Mother Nature might be a bit of a ring pop-sucking club kid, because she made bioluminescent bacteria. Woo. While it occurs naturally in aquatic settings, it’s become prime fodder for genetic engineers, who are constantly trying to reproduce that neon glow-in-the-dark splendor in lab settings. That’s pretty cool. But don’t you want YOUR OWN genetically engineered bioluminescent organism?
Soon you can, thanks to the scientists behind the Glowing Plant Project, who have already surpassed their $65,000.00 funding goal on Kickstarter several times over. The team has been hard at work in the lab, selecting specific bioluminescent bacteria genes to be inserted into plants using a DNA-coding software called Genome Compiler. The result will be these florescent alien plants that can ultimately replace electricity-guzzling light sources altogether. They’re super trippy and sustainable! With 31 days to go, the project has already raised $235,420.00 in funding, which is pretty damn impressive.
