NORTHCO-16: Shine Little Glow Worm, Glimmer, Glimmer

November 19, 2009, 7:36PM

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Frank awoke as part of his sofa. He looked around and after a couple minutes figured out why he, not so deep down, wished he could just remain part of a sofa.

This vacation thing has got to end before it kills me, he thought as he slugged to the kitchen to fix coffee on his way to the toilet. And I also need new hobbies. A naked woman once in a while could really do me no harm he mused as he held his masculinity once more in his hand.

He grabbed his coffee and wandered toward his PC with a smoke hanging out of his mouth. Where is the packet? he thought. Oh jeeez it could be anywhere. Frank just got on line reviewing his continual NORTHCO memo when there was a knock at the front door.

As he opened the door a rather tall man with a fashionable hat and overcoat stood with his hand out.

Hello Frank.

The guy looked familiar so he simply shook his hand, and kept staring at him.

Remember me Frank?

Dr. Cliché?

You are not who you told me you were, to say the least.

Now why would you say that Frank? I thought we got along rather well.

You do not work at that hospital Doctor, if in fact you are a doctor at all.

Look Frank, do we have to stand in the doorway like this or are you going to offer your shrink a cup of Joe?

Frank thought about it.

What the hell. He said as he led the mysterious figure to his sofa and went into the kitchen for the coffee. When Frank returned, Cliché was at his PC.

Get the fuck away from there. I have almost had it with you Cliché. Now get out of my house.

Now wait a minute Frank, let us...look I do not work for the hospital, but I am a doctor. I assure you and Kevin called me at my clinic in Sioux Falls. I am here at his behest.

Then what in the hell were you doing at my PC?

I was just wandering around, honest. I know little about your work but Kevin consulted with me about your file. You are subject to seizures, loss of memory, and you are getting shorter for no discernable reason. And I have information concerning the tests performed on your clothes.

Well we will see about this Frank said while he put the coffee on the table in front of the couch and grabbed his phone.

Frank got Kevin on the phone and his physician confirmed everything Cliché had told him.

WHY DOES LIFE HAVE TO BE SO GODDAMN CONFUSING?

Cliché blessed himself and lowered his head as he sat down on the couch.

Algie had his lab coat on and was proceeding to the warehouse. Algie had his PhD from Columbia in bioluminescence as a particular and peculiar branch of biology. He had become particularly interested in the process of bioluminenscence in sea life. Algie had written a paper on the phenomena four years earlier for the National Biological Association:


Bioluminescent animals can be found at least half a dozen animal phyla. This includes bioluminescent cnidarians (jellyfish, coral, and sea-pens), ctenophores ("comb jellies"), arthropods (fireflies, glow worms, certain fungus gnats, millipedes, and centipedes), certain annelids, one species of snail, marine molluscs including certain clams, nudibranchs, octopuses, and squids, various fish, some brittle stars, a group of small crustaceans, all krill, 65 species of mushrooms, protists called dinoflagellates, and a large family of bioluminescent bacteria. The last three aren't actually bioluminescent animals, but they are bioluminescent organisms.

Bioluminescence occurs in certain animals where chemical energy (in the form of ATP) is converted into light energy, usually peaking around one portion of the spectrum, making it one color. Green is by far the most common color used by terrestrial bioluminescent animals, while blue is the favored color among bioluminescent animals in the sea. Every color on the spectrum has a bioluminescent animal or protein associated with it, but most colors are quite rare. The difference in favored color on the land and sea exists because different colors stand out in each environment, and the visual systems of animals in each environment are tuned to the local colors.

There are five accepted theories on why bioluminescent animals exist. These are that bioluminescence can perform the functions of camouflage, attraction (of prey, predators of would-be predators, and mates), repulsion by way of confusion, communication between bioluminescent bacteria (quorum sensing), and rarely, the illumination of prey (used by the Black Dragonfish). It can be hard to explain why certain organisms are bioluminescent, while with others, the reasons may be obvious.

