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Article: Mystery of the firefly's glow solved.(The Dallas Morning News)
- Article from:
- Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
- Article date:
- July 9, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Now you see `em. Now you don't.
For centuries, firefly fanatics have been asking, "How do they do that?"
Scientists may finally have the answer.
The chemistry that lights the firefly lantern was known, but nobody could figure out how the bugs turn their lights on and off so quickly and precisely until now.
"It was a nice mystery to solve," said Barry Trimmer, a neurobiologist from Tufts University who led the team that made the discovery.
What the researchers found was an unexpected new role for a versatile molecule known as nitric oxide.
In humans, nitric oxide acts as a messenger involved in a variety of tasks ...