<
https://knowablemagazine.org/content/article/society/2024/how-does-bioluminescent-petunia-glow-science>
"Petunias have never done much for me. If you had told me that one day, I’d
fork over more than $50 for a single petunia plant, my eyes would have rolled
out of my head. But this plant was special. This petunia glowed in the dark.
My plant was one of 50,000 shipped around the United States in April by the
Idaho-based biotech start-up Light Bio. Called the “Firefly” petunia, it
contains genes from bioluminescent mushrooms that make it constantly glow. A
news release announcing the petunia’s arrival included a photo of a woman
gazing serenely at a mass of flowers lit up like oversized glow-in-the-dark
stars.
Well, that’s a neat trick, I thought.
I also wondered whether the Firefly petunia was more than just a trick. Though
it seemed inconsequential, perhaps there was some implication I hadn’t thought
of. At the very least, the plant might make me — a great admirer of plants (but
a bit of a botanical snob) — think differently about petunias, those go-to
ornamentals for gas stations and mansions alike.
I decided to learn more. So I paid my $53 ($29 for the plant, $24 for shipping)
and placed an order."
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/274-beautiful-confusion-billion-years/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
