Glowing Plants - Natural Lighting With No Electricity by Antony Evans - Kickstarter

22/09/13 Glowing Plants: Natural Lighting with no Electricity by Antony Evans Kickstarter
www.kickstarter.com/projects/antonyevans/glowing-plants-natural-lighting-with-no-electricit 1/15
What is
Kickstarter?
Help
Sign up Log in
Share
Tweet Embed
Create GLOWING PLANTS using synthetic biology and
Genome Compiler's software - the first step in creating
sustainable natural lighting
Thank you to all of our backers for making the Glowing Plant Kickstarter campaign the
success that it was. We are deeply appreciative of the trust and support you have shown
us. You helped us put Synthetic Biology on the crowdfunding map, now its up to us to
create and deliver the Glowing Plant.
You can keep following us through our official blog, with regular updates and discussion on
our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Missed the Kickstarter campaign? You can still support the project with donations at our
store, where some of the rewards remain available. We will update this store with other
items like the open-source DNA parts we are synthesizing when they become available in
late 2013. Donations at this store will count towards our stretch goals until the end of June.

Project by
Antony Evans
San Francisco, CA
Contact me
First created 9 backed
Antony Evans 1092 f riends
Website: glowingplant.com
See full bio
Funded! This project successfully raised its funding goal on Jun 7.
Discover
great projects
Start
a project

Home Updates 30 Backers 8,433 Comments 798

San Francisco, CA
Technology
Glowing Plants: Natural Lighting with no Electricity
by Antony Evans
2:07 2:07

28,956
8,433
backers
$484,013
pledged of $65,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding period
Apr 23, 2013 - Jun 7, 2013 (44 days)
Pledge $5 or more
426 backers
You'll get a 2"x3" sticker showing the
worlds first glowing plant to put on your
phone or laptop! And if that's not
enough, your name will be added to
our website and book as a supporter.
Estimated delivery: Jul 2013
Add $2 USD to ship outside the US
Pledge $25 or more
179 backers
SUPPORTER - inspire others by
showing off this snazzy t-shirt
Estimated delivery: Jul 2013
Add $10 USD to ship outside the US
Pledge $40 or more
Search projects
As seen on:
1000 backers All gone!
GLOWING PLANT SEEDS. Grow your
own glowing plant at home, includes
full instructions for how to tend and
care for it
Estimated delivery: May 2014
Ships within the US only
Pledge $40 or more

4699 backers
Limited (301 left of 5000)
GLOWING PLANT SEEDS Batch II.
Grow your own glowing plant at home,
includes full instructions for how to
tend and care for it
Estimated delivery: Jun 2014
Pledge $65 or more
141 backers
rootcupPLANTER - perfect for growing
your Glowing Plant seeds. BONUS:
Glowing plant seeds
Pledge $65 or more
199 backers Limited (1 left of 200)
Recycled light bulb vase that you can
show off to your friends BONUS:
Glowing plant seeds
Pledge $80 or more

