Avatar. Scientists are trying to remedy the situation by using genetic engineering. Previously, they have already introduced the genes of luminescent bacteria and fireflies into plants, for example, into tobacco. However, it was difficult to get the right genes to work in the right plant organs. To make the glow of plants under control, the staff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology abandoned genetic engineering in favor of nanotechnology.

They created silicon and polymer nanoparticles of various sizes, which moved inside the plant in strictly defined directions. Each particle contained one of three substances: light-emitting luciferin; luciferase, which modified it and made it glow; as well as coenzyme A, which increased the activity of luciferase. Particles under pressure in the aquatic environment were introduced into the stomata of watercress and other plants. The researchers could control which plant tissues the injected substances would end up in because it depended on the size and surface charge of the nanoparticles.

The resulting glowing watercress was 100 times brighter than GM tobacco and half as bright as a 000µW LED. The glow is adjustable: it can be turned off by adding a compound that blocks the action of luciferase. So far, the technology lasts for 1 hours, and the amount of light is only one thousandth of what is needed for reading, but the researchers believe that their idea has significant prospects. Perhaps in the future they will be able to create plants that can glow for life. In this case, the trees on the city streets can be turned into lanterns, and houseplants in pots into night lamps.

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