Kickstarter crowd gives glowing plant the green light
26 replies, posted
[QUOTE]A glowing plant that could provide a sustainable light source has caught the imagination of backers on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.
With a month still to go, the project has raised $243,000 (£157,000). Its initial goal was $65,000.
Backers are promised seeds for glowing plants, although delivery will not be until next May at the earliest.
The "biohacking" team behind the project said that in future trees could act as street lights.
The researchers are keen that their mix of DIY synthetic biology and sustainable lighting remains open-source.
"Inspired by fireflies... our team of Stanford-trained PhDs are using off-the-shelf methods to create real glowing plants in a do-it-yourself bio lab in California," said project leader Antony Evans.
"All of the output from this project will be released open-source, the DNA constructs, the plants etc," it said on its website.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/antonyevans/glowing-plants-natural-lighting-with-no-electricit[/url]
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22433866[/url]
[t]https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000/546/292/503d80dcda680c743d3f43434153653b_large.jpg?1367018879[/t]
Awesome project, but the creator scares me.
I'm hoping for glow in the dark roses.
At first glance the final little diagram looks like they're turning this plant into paper.
Also, would you just throw a blanket over it when you want to sleep?
It is a pretty genius idea, good way to save on the electricity bill, the only cost would be keeping the plant alive and it's pretty much the same cost of a glass of tap water a day, maybe less if you can use this method on cacti.
Now give us spiderman plz
Man I do love Biology.
This truly is the era of crowdfunding.
It's an interesting idea, but it seems like it wouldn't work for a lot of instances and it would require a lot of maintenance. For example, you couldn't use this in interiors without sunlight as the plant still requires photosynthesis to keep it alive. You'd also have to constantly maintain it and any other plants like it by watering it and such. You could use it as an outdoor light where you don't have to worry about water (for the most part) or sunlight, but then you'd have to worry about it spreading to the environment and possibly becoming an invasive species to the local habitat.
I'm a bit skeptical, but it's already funded, so I guess time will tell.
[QUOTE=Fhenexx;40573627]you'd have to worry about it spreading to the environment and possibly becoming an invasive species to the local habitat.[/QUOTE]
[img]http://www.avatar.matthewclose.co.uk/Media/Pandora3.jpg[/img]????????????
Sounds really cool.
If I had the money.
[QUOTE=Fhenexx;40573627]It's an interesting idea, but it seems like it wouldn't work for a lot of instances and it would require a lot of maintenance. For example, you couldn't use this in interiors without sunlight as the plant still requires photosynthesis to keep it alive. You'd also have to constantly maintain it and any other plants like it by watering it and such. You could use it as an outdoor light where you don't have to worry about water (for the most part) or sunlight, but then you'd have to worry about it spreading to the environment and possibly becoming an invasive species to the local habitat.
I'm a bit skeptical, but it's already funded, so I guess time will tell.[/QUOTE]
Meh, i'm guessing it'll be used mostly as a decoration. Maybe as an emergency flashlight?
[QUOTE=Glorbo;40573701]Meh, i'm guessing it'll be used mostly as a decoration. Maybe as an emergency flashlight?[/QUOTE]
Lights are out... grab the potted lettuce!
There's a lot of problems with this. You wouldn't be able to efficiently light underground areas or areas cut off from sunlight. It'd really only be useful in areas that receive direct sunlight throughout the day, and they'd only be noticeable at night.
Sure, it'd cut down on pollution, but the only areas I could see this working well at are on roadsides for lighting at night - and then you have the very serious issue of them branching off into the local ecosystems.
It's a damn cool idea but there's no way in hell it will replace electric lighting.
It's a bold project that I wouldn't mind funding, but I can't see much for it beyond outdoor street lighting and such. I'm also worried that fluorescent genes may not carry the necessary brightness to light up a large area like that.
Backed it, I'm getting seeds for a glowing plant!
Going to increase my contribution if it gets close to the glowing rose stretch goal.
[editline]8th May 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=.Isak.;40574018]There's a lot of problems with this. You wouldn't be able to efficiently light underground areas or areas cut off from sunlight. It'd really only be useful in areas that receive direct sunlight throughout the day, and they'd only be noticeable at night.
