Cover News Reporter Tan Yuqing **Courtesy of the interviewee.
Hey, do you know? Recently, a cool glowing morning glory has been on sale overseas! During the day, they look like ordinary white morning glories, but at night they glow green, almost like alien plants from the "Avatar World"!
Doesn't that sound amazing? Want to know how glowing morning glory was born? Curious when you'll be able to own a glowing plant? Then please read on.
A luminescent plant developed by Chinese scientists.
The Birth of a Glowing Plant: Learn from Glowing Mushrooms!
In the world, it is not uncommon for species to emit light, and there are luminescent members in organisms such as insects, jellyfish, mushrooms, etc. Therefore, a long, long time ago, scientists began to try to use biotechnology to allow plants to "learn" the ability of other species to emit light.
They used to put some of the genes that make fireflies glow into plants, but the results were not ideal. Because these plants can only glow after receiving special drugs, and the light is weak.
Scientists have also tried to get plants to learn from glowing jellyfish. However, plants with jellyfish genes emit much weaker light that can only be detected with special instruments. And these plants also need special care to shine.
What can I do? Just when the scientists were distressed, a glowing mushroom came into their sight.
The mushroom's ability to emit light is due to a series of chemical reactions. To put it simply, the luciferase of the mushroom reacts with some light-emitting substrate to make the mushroom glow. Among them, the key luminescent substrate of mushrooms is caffeic acid, which is a substance that many plants can produce on their own.
So, scientists had a flash of inspiration and through genetic engineering, plants learned to produce luciferase for mushrooms, thus successfully making plants that can emit light on their own, including luminous morning glories.
Domestic luminescent plants are on their way!
Recently, the glowing morning glory overseas ** is very worry-free, although it was born from "science and technology", it does not need special care to take home. Treat it like a normal plant, bask it, water it, and it will "return" you a little bit of light at night.
Hearing this, are you a little envious of overseas children? After all, they are capable of having magical glowing plants.
Don't worry, our scientists in China are also working hard to develop their own luminescent plants. They told reporters that it is expected that in the near future, domestic luminescent plants will be able to appear on the market! And they also hope that through synthetic biotechnology, they can create brighter, more colorful luminescent plants, so that we have more choices.
On top of that, glowing plants may be even more useful in the future! For example, they may be able to help us detect harmful heavy metals in the soil, or remind us of harmful gases such as formaldehyde in our homes. In this way, luminescent plants can not only beautify the environment, but also protect our health!
So, let's look forward to the advent of domestic luminescent plants, and more of their magical functions!