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12/22/2024 05:09:56 pm

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Scientists Successfully Create Cyborg Roses

Scientists have discovered a way on how to create a new kind of cyborg flower. The cyborg flower is a living rose with electronic circuits embedded through its vascular systems.

(Photo : Getty Images) Scientists have discovered a way on how to create a new kind of cyborg flower. The cyborg flower is a living rose with electronic circuits embedded through its vascular systems.

Scientists have discovered a way to create a new kind of cyborg flower. The cyborg flower is a living rose with electronic circuits embedded through its vascular systems. The tiny electronic circuits were inserted into the rose and in an almost miraculous way was able to self-assemble itself into the rose's internal structure.

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Linköping University organic electronics researcher Magnus Berggren said that the plant helps the electronic circuits organize itself. Experts claim that the newly created cyborg plant could help usher in an era where scientists can program a plant to bloom or excrete hormones at will.

Berggren and his team of scientists have been toiling for more than a decade to create electronic plants. The team currently focuses on rose bushes since they have all the elements of a tree such as leaves, petioles, bark and a very distinct root system. The availability of the rose is also one of the reason why it was chosen.

Throughout their research, the team has faced enormous trials. At one point, the plant was spurred to excrete toxins which poisoned it. In other attempts, the researchers clogged the xylem of the plant which transports water into its system.

A major breakthrough in their research came after one of the researchers Eleni Stavrinidou soaked the stem of a rose in a solution of organic polymer called PEDOT-S:H.

Berggren told Live Science, "There was a moment during the screening when Eleni showed us all these beautiful wires. When I saw those, I immediately understood it was possible to make electronic circuits."

As of this writing, the team has been able to make electrical networks of up to 8 inches long and employed a slightly different technique in order to embed the electrical circuits in plants that have a different structure.

According to Christian Science Monitor, Berggren said that they are hoping that they can find a way to use biological chemicals like chlorophyll to create electronic circuits.

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