EarthTalk – Can bioluminescence be used for everyday lighting?

Dear EarthTalk:

Is there any way we could harness the light from bioluminescent organisms for everyday lighting and other practical purposes?

-- M. Wilson, Framingham, MA

Bioluminescence—defined by Merriam-Webster as “the emission of light from living organisms (such as fireflies, dinoflagellates, and bacteria) as the result of internal, typically oxidative chemical reactions”—is one of the wonders of nature that just about any of us can witness.

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