MIT Created Living Plants That Glow And Could Grow Into Glowing Trees To Replace Streetlights

I haven't decided whether this is cool and useful or taking the idea of playing with nature too far. What do you think?

Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered how to use the chemical that helps fireflies shine. The chemical is called Luciferase and one of its main properties is that it produces light.

Michael Strano, professor of chemical engineering at MIT and the senior author of the study, said: 'The vision is to make a plant that will function as a desk lamp — a lamp that you don't have to plug in. The light is ultimately powered by the energy metabolism of the plant itself. Our work very seriously opens up the doorway to streetlamps that are nothing but treated trees, and to indirect lighting around homes.'

According to The Science Accademy, " Luciferases make up a class of oxidative enzymes found in several species that enable them to 'bioluminesce', or emit light. Fireflies are able to emit light via a chemical reaction.In the chemical reaction luciferin is converted to oxyluciferin by the luciferase enzyme. Some of the energy released by this reaction is in the form of light. The reaction is highly efficient, meaning nearly all the energy put into the reaction is rapidly converted to light."

Sources)
Study - http://pubs.acs.org/journal/nalefd
Science accademy - http://www.thespaceacademy.org/2017/12/mit-just-created-living-plants-that.html?m=1

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