Imparting non-native functions to living plants using nanoparticles opens the possibility of creating synthetic materials that can grow and repair themselves using sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. It is now shown that, both in plant extracts and living leaves, carbon nanotubes traverse and localize within the lipid envelope of plant chloroplasts, enhance their photosynthetic activity, and enable near-infrared fluorescence monitoring of nitric oxide.
- Juan Pablo Giraldo
- Markita P. Landry
- Michael S. Strano