Glowing Plant project
The Glowing Plant project was the first crowdfunding campaign for a synthetic biology application. The project was started by the Sunnyvale-based hackerspace Biocurious as part of the DIYbio philosophy. According to the project's goals, funds will be used to create a glowing Arabidopsis thaliana plant, though long-term ambitions include the development of glowing trees that can be used to replace street lights, reducing CO2 emissions by not requiring electricity.
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Project funding
Using Kickstarter, the project's founders raised $484,000 on June 8, 2013.[1] This was significantly more than the initial target of $65,000.
Seeds were initially scheduled to be delivered in April 2014. In March 2016, delivery of seeds was forecast for 2016 on the Glowing Plant website.[2]
Interest in synthetic biology
Washington Post writes that Glowing Plant Project sparked interest in synthetic biology. [3]
Controversy
The project generated widespread media attention and a discussion of appropriate uses of biotechnology.[4] As a result of the controversy, Kickstarter decided to prohibit genetically modified organisms as rewards to project backers.[5]
Though the U.S. Department of Agriculture has shown no regulatory concerns about the project, some synthetic biologists and policy researchers have questioned the project's feasibility and impact on future oversight or public opinion of synthetic biology.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ Glowing Plants: Natural Lighting with no Electricity by Antony Evans — Kickstarter
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