NYUAD TEAM SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON BIOLUMINESCENCE A team of researchers from the Smart Materials Lab (SML) at New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has discovered new insights into bioluminescence, a fascinating natural phenomenon that causes living things to produce light in their bodies through a series of chemical reactions. Led by NYUAD Professor of Chemistry Dr. Panĉe Naumov, the research, which featured on the cover of the prestigious journal Nature Reviews Chemistry, provides the most comprehensive critical overview of bioluminescence in beetles, including fireflies, to date. In the report “The Elusive Relationship Between Structure and Color Emission in Beetle Luciferases,” Dr. Naumov, along with post-doctoral associates Dr. César Carrasco-López and Dr. Stefan Schramm, and undergraduate student Nathan M. Lui, identified the intricate structural factors that govern what color of light is emitted by luciferases, the enzymes that produce bioluminescence.
Their findings determined that it is possible to build a library of bioluminescent enzymes in the future, which will enable researchers to control the color and intensity of light emission by engineering luciferases at will. Bioluminescence has long fascinated scientists, and in recent years the phenomenon has proved a useful biomedical diagnostic tool, particularly in cancer research. The fluorescent proteins are genetically inserted into cells to analyze the dynamics of some diseases. “Learning from nature will provide us with tools to engineer luciferases that can emit colors within a large range of energies,” Dr. Naumov said. “This will eventually help us expand the range of application of these and similar enzymes for some exciting applications in biology and medicine, including early diagnosis and prevention of diseases.”
Source: https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/news/latest-news/science-and-technology/2020/december/light-emission-fireflies.html
