These are so cool. Petunias that have been genetically engineered to glow in the dark. https://www.scientificamerican.com/...-glows-in-the-dark-and-could-be-yours-for-29/ I would probably buy one if it wasn't so expensive, and if I saw it around here.
Bioluminescence is a wonderful thing. And thanks to advances in the field of genetic technology, (like CRISPR/Cas9), we will eventually get plants which will some day give us meat... Far fetched? Just a theory for now? Only in science fiction? But so was glowing plants a quarter century ago. The future is indeed a very bright one - literally!
I found the website and thought about them. Then... $29 for one petunia plant +$28 for shipping ONE plant! ====================== total = $53 for one plant. The bioluminescence is very cool. I understand it's a costly process. But no way. https://light.bio/#!/~/
If it is possible to propagate it, then it'll be worth it - Because that way you'll have it forever. But since it is genetically modified, I suspect it'll be tweaked in such a way. That propagation would be impossible, (so the company can keep charging you for more plants). They might actually say, that they have deliberately made the plants infertile - So not to cause any damage to the environment. But actually they'll be motivated by profit only. That anyhow is what I suspect... Because to be honest, that's exactly what I'd do - If I had the ability & opportunity.
It wouldn't surprise me. I'm sure they are patented and copyrighted. It's their right. I never propagate a patented variety. I don't NEED them. Sometimes it's difficult to know, but the info should be out there. Maybe the price will come down in a few years. Wouldn't a glowing maple tree be beautiful? Or neem tree?
I don't know what would certain types of birds will do. Who require a dense and bushy tree to build their nests in. So they can have good coverage all around as camouflage - Now if these trees started glowing in the dark... As for them making their glowing plants infertile - I just realized something. That propagating plants from seeds isn't the only way. There is stem cuttings, as well as grafting. However that doesn't work on every plant or tree. But plant tissue culture works on all plants! And it's not too difficult either, as teenagers are nowadays doing on their desks in from of their bedroom windows... All you need is a small pressure cooker, (to sterilize all your equipment), some laboratory glassware, which too is easy to get from just about anywhere, (mostly petri dishes). Some plant growth hormones, (easily available online), and a little biological growth medium, (like agar gel). Final ingredient is watching a few videos about plant tissue culture on YouTube. And even a 6 year old child will easily be able to clone any type of plant in existence! Therefore even if such plants are deliberately made infertile - There is still a way around it, there shall always a way around. Such is how nature is my friends... In fact, plant gene editing too is something teenager biology students can now attempt. And there is no way for anyone to stop this. As now you don't really need a multi million dollar laboratory - You just need is a bright mind which is constantly hungry for knowledge, and continues to stay motivated. So go ahead, keep trying to make plants infertile for profit. It won't work for long. As cloning such plants is easy, (by tissue culture). And adding back something into the plant's genetics to restore their fertility, also isn't impossible.
Forgot to mention, that cross pollination too is something. Where nature itself will do everything automatically. So out of a few hundred attempts, (which you will be able to do easily if you take up plant tissue culture as a hobby). Then eventually there will be a plant, which will have this same bioluminescent glow in the dark gene. But also won't be infertile either. As Jeff Goldblum in the first Jurassic Park movie kept on saying - "Life Finds A Way"... In the movie they too tried to make all dinosaurs infertile, and to double make sure, they made them all females, (no males anywhere around)... But they forgot that some reptiles in infancy can switch sex, if they are in an all female or all male environment. So that's how everything got out of hand in the movie. Seemed pretty far fetched at the time, 30+ years ago when that movie came out. But not so anymore... So it seems that The Day Of The Triffids will soon be upon us all. And so on that happy note, I say to everyone something which is a taunting proverb in the Chinese culture - May you live in interesting times...
S-h, I haven't grown petunias except as annuals. I think they are easy to grow from cuttings. They can also be grafted. An in interesting thing about tissue culture - they are supposed to be genetically identical, but sometimes they lose genes. Progeny may grow or look different. I bet those glowing petunias are tissue cultured and not grown from seeds. It's just my guess. In microbiology, bioluminescent genes used to be added to other genes being transferred, as an easy way of identifying bacterial colonies that expressed the new genes. Back in my mind, something says that is true for plants too. I think those genes are patented too. I remember farmers getting sued by monsanto because their soybeans were pollinated by pollen upwind from Roundup resistant soybeans. Not fair, and maybe not true, but I remember reading if.
Well, I'm not a biologist, so I lack in depth knowledge about the exact workings when it comes to genetic engineering... All I know is that these bioluminescent genes are found in 3 places in nature. Fireflies, and deep sea creatures, (who evolved that way, as sunlight doesn't reach that deep down at the bottom of the oceans). As well as bioluminescent dinoflagellates, which are a type of plankton around the surface of the sea, which sometimes glow at night. So this is from where such bioluminescent genes must have been first identified, then harvested, (which is neither easy nor cheap). Afterwards however, with tools like CRISPR/Cas9 at our disposal, inserting these genes into the plant's DNA is easy nowadays. If I remember correctly, the first plant which was successfully glowing in the dark like this. Was tobacco. Let me see if I can find it on the net somewhere... I was right! https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00383-3#:~:text=In 1986, he and his,used by plant biologists today Anyway in 1986 tools like CRISPR/Cas9 didn't exist. So it was more of a hit or miss thing. As the best tool they had at the time was trying to fuse genes together with electricity, (which is what they used to clone Dolly the sheep). Not sure what it was called. However today we can pinpoint everything in a far better way. And I was wrong about only 3 places in nature where bioluminescence exists. It's actually 5! See link below. https://inhabitat.com/5-bioluminescent-species-that-light-up-the-world Anyhow thank you @Daniel W for starting this thread over here. I loved reading about it. So now you've just inspired me to continue looking up such beautiful things over the internet.
I posted this in February and I read that they glow at dusk for a short time . I ordered 2 plants . I originally read about this over 10 years ago. Been waiting for it to finally become available. I couldn’t stop from buying this lil special gem . I was expecting it to be a bit spendy but who wouldn’t want the first illuminated plant . Now if they could only make them hardy and over winter , they are annuals in my zone. https://www.gardenstew.com/posts/426746/
You’re welcome.. no problem. I think I’m gonna have to harvest more of my ginko, rosemary and mint plants to help improve my memory. If it’s not too late. Some days it’s an overactive body with an under-active brain. Not the greatest combo. I have developed a memory system using post-it notes. Memory system works great.
Of course will keep you up to date. These plants may come in handy at night during power outages. PGE turns off power to our homes temporarily during extreme heat weather conditions to prevent the electric system from becoming a potential source of ignition. I’m curious to see how these new ‘firefly petunias’ will perform.
