Test tube with dried Cypridina
- ID-nummer
- 2009.001.004
- Titel
- Test tube with dried Cypridina
- Objektkategori
- Vetenskapliga instrument, material & modeller
- Publik beskrivning
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Osamu Shimomura's research on luminous biological substances started with the small, shelled organism Cypridina hilgendorfii. The test tube contains dried specimens of the organism.
When the sand-like material is moistened, it becomes luminous. The material was collected by Japanese soldiers during the Second World War to make discreet sources of light. At the end of the war, the U.S. Navy took over the material, and it eventually ended up at Princeton University.
These luminous shelled organisms also caught the interest of Japanese researchers after the war. In 1955, the young chemist Osamu Shimomura was given the task of discovering why these animals were luminous. After extensive work, he managed to find the cause: a luminous protein. Shimomura would later pursue his research on luminous biological substances at Princeton University.
Osamu Shimomura donated the test tube to the Nobel Prize Museum in 2009. - Pristagare
- Osamu Shimomura
Part of Test tube with dried Cypridina