They create the first bionic plant

They create the first bionic plant

Researchers at MIT have incorporated 'prothesis' of carbon nanotubes in the leaves of several plants, which have improved their ability to absorb light by 30%

   A team of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has created the first bionic plants in history. They have threaded carbon nanotubes along their leaves and managed to improve their ability to absorb light by 30%. Its technology, which is still in an incipient phase, could allow the creation of plants with a higher growth rate, or able to detect all kinds of chemical elements, including explosives.

  Researchers have discovered a technique that allows carbon nanotubes to integrate into chloroplasts the cells that convert sunlight into food and energy from the plant. They succeeded in coating each nanotube on a DNA film, which allowed it to pass through cell walls without breaking them.

Carbon nanotubes are tiny filaments actually, hollow tubes of an atom of thickness with great capacity for the conduction of electrons and for the absorption of light. The researchers used them for both reasons. Also because, if your diameter is changed, you can decide what kind of light they capture.

Potential applications

Although the results of the research suggest that the plants improved their efficiency by 30% after the incorporation of this material, scientists still do not know exactly the reasons. "Nanotubes may be producing electrons directly, or they may be doing something called energy transfer by resonance," Michael Strano, one of the participants in the creation, told Popular Mechanics magazine. "But we're not sure, and we do not want to speculate."

The applications of this technique would not only allow to create more efficient plants, but also to use them to detect all kinds of chemical elements. Among the possible applications would be the detection of explosives or poisonous substances in the air.

In addition, the researchers say, the technology needed to create these super efficient plants is quite cheap. According to his calculations, it now costs about 10 cents per plant, and can be cheaper even if the process is industrialized.