Life Sciences

Glow Worms

These worms have been genetically modified to make them glow under ultraviolet light. Worms don't usually glow, but some jellyfish do. The nerve cells of these worms glow because scientists injected their parents with the gene that makes jellyfish glow. Because the genes of living things are so similar, the worm takes on the jellyfish characteristic. By making the nervous system in the worms glow scientists can watch how nerve cells communicate with each other. The glow gene is used to trace biological processes in all sorts of organisms.