Street lighting trees in the future

The appearance of cities will change spectacularly when the glowing trees replace the lampposts on the streets.

>>>The glowing tree replaces the lamp
>>> Breakthrough artificial light technology

Study on the luminous ability of Vibrio fischeri . (Photo: Newscenter).

Countless species of organisms have the ability to glow in nature, such as fireflies or Vibrio fischeri . They have the ability to create light thanks to some special genes in the body. These genes instruct the body to produce enzymes that produce light. However, most creatures only produce weak light so humans cannot see.

To increase their brightness, a group of genetic engineering students from Cambridge University in the UK modified genes involved in the light-making process of fireflies and Vibrio fischeri bacteria. After the gene transformation process, the amount of enzyme that the body produces and the ability of the enzyme to produce light all increase, Newscientist said.

The group of students implanted genes that transformed into Escherichia coli - bacteria that live in the intestines of humans and warm-blooded animals - to create a variety of colors of different colors. They found that when the number of bacteria increased to the equivalent of a bottle of wine, the light they emitted was strong enough for the human eye to feel.

If the mutated genes are implanted in the plant genome, they will also emit light.

According to Sanderson , a member of the research team, saying that they have not created glowing trees yet, their results will be helpful in the future of glowing plants.

One of the obstacles to the use of glowing bacteria is the process of producing light depending on a group of compounds called luciferin . These compounds emit light and turn into oxyluciferin , which does not produce light. To overcome this problem, the University of Cambridge team found a way to help bacteria create enzymes capable of recycling oxyluciferin into luciferin .

Sanderson and colleagues predict glowing trees that will open up many great applications in the future. For example, they can replace street lights in urban areas. When a tree replaces a street light pole, the amount of electricity that people produce will decrease, resulting in a decrease in the level of environmental pollution. To increase the amount of light on the road, people just need to plant more trees. If transplanting glowing genes into algae, humans can use them to " store " sunlight and use it at night. Scientists also consider using garbage to stimulate light production in plants, so that waste will become a useful material.