- 50,000 of the revolutionary light-up plants, called Firefly Petunia, for sale
- Their DNA is spliced with genes from a mushroom that naturally glows in the wild
Genetically engineered petunias that glow in the dark are available for sale in the United States.
The revolutionary luminous plant, called Firefly Petunia, has flowers that look white during the day but emit light that glows green in the darkness.
The petunias glow because their DNA is spliced with genes from a mushroom that glows naturally.
The plants cost $29.00 (£22.00) and are currently only available for purchase in the US.
The revolutionary luminous plant, called Firefly Petunia, has flowers that look white during the day but emit light that glows green in the darkness.
The petunias glow because their DNA is spliced with genes from a mushroom that glows naturally
The firefly petunia glows a soft green in the dark thanks to genes implanted in it, which come from a bioluminescent mushroom called Neonothopanus nambi, found in Central and South America, Malaysia and Australia.
The company behind the plant, Light Bio of Sun Valley, Idaho, has grown 50,000 of the plants for sale.
The glowing plants differ from another genetically modified organism for sale on the US market, the Glo Fish, which is fluorescent and only glows under ultraviolet light.
The firefly petunia glows without special light bulbs to illuminate it.
Karen Sarkisyan, a synthetic biologist at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences in London, one of the founders of Light Bio, told Nature.com: ‘If you treat the plant very well, if it gets enough sunlight and is healthy, it will be brighter glow,” although it won’t be bright enough to keep you awake at night, he added.
The plant was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in September.
The plants cost $29.00 (£22.00) and are currently only available for purchase in the US
Light Bio said the type of petunia did not grow in the U.S. and is not considered an invasive species, so the chance of spreading into the wild should be minimal.
Another genetically modified vegetable is the purple tomato, the seeds of which hit the U.S. market this year—and became the first genetically modified food product marketed to gardeners.
Genes from a snapdragon plant have been inserted into the purple tomato to produce a fruit rich in purple antioxidants, which are thought to provide health benefits to those who eat them.
Matt Appleby, gardening expert and editor of Horticulture Week, said he expected genetically modified houseplants such as the glowing petunia and the purple tomato to soon be on sale in Britain under new legislation.
Mr Appleby said: ‘It’s only a matter of time before we get more weird and wonderful, useful and marketable garden plants in Britain. Gardeners love novelty, so bring it on.”
But Pat Thomas of the anti-GM group Beyond GM said that if new laws were introduced, such plants could be sold in Britain – but would provide little benefit to humanity.
‘New planned legislation will soon ensure that these types of genetically engineered plants will be freely available without labelling, and the government is working with some speed to introduce this.
‘A key point here is that a big part of the ‘sale’ for genetically engineered plants is that they will deliver meaningful and measurable public benefits that will help us fight climate change and feed a hungry world.
‘It is difficult to understand how glow in the dark petunias fall into this category. Reality studies show that the plants marketed using genetic technologies largely fall into what I would call the ‘fluffy’ category of crowd-pleasing, color and taste changing plants that do not provide meaningful benefits to humans or the planet. and exist only to make quick, short-term profits.’