Cyborg plants. New polymer turns living plant cells into electrical circuits and transistors

Scientists from Linkoping University managed to make electronic circuits inside the plant (roses). The technology is quite unique: living vessels are impregnated with the recently discovered PEDOT-S: H polymer, after which they begin to conduct electric current. Or change the light at different current intensities (a kind of PEDOT polymer), creating a “live” display. In principle, this is an attempt to turn a plant into a biological computer with microcircuits and a screen.

The scientific article is published in the journal Science Advances.

Such technology opens crazy prospects: remote “wiretapping” of agricultural plants; live sensors; direct consumption of electricity, which is formed during photosynthesis, without damaging the plants themselves; a variety of medical devices for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases and much more.

“Now we can start talking about cyborg plants - now we can place various sensors and devices inside plants and use the energy that is produced using chlorophyll to grow new green antennas or other materials. Everything will happen on its own, and we will use the “advanced” internal components of the plants for our own needs, ” said Magnus Berggren of the University of Linkoping (Sweden).



In Berggren's experiments with colleagues, the length of the electrical circuits in the vessels of plants was up to 10 centimeters. They also modeled the functions of transistors in such circuits.