Forty percent of insect populations have seen declines in recent years and will drop even more without immediate action.
To create their glowing plants, engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) turned to an enzyme called luciferase.
Luciferase acts on a molecule called luciferin, causing it to emit light.
Another molecule called Co-enzyme A helps the process along by removing a reaction byproduct that can inhibit luciferase activity.
They’re little battlers, the greatest survivors on the planet and you may have them in your garden, writes Lana Hart.
They’ve been boiled, frozen, put in vacuums, starved, and exposed to unbearable pressures and radiation — but scientists can’t kill this creature.
They are the only animal to have survived all five of earth’s mass extinctions. This incredible feat is due to their development of unique survival mechanisms not seen in other parts of the animal kingdom.