Have you ever imagined having glow-in-the-dark plants just like in James Cameron's film, Avatar? Nights illuminated not only by the moon but by plants as well, could now be a possibility thanks to scientists who have found a way to constitute plants that gleam for their entire life cycle.
The ability of organisms to glow or emit light is known as bioluminescence. It occurs in a wide array of animals and microorganisms such as plankton, fungi, insects, fish, and a lot more. Some of the most known examples of bioluminescence include the flickering of fireflies or the electric blue waves in tropical seas.
After the discovery of similarities regarding bioluminescence found in some mushrooms to some of the natural processes found in plants, scientists were able to transfer DNA sequences into tobacco plants. The transfer caused them to emanate a bright green glow. Researchers found that the glowing light lasted for the entirety of the plant's life cycle, from seedling to maturity.
Karen Sarkisyan, one of the lead authors of the study, said that they transferred four genes from the glowing mushrooms into the plants and wired them into the plant's metabolisms. This, in turn, caused the plants to glow.
The study on bioluminescent plants was published in the journal Nature Biotechnology on Monday.
A great thing about the team's recent discovery is that they would allow plants to glow in the dark without having to use external chemicals. The researchers said the technology could be used for many purposes, such as creating aesthetically decorative growing plants and flowers.
Researchers have also noticed flickering patterns and waves of light in the organisms, revealing plant behavior not customarily observed. They said that their creation could aid in further studying the inner mechanism of the plants.
While bioluminescence occurs across the natural world, Sarkisyan said that plants have not previously presented the marvelous wonder. He adds that making the plants glow somehow allows us to build a new relationship with the plants. He says that it enables us to appreciate much easier how alive they are.
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Previous Studies on Glow-in-the-Dark Plants
In 2010, scientists at Stony Brook University used genetic engineering techniques to create a glowing tobacco plant. However, the effort to put it in the market wavered due to difficulties with mass production of the plants and safety issues regarding the gene's modification.
Fast forward to 2017, a team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found a way to give plants the ability to produce light by dipping the plants into a solution containing specially engineered nanoparticles that allow them to glow. Each particle carried ingredients for a chemical reaction that produces light when combined with fuel derived from sugar inside the plant's cells.
Using the technique, the researchers got certain vegetables like watercress, kale, spinach, and arugula to glow. The light they emitted was only as bright as a nightlight, but once the chemical reaction began, the light persisted for up to three and a half hours.
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