[Phys-L] glow-in-the-dark plant

[John Denker <jsd@av8n.com>]

I don't know whether this counts as
 -- interesting
 -- insane
 -- geeky
 -- scary
 -- all of the above.

It's not available today, but it might make a good Christmas
present next year, for the nerd who has everything:

A rockcress plant, genetically modified to glow in the dark:
   http://www.glowingplant.com/

It's an /open source/ plant.  The DNA sequence is open to all,
and the plant is not patented.

More generally:  I reckon biotechnology will be to the next 
50 years as electronics was to the last 50 years.

I mention it in this forum because it's an answer to the kid
who asks why he should bother to study science.  There's
still lots of interesting work to be done.