Summertime Light

I'm back after a bit of an absence. Summer has been very busy and I did take a little time to head back to my home state of Michigan for some camping. One thing I rediscovered was the joy of fireflies. We don't have them where I live now, but I remember the lazy late summer days of my youth chasing and catching these wonderful creatures. They are out in force this year glittering and lighting up the summer nights. Of course this leads to chemistry and not just nostalgic blatherings. As a kid I was fascinated by how the light was produced and we owe it all to a little molecule called Luciferin. In the presence of Luciferase and ATP, an AMP-modified luciferin is produced. This, in turn, reacts with oxygen to produce oxyluciferin in the excited state. Relaxation to the ground state produces the all too familiar orange-yellow glow of the firefly. Nature comes up with some unique ways for males to attract mates, and this is one of the more interesting ones.