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The Pros And Cons Of Glowing Plants

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Glowing plants, this sounds like a thing you can see straight out of some science-fiction film, but this biological wonder has already been created. In fact, the first bioluminescent (glowing) tobacco plant was created in 1986 with a gene containing a firefly enzyme, even though it needed eight hours to charge it still had a very dim glow. Also, in 2010 another tobacco plant was genetically modified to have its own glow from bacterial genes instead. Now there are versions of the Arabidopsis plant that are being created with greater light production than ever. Before all of this could ever happen you need to look in the natural bioluminescence we see all around us, like in fireflies, sea creatures, and fungi. Humans have been recording luminous …show more content…

This causes apprehension for ecologists around the world. They fear that they may become an invasive species choking the life out of whatever is in its grasp, eventually posing a risk to humans. Or the plants could survive in the wild and confuse fireflies when they are looking for a mate. Another problem found with this idea is having to sustain a plant, many people may forget about it or not be able to maintain it to its fullest and not get the desired amount of light. Also since the plants are growing in popularity, there is also concern about what could happen when home grown scientists get a hold of this technology. Countless ecologists yearn for the plant to go off the market so that an ecological disaster can be avoided. To avert this from ever happening the creators of the Arabidopsis have decided to use a gene gun to transfer the genetic code in the organism’s cells. This method will deliver the DNA in a way that is considered safe by the USDA ( United States Department of Agriculture). As for ecologists concern with the plants hazardous to other flora the truth is that the plant would most likely be hurting itself. When a Arabidopsis creates light it takes extra energy to do so, thus depleting the energy it has to sustain its life. This is why the average lifespan of the plant is only a few months and also why the plant can not produce much light. So the real problem is creating plants that can live an elongated life, while also being able to produce a brilliant light that shines as though it were a street lamp, which is another goal of bioluminescent

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