Researchers implant organic electronics inside plants

LINKöPING, Sweden, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Researchers at Linköping University in Sweden have found a way to install organic electric circuits inside plants, combining a plant's natural signaling networks with manmade electronics.

Scientists have been testing the new technology in bionic roses. The roses' vascular systems are implanted with plant-compatible polymer circuits capable of carrying both an analog and digital electronic signal.

In one experiment, the researchers slit a rose stem and stuck it in a solution of PEDOT, a conductive polymer. The rose's vascular tissue sucks up the water soluble polymer. Once absorbed, the polymer is deposited from the solution, forming a wire. Scientists added switches and transistors to create a full electric circuit.

In a second experiment, researchers used a process called vacuum infiltration to suck the air out of rose leaves and fill the empty space with the same polymer. When a charge was applied the leaves changed colors.

The experiments were detailed in a new paper, published this week in the journal Science Advances.

Scientists say the technology could eventually be used to manipulate plant physiology electronically instead of rearranging DNA.

Studies have previously experimented with electronic plants.

Last year, scientists at MIT doubled the photosynthesis rate of spinach by coaxing the plant's chloroplasts into taking up carbon nanotubes, which helped the spinach absorb a broader range of solar wavelengths.

But the latest experiments are the first time researchers have successfully integrated a full circuit.

"Previously, we had no good tools for measuring the concentration of various molecules in living plants," study co-author Ove Nilsson said in a press release. "Now we'll be able to influence the concentration of the various substances in the plant that regulate growth and development. Here, I see great possibilities for learning more."

Lead author Magnus Berggren is now trying to come up with useful applications for the technology, like creating plants that power a fuel cell.

"Now we can really start talking about 'power plants' -- we can place sensors in plants and use the energy formed in the chlorophyll, produce green antennas or produce new materials," said Berggren, professor of organic electronics at Linköping.

"Everything occurs naturally, and we use the plants' own very advanced, unique systems." he added. "As far as we know, there are no previously published research results regarding electronics produced in plants. No one's done this before."