Origin of Bioluminescence


 
JellyfishBioluminescence (pictured left) has fueled folklore legends for thousands of years. From the eight-century Japanese Hotaru firefly legend to the Apache Indian firefly origin of fire celebration, the origin of bioluminescence continues to inspire awe and wonder.

Describing myths and legends with a natural explanation is what drives scientists. “Researchers have long wondered how bioluminescence came to be,” science writer Steph Yin noted in the article “In the Deep, Clues to How Life Makes Light,” published in the Quanta Magazine.

Matthew Davis, evolution biologist at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, investigated the origin of bioluminescence across ray-finned fishes using new genetic evidence. Published in PLoS One (2016) and entitled “Repeated and Widespread Evolution of Bioluminescence in Marine Fishes,” Davis explains –

“Our objectives in this study were to determine the number of independent evolutionary origins of bioluminescence in ray-finned fishes.”

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