From deep-sea fish to fireflies, dozens of organisms use bioluminescence to help themselves be seen in the natural world. But can we harness them to light our towns and cities?

從深海魚(yú)到螢火蟲(chóng)，自然界中有幾十種生物利用生物發(fā)光使自己被看到，但我們能否利用它們照亮我們的城鎮(zhèn)？

In a tranquil side room of the Covid-19 vaccination centre in Rambouillet, a small French town around 30 miles (50km) south-west of Paris, a soft blue light emanated from a row of cylindrical tubes. Members of the public who received a vaccine last year were invited to bathe in the glow for a few minutes while they waited in the recovery area.

朗布依埃是一座位于巴黎西南約30英里（50公里）的法國(guó)小鎮(zhèn)，在新冠疫苗接種中心一間安靜的觀察室里，一排圓管發(fā)出柔和的藍(lán)光。去年，接種過(guò)疫苗的市民會(huì)被安排去觀察區(qū)等待幾分鐘，同時(shí)沐浴在這種光線中。
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Soon, the same azure glow will illuminate the nearby, tree-lined Place André Thomé et Jacqueline Thomé-Paten?tre, located just across from the aptly named La Lanterne performance hall, at night. These ethereal experiments are also underway across France, including at the capital's Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle airport.

不久后，這種蔚藍(lán)色光將在夜晚照亮附近綠樹(shù)成蔭的安德烈·托姆與杰奎琳·托梅·帕特諾特廣場(chǎng)，正對(duì)面是“燈籠”表演館，名字很貼切。法國(guó)各地都在進(jìn)行這種超凡的實(shí)驗(yàn)，包括巴黎的夏爾·戴高樂(lè)機(jī)場(chǎng)。

But unlike standard streetlamps, which often emit a harsh glare and need to be hooked up to the electricity grid, these otherworldly lights are powered by living organisms through a process known as bioluminescence.

但它不像普通路燈那樣發(fā)出刺眼的強(qiáng)光，而且需要連接電網(wǎng)，這些超凡脫俗的光源由生物提供能量，這種方法被稱為生物發(fā)光。

This phenomenon – where chemical reactions inside an organism's body produce light – can be observed in many places in nature. Organisms as diverse as fireflies, fungi and fish have the ability to glow through bioluminescence. It is present in 76% of deep-sea creatures and has independently evolved dozens of times, including at least 27 occasions in marine fish alone.

這種現(xiàn)象在自然界中并不罕見(jiàn)，生物體內(nèi)的化學(xué)反應(yīng)產(chǎn)生光亮。螢火蟲(chóng)、菌類、魚(yú)類等多種生物都具備生物發(fā)光能力。76%的深海生物擁有這種能力，而且獨(dú)立進(jìn)化了幾十次，僅僅海洋魚(yú)類就進(jìn)化了至少27次。

The uses of bioluminescence in the natural world are just as wide-ranging. Fireflies light up to attract mates while some species of algae glow when the surrounding water is disturbed. Deepsea anglerfish allow bioluminescent bacteria to take up residence on a lobe above their head as a tantalising lure for prey.

生物發(fā)光在自然界的用途很廣泛。螢火蟲(chóng)發(fā)光吸引配偶，某些藻類在四周海水被攪動(dòng)時(shí)會(huì)發(fā)光，深海的琵琶魚(yú)允許生物發(fā)光細(xì)菌寄居在頭頂?shù)膱A形突起物里，作為誘餌來(lái)吸引獵物。


Marine algae can produce an eery glow in the water when they are disturbed by waves, boats or swimmers

當(dāng)受到海浪、船只、游泳者驚擾時(shí)，海藻會(huì)在水里發(fā)出奇異的光。

Most bioluminescent ocean species emit a blue-green light, which, due to the shorter wavelengths of the colours, can travel further in the ocean. Some fireflies and certain snails glow yellow, and the so-called "railroad worm", a beetle larvae native to the Americas, is known to turn both red and greenish-yellow in a dotted pattern that resembles a train at night. Springhares – nocturnal rodents found in southern Africa – have even been found to have hair that produces a vivid pink biofluorescent glow.

