We envision a resilient world dependent on the thoughtful cultivation of plants

Glowing Plant Producer Funded by Kickstarter

Articles: Glowing Plant Producer Funded by Kickstarter

The prospect of Avatar-like glowing plants is appealing to many folks. So much so that researchers at a start-up company in San Francisco working on the project with a shoestring budget were able to raise around a half-million dollars through online fundraising. Early donors to the campaign will be given seeds of a small mustard relative, promised to glow faintly when grown in any ordinary flower pot. Although the technology to insert the bioluminescence gene from a firefly into a plant has been available since the 1980s, equipment and material costs were prohibitive until recently. The co-founders stated that the main goal of the project was to inspire innovation. Plans are in the works to develop a glowing rose by 2015. Many scientists are not terribly concerned about the environmental risks of this particular plant introduction, but are concerned about the precedent set by this case with it’s possible escape from government regulation due to a technicality in US laws.

Nature 498, 15–16 (06 June 2013)

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Responses

Social Media

Garden Futurist Podcast

Most Popular

Videos

Topics

Related Posts

Pacific Plant People: Carol Bornstein

Spring 2022 Public gardens play a key role in demonstrating naturalistic planting design, selecting native and adapted plants for habitat, and testing techniques for reducing

Powered By MemberPress WooCommerce Plus Integration

Your free newsletter starts here!

Don’t want to see this pop-up? Members, log-in here.

Why do we ask for your zip code?

We do our best to make our educational content relevant for where you garden.

Why do we ask for your zip code?

We do our best to make our educational content relevant for where you garden.

The information you provide to Pacific Horticulture is NEVER sold, shared, or rented to others.

Pacific Horticulture generally sends only two newsletters per Month.