LIGHT EMITTING PLANTS NANO BIONIC

NANO BIONIC LIGHT EMITTING PLANTS

Founded by MIT Scientists ( Massachusetts Institute of Technology )  

Published : Journal Nano letters

Major step to use plants to illuminate work place, as table lamp or can even use as street light.
The light is provided by the energy released by metabolic process in plant itself.

The Scientists used three components

1. enzyme luciferase (helps fireflies to glow )  is used for this purpose.

2. Luciferase acts on luciferin casing it to emit light.

3. Co-enzyme A that remove the bi-product that inhibits this activity

These three components are packaged into nano particle carrier

Silica nano particles about ten nanometres in diameter to carry luciferase.

Larger particles of polymers PLGA  to carry luciferin .

Chitosan to carry co-enzyme A

These particles are suspended in a solution , plants are immersed in this solution and  high pressure is applied.

Through the stomata, where transpiration and exchange of gases takes place, these molecules enters the leaves.

PLGA particles along with luciferin and Chitosan along with co-enzyme A  were designed to accumulate in the extracellular space, where as luciferase accumulate in the mesophyll. 

While the PLGA particles releases luciferin , it enters the cell and reacts with luciferase and which in turn makes luciferin glow.

They illuminated a plant for about four hours with this technology

The report published in Journal Nano letters was written by the research student of MIT  Seon-Yeong Kwak 

Glowing plant project was founded by Antony Evans four years before but was dropped in lack of fund.

Film AVATAR (2009)  deals with the phenomenon of light emitting plants in a planet called PENDORA in outer space. If you watch that film , you will get a feeling which you will never forget in life.