Author: Marc Zimmer
Publisher: Twenty-First Century Books ™
ISBN: 1467792314
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 72
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Book Description
What do giant squids, mantis shrimp, and fireflies have in common? These animals, along with a wide range of creatures, are able to give off light; this is called bioluminescence. Different species use different chemistries to bioluminesce, and they produce their light for a variety of reasons, including communication, hunting, and self-defense. Bioluminescence is a unique and fascinating adaptation found in the animal kingdom. Surprisingly, about half of all known phyla (a classification for animals that share the same body type) contain some bioluminescent species. Scientists don't yet understand all facets of bioluminescence, but they have managed to harness the glow and use it in a myriad of ways. One of the most important applications involves using bioluminescence as a microscope in medical studies. For example, laboratory scientists can create fluorescent malaria parasites to track the path by which the disease is spread from a mosquito to the animal it bites. Bioluminescent proteins are also helping researchers learn more about cancer, HIV and other viruses, and complex neurological processes. In fact, bioluminescent proteins are so useful to twenty-first-century medicine that two groups of scientists, one in 2008 and the other in 2014, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work with these proteins and related technologies. Even artists and fashion designers use bioluminescence in their work to create glowing, light-sensitive paintings and clothing lines. Author Marc Zimmer, a world-renowned specialist in fluorescent proteins, takes readers on a glowing journey into the frontiers of bioluminescence.
Author: Thérèse Wilson
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674071913
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196
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Book Description
Bioluminescence is everywhere on earth—most of all in the ocean, from angler fish in the depths to the flashing of dinoflagellates at the surface. Here, Thérèse Wilson and Woody Hastings explore the natural history, evolution, and biochemistry of the diverse array of organisms that emit light. While some bacteria, mushrooms, and invertebrates, as well as fish, are bioluminescent, other vertebrates and plants are not. The sporadic distribution and paucity of luminous forms calls for explanation, as does the fact that unrelated groups evolved completely different biochemical pathways to luminescence. The authors explore the hypothesis that many different luciferase systems arose in the early evolution of life because of their ability to remove oxygen, which was toxic to life when it first appeared on earth. As oxygen became abundant and bioluminescence was no longer adequate for oxygen removal, other antioxidant mechanisms evolved and most luminous species became extinct. Those light-emitting species that avoided extinction evolved uses with survival value for the light itself. Today’s luminous organisms use bioluminescence for defense from predators, for their own predatory purposes, or for communication in sexual courtship. Bioluminescence was earlier viewed as a fascinating feature of the living world, but one whose study seemed unlikely to contribute in any practical way. Today, bioluminescence is no longer an esoteric area of research. Applications are numerous, ranging from the rapid detection of microbial contamination in beef and water, to finding the location of cancer cells, to working out circuitry in the brain.
Author: Shimomura Osamu
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9813277122
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 556
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Book Description
This book is the bible of bioluminescence and a must-read not only for the students but for those who work in various fields relating to bioluminescence. It summarizes current structural information on all known bioluminescent systems in nature, from well-studied ones to those that have been seldom investigated.This book remains an important source of chemical knowledge on bioluminescence and, since the second edition's publication in 2012, has been revised to include major developments in two systems: earthworm Fridericia and higher fungi whose luciferins have been elucidated and synthesized. These two new luciferins represent an essential addition to seven previously known, with fully rewritten sections covering this new subject matter.
Author: David A. McKee
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 1623490316
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 186
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Book Description
The cold, stygian dark of the extreme sea depths is home to some of our planet’s strangest creatures. Even their names evoke a science fiction adventure: dragonfishes, greeneyes, viperfishes, mirrorbellies, lanternfishes. Marine biologist Henry “Hank” Compton (1928–2005) of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Rockport Marine Lab was present on some of the earliest Gulf of Mexico cruises on which these fishes were collected for the first time in Texas waters. Upon returning, Compton would retire to the darkroom he had constructed beneath a stairwell at the lab and photograph the specimens. A talented artist, Compton then painted watercolors based on his photographs. He allowed free rein to both his scientific judgment and his artistic vision as he constructed representations of how the specimens might have appeared in the crushing pressure of their alien environment. Compton dubbed the series of deep-water paintings “Fire in the Sea” because of the shimmering bioluminescence common to these deep-water species. Then, along with taxonomic descriptions, he drafted fanciful narratives to accompany the paintings: quirky, humorous, and sometimes cryptic stories of the fishes in their unreachable habitat. Professor, researcher, and author David A. McKee has taken Compton’s work, discovered in cardboard boxes following his death, and, along with others, provided chapters on bioluminescence, life in the deep, taxonomic arrangement, and life history information.
