Science Fiction or Reality: Scientists Created Rechargeable, Glow-in-the-Dark Succulents

If you are a proud plant parent in your home or at the office, it is very likely that you have come across the perfect succulent that is resilient and flexible to fit a variety of spaces. Chances are probably very high, though, that none of your plants emit a glow or are outright glow-in-the-dark.

If scientists have anything to say about this, however, glow-in-the-dark succulents may soon be available for prospective plant parents to purchase.

Luminescent plants are an incredibly cool and funky topic to learn about, and if the science shows that multicolored, glow-in-the-dark plants become safe and stable to have in the home, you can be sure that these succulents will become widely available to purchase.

Continue reading below to learn more about the scientists who have created glow-in-the-dark succulent plants and what the future holds for interested consumers.

According to a report in CNN, Chinese researchers have developed what they believe to be the world's first multicolored, rechargeable, "brightest-ever luminescent plants."

"Picture the world of Avatar, where glowing plants light up an entire ecosystem. We wanted to make that vision possible using materials we already work with in the lab. Imagine glowing trees replacing streetlights," South China Agricultural University researcher and biologist Shuting Liu said, per CNN.

Liu and the Chinese researchers' work has been published in the journal Matter, where they proclaim that: "The optimization of plant luminescence has the potential to influence fields such as biology, architecture, and urban planning."

"Researchers are still working on developing cost-effective, efficient methods for producing bright, multicolored luminescent plants. A promising approach is the material-engineered luminescent plant strategy," according to the published work.

"To make the plants glow, Liu and her fellow researchers injected the leaves of the succulent Echeveria 'Mebina' with strontium aluminate, a material often used in glow-in-the-dark toys that absorbs light and gradually releases it over time," per the CNN report. "Injecting a plant with nanoparticles instead of editing its genes allowed the researchers to create plants that glow red, blue and green. Normally, constrained by the plant’s natural color, scientists can only create a green glow."

“Gene editing is an excellent approach,” Liu told CNN. “We were particularly inspired by inorganic afterglow materials that can be ‘charged’ by light and then release it slowly as afterglow, as well as by prior efforts on glowing plants that hinted at plant-based lighting — even concepts like plant streetlights.”

The ultimate goal, per Liu's interview with CNN, "was to integrate multicolor, long-afterglow materials with plants to move beyond the usual color limits of plant luminescence and provide a photosynthesis-independent way for plants to store and release light —essentially, a light charged, living plant lamp.”

While not yet ubiquitous and available for purchase commercially, the scientists proudly boast in the published paper, "Our work introduces the first multicolored luminescent plants, excited by sunlight, featuring unprecedented brightness, long afterglow, and a low-cost, simple, and reproducible method, paving the way for sustainable, plant-based lighting solutions."