Swedish scientists have recently invented an electronic rose. They replaced the plant’s vascular system, which transports water and nutrients, with electronic circuits.

The Swedish research opens up new possibilities, including the regulation of plant growth and other internal physiological functions.

Can you spot the difference? The research team developed a conductive gel capable of forming electronic circuits. By injecting the gel into plant leaves, researchers gain control over leaf color.

Swedish scientists have developed fully functional electronic plants. Digital electronic circuits are integrated inside living plants to trigger color changes in leaves. Leveraging the plant’s natural vascular system for water and nutrient transport, researchers built key components of electronic circuits within the plant tissue.

According to Britain’s Daily Mail, Swedish scientists have recently created an electronic rose, whose natural vascular system for water‑nutrient transport is substituted by electronic circuits. It is reported that such electronic plants may serve as environmental indicators in the future and even change colors upon human commands.

Normally, plants rely on semiconducting polymers for the transport of ions and growth hormones. These interaction processes proceed slowly within organic systems. Led by Professor Magnus Berggren, scientists from the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University in Sweden investigated methods to modulate plant physiological properties.

“Previously, we lacked effective tools to measure the levels of various molecules inside living plants,” said Ove Nilsson, co‑author of the study and Professor of Plant Reproductive Biology at the Umeå Plant Science Center. “Now we can influence substances that regulate plant growth and development. I see tremendous potential for deeper understanding of plants.”

Professor Berggren has studied printed electronics on paper since the 1990s and hoped to transfer these techniques to plants, yet sufficient research funding was unavailable at that time. Grants from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation in 2012 finally made his concept feasible. He expanded his research team and achieved several key breakthroughs.

Roger Gabrielsson discovered that the polymer PEDOT‑S is absorbed by roses and converted into a hydrogel. Inside the rose, this polymer forms a thin film along its vascular system. Another researcher, Eleni Stavrinidou, successfully induced thick conductive‑polymer films inside plants to build transistor‑like structures. “We obtained perfect measurement values proving that it is indeed a fully functional transistor.” Later, using vacuum infiltration, Gomez delivered another variant of the PEDOT polymer together with nanocellulose fibres into rose specimens.

These fibres form a sponge‑like three‑dimensional structure with numerous tiny voids filled by the polymer. Under applied voltage, the polymer interacts with lead‑tethered ions, bringing about color shifts of the polymer. Researcher Eliot Gomez commented: “We can make electronic plants whose leaves change color. That is cool, yet perhaps not highly practical.”

Though still in its early stage, the research targets applications in sustainable‑energy development and studies on plant‑environment interactions. “To our knowledge, no prior published work has reported electricity generated within plant bodies,” Professor Berggren noted. “Now we can genuinely talk about ‘energy plants’. We may embed sensors inside plants, harness energy produced within chloroplasts, or fabricate new materials. Everything occurs naturally, taking advantage of the plant’s own sophisticated and unique biological system.”