The glowing tree can replace street lights

The sight of glowing trees on both sides of the road will not only appear in fictional movies thanks to a US study.

Transplanting luciferase into plants can cause them to glow. (Photo: Discovery)

Antony Evans, owner of a US technology business, and biologist Omri Amirav-Drory and botanist expert Kyle Tayler are determined to create a tree that glows strongly in the project called Glowing Plant. They use luciferase, a protein that breaks down the structure of fuel to create light, Discovery reported.

"The process of disrupting luciferase's fuel structure is very effective because it does not generate heat," said biologist Omri Amirav-Drory.

Luciferase helps fireflies, fungi and some glowing bacteria. Transplanting luciferase into plants is a relatively complicated process. Because plants take energy in the cell to glow, their adaptability will decrease compared to other plants.

Scientists on the island of Taiwan used to implant gold nanoparticles - also known as biological LEDs - into aquatic plants to glow them in water. They also want those plants to become street lighting tools, but still have to overcome some challenges before reaching their desires. A group of New York University researchers also created luminescent trees, but their light intensity was quite weak.