Project Description: Everglow
With electricity consumption increasing across the globe, the conservation of energy has become a topic of major concern. Our team has devised an innovative solution to reduce electricity usage by attempting to create genetically modified bioluminescent plants. By altering particles on the microscopic level, we hope to create plants that can glow and thus replace electricity in the future. To these ends, our team conducted experiments to transfer the lux operon, a cluster of genes (LuxCDABEG) that control bioluminescence in the bacterial species Aliivibrio fischeri, to plant species like Nicotiana tabacum. We also attempted to insert an extra copy of LuxG to enhance the effects of bioluminescence. The results are promising and point to the possibility of creating a greener alternative to current lighting. Furthermore, we will design a new plasmid that can detect potential stress factors like ethanol and report the signal with stronger bioluminescence.