Japanese Eels Essay example

Submitted By sar27366
Words: 344
Pages: 2

Japanese eels
This article is about a special protein in a Japanese eel. This eel’s protein connects with a pigment called bilirubin to get its green glow. This protein can be used for treating liver problems and jaundice. The reason that I picked this article is because I remember discussing about proteins for quite a while. The use of this protein was discovered by Atsushi Miyawaki.
He is a biomaging specialist from the RIKEN research institute in Japan. He has spent the last three years what made the protein’s glow in the eel. The eel’s species name is Anguilla japonica. When the red blood cells break down the jaundice causing bilirubin (a yellowish pigment) is being produced. This protein is in the muscles of the Japanese freshwater eels tend to glow green when a compound bilirubin is introduced.
Scientists have made a different version of the same protein bilirubin in the labs. They measured the bilirubin levels in blood which is apparently an indicator of liver function. The body automatically eliminated bilirubin from the body. When bilirubin levels get really high it causes jaundice, brain damage, or even maybe death. By exploiting bilirubin’s ability to turn on the eel protein, Miyawaki and his colleagues developed a simple test with a lab-made version of the protein that uses the brightness of green fluorescence to indicate a blood sample’s level of the pigment.
Other scientists have said “What they’ve got is really good,” says bilirubin