Teague Appleton 2/15/26 Teague Appleton 2/15/26

FACT #2 — Bioluminescent mushrooms glow in the dark

Some mushrooms really do glow on their own. Not because they “soaked up sunlight,” and not because something is reflecting off them—these fungi are producing light from inside their living tissues through true bioluminescence. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10053366/

The basic idea is simple: the fungus has a light-making chemical (called luciferin) and a helper protein (an enzyme called luciferase). When luciferase reacts with luciferin (with oxygen involved), the reaction releases energy as visible light—like a tiny built-in lantern. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5406138/