Organic lights inspired by fireflies, jellyfish to illuminate

To lower the ever-growing demand for energy and rising electricity costs, a Turkish scientist is working on a project that will utilize firefly and jellyfish genes to enable plants adorning streets and buildings to light up.

Murat Şahin from Gebze Technical University aims to offer an "organic" solution to lighting the streets and if he succeeds, the system can be put to household uses as well.

As part of the project, plants will be injected with genes that enable some animals to emit light.

Murat, in statement, said Turkey spends almost TL 40 billion ($11.306 billion) every year for lighting needs. The lighting in D-100, a major highway in northern Turkey, alone costs TL 2 million annually.