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We have previously featured Daan Roosegaarde’s futuristic dress that becomes transparent when the wearer gets turned on. Now, the Dutch designer is looking into making trees that glow in the dark so that street lamps will no longer be needed.
Roosegaarde hopes to use biomimicry to make trees glow in the dark—he observed jellyfish and fireflies, learning how they managed to generate their own light. He is collaborating with the State University of York and Alexander Krichevsky to transfer this ability to plants.
To do this, Krichevsky spliced DNA from luminescent marine bacteria to the chloroplast of a houseplant. The stem started to emit a faint light similar to fireflies and jellyfish. Roosegaarde is currently using this technology to make a light-emitting installation that looks like a tree.
As the EU does not allow genetically modified plants within the region, Roosegaarde had to travel to the US to receive his first glow-in-the-dark plant at SXSW.
Roosegaarde is also working on another project that uses bio-luminescence. Titled “Glowing Nature”, he is looking for a way to use bio-luminescent mushrooms to make mature trees emit light without damaging them.
What do you think—would you like to live in a city with glow-in-the-dark trees?
[via Dezeen Magazine]
We have previously featured Daan Roosegaarde’s futuristic dress that becomes transparent when the wearer gets turned on. Now, the Dutch designer is looking into making trees that glow in the dark so that street lamps will no longer be needed.
Roosegaarde hopes to use biomimicry to make trees glow in the dark—he observed jellyfish and fireflies, learning how they managed to generate their own light. He is collaborating with the State University of York and Alexander Krichevsky to transfer this ability to plants.
To do this, Krichevsky spliced DNA from luminescent marine bacteria to the chloroplast of a houseplant. The stem started to emit a faint light similar to fireflies and jellyfish. Roosegaarde is currently using this technology to make a light-emitting installation that looks like a tree.
As the EU does not allow genetically modified plants within the region, Roosegaarde had to travel to the US to receive his first glow-in-the-dark plant at SXSW.
Roosegaarde is also working on another project that uses bio-luminescence. Titled “Glowing Nature”, he is looking for a way to use bio-luminescent mushrooms to make mature trees emit light without damaging them.
What do you think—would you like to live in a city with glow-in-the-dark trees?
[via Dezeen Magazine]