Bacteria to Light Up Your Day

Recently, after the Paris 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, France instituted a new law

requiring private stores, even if they are open, to turn off all outside artificial lights. This law was created to combat light pollution, however it leaves stores that are open with no way to indicate to potential customers that they are open. Glowee, a Parisian startup company has begun to approach this problem in a whole new way. They have turned to nature to find and create organic light that can be displayed in front of stores to indicate that they are open and still follow the new laws. Deep underwater, many organisms such as angler fish and squid have bioluminescent bacteria to create light. Bioluminescent organisms have bacteria that can absorb light using photosynthesis, and then later produce and emit the same light when dark. Glowee has begun to harness the bacteria in squid which have this property and put them in gel containers. During the day, the gel is see-through, but at night it begins to glow in a blue-green color illuminating the area around it. Also, because the bacteria is in a gel, it can be molded to fit any shape or size sign. Another massive benefit of the technology, is the fact that the bacteria creates almost no CO2 emissions and no light pollution. They have begun to team up with companies to start introducing the bioluminescent bacteria to storefronts. Glowee have partnered with French stores such as ERDF, a french energy company, and Plastic Omnium, a waste management company, and have even partnered with Ben and Jerry’s, a popular American ice cream company. Although there are are some uncertainties with the cost of this new technology, Glowee is an innovative new company looking to help French companies and also combat climate change.

Works Cited

Hale, Tom. "Bioluminescent Bacteria Could Light Up The Streets Of Paris." IFLScience. IFLScience, 2016. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2078921-glow-in-the-dark-bacterial-lights-could-illuminate-shop-windows/

Glowee. "Glowee, Enlightened by the Sea." Glowee, Enlightened by the Sea. Glowee, 2015. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

http://www.glowee.eu/