Scientists Find Firefly 'Switch'

Johan Jonasson writes "Scientists have found the "switch" that allows a firefly to light up its body. The beetle flashes the "lantern" on its abdomen to attract a mate. Researchers have long understood how the light is generated but the control mechanism used by the insect has been a mystery. Now, a US team has been able to show that the simple molecule nitric oxide acts as the on-off "button"."

Comments

Live Documentary

[Velox_SwiftFox]

Mrs Jalin: There's a man at the door with a moustache.

Mr Jalin: Tell him I've already got one. (Mrs Jalin hits him hard with a newspaper) All right, all right. What's he want then?

Mrs Jalin: He says do we want a documentary on Fireflies.

Mr Jalin: Fireflies!

Mrs Jalin: Yes.

Mr Jalin: What's he mean, Fireflies?

Mrs Jalin: FIREFLIES!! LIGHTNING BUGS! LUCIFERIN OXIDIZING BEETLES! LAMPYRIDAE!

Mr Jalin: Oh fireflies, I thought you said bacon. (she hits him again) All right, all right. What's he charge then?

Mrs Jalin: It's free.

Mr Jalin: Ooh! Where does he want us to sit?

Mrs Jalin: (calling through the door) He says yes.

(Mr Zorba enters carrying plywood flat with portion cut out to represent TV. He stands behind flat and starts.)

Zorba: Good evening. Tonight fireflies. Fireflies are a type of beetle (order Coleoptera), consisting of about 1,900 species that inhabit tropical and temperate regions. The common glowworm is a member of this family...

Mrs Jalin: Not very interesting is it?

Zorba: What?

Mrs Jalin: I was talking to him.

Zorba: Oh. Anyway, Researchers have long understood how the light is generated but the control mechanism used by the insect has been a mystery. Now, a US team has been able to show that the simple molecule nitric oxide (NO) acts as the on-off "button". It is just one more example of the prominent role played by NO in biochemistry...

Mrs Jalin: Dreadful isn't it?

Zorba: What?

Mrs Jalin: I was talking to him.

Zorba: Oh. Well anyway... to understand the role NO plays in fireflies, Barry Trimmer, from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and colleagues studied the insects in tiny custom-designed chambers.

Mr Jalin: Switch him off.

(Mrs Jalin gets up and looks for the switch unsuccessfully)

Zorba: Whenever the fireflies were exposed to nitric oxide they glowed or flashed almost continuously, and they stopped once the nitric oxide was turned off... (looking out) What are you doing?

Mrs Jalin: Switching you off.

Zorba: Why, don't you like it?

Mrs Jalin: Oh it's dreadful.

Mr Jalin: Embarrassing.

Zorba: Is it?

Mrs Jalin: Yes, it's perfectly awful.

Mr Jalin: Disgraceful! I don't know how they've got the nerve to put it on.

Mrs Jalin: It's so boring.

Zorba: Well ... it's not much of a subject is it ... be fair.

Mrs Jalin: What do you think, George?

Mr Jalin: Give him another twenty seconds.

Zorba: Anyway the majority of the Fireflies are members of the Family Lampyridae...

Mrs Jalin: We knew that (she gets up and goes to the set)

Zorba: (quickly) However, what is more interesting, er ... is the Firefly's er ... sexual chemistry.

Mrs Jalin: (stopping dead) Oh!

Zorba: Yes, the Nitric oxide's part in assisting men achieve erection has been exploited by the modern impotence drugs like Viagra...

Mrs Jalin: (going back to sofa) Disgusting!

Mr Jalin: Ought not to be allowed.

Mrs Jalin: (again) Disgusting!

Mr Jalin: But more interesting.

[...]

[Apologies to Monty Perl, or whoever that was...]

Re:Hmm...

[bapink01]

I heard this on NPR. The scientist said that this (the newly understood control mechanism) is similar to the way the male body controls penis erections.
One of the ways Viagra works is to make the control chemicals more effective.

Bob Dole with a glow in the dark schlong running after Brittney Spears. How is that for scary imagery.

As they say in france, "BoooYah!".

News for nerds? Indeed.

[Faux_Pseudo]

There has been much said about the relivance of this topic. So let us define nerds. Here is my definition: Some one outside of the main stream with an interest in intalectual feilds of study in both the higher and lower sciencs. By that defintion anything with the suffix -ology qualify, like say for example biology. Is it the best idea for a story? No. But flip through you news paper and you will see sports scores on the front page and murders on page c-17. If the coments generated by this story are any indecation then the topic "Its' Funny Laugh" should be remove all together lest some one expand there brain past "sanctioned nerd topics".

O Glorious Day!

[rmst]

This is a great day indeed. Armed with this knowledge, I do see many great things that can be done! For example, giant stadiums can be lit by giant fireflies, bred in special giant tubes! Everything will be giant. This is a truly monumental discovery. I hope to live to see the day where ALL light sources have been replaced with fireflies. Headlights, lamps, yes, even the sun. For the sun will run out eventually! But a giant firefly, bred just for the job, well, he'll obviously live forever if we care and nurture him properly. And then we can form a giant cult centered around the worship of the giant firefly... This is the start of a new renaissance. I can feel it in the air. A day is coming. A day where men no longer have to rely on reliable, efficient LED keychain lights, but genetically engineered fireflys, tempermental ones at that. Also, schoolchildren could be encouraged to play with them. Is there any facet of our lives that this discovery won't touch? I can't think of one...

Let's review:

• Transportation: medium Firefly
• Communcation: Miniscule Fibre-OpticFireFlys with tiny keyboards to tap in information
• Stadium Lighing: Giant Firefly
• Replacement Sun: Giant GIANT Firefly

Yes, this is a great day indeed!

... And Jellyfish hats.

Brings to meaning...

[DanEsparza]

This brings new meaning to 'NO means NO' (the chemical symbol for nitric oxide is NO). How ironic is that -- that this has to do with attracting a mate, and the chemical symbol for 'on/off switch' that attracts a mate is 'NO'. Kinda spooky, eh? Also weird is that 'NO' is 'ON' spelled backwards (in case you hadn't noticed).

Sometimes I wonder if God is just the ultimate prankster, and we're in the joke of a lifetime (literally)...

You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals...

[screwballicus]

Hey baby, did a nitric oxide molecule slip into your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Re:Nitric Oxide?

[Tuxinatorium]

The article is talking about nitric oxide, chemical formula NO. Nitrous oxide, AKA laughing gas, is N2O. It's a completely different chemical.