Feed nematode worms a particular light-sensitive chemical and after the meal, the worms become paralyzed when exposed to UV light. Remarkably, the effects can be reversed under visible light, Neil Branda and colleagues report in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
JOE PALCA, host: And that flute music can only mean one thing. It means we've reached that hour, that moment in the hour when we talk to the fabulous Flora Lichtman about the video pick of the week. Flora, what's up?</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Hi, Joe.</s>JOE PALCA, host: Hi, Flora. What's up?</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Welcome to SCIENCE FRIDAY.</s>JOE PALCA, host: Thank you very much. It's a delight to be here and thank you so much for having me. OK.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: OK. Down to business.</s>JOE PALCA, host: Down to business.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: This week, we have a story about scientists who have basically made a stun gun for worms.</s>JOE PALCA, host: A stun gun for worms. What does that mean?</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Very important research.</s>JOE PALCA, host: Yeah, right. Because a lot of worms. You know, worm attacks are being rampant all over the place.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: All right.</s>JOE PALCA, host: No, it's more important than that.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: All right, so here's the story. Neil Branda - who's a chemist at Simon Fraser University in Canada - and his colleagues took a nematode worm, also known as C. elegans, this experimental model organism, they fed it a light-sensitive chemical. So that's a chemical that changes when you expose it to different types of light.</s>JOE PALCA, host: Mm-hmm.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: And then they shined the worm with UV light.</s>JOE PALCA, host: Ultraviolet light, OK.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Ultraviolet light. And something kind of remarkable happened. First, the worm turned blue�</s>JOE PALCA, host: Mm-hmm.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: �which is kind of a side point, and then it became paralyzed.</s>JOE PALCA, host: Paralyzed?</s>LICTHMAN: So here's where the stun comes in.</s>JOE PALCA, host: You don't think it's just resting?</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Apparently, enough worms started resting after the UV light had been�</s>JOE PALCA, host: Right. OK. So they decided it was paralyzed. OK.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: And then the next part - and here's where it's new - when they shined the worms back with visible light�</s>JOE PALCA, host: Mm-hmm.</s>LICTHMAN: �they started moving again.</s>JOE PALCA, host: So this was a reversible�</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Reversible�</s>JOE PALCA, host: �stun�</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: �mechanism.</s>JOE PALCA, host: �mechanism that's switched on and off by light.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Right.</s>JOE PALCA, host: And�</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: And you can see it on our Web site, at sciencefriday.com.</s>JOE PALCA, host: I knew that was coming. No, I actually, I have to confess. I took a peek out of it. It's pretty remarkable. You should go have a look. Flora, thank you very much.</s>FLORA LICHTMAN: Joe, thank you.</s>JOE PALCA, host: OK. And that's it for today's hour. Flora Lichtman is the digital media producer for SCIENCE FRIDAY, and that was her you were just hearing.