277 backers
Limited (223 left of 500)
Vase II: A minimalist vase made from
an old light bulb. BONUS: Glowing
plant seeds
Pledge $90 or more
308 backers
INSPIRE YOURSELF: Beautiful printed
photo book detailing the process for
how we make the plant. BONUS:
Glowing plant seeds
Pledge $120 or more
100 backers All gone!
EARLY BIRD. Be the first to get an
actual glowing plant.
Testimonials
Pledge $150 or more
553 backers
GLOWING PLANT. We will grow and
ship you an actual glowing arabidopsis
plant. Use it as a nightlight or show
your friends how cool synthetic biology
is
Pledge $250 or more
210 backers
DIY MAKER KIT: A copy of the book, a
full set of instructions and all the
ingedients you need to transform your
own plant at home, in your lab or at
school. BONUS: Glowing plant seeds
Pledge $500 or more
5 backers
BE CREATIVE: declare your love for
someone or leave a message for your
kids to decode in ten years time!! You
will receive a vial containing a tweet
size (140 characters) of your desired
message printed in DNA! We will use
Craig Venter's ASCII->DNA translation
table to transform the message to DNA
and send you a vial with 4ug of that
synthesized DNA. BONUS: Glowing
plant seeds
Estimated delivery: Aug 2013
Pledge $5,000 or more
2 backers Limited (8 left of 10)
TEACH A CLASS: One of the team
members will come to visit you and
spend a day teaching about the
project. This includes a hands on
workshop where you will get to
transform your own plants, ingredients
included for up to 10 groups of 3-4
students to do the transformation.
Pledge $10,000 or more
1 backer Limited (4 left of 5)
BE A PART OF HISTORY: Your name
(or anything under 30 characters) will
be written, in DNA, into the glowing
plant genome!! As part of the DNA
construct we will design and
synthesize, we will add a watermark
section using the same methods used
by Craig Venter's team. We will add
the names or any remarks from this
What we are offering:
All backers from the USA who back the project with $40 or more will receive seeds to
grow a glowing plant at home. Once we have the plant, it is just a matter of breeding
enough offspring to grow seeds for all backers. You can expect around 50-100 small
seeds in the packet.
***Update - We met our stretch goal. If you back the project at the $150 we will ship you a
glowing rose as well when it's completed. Delivery will be 6-12 months after the delivery of
the glowing plant***
For those outside the USA we are waiving additional international shipping charges to
compensate for not being able to send you the seeds. If you get the book and write to us
after the project we will also send you a vial of the DNA that way if it's legal in your country
(your responsibility to check) and you can source the other ingredients (eg Agrobacterium)
you can follow the instructions in the book and make your own plant.
group of backers in DNA to the final
design and do PR around the
messages - a unique opportunity to
spread your message! BONUS:
Glowing plant seeds
* See Risks and Challenges section regarding release of seeds.
The team making this happen
Help Spread the Word about the Glowing Plant
project:
Follow us on twitter (http://twitter.com/glowingplant)
Like us on Facebook (http://facebook.com/glowingplant)
Email your friends our blog (http://www.glowingplant.com)
Tweet about the project - click here for a sample tweet!
Please back the project and tell everyone know to help spread the word!
Thank You for Your Support - We Hope You'll Join Us in Making this Project Successful!
Additional information:
What is Synthetic Biology?
All living organisms contain an instruction set that determines what they look like and what
they do. These instructions are encoded in the organismss DNA long and complex
strings of molecules embedded in every living cell. This is an organisms genetic code (or
genome).
Humans have been altering the genetic code of plants and animals for millennia, by
selectively breeding individuals with desirable features. As biotechnologists have learned
more about how to read and manipulate this code, they have begun to take genetic
information associated with useful features from one organism, and add it into another
one. This is the basis of genetic engineering, and has allowed researchers to speed up
the process of developing new breeds of plants and animals.
More recently we have learnt how to make new sequences of DNA from scratch. By
combining these techniques with the principles of modern engineering, scientists can now
use computers and laboratory chemicals to design organisms that do new things.
This is the essence of synthetic biology and its potential is tremendous we can use it to
produce cheaper, more efficient biofuels, to excrete the precursors of medical drugs or
create new plants which naturally glow.
Why do we need your help?
Weve already invested our own time and money into the project developing the DNA
designs, finding partners to help execute and investigating the legal ramifications but dont
have the financial resources to print the DNA and complete the transformations ourselves.
By backing this project you can help create the worlds first naturally glowing
plant available to the public. Inspire others to become interested in synthetic biology and
receive some awesome rewards in the process.
What will you use the funds for?
We are using Synthetic Biology techniques and Genome Compilers software to insert
bioluminescence genes into Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant and member of the
mustard family, to make a plant that visibly glows in the dark (it is inedible).
Funds raised will be used to print the DNA sequences we have designed using Genome
Compiler and to transform the plants by inserting these sequences into the plant and then
growing the resultant plant in the lab.
Printing DNA costs a minimum of 25 cents per base pair and our sequences are about
10,000 base pairs long. We plan to print a number of sequences so that we can test the
results of trying different promoters this will allow us to optimize the result. We will be
printing our DNA with Cambrian Genomics who have developed a revolutionary laser
printing system that massively reduces the cost of DNA synthesis.
Transforming the plant will initially be done using the Agrobacterium method. Our printed
DNA will be inserted into a special type of bacteria which can insert its DNA into the plant.
Flowers of the plant are then dipped into a solution containing the transformed bacteria.
The bacteria injects our DNA into the cell nucleus of the flowers which pass it onto their
seeds which we can grow until they glow! You can see this process in action in our video.
Once we have proven the designs work we will then insert the same gene sequence into
the plant using a gene gun. This is more complicated, as there's a risk the gene sequence
gets scrambled, but the result will be unregulated by the USDA and thus suitable for
release.
Funds raised will also be used to support our work to develop an open policy framework
for DIY Bio work involving recombinant DNA. This framework will provide guidelines to
help others who are inspired by this project navigate the regulatory and social challenges
inherent in community based synthetic biology. The framework will include
recommendations for what kinds of projects are safe for DIY Bio enthusiasts
and recommendations for the processes which should be put in place (such as getting
experts to review the plans).
Why now?
Recent advances in the field of synthetic biology, such as Genome Compilers software
and Cambrian Genomics DNA printing hardware, have brought the cost and complexity of
genetically engineering new organisms within reach of amateurs:
Amazing exponential drop in costs of synthetic biology
As the chart shows, the costs continue to fall, and within a few years thousands of DIY Bio
enthusiasts will be using Citizen Science to inspire their own creations. We want to create
a signature project which inspires them and demonstrates to the world whats already
possible with a little creativity and imagination.
Is this legal?
Yes it is! There are three federal agencies which regulate Genetically Modified organisms
in the US, each with a different remit for public safety:
USDA regulates plant and agriculture impact through APHIS and are the most
relevant for our project. We've been in touch with them to understand and address
their main concerns which are mainly related to the introduction of potential plant
pests. After more than 15 years working with genetically engineered crops they have
established a set of guidelines for what needs additional testing, and what doesn't.
So long as we meet all their requirements we can safely release the plant. One of their
inputs was that we should use the gene-gun technique to transform our plants, instead
of Agrobacterium.
EPA regulates new uses of pesticides - many GMO's introduce pesticide or herbicide
resistance to their plants (either as a selection agent or as an intended outcome). We
have elected not to do this, as we can use the glowing effect as a marker, so will not
need to go through their testing procedures.
FDA regulates food and feedstock implications and requires extensive testing to
make sure the product is safe if this is the case. Because our plant is strictly
ornamental and not for consumption by animals or humans we do not have to go
through this testing.
We will continue to liaise with the federal agencies, especially APHIS, as the project
develops to ensure we are compliant with the frameworks they have put in place to protect
the public.
Regrettably the European Union has tighter restrictions in place so we cant send seeds
there as a reward.
Learn about accountability on Kickstarter
Is this safe?
The head of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, George Church, who works extensively
on engineering biosafety described our project as 'as safe as it gets'. We are introducing
non-pathogenic, non-toxic, well categorized genes to a model plant which is well
understood by biologists and which will not survive very well in the environment.
In the lab we will comply with all NIH guidelines on recombinant DNA research. Our work
is graded at Biosafety Level 1, which is the lowest level of risk.
What is Genome Compiler?
Genome Compiler is software, designed by Omri and his team, which allows a user to
easily design genetic sequences and order them online. The software includes a large
database of genetic parts and a beautiful interface so you can easily combine them to
create your desired results.
What is Cambrian Genomics?
At Cambrian Genomics Austen and his team make the first commercial hardware/systems
for laser printing DNA. Presently, researchers in academia and industry order or clone
>$1b/year of DNA. Cambrian plans to deliver high quality sequence verified DNA to
buyers in this existing/growing worldwide market.
What is Project Cyborg?
Currently being developed by the Bio/Nano/Programmable Group at Autodesk Research,
Project Cyborg is a cloud-based meta-platform of design tools for programming matter
across domains and scales. Project Cyborg provides elastic cloud-based computation in
a web-based CAD shell for services such as modeling, simulation and multi-objective
design optimization. Project Cyborg allows individuals or groups to create specialized
design platforms specific for their domains, whatever their domains happen to be, from
nanoparticle design to tissue engineering, to human-scale self-assembling manufacturing.
Who made your video?
The video was made by Rick Symonds, who is based on San Francisco. You can see
more of his work and contact him at www.ricksymonds.com.
Video Music: "The March" by LIGHTS & MOTION Courtesy of Deep Elm Records
www.deepelm.com/lightsandmotion
Where can I get more information?
Want to know more? Just give us a call +1-415-779-6333 or email antony at glowing plant
dot com.
Risks and challenges
We are confident that we can deliver on the rewards we are offering backers. There are
two main risks to the project:
1) Transformation
We have put every care into the designs of the DNA but we may not get the glowing result
we (and you) hope for. Biology is complicated and while we are confident of getting some
glowing effect (it's been done before in a research lab) we may not get a strong effect as
we (or you) want or it may be unreliable. We hope to have a plant which you can visibly see
in the dark (like glow in the dark paint) but don't expect to replace your light bulbs with
version 1.0. The more money we raise, the more we can refine our designs and the
stronger the effect we will get so please tell all your friends about the project.
2) Emerging regulation
We have received written indication from USDA/APHIS that our plant will not require a
permit. However this is a new field and it is possible that more restrictive regulations are
implemented during the project that will require us to get a permit which would delay the
release of the seeds or possibly block the release altogether.
FAQ
Ask a question
Report this project to Kickstarter
What's the risk of cross-pollination? Am I going to infect my neighbors gardens?
How do we grow and care for the seeds/plants?

Glowing Plants - Natural Lighting With No Electricity by Antony Evans - Kickstarter

Hochgeladen von

Dokumentinformationen

Originaltitel

Copyright

Verfügbare Formate

Dieses Dokument teilen

Dokument teilen oder einbetten

Freigabeoptionen

Stufen Sie dieses Dokument als nützlich ein?

Sind diese Inhalte unangemessen?

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

Glowing Plants - Natural Lighting With No Electricity by Antony Evans - Kickstarter

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

22/09/13 Glowing Plants: Natural Lighting with no Electricity by Antony Evans Kickstarter

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen