Brief Introduction to A nanobionic light-Emitting Plant

Abstract

The engineering of living plants for visible light
emission and sustainable illumination is compelling because
plants possess independent energy generation and storage
mechanisms and autonomous self-repair. Professor Michael S. Strano’s research group of MIT demonstrates a plant nanobionic approach, as reported in their article “A Nanobionic Light-Emitting Plant”, that enables exceptional
luminosity and lifetime utilizing four chemically interacting
nanoparticles, including firefly luciferase conjugated silica
(SNP-Luc), D-luciferin releasing poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)
(PLGA-LH2), coenzyme A functionalized chitosan (CS-CoA)
and semiconductor nanocrystal phosphors for longer wave-length modulation. Here we gave a brief introduction to their method and achievements of of nanobionic plants as self-powered photonics, direct and indirect light sources.