Plants that glow in the dark sound like features of a
science fiction thriller. Glowing plants are already a reality in the research
halls of universities like MIT. What makes plants glow? Read on to learn the
underlying causes of glow-in-the-dark plants.
About Glowing Plants
Do you have solar lights in the backyard or garden? If
glowing plants were available, you could do away with those lights and just
simply use the plants themselves.
It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. Fireflies
and some kinds of jellyfish glow in the dark, as well as certain types of
bacteria. Now scientists have worked out a way to transfer this
glow-in-the-dark quality to living things that usually don’t glow, like plants.
What Makes Plants Glow?
Plants that glow in the dark don’t do it naturally. Like bacteria,
plants have the genes that make glow-in-the-dark proteins. They do not,
however, have the part of the gene that switches on the process.
Scientists first removed the gene from the DNA of glowing
bacteria and embedded particles into the DNA of plants. This caused the plants
to start the protein-making process. The result was that the leaves glowed
dimly. These efforts were not commercialized.
The next phase or research did not focus on DNA but rather
an easier process of dipping plants into a solution containing specially
engineered nanoparticles. The particles contained ingredients that caused a
chemical reaction. When that combined with the sugar inside a plant’s cells,
light was produced. This has been successful with many different leafy plants.
Glow-in-the-Dark Plants
Don’t imagine that the watercress,
kale,
spinach,
or arugula
leaves used in the experiments could light up a room though. The leaves
actually glowed dimly, about the brightness of a night lamp.
Scientists are hoping that they will produce plants with
brighter light in the future. They foresee clusters of plants giving off
sufficient light to serve as ambient low-intensity lighting.
Perhaps, in time, glow-in-the-dark plants can serve as
desktop or bedside lights. This could lower the amount of energy humans use and
give light to those without electricity. It could also turn trees into natural
lamp posts.
Plants that glow in the dark sound like features of a
science fiction thriller. Glowing plants are already a reality in the research
halls of universities like MIT. What makes plants glow? Read on to learn the
underlying causes of glow-in-the-dark plants.
About Glowing Plants
Do you have solar lights in the backyard or garden? If
glowing plants were available, you could do away with those lights and just
simply use the plants themselves.
It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. Fireflies
and some kinds of jellyfish glow in the dark, as well as certain types of
bacteria. Now scientists have worked out a way to transfer this
glow-in-the-dark quality to living things that usually don’t glow, like plants.
What Makes Plants Glow?
Plants that glow in the dark don’t do it naturally. Like bacteria,
plants have the genes that make glow-in-the-dark proteins. They do not,
however, have the part of the gene that switches on the process.
Scientists first removed the gene from the DNA of glowing
bacteria and embedded particles into the DNA of plants. This caused the plants
to start the protein-making process. The result was that the leaves glowed
dimly. These efforts were not commercialized.
The next phase or research did not focus on DNA but rather
an easier process of dipping plants into a solution containing specially
engineered nanoparticles. The particles contained ingredients that caused a
chemical reaction. When that combined with the sugar inside a plant’s cells,
light was produced. This has been successful with many different leafy plants.
Glow-in-the-Dark Plants
Don’t imagine that the watercress,
kale,
spinach,
or arugula
leaves used in the experiments could light up a room though. The leaves
actually glowed dimly, about the brightness of a night lamp.
Scientists are hoping that they will produce plants with
brighter light in the future. They foresee clusters of plants giving off
sufficient light to serve as ambient low-intensity lighting.
Perhaps, in time, glow-in-the-dark plants can serve as
desktop or bedside lights. This could lower the amount of energy humans use and
give light to those without electricity. It could also turn trees into natural
lamp posts.