Glow in the dark plants and other bioluminescent creatures
- Published
Glow in the dark plants
A group of scientists has created plants that glow in the dark, the glowing is called bio-luminescence and is found in lots of different insects, sea creatures and even mushrooms.
The scientists made plants glow by injecting DNA from glowing mushrooms into them.
Their report in the journal Nature Biotechnology said they found plants that had mushroom DNA glowed continuously throughout their lifecycle, from seedling to maturity.
But why did they do it? Well, they say the new discovery could be used to create glowing flowers glowing flowers and other ornamental plants.
What is bioluminescence?
It's when living things make and give off their own light.
Lots of sea creatures, bacteria, fungi and some insects like fireflies use it.
Bioluminescent algae in Jervis Bay, Australia, glows in a captivating night time display
The light is formed from a chemical reaction in the animal's body.
The glow is used for different reasons including communicating with each other, finding prey, hiding from or warning off predators and attracting a mate.
As much as 76 percent of ocean animals are bioluminescent, producing their own light through a series of chemical reactions or containing bacteria give off light.
Here are some amazing bioluminescent creatures.
Sea fireflies in Japan - they are actually thousands of tiny glowing shrimp that live in shallow water
Comb jellyfish llight up the dark waters of the ocean near Bali in Indonesia
These funky fluorescent green mushroom can be found in Borneo
This beautiful sight is caused by millions of tiny bioluminescent plankton in the water in this mangrove forest in Thailand
Fireflies can turn their light on or off and use the sequence of flashes to communicate with each other
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