Hollywood fantasies will soon become reality: plants glowing in the dark are created

Scientists have long been attracted by the idea of creating plants that could glow in the dark. Several species of animals that can emit light at night live on our planet. So why not try creating the same plants?

The substance that scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology experimented with is contained in luminous microorganisms. This is luciferase - a group of special oxidative enzymes that contribute to the emission of light by living organisms. This phenomenon is called bioluminescence.

For their experiment, scientists used a plant of their cruciferous family - watercress. A solution was created, one of the components of which was precisely the enzyme luciferase. The leaves and stem of the plant were immersed in this solution, and in order for the substance to penetrate the watercress tissue, pressure was increased in the container. After the first dive, the leaves of the newly minted firefly were able to emit light for 45 minutes, and after improving the technology, this figure increased to 3.5 hours.

Encouraged by such success, scientists tested this method on other cruciferous relatives of watercress, on arugula, curly cabbage and spinach. The result was similar, but all the plants felt great.

Of course, the results achieved are just the beginning of an amazing experiment, scientists assure. The resulting plants are not yet so well illuminate the space around them, and in the light of spinach will not work to read a book. But this is a significant breakthrough in the development of this direction.

In the future, scientists hope to create not only indoor plants that will illuminate the premises, but also large trees endowed with the ability to bioluminescence. Experts believe that such trees will help significantly reduce the cost of street lighting in cities, which are very large in the modern world. Probably the most amazing thing will be the creation of a luminous spruce. Then on the streets of our cities you can enjoy the progressive New Year's illumination, which will help to save energy on our planet.