Clickbait sites are going crazy over Woodlight and its so-called “revolutionary” glowing plants that are supposed to replace our light bulbs at home, maybe even streetlights. Not surprising: it glows in the dark and sells a dream. Perfect jackpot for flashy headlines. As for the scientific rigor of those “publications,” it’s flatlining. Between the promise of free lighting forever and the reality on the ground, there’s a canyon most people prefer to ignore. So let’s shine a bit of actual light on the topic.

Who is Woodlight?

Woodlight is a young start-up based in France. Behind the name that already sounds like a Scandinavian furniture brand are two researchers, Ghislain and Rose-Marie Auclair. Their idea is simple to explain and way harder to pull off: create plants that can light themselves up without any power source. They showed their first prototype in 2024, a plant that emits a faint green glow, proof that the concept is no longer just sci-fi fantasy. Their ambition is clear: bring a bit of living light into our homes and, eventually, our streets.

What is bioluminescence?

Bioluminescence isn’t some mad scientist’s invention in a lab but a natural phenomenon that has existed for millions of years. It’s basically the ability of an organism to produce its own light through a chemical reaction between a molecule called luciferin and an enzyme called luciferase. When the two meet, you get light. In nature, we all know fireflies flashing to seduce their mates. In the ocean, jellyfish and some deep-sea fish light up to hunt or defend themselves. Even some mushrooms in our forests glow at night. In short, bioluminescence is nothing magical: it’s chemistry applied by living beings.

A result obtained through genetic engineering

Let’s be clear: to get a plant to glow, you need to tinker with its genes. Yes, it’s a GMO! But no need to grab pitchforks and protest signs, because genetic engineering isn’t automatically a disaster. The entire history of agriculture is one long series of manipulations, sometimes handcrafted, sometimes industrial. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.

Case in point: modern wheat didn’t exist ten thousand years ago. Today’s tomatoes look nothing like their tiny, sour ancestors. And our dogs, cats, or cows are also the results of intense genetic selection. So before shouting about Frankenstein monsters, let’s admit we already live surrounded by organisms reshaped by human hands.

That said, for its genetic tinkering, Woodlight started with tobacco plants. Nicotiana tabacum for the purists. Why tobacco? Because it’s one of the easiest plants to work with scientifically. It grows easily, grows fast, and above all, it’s a lab classic all over the world.

So modifying its genome has basically become routine. You can quickly test genes, see the results, and move on without wasting years. In short, tobacco is the perfect playground before moving on to more “mainstream” plants.

And by the way, if tobacco has been studied so much, it’s not just out of botanical love. For decades, the tobacco industry poured billions into research. Meaning, a lot of brainpower and money went into a plant that kills instead of into crops that could feed people. Ironically, that same plant might now end up lighting our streets.

Glowing plants and GMOs: are there real risks?

Woodlight claims its plants are sterile, therefore harmless. Fine. But nothing guarantees another, less careful lab won’t reproduce the work with plants that can spread freely. And then we could be in trouble. The history of modified life is already full of species that escaped their creators and caused ecological disasters. Everyone has their own opinion, but personally, I’d rather hear about LEDs improving their eco score than genetic tinkering sold with the same old “everything’s under control” slogan. Because when it comes to life, the only thing we know for sure is that it always finds a way to surprise us.

Light without energy, really?

No magic, no miracles, a plant is still a plant. You water it, it grows, it does photosynthesis, it absorbs CO₂. And if it’s bioluminescent, it produces glowing molecules that trigger a small internal chemical reaction that gives off a soft glow.

That can be interesting, but let’s be clear: the light doesn’t come out of nowhere. Contrary to what some clickbait sites claim, the plant isn’t creating free photons from the sky. It has to burn energy for that. Its fuel? The water and nutrients you give it. If you maintain it with good homemade compost, the ecological balance could stay neutral. But if it depends on chemical fertilizers made with fossil fuels, then we’re back to square one. The green glow is canceled out by the upstream environmental damage.

Plant bioluminescence: myth vs reality

It’s fun to dream of streets lit by glowing trees, but for now, Woodlight hasn’t shown anything real. The only visible demo is a small plant faintly glowing in a glass pot. No video, no solid data, just slick communication and a roadmap full of promises. Anyone who has worked in R&D knows this: between what you hope to get and what you actually get, there’s usually a canyon. And in 99 percent of cases, it’s impossible to cross. Until proven otherwise, this whole story looks more like a PR stunt aimed at investors and media. And let’s be clear: the Woodlight mindset has nothing open source about it. Maybe I’m wrong, and if so I’ll gladly admit it publicly, but we’ve seen plenty of start-ups playing snake-oil salesmen before.

Conclusion: research or empty package?

Let’s be clear: the goal here isn’t to bash the researchers. What Woodlight is doing is research, and maybe one day it will pay off. That’s not the problem. At NovaFuture we don’t hide the fact that we’re strong advocates of open-source research. But that doesn’t stop us from praising proprietary solutions when things are transparent. With Woodlight though, if you strip away the well-oiled buzz, all that’s left is emptiness. A big emptiness.

Because what do we see? Zero peer-reviewed publications. A patent recycling an old concept (luciferin/luciferase) without proving it can deliver usable light, not even at cheap LED level. No public lumen measurements. Not a single convincing video showing a prototype with acceptable lighting performance. Nothing but polished marketing, CGI images, and promises of success.

Sure, start-ups unfortunately need a bit of hype to raise funds. But they always end up exaggerating their progress. Or, more sneakily, they let unscrupulous media inflate their claims without pushback. As for clickbait sites, they’ll go as far as needed to generate clicks and drown you in ads. Because there’s a world of difference between a headline like “Put a plant in your living room and it will light the whole place for free” and the truth: “A glowing plant that might work as a small nightlight.” That’s the whole problem. Between real innovation and the fantasy sold through flashy headlines, the gap is massive.

And that’s where our role comes in: reminding everyone of that gap and making sure science news doesn’t turn into nothing more than fairy tales crafted to attract investors looking for an easy payday.

In the end, all of this says a lot about our times, where buzz always beats substance. If we really want research to evolve in the right direction, we need to stop forcing scientists to act like carnival barkers just to get funding. They should have the means to pursue their work calmly, without market logic. Mixing the noble work of research with marketing almost never ends well. That’s the truth.

So to wrap up, even if you won’t be replacing your light bulbs with glowing lettuce anytime soon, at least we got to talk about bioluminescence and, incidentally, about start-ups that will do anything to sell dreams. But nothing is lost! If you want to light up our faces with a big smile, you can buy us a coffee on Buy me a Coffee so we can keep this site moving forward. And if you feel like it, you’re also warmly invited to join the conversation in the comments below. As always, don’t forget to share this piece widely on your networks. Quick-share buttons are waiting for you just a bit further down. Thanks in advance, and see you soon for more adventures.