Russian scientists create the planet's first luminous plants

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The deputy scientific director of the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of Russia, Ilia Yampolski, explained today that the center's researchers created luminous plants for the first time using genes from fungi.

"We were studying the mechanism of fungal luminescence, which was unknown until recently. By decoding all the molecules, we discovered that the key was caffeic acid, present in large quantities in all plants," the researcher emphasized to Izvestia. The specialist indicated that the project focused on understanding the mechanism of fungal bioluminescence to apply it to plant species.

Yampolski also commented that the work lasted 12 years, during which they isolated the molecules, determined their structure, and learned to encode them using genes.

Likewise, he added that the development is already being used to study plant physiology and test phytosanitary products, as well as to create crops with improved properties.

The official specified that the ornamental plant market in the Eurasian giant is valued at more than 100 billion dollars annually and that their plants are selling well in the United States.

"I hope that this year we reach an agreement on sales in Asia, perhaps in China or Malaysia," he added, while expressing his expectation of seeing commercially luminescent flowers, trees, and shrubs in the future. (Source: Prensa Latina)