海洋里的大多數(shù)生物發(fā)光物種發(fā)出藍(lán)綠色光，由于這種顏色的波長(zhǎng)較短，所以在海洋里的傳播距離較遠(yuǎn)。某些螢火蟲(chóng)和蝸牛能發(fā)出黃光，美洲有一種俗稱“鐵道蟲(chóng)”的甲蟲(chóng)幼蟲(chóng)，它能發(fā)出紅色和黃綠色的光點(diǎn)，看上去猶如夜晚的火車(chē)。春兔是南非一種夜間活動(dòng)的嚙齒動(dòng)物，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)它的皮毛能發(fā)出亮粉色的生物熒光。

The turquoise blue glow bathing the waiting room in Rambouillet, meanwhile, comes from a marine bacterium gathered off the coast of France called Aliivibrio fischeri. The bacteria are stored inside saltwater-filled tubes, allowing them to circulate in a kind of luminous aquarium. Since the light is generated through internal biochemical processes that are part of the organism's normal metabolism, running it requires almost no energy other than that needed to produce the food the bacteria consume. A mix of basic nutrients is added and air is pumped through the water to provide oxygen. To "turn off the lights", the air is simply cut off, halting the process by sending the bacteria into an anaerobic state where it does not produce bioluminescence.

另外，人們?cè)诜▏?guó)沿海采集到一種名為“費(fèi)氏弧菌”的海洋細(xì)菌，朗布依埃小鎮(zhèn)的觀察室里的碧藍(lán)色光就是由它們發(fā)出的。這種細(xì)菌被儲(chǔ)存在充滿海水的圓管內(nèi)，使它們?cè)谶@種發(fā)光水族箱內(nèi)自由流動(dòng)。由于這種光來(lái)自生物體內(nèi)的生化過(guò)程，是該生物正常新陳代謝的一部分，所以除了為細(xì)菌制造食物以外，這種燈光幾乎不消耗能源。只需添加混合的基本養(yǎng)料，將空氣泵入水中供氧。如果想要“關(guān)燈”，那就完全切斷空氣，讓細(xì)菌進(jìn)入無(wú)氧狀態(tài)，它們就會(huì)停止生物發(fā)光。

"Our goal is to change the way in which cities use light," says Sandra Rey, founder of the French start-up Glowee, which is behind the project in Rambouillet. "We want to create an ambiance that better respects citizens, the environment and biodiversity – and to impose this new philosophy of light as a real alternative."

“我們的目標(biāo)是改變城市的照明方式”，法國(guó)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)Glowee的創(chuàng)始人桑德拉·雷伊說(shuō)道，該公司是朗布依埃項(xiàng)目的幕后推手?！拔覀兿Ｍ麆?chuàng)造一種更加尊重市民、環(huán)境、生物多樣性的氛圍，讓這種新的照明理念成為真正的選擇”。

Proponents like Rey argue bioluminescence produced by bacteria could be an energy-efficient, sustainable way to light up our lives. The way we currently produce light, she argues, has changed little since the first light bulb was developed in 1879. While the LED-bulb, which emerged in the 1960s, has significantly reduced the running costs of lighting, it still depends on electricity, which is largely produced by burning fossil fuels.

