> If you hear anything new on this please post to the list so I can hear
> about it. I find it really interesting too. I'd also like to hear more
> about them trying to transplant the bio luminescence gene from a firefly
> into a lizard. What a very interesting idea.
THere's a thing called GFP (green fluorescent protein) which is often
used in molecular biology. I don't know where it originates, some microbe
I think, but it is a common method to splice in the gene for GFP next to some
gene of interest, so that when that gene becomes active, so does the GFP
gene. For example, if you are studying the function of a particular gene
during the development of an embryo, you can arrange for whichever cells are
expressing that gene to turn fluorescent green, too.
I know this gene has been patched into mice, tobacco and the frog Xenopus
tropicalis. I rather like the idea of a gecko with a glow-in-the-dark
tongue. It could open its mouth and the bugs would fly right in, but it
could remain cryptic and invisible when not hunting. A big green glowing
tongue would add pizzazz to the aggression display of a tokay, too. Just
goes to show that evolution can't come up with everything... :-)
Further off-topic - some deep sea fish have special patches of skin that
support the growth of luminescent bacteria, which they can use to attract
prey and members of the opposite sex. Often they have special folds of
skin to cover and uncover the patches as needed.
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