Firefly petunias, one of the first bioluminescent plants available on the market, begin to glow during the 'Illuminate the Night' event May 31 at Moss Greenhouses near Jerome.
CECILY PARKS For the Times-News
KETCHUM -- For many people, science represents explanation -- it is the key to the riddle of our natural world. Many scientists work to solve the complications of our world or at least provide an array of tested and recommended solutions.
Sun Valley resident Keith Wood has taken a recent turn away from solving problems and has harnessed his previous research in bioluminescence to bring a spectacle of vibrance to the public -- a glow-in-the-dark garden petunia.
During an early July afternoon, the sun leaked through the windows in Wood's kitchen as he reached for a glass jug of milk in his fridge. Moving swiftly around his kitchen like an aerodynamic barista, glasses resting on the wide part of his nose, Wood described the mission of his company, LightBio.
"Unlike virtually every other biotech company you have ever heard of, our company is using biotechnology just to bring enjoyment," he said.
People are also reading... Twin Falls County Most Wanted Police: Jerome woman dies in crash with semi that ran stop sign 'When destiny calls': Jerome native sets to publish book based on her life story Fatality crash in Twin Falls County sends two others to hospital CHASING GOALS: Wendell soccer coaches balance marriage with sport they love Death Notices Rupert man faces additional felony charge in poaching conspiracy, co-defendant in court State revokes four teaching certificates Death Notices New judge sets expectations in case against man charged with killing 4 Idaho university students BEAST MODE: 'Smash mouth' Sonner-Cranney ties Minico touchdown record Gov. Little and drug task force announce take down of Magic Valley drug-trafficking network Ketchum businessman to pay $850,000 in COVID relief fraud case Minico routs Burley: Week 5 Magic Valley high school football scores, live updates, stats Chain-reaction crash south of Wendell injures 1
Wood's seemingly supernatural product is founded on the proposition of bringing delight and wonder to its customers. While it might not be fighting on the front lines of today's explicit scientific qualms such as the ever-looming climate dread, Wood is not as far from being a problem-solving scientist as he initially seems.
A pioneer in bioluminescence
Wood was an early pioneer of bioluminescence being utilized for scientific exploration. Beginning as a graduate student in 1985 at a University of California, San Diego, laboratory, he was part of a team that spliced a firefly gene into a tobacco plant. At the time, biotechnology wasn't yet available for the plant to sustain its light independent of a substrate, so Wood went on to use similarly genetically engineered bioluminescence to study molecular biology.
After 40 years and a discovery of luminescent fungi, Wood decided to rekindle his original intrigue in bioluminescent plants, creating his company LightBio, based in Ketchum.
The first of LightBio's products was sold in late April of this year. The firefly petunia is meant to shed beams equivalent to moonlight from its planter or its pose in a backyard garden. The reason the bioluminescent plants are technically feasible where previous efforts weren't has to do with the symmetry in metabolic processes between fungi and plants.
"We were very impressed with the potential of the fungal system because it was based on metabolites which are naturally present in plants at high levels," Wood said. "We didn't have to reengineer the metabolic pathways much at all because they're already there."
Overcoming stigma
Wood started LightBio in 2019 and working on the firefly petunia took many experimental adjustments. Getting genes to function in host organisms where they haven't naturally evolved takes time and attention to detail, Wood said.
"Think about the classical dogma of Edison trying to create the light bulb. The concept was simple, but to get it to actually work efficiently took a whole lot of trial and error," he said.
Since Wood has worked in genetic engineering for the majority of his life, he is well acquainted with the controversies that genetically modified organisms have brought to industries such as agricultural production. At the same time, he is growing GMOs in his living room and selling them to willing customers.
By introducing bioluminescent plants like the firefly petunia, Wood is attempting to change the stigma around GMOs. The problem he is attempting to solve with the firefly petunia is public misconception.
"The amount of GMO in our food supply is huge for a reason because it makes production efficient in a way that we can actually have food on our tables at a price point that we can afford," he said. "Simply, the benefits of GMO technology are hidden from you."
Negative public perception has hovered like a brewing storm around GMOs in the agriculture industry since 2012's March on Monsanto. LightBio's Firefly Petunia, however, has the potential to part the storm clouds and let a ray or two of sun through that may cast a new perspective on GMOs.
"Firefly provides a different opportunity to demystify what biotechnology can create," said Jennifer Moss, CEO of the fourth-generation family-owned Moss Greenhouses.
Moss, along with her team, hosted the Illuminate the Night event in May in Jerome, serving as the official launch of the firefly petunia to the public. There is no concealing the fact that LightBio's petunias are GMOs, but after the Illuminate the Night event had cars parked nearly a mile up the street after spilling over the 500-car capacity in Moss' greenhouse parking lot, it's clear the enthusiasm of seeing a garden plant glow has surpassed the negative association attached to GMOs.
A bright future
Moss traveled in July to Columbus, Ohio, to debut the firefly petunia at the annual American Horticulture Association's Cultivate event. Around 10,000 people specific to the horticulture industry were present at the event, but "we were the 'belle' of the ball without question," Moss said. "Little kids were so animated; they were like, 'Oh my God, it's Avatar.' Some lady came out and broke into tears; she was so emotionally moved."
When speaking with Moss before the event, she expressed speculations about the disruption this genetically modified plant would make in the traditional horticulture industry.
"We are very fortunate that we do live in the U.S. in this scenario because GMOs aren't allowed everywhere else in the world. So it is going to be interesting at Cultivate this weekend to see how Europe looks at this," Moss said. "This could disrupt the whole world because of things like that."
Due to the success in Ohio and the continued efforts by Wood to strengthen the glow of his petunias, Moss is working with a consulting team to configure the rollout of the firefly petunia to the country's growers and retailers alike.
"We have now gone to tissue culture development," Moss said. "We're not taking cuttings, not using seed, but we're producing. We're trying to release 1.2 million plants to the market for 2025."
Moss also mentioned a website that will be live in the next few months and is targeted toward not only customers but growers and retailers who are looking to get involved as well. The website will be called plantsthatglow.com.
Giving customers agency over their own experience with GMOs brings inherent social value to LightBio's product.
"It's one of the very first times ever people are experiencing a personal benefit that they can see and touch and experience themselves. And when they can see the benefit of GMO, they can weigh that benefit against the stories they hear from other sources," Wood said. "If all you know about GMO is given to you by somebody else's interests, then what do you really know?"
The firefly petunia is a symbol of scientific splendor, but it can also be perceived as a precedent of individual authority's triumph over societal misinformation in the realm of genetic engineering.
"It brings a balance back when we understand this vital technology that keeps us in a healthy, productive world," Wood said. "We think we are changing people's perceptions and public policy towards genetic engineering in a way that simply talking heads and informed scientists haven't been able to."
0 Comments Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter.
Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy.