Initially targeted to raise $65,000, the break out success of the crowdfunding campaign Glowing Plants: Natural Lighting with no Electricity on Kickstarter, now stands at over $460,000 raised by over 8000 contributors.
The campaign quickly incorporated stretch goals as it became apparent their crowdfunding initiative was going to incorporate a groundswell of support from enthusiastic supporters. The first goal of $400,000 was surpassed with the final Stretch still standing at $500,000. The bulk of support for the effort came at the lower levels of rewards where contributors could donate to acquire seeds to grow their own glowing plants.
The project manager of the Glowing Plant declared,
“We’re just thrilled to see so many supporters behind the project who are as passionate about
biology and sustainability as we are,” said Antony Evans. “We set out to share glowing plants with others and that’s exactly what we’ve done; supporters of our campaign are now able to make their very own glowing plants at home with our Maker Kit.”
The Glowing Plant campaign has captured the imagination of many individuals as the campaign organizers positioned themselves as creating plants which could potentially replace streetlamps using synthetic biology they are creating sustainable natural lighting. The team is inserting bioluminescence genes into Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant and member of the mustard family, to make a plant that visibly glows in the dark – almost mimicking the flora in the popular film Avatar.
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