雷伊等支持者認(rèn)為，細(xì)菌的生物發(fā)光有望成為一種節(jié)能、可持續(xù)的方式來(lái)點(diǎn)亮我們的生活。她認(rèn)為自1879年首枚燈泡問(wèn)世以來(lái)，我們現(xiàn)有的照明方式變化不大。雖然20世紀(jì)60年代問(wèn)世的LED燈泡極大降低了照明成本，但仍然依賴電能，而電能主要通過(guò)化石燃料的燃燒來(lái)產(chǎn)生。


Glowee grows the marine bacterium Aliivibrio fischeri in salt water and a mix of nutrients – the bacteria glow when they are given oxygen

Glowee公司在海水和混合養(yǎng)料中培養(yǎng)海洋“費(fèi)氏弧菌”，它有氧環(huán)境下發(fā)光。

Founded in 2014, Glowee is developing a liquid raw material – in theory endlessly renewable – made of bioluminescent microorganisms. It is cultivated in saltwater aquariums before being packaged in the aquarium tubes. The manufacturing process, claims Rey, consumes less water than manufacturing LED lights and releases less CO2, while the liquid is also biodegradable. The lights also use less electricity to run than LEDs, according to the company, although the Glowee bulbs produce fewer lumens of light than most modern LED bulbs.

創(chuàng)立于2014年的Glowee公司正在研發(fā)一種由發(fā)光微生物構(gòu)成的液態(tài)原料，理論上可以無(wú)限再生。首先放入海水水族箱中培養(yǎng)，然后封裝在圓管水族箱里。雷伊表示，相比制造LED燈，這種制造工藝耗水更少，產(chǎn)生的二氧化碳更少，而且該液體可以生物降解。據(jù)公司透露，這種光源比LED耗電更少，但Glowee燈泡的亮度低于大多數(shù)的現(xiàn)代LED燈泡。

While Glowee's lights are currently only available in standard tubes for events, the company is planning to produce several types of street furniture, such as outdoor benches with in-built lighting, soon.

目前，Glowee光源只能以標(biāo)準(zhǔn)圓管的形態(tài)為環(huán)境提供照明，該公司計(jì)劃盡快生產(chǎn)幾種街道設(shè)施，例如：配有內(nèi)置照明的戶外長(zhǎng)凳。
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In 2019, Rambouillet city hall signed a partnership with Glowee and invested €100,000 (￡83,300/$109,000) to turn the town into "a full-scale bioluminescence laboratory".

2019年，朗布依埃市政府與Glowee公司簽署合作協(xié)議，投資10萬(wàn)歐元（83300英鎊/109000美元），把這座城鎮(zhèn)打造成“全方位的生物發(fā)光實(shí)驗(yàn)室”。

Guillaume Douet, head of Rambouillet's public spaces, believes if the experiment is a success it could lead to a transformation across the country. "This is about a city of tomorrow," says Douet. "If the prototype really works, we can bring it to a large-scale deployment and replace current lighting systems."

朗布依埃的公共空間負(fù)責(zé)人紀(jì)堯姆·杜埃相信，如果實(shí)驗(yàn)成功，可能引發(fā)全國(guó)性的變革?！斑@關(guān)系到城市的未來(lái)”，杜埃說(shuō)道?！叭绻痛_實(shí)可行，我們可以普及使用這種照明，并替換現(xiàn)有的照明系統(tǒng)”。

But bioluminescent lighting isn't new. In around 350BC, Greek philosopher Aristotle described bioluminescence in glow worms and fireflies as a type of "cold" light. Coal miners have used fireflies in jars as illumination in mines where any kind of flame – even a candle or lantern – could trigger a deadly explosion. Meanwhile, glowing fungi have for years been used by tribes in India to illuminate dense jungles.

但生物發(fā)光并非新鮮事物。大約在公元前350年，希臘哲學(xué)家亞里士多德將發(fā)光蟲(chóng)和螢火蟲(chóng)的生物發(fā)光描述為一種“冷”光。煤礦工人在礦井中使用螢火蟲(chóng)罐子照明，在這種環(huán)境中，任何明火都會(huì)引起致命性爆炸，哪怕是蠟燭或提燈。另外，印度的部落民族常年使用發(fā)光菌類照亮茂密的叢林。

Yet Glowee is the first company in the world to reach this level of experimentation, and the company says it is in negotiations with 40 cities across France, Belgium, Switzerland and Portugal. ERDF, a largely state-run company that manages France's electricity grid, is among Glowee's backers, the European Commission has provided €1.7m (￡1.4m/$1.9) funding and France's National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) has given technical support.