Sure, it'd cut down on pollution, but the only areas I could see this working well at are on roadsides for lighting at night - and then you have the very serious issue of them branching off into the local ecosystems.
It's a damn cool idea but there's no way in hell it will replace electric lighting.[/QUOTE]
It involves an energy cost to the plant, so there is no way this thing could compete and win against regular plants in the wild. Also, a possible (probably impractical) way to light underground areas with these is to make the roots glow, and have the roots help support the tunnel or whatever while the rest is above ground.
[QUOTE=.Isak.;40574018]There's a lot of problems with this. You wouldn't be able to efficiently light underground areas or areas cut off from sunlight. It'd really only be useful in areas that receive direct sunlight throughout the day, and they'd only be noticeable at night.
Sure, it'd cut down on pollution, but the only areas I could see this working well at are on roadsides for lighting at night - and then you have the very serious issue of them branching off into the local ecosystems.
It's a damn cool idea but there's no way in hell it will replace electric lighting.[/QUOTE]
Would it be possible to block its reproduction cycle? I thought we already did that with some plants.
I don't see this going very far unless they produce it in some 3rd world country with no laws against trade of certain genetic engineered plants.
It's the nightmare of any ethnics jury.
[editline]8th May 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=_Kent_;40574099]Backed it, I'm getting seeds for a glowing plant!
Going to increase my contribution if it gets close to the glowing rose stretch goal.
[editline]8th May 2013[/editline]
It involves an energy cost to the plant, so there is no way this thing could compete and win against regular plants in the wild. Also, a possible (probably impractical) way to light underground areas with these is to make the roots glow, and have the roots help support the tunnel or whatever while the rest is above ground.[/QUOTE]
Just one stupid uneducated guess from me already kinda solves the energy problem:
The insects it draws by night could act as fertilizer.
Yes its possible to block it's reproduction completely. This is done for plants that have wild relatives, like corn, which are getting pesticide resistance or something else that would increase its potential to survive in the wild. That is how pesticide resistant GM weeds can happen.
[editline]8th May 2013[/editline]
[QUOTE=Killuah;40574204]I don't see this going very far unless they produce it in some 3rd world country with no laws against trade of certain genetic engineered plants.
It's the nightmare of any ethnics jury.
[editline]8th May 2013[/editline]
Just one stupid uneducated guess from me already kinda solves the energy problem:
The insects it draws by night could act as fertilizer.[/QUOTE]
That could in theory work, if this was a venus flytrap or something. This is a wimpy little garden plant grown all over the world though, and insects are more likely to eat it than fertilize it.
I kind of want a glowing venus flytrap or pitcher plant now :P
This kind of stuff is what we need to throw millions of dollars at, not overblown game projects.
[QUOTE=Chrille;40573695]Sounds really cool.
If I had the money.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/algae-lamp-absorbs-200-times-more-carbon-dioxide-than-trees-doesn-t-require-electricity"]This[/URL] could be an easy alternative. Algae is common as hell.
I think I'll stick to [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glofish"]GloFish.[/url] Oh, no, wait, actually we've got a huge ethnic problem with copyrighting artificially created living beings and/or supporting shit like Monsanto.
Don't know exactly about how legal it is in the US, but here in Europe we raise all eyebrows available.
I like this! Can't wait for a time where I can plant a tree with glowing leaves.
[QUOTE=Marik Bentusi;40574447]I think I'll stick to [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glofish"]GloFish.[/url] Oh, no, wait, actually we've got a huge ethnic problem with copyrighting artificially created living beings and/or supporting shit like Monsanto.
Don't know exactly about how legal it is in the US, but here in Europe we raise all eyebrows available.[/QUOTE]
oh! and dont forget patenting organic genes in the human body!
Don't expect to be able to read in the light.
It glow in such a way you will notice the plant shining in a dark room, but it won't really light up the surrounding usably.
It might be nice for navigating completely dark area and getting points of reference, tho.
I think it can be a pretty annoying light-source if you can't really turn it off.
ALSO, MY BRAIN KEEPS THINKING MR. BEAN (The Project Manager, Anthony Evans)
give her the green light
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