World’s first ‘Electronic-Plants’ fuse electronics with roses

Dec 14, 2015

A team of researchers at Linkoping University in Sweden have managed to create 'Electronic Plants' that can grow conductive wires inside themselves to form living machines.

The scientists have used vascular system of living roses to build the main components of electronic circuits by merging numerous electrical components inside the roses, including digital logic, wires and even various display-based elements by using a special polymer PEDOT-S that works like a wire and transports water and nutrients upwards from the root.

PEDOT-S was infused into the roses, and it created a functional monochromatic screen in the plant’s leaves by separating certain electrochemical cells and voltage was applied to manipulate the position of the polymers relative to the leaf's surface.

This is the first example of electronic functionality added to plants. These are early steps to merge the diverse fields of plant science and organic electronics.

An e-Plant concept is certainly the future of plant science and agriculture, using which we would control and manipulate plants. Growth regulators, sensors and photosynthesis-based fuel cells, or tools that control the internal processes of plants are a few potential applications down the track.

Source: http://www.iflscience.com/technology/scientist-develop-first-cyber-plant