但是，Glowee是世界上第一家達(dá)到這種實(shí)驗(yàn)水準(zhǔn)的企業(yè)，該公司聲稱正在與法國(guó)、比利時(shí)、瑞士、葡萄牙的40個(gè)城市進(jìn)行談判。管理法國(guó)電網(wǎng)的ERDF公司基本上是國(guó)企，它是Glowee公司的資助方之一。歐盟委員會(huì)資助了170萬(wàn)歐元（140萬(wàn)英鎊/190萬(wàn)美元），法國(guó)國(guó)家健康與醫(yī)療研究所提供了技術(shù)支持。

However, Carl Johnson, professor of biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, believes there are serious challenges still ahead before bioluminescence can get the green light for large-scale deployment.

但是，范德比爾特大學(xué)的生物學(xué)教授卡爾·約翰遜認(rèn)為，在生物發(fā)光被批準(zhǔn)大規(guī)模使用之前，仍有重大挑戰(zhàn)有待于解決。
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"First, you have to feed the bacteria and dilute them as they grow," he says. "That's not so easy. Also, the phenomenon will be very temperature-dependent and I doubt that it will work in the winter. Third, bioluminescence is very dim compared to electrical lighting. But perhaps they have improved the luminescence intensity."

“首先，你得培育發(fā)光細(xì)菌，當(dāng)數(shù)量增加時(shí)需要進(jìn)行稀釋”，他說(shuō)道?！斑@并非易事。其次，生物發(fā)光非常依賴溫度，我懷疑在冬天是否可行。第三，生物發(fā)光相比電氣照明非常暗淡。但也許他們?cè)黾恿税l(fā)光亮度”。

Glowee's Rey acknowledges those challenges ahead, but insists the benefits, both ecologically and economically, could see future cities bathed in bacterial blue light.

Glowee公司的雷伊承認(rèn)面臨這些挑戰(zhàn)，但她堅(jiān)信沐浴在細(xì)菌藍(lán)光中的未來(lái)城市將在生態(tài)和經(jīng)濟(jì)上受益。

Currently, the Evry-based team is working to increase the light intensity produced by the bacteria – which for now only lasts days or weeks before requiring further nutrients and is not yet as strong as LED lights – by subjecting it to different temperatures and pressures. So far Glowee says its bacteria can produce an output of brightness of 15 lumens per square metre – short of, but not far off, the minimum 25 per square metre it believes is required for public lighting in parks and gardens. By comparison a 220 lumen household LED spotlight bulb can produce about 111 lumens per square metre of floor.

目前，來(lái)自法國(guó)埃夫里的團(tuán)隊(duì)正在致力于增加細(xì)菌發(fā)光的亮度。在各種溫度和壓力環(huán)境下，生物發(fā)光在不補(bǔ)充養(yǎng)料的前提下只能維持?jǐn)?shù)天或數(shù)周，而且亮度不如LED光源。據(jù)Glowee公司透露，到目前為止，發(fā)光細(xì)菌可產(chǎn)生每平方米15流明的亮度輸出，公司認(rèn)為公園和花園所需要的公共照明亮度是每平方米25流明，盡管尚未達(dá)到這一目標(biāo)，但差距不是太大。相比而言，220流明的家用LED聚光燈可以產(chǎn)生每平方米房屋面積111流明的亮度。
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"We are advancing little by little," she says. "But we've made enormous steps already and our philosophy of light is a response to the crisis humanity is facing."

“我們正在逐漸地進(jìn)步”，她說(shuō)道?！暗覀円呀?jīng)取得了巨大進(jìn)步，我們的照明理念是應(yīng)對(duì)人類正在面臨的危機(jī)”。


Some fungi carry genes that allow them to produce bioluminescence and could be used to bioengineer plants that glow

某些菌類含有生物發(fā)光基因，可用于發(fā)光植物的生物工程改造。
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Catrin Williams, a lecturer at Cardiff University's School of Biosciences who has studied bioluminescence in bacteria, agrees it is "difficult" to maintain living bacterial cultures long-term due to the need for the supply of nutrients.

