Team:Cambridge/Bioluminescence/Background Firefly

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(The Light Emitting Reaction)
 
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The design of our BioBricks was based on an understanding of the bioluminescence reactions as displayed in the diagram below. D-luciferin is converted into oxyluciferin by the enzyme luciferase using ATP and oxygen as well as magnesium as a co-factor. Oxyluciferin is generated in an unstable, energetically excited state, but rapidly returns to the more stable ground state. This is lower in energy and the energy released during the process takes the form of an emitted photon of visible light. The generation of light in this reaction is extremely efficient as much of the energy released by the chemical reaction is converted into light, with hardly any loss to heat production ([http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v2/n1/full/nphoton.2007.259.html Ugarova 2008]).
The design of our BioBricks was based on an understanding of the bioluminescence reactions as displayed in the diagram below. D-luciferin is converted into oxyluciferin by the enzyme luciferase using ATP and oxygen as well as magnesium as a co-factor. Oxyluciferin is generated in an unstable, energetically excited state, but rapidly returns to the more stable ground state. This is lower in energy and the energy released during the process takes the form of an emitted photon of visible light. The generation of light in this reaction is extremely efficient as much of the energy released by the chemical reaction is converted into light, with hardly any loss to heat production ([http://www.nature.com/nphoton/journal/v2/n1/full/nphoton.2007.259.html Ugarova 2008]).

Latest revision as of 22:57, 27 October 2010