Modified wood component emits visible light
3 October 2025 – Researchers at Ehime University engineered trees so that their lignin, a major wood component, can emit light. By increasing activity of a specific enzyme, the team created lignin with stable fluorescent behavior. The material keeps glowing under different conditions and responds to changes in acidity. It can also be embedded in plastics and other products. This makes it promising for sensors and light-based technologies. The study shows how natural wood-based molecules can gain new technical functions.
The study was published on October 3, 2025, in the Plant Biotechnical Journal under the title ‘Photoluminescence properties of lignin with a genetically introduced luminophore in a transgenic hybrid aspen that overproduces feruloyl-CoA 6′-Hydroxylase.’
