A short story of aequorin.

One day in the fall of 1960, shortly after my arrival at Princeton from Japan, Dr. Frank Johnson showed me a small jar containing a spoonful of white powder. He explained that the powder was a freeze dried “squeezate” made from the luminous jellyfish Aequorea, and that it would emit light when mixed with water. He asked me if I would be interested in studying the bioluminescence of this jellyfish. The powder did not emit any light when moistened. But I was quite impressed by Dr. Johnson’s description of the brilliant luminescence of live jellyfish and the great abundance of specimens around Friday Harbor, Washington. So my response was a definite “yes.” My experience in bioluminescence research at the time was meager and limited to only the luminescent system of the ostracod Cypridina. I imagined, vaguely, that the jellyfish would probably contain a kind of luciferin and a luciferase, possibly with one of the cofactors, such as ATP, FMN, or NADH, like the fireflies, luminous bacteria, and Cypridina that were known at that time. In the early summer of 196 1, we traveled from Princeton to Friday Harbor in Dr. Johnson’s station wagon, which he had newly purchased for the excursion. The car was fully loaded with necessary equipment and chemicals, including a MacNichol integrating photometer of gigantic size (a two-foot cube), and four travelers (my wife and Yo Saiga, an assistant, came along) with all of their baggage on the roof. It took us seven days to the West Coast, through Chicago and Glacier National Park. Dr. Johnson was the only driver throughout the trip, driving 12 hours a day with an admirable toughness. Upon arrival at the Friday Harbor Laboratories, we were welcomed by Dr. Robert Fernald, Director of the Lab. We set up our work space in Lab 1, a small building consisting of two rooms, and we started to work. There were three other scientists in the room, and one of them