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Living Lights: Bioluminescence And Biofluorescence

Aequorea victoria
Sierra Blakely
/
Wikimedia Commons

Did you know 75 percent of animals in the ocean glow?

From single-celled organisms to terrifying creatures like the anglerfish in the Pixar movie “Finding Nemo,” living things bring light to the darkest depths of our world.

This hour—why do so many creatures create their own light?

We’ll learn the differences between bioluminescence and biofluorescence.

And what happens when you take the glow out of the ocean and into the lab?

We’ll hear how scientists harness certain proteins from sea creatures and fireflies to illuminate everything from sleep to human diseases.  

What can glowing cells teach us about our own bodies?

Edie Widder talks about bioluminescence in her TED Talk

We meet Edgar, the GFP axolotl

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Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on December 21, 2017.

Lucy leads Connecticut Public's strategies to deeply connect and build collaborations with community-focused organizations across the state.
Carmen Baskauf was a producer for Connecticut Public Radio's news-talk show Where We Live, hosted by Lucy Nalpathanchil from 2017-2021. She has also contributed to The Colin McEnroe Show.

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