卡迪夫大學(xué)生物科學(xué)學(xué)院的講師卡特琳·威廉姆斯研究過(guò)細(xì)菌的生物發(fā)光，她認(rèn)同長(zhǎng)期維持活菌培養(yǎng)很難，因?yàn)檫@需要養(yǎng)料供應(yīng)。

But Williams says this could be overcome by focusing on "chemiluminescence" – a process Glowee is also currently investigating – which removes the need for live bacteria. Instead, the enzyme responsible for bioluminescence, luciferase, can in theory be extracted from bacteria and used to produce light itself. "I think the Glowee approach is extremely novel and innovative and could be fantastic," she says.

但威廉姆斯表示，聚焦于“化學(xué)發(fā)光”可以解決這一難題，擺脫對(duì)活菌的依賴，目前Glowee公司也在研究這種工藝。生物發(fā)光是由“熒光素酶”造成的，理論上可以從細(xì)菌中提取這種酶，并利用它發(fā)光?！拔艺J(rèn)為Glowee公司的方法極具新穎性和創(chuàng)新性，可能棒極了”，她說(shuō)道。
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Other initiatives around the world are providing further glimmers of hope. Vancouver-based Nyoka Design Labs is developing a biodegradable alternative to glow sticks using non-living, cell-free enzymes, which the creators say are much easier to maintain than living bacteria. "Instead of using the whole car, we just take out the headlights," says Paige Whitehead, the founder and chief executive. "Enzymology has advanced to the extent that we no longer have to rely on the cell-supported systems."

世界各地的其他倡議也帶來(lái)了更多希望的曙光。位于溫哥華的Nyoka設(shè)計(jì)實(shí)驗(yàn)室正在研發(fā)一種可生物降解的方法，利用無(wú)生命、無(wú)細(xì)胞的酶代替熒光棒，發(fā)明人稱這比維持活菌容易多了?！拔覀儾皇抢谜_(tái)車(chē)，而是僅僅取出車(chē)燈”，該實(shí)驗(yàn)室的創(chuàng)始人和總裁佩奇·懷特海德說(shuō)道?！懊笇W(xué)的進(jìn)步足以讓我們不再依賴細(xì)胞支撐的系統(tǒng)”。

Once used, glow sticks cannot be recycled due to the mixture of chemicals they contain. They are used in a wide range of applications, from law enforcement and military uses to music festival goers. Some researchers have raised concerns about the affect the chemicals they contain have on marine life, as they are also often used as lures in longline fishing.

熒光棒含有各種化學(xué)品，使用后無(wú)法被回收。從執(zhí)法和軍事用途到音樂(lè)節(jié)的觀眾，熒光棒的用途很廣泛。研究人員擔(dān)心，熒光棒含有的化學(xué)品會(huì)危害海洋生物，因?yàn)檠永K釣法通常使用熒光棒作誘餌。

"So much of this waste is unnecessary," says Whitehead. "The vision we're going for is to replace any alternative lighting systems to make them more sustainable."

“沒(méi)必要產(chǎn)生那么多廢棄物”，懷特海德說(shuō)道。“我們的愿景是替代其他照明系統(tǒng)，使它們具有更強(qiáng)的可持續(xù)性”。

In a major breakthrough for that vision, a study published in April 2020 revealed a team of Russian bioengineers working with a Moscow-based biotechnology startup who have created a method to sustain bioluminescence in plants. They claim they were able to make plants glow 10 times brighter and for longer than previous efforts – producing over 10 billion photons per minute – by bioengineering bioluminescent genes from fungi into the plants. The new research built on findings that identified a fungal version of luciferin, one of the unique compounds that is necessary for bioluminescence, alongside either of the enzymes luciferase or photoprotein.