Author: Edith Widder
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780965968669
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 25
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Book Description
Painting kit with glow-in-the-dark paints and brush, activities, games & puzzles
Author: Marlene A. Deluca
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 1483273733
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 812
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Book Description
Bioluminescence and Chemiluminescence: Basic Chemistry and Analytical Applications is a compendium of papers presented at the second International Symposium on Analytical Applications of Bioluminescene and Chemiluminescence in San Diego, California on August 26-28, 1980. Part I deals with chemilunescence and excited states including topics on the spectroscopy of the solvent cage — generation and characteristics of the excited state and the three features of chemi- and bioluminescence. Part II deals with events prior to producing luminol-dependent chemiluminescence; this part also examines the effects of stimulants on membrane potential. Part III discusses bacterial bioluminescence and analyzes the properties of a lumazine protein from a bioluminescent bacterium. This part also analyzes accessory enzymes responsible for such bacterial bioluminescence. Part IV examines the chemistry of firefly bioluminescence and presents the formula of three reactions catalyzed by firefly luciferase. Part V analyzes bioluminescence from other sources such as the earthworm and land snails. Part VI discusses the applications of bioluminescence in clinical chemistry, soil science, and marine biology. Part VII deals with the future uses of bioluminescence, while Part VIII is an abstract of other papers dealing with this subject. This collection can be helpful for biologists, zoologists, micro-biologists, marine biologists, and researchers dealing with bio-chemistry and related disciplines.
Author: Peter J. Herring
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 600
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Book Description
Author: James F. Case
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9789812811158
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 548
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Book Description
Light-emitting reactions occur in some living organisms, and are also now extensively exploited by industry and various branches of biomedical science. Luminescence from the natural world, particularly from marine organisms, is increasingly being harnessed by genetic and chemical manipulation to enhance the quality of human life. This volume contains cutting-edge contributions from most of the world's leading researchers in this field. It presents an up-to-date compilation of the range of biomedical, strategic and ecological applications of chemiluminescence and bioluminescence. It documents and highlights the rapid advance in knowledge concerning both the mechanisms and the uses of luminescence, and covers all the important developments of recent years. Contents: Marine Bioluminescence; Firefly Bioluminescence; Chemiluminescence; Applications of Bioluminescence; Applications of Chemiluminescence; Immunoassay and DNA Probe Assays; Cellular Luminescence; Reporter Genes in Cell Biology and Analysis; Luminescence in Science and Education; Instrumentation and Imaging of Luminescence. Readership: Biomedical specialists, biochemists, marine biologists and geneticists.
Author: John G. Burr
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000146561
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 632
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Book Description
This book focuses on instrumentation of chemi- and bioluminescence and discusses the nature of chemiluminescence as the exothermic oxidation of a substrate organic compound to give an energy-rich product that is luminescent. It describes the applications of chemiluminescence.
Author: Lubov Brovko
Publisher: SPIE Press
ISBN: 9780819466433
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 92
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Book Description
This tutorial text provides an introduction to basics of bioluminescent methods used for rapid analysis of microbiological safety and quality of food and environmental samples. This book is intended for engineers, scientists, students, and managers involved in the design and/or use of biosafety assays. It discusses the practical aspects of bioluminescent microbiological analysis. Some basic knowledge of biochemistry, microbiology, and biophysics is preferable; however, a brief review of fundamental principles are included that will allow people who are unfamiliar with these disciplines to grasp their basic concepts.