For instance, in some species, like fireflies, bioluminescence is so integrated with the organism that it is an integral part of its lifestyle -- firefly larvae use it to repel predators, while adults use it to attract prey and signal to mates. Turn on a light bulb in an insect-infested area and you'll see the benefit of luminescence to attracting prey. Fireflies are extremely efficient at converting chemical energy into light -- they do it with an efficiency of 90%. In contrast, a typical incandescent light bulb is only 10% efficient. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-bioluminescent-animals.htm

What was so interesting about this is that the phenomena is sooooo great, it can be seen from space. That's right, the light created by these organisms is so great it has been picked up by satellite photos. http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/organism/milkysea.html



Deep in the ocean, where sunlight can no longer penetrate, lies an incredible world of darkness. And against all odds, this just happens to be the location of one of nature's most impressive artificial light shows. The creatures here have evolved their own ways of dealing with the darkness. Through a process known as bioluminescence, they have developed the ability to use chemicals within their bodies to produce light. If you have ever seen a firefly then you have witnessed the same process in action. Bioluminescence is mainly a marine phenomenon. It is not found in freshwater. On land, it is seen only in a few species of fungi and insects. It is the oceans where this unique ability achieves its highest form. Hundreds of species of fish and invertebrates flash their colors in a light show that can sometimes rival the streets of Las Vegas http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/biolumiscence.html

Bioluminescence should not be confused with Fluorescence. Bioluminenscence is the emission of visible light either voluntarily or involuntarily by a plant or animal.

Fluorescence is the involuntary emission of light when an organism is being subjected to ultraviolet light.

This is not some trick with ultraviolet light evoking mere fluorescence. These creatures create light through chemical processes. Certainly most of the light is produced from one celled creatures and the simplest of animals, the angel fish. But there are animals akin to something you would behold in some science fiction film:



The paper went to say:



Another process that should not be confused with Bioluminescence is something called tapetum lucidum. This process is commonly known as glowing eyes. When light enters the eye, it's supposed to hit a photoreceptor that transmits the information to the brain, Powell explains. But sometimes the light doesn't hit the photoreceptor, so the tapetum lucidum acts as a mirror to bounce it back for a second chance.

A large number of animals have the tapetum lucidum, including deer, dogs, cats, cattle, horses and ferrets. Humans don't, and neither do some other primates. Squirrels, kangaroos and pigs don't have the tapeta, either.

Although bioluminescence may be considered rare as measured by the total number of species, it is extremely diverse in its occurrence. There are many different types of organisms that produce bioluminescence, from microscopic cells to fish and even a few sharks. But there are no luminescent animals in higher vertebrates above the fish. Overall, luminescent organisms represent most of the major phyla. http://siobiolum.ucsd.edu/Biolum_q&a.html

So even though the tiniest once celled organism might be luminescent, pretty large animals like sharks could also have luminescence. But what if man intervened in all of this?

All cells have the ability to produce ultra-low levels of light due to oxidation of organic molecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, etc. Through a very long process of natural selection, the organisms we call bioluminescent have developed the ability to enhance light production through physiological, molecular, anatomical, and behavioral adaptations. All this because the bioluminescence imparts an important ecological advantage to the organism. It is the ecological context that provides the driving force for natural selection.

In order for an organism to use bioluminescence that has been artificially induced, several criteria need to be met. First, there should be an ecological role for the light emission. Second, there needs to be control of light emission. We know from the study of luminescent organisms that with the exception of bacteria, all organisms have precise control of light emission. To produce light for the wrong reason or at the wrong time is a deadly mistake.

There are futuristic visions of glowing Christmas trees, plants that light up along highways, or even crops that glow when they are thirsty, but this type of light emission doesn't have an ecological context. http://siobiolum.ucsd.edu/Biolum_q&a.html

It was this paper that caused NORTHCO to seek out Algernon and recruit him as a biochemist.

The property of this strange process was certainly chemical, but it was determined by one's DNA.

There were two different 'methods' of making an animal glow that was not originally predestined to glow at all. One method was to inject bacteria into the subject in such a manner as to infect the animal with permanent qualities of bioluminescence--hopefully without causing the animal any other type of harm.

The second way to change the organism was through gene splicing.

The biochemist simply changes the organism into another type of animal forever.And this new animal would reproduce other of its kind that glowed for all generations to come.

NORTHCO was involved in both types of experiments. And those experiments were going awry, to say the least.


(A new chapter appears here every Monday and Thursday, if you really can stomach this stuff, and previous chapters may be viewed at: http://forestroot125.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html )