Trees have plenty of uses beyond wood flooring, and now one company is working to add another: no-emission lighting. The crowd-funded Glowing Plant Project has spliced bioluminescent genes from fireflies into Arabidopsis plants-the first plant to have its entire genome sequenced-and project founder Antony Evans hopes one day to light streets with bioluminescent trees. For $50, contributors can receive seeds for a glowing Arabidopsis plant, and for $300, they can get a kit to genetically alter a plant at home. The Kickstarter campaign far exceeded its fundraising goal of $65,000, bringing in $484,013 from 8,433 backers. The big lingering question: Will the bioluminescent wood be compatible with wood floor finishes?
See the Glowing Plant Project's Kickstarter campaign video: