Monday, February 08, 2010

Genetically Engineered Tobacco Plants Can Be Used to Grow Solar Cells Says University of California Scientists

Like something out of a crazy science fiction movie, the technology that is announced on a daily basis is quite astonishing. If it's not lightning control or energy teleportation, it is some type of genetic modification. This time the genetic modification holds the potential to alter the world's energy distribution system -- provided the modification is successful. Namely, scientists have discovered how to grow solar cells from tobacco plants!

Tobacco plants could help wean the world from fossil fuels, according to scientists from the University of California, Berkeley.

In a paper in the journal
ACS Nano Letters, Matt Francis and his colleagues used genetically engineered bacteria to produce the building blocks for artificial photovoltaic and photochemical cells. The technique could be more environmentally friendly than traditional methods of making solar cells and could lead to cheap, temporary and biodegradable solar cells.

Source: Discovery News



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