Cover of the November issue of TIME featuring the Firefly petunias
Glow in the dark petunias developed using research conducted by the Synthetic Biology group, headed by Dr Karen Sarkisyan, at the MRC Laboratory for Medical Sciences have been named on TIME’s List of the Best Inventions of 2024.
Less than two months after Dr Karen Sarkisyan was named one of MIT Technology Review’s “Innovators Under 35” for his work with glow in the dark plants, the Firefly Petunias sold by Light Bio, co-founded by Karen, have been named in TIME’s List of the Best Inventions of 2024.
The plants utilise a mushroom-based bioluminescence pathway optimised by the Synthetic Biology group at the LMS. The pathway takes advantage of some surprising similarities between mushroom bioluminescence and plant metabolism to produce more light than expected.
The Firefly petunias, courtesy of Bio Light
The plants were a huge leap forward compared to previous attempts emitting “between 10 and 100 times more light than the previous generation – and there’s scope for more development” says Karen, “although it’s not bright enough to keep you awake at night. It’s a gentle green glow like the light of the brightest stars.”
While the technology used to produce the Firefly Petunia has many applications the plants themselves were designed with the sole goal of creating something beautiful. This move away from the usually application focused world of biotechnology caught the attention of the TIME’s editors who when asked about the list highlighted Karen’s work saying “The result is a list of 200 groundbreaking inventions (and 50 special mention inventions)—including the world’s largest computer chip, a humanoid robot joining the workforce, and a bioluminescent houseplant—that are changing how we live, work, play, and think about what’s possible.” Additionally, the glowing flowers were also used as part of the front cover of the November edition of TIME.
Congratulations to Karen, the Synthetic Biology group and the rest of the team at Light Bio!
