
Why Do Jellyfish Glow? - dnetesn
http://alliance.nautil.us/feature/156/why-do-jellyfish-glow
======
jfarlow
GFP and other fluorescent proteins now provide the basis of most debugging
done in genetic development. The fluorescent proteins are so robust, straight-
forward, and easily analyzable that they're used as console flags for 'is it
on', 'does it compile' and 'where is it' when teasing out complexity in other
parts of biological code.

[1] GFP:
[https://serotiny.bio/notes/proteins/gfp/](https://serotiny.bio/notes/proteins/gfp/)

[2] The sequence if you want to build genetic tools with it yourself:
[https://serotiny.bio/pinecone/part/3945](https://serotiny.bio/pinecone/part/3945)

------
everyone
Interesting, but does not answer the question in the title, or even address
it.

~~~
tzar
It think the article plays fair. The inclusion of some of Shimomura's early
work on bioluminescence provides ample insight to be considered an answer to
the question. But this article seems to me to be about the long-term value of
asking such questions at all. The conclusion makes that clear:

> _But the original question that got us to GFP wasn’t, “What can it do for
> us?” Instead, our human curiosity led us to ask, simply, “Why does it
> glow?”_

It's about the question, not the answer.

~~~
everyone
That does cover a little of _how_ jellyfish glow. But _why_ is never broached.

_

The title of the article is misleading.

~~~
pault
We'll leave the "why" to the jellyfish philosophers.