2020年4月的一份研究報(bào)告顯示，俄羅斯的一支生物工程師團(tuán)隊(duì)與位于莫斯科的一家生物技術(shù)初創(chuàng)企業(yè)展開(kāi)合作，研究出一種維持植物生物發(fā)光的方法。他們聲稱通過(guò)生物工程改造，將菌類的生物發(fā)光基因移植到植物體內(nèi)，相比之前的成果，這樣能夠使植物的發(fā)光亮度增強(qiáng)十倍，發(fā)光壽命更長(zhǎng)，每分鐘產(chǎn)生100億個(gè)光子。這項(xiàng)新的研究是基于一種菌類熒光素的發(fā)現(xiàn)，與熒光素酶或熒光蛋白一樣，它是生物發(fā)光必不可少的獨(dú)特化合物之一。

Keith Wood, a scientist who 30 years ago created the first luminescent plant using a gene from fireflies, says the technology could in part replace artificial lighting like LEDs. More recently, he found that by altering the genetic structure of a luciferase found in the deep-sea shrimp Oplophorus gracilirostris, its brightness could be increased by 2.5 million times. The resulting enzyme, which the researchers called NanoLuc, was also 150 times brighter than the luciferases found in fireflies.

30年前，科學(xué)家基斯·伍德利用螢火蟲(chóng)的某個(gè)基因創(chuàng)造出第一株發(fā)光植物，他說(shuō)這項(xiàng)技術(shù)在一定程度上可以代替LED等人工照明。他最近發(fā)現(xiàn)深海細(xì)腳刺蝦（Oplophorus gracilirostris）含有一種熒光素酶，通過(guò)改造這種酶的基因結(jié)構(gòu)，能使發(fā)光亮度提高250萬(wàn)倍。這種改造后的熒光素酶被命名為NanoLuc，比螢火蟲(chóng)的熒光素酶還要亮150倍。

"The application of synthetic biology onto bioluminescence is a massive opportunity," says Wood, who is now developing a bioluminescent plant for the company Light Bio.

“將合成生物學(xué)應(yīng)用于生物發(fā)光是一個(gè)巨大的機(jī)遇”，伍德說(shuō)道，他目前正在為L(zhǎng)ight Bio公司研發(fā)一種生物發(fā)光植物。

But exactly how these transgenic bioluminescent plants might be used in the future is still to be decided. One group of designers in Athens, led by Olympia Ardavani at the Hellenic Open University, laid out a vision of large numbers of bioluminescent plants being used to provide ambient lighting along the side of roads. They estimated that if a plant could be produced that would emit around 57 lumens of light each, they would need 40 plants in every 30m (98ft) on each side of the road in order to meet the lowest class of street lighting required on roads used by pedestrians in Europe.

然而在未來(lái)，如何利用這些轉(zhuǎn)基因的生物發(fā)光植物尚無(wú)定論。希臘遠(yuǎn)程教育大學(xué)的奧林匹亞·阿達(dá)瓦尼帶領(lǐng)一支雅典設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)提出這樣的愿景：大量的生物發(fā)光植物沿著路邊提供環(huán)境照明。他們估算如果每株植物產(chǎn)生大約57流明的亮度，那么在道路的每一側(cè)，每30米（98英尺）需要40株植物，才能滿足歐洲人行道的最低級(jí)別的街道照明要求。

However, Rey believes harnessing the natural power of bioluminescence for lighting could also make us see the environment and natural world in new ways too. "It can create an ambiance that makes us more respectful citizens, of the environment and of biodiversity," she says.

然而雷伊認(rèn)為，利用生物發(fā)光的自然之力提供照明，能讓我們以新的方式看待環(huán)境和自然界。“營(yíng)造的氛圍能使我們對(duì)自然環(huán)境和生物多樣性心存敬意”，她說(shuō)道。

原創(chuàng)翻譯：龍騰網(wǎng) http://www.top-shui.cn 轉(zhuǎn)載請(qǐng)注明出處