Raphaël Horace Dubois (20 June 1849,

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

– 21 January 1929) was a French pharmacologist known for his work on

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorgani ...

and

anesthesia Anesthesia (American English) or anaesthesia (British English) is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prev ...

. He coined the terms ''proteon'' and ''bioproteon,'' from the Greek "proteon" for matter and "bios" for life. Bioproteon means "living matter". He concluded that there was no difference between matter and living matter. Dubois' bioluminescence work began when he became a research assistant to

Paul Bert Paul Bert (17 October 1833 – 11 November 1886) was a French zoologist, physiologist and politician. He is sometimes given the nickname "Father of Aviation Medicine". Life Bert was born at Auxerre ( Yonne). He studied law, earning a doctorate ...

in 1882. While initially planning to study the effects of anesthesia on mollusks, witnessing the bioluminescence of ''

Pyrophorus noctilucus ''Pyrophorus noctilucus'', common name headlight elater, is a species of click beetle (family Elateridae). Description ''Pyrophorus noctilucus'' can reach a length of . The basic coloration is dark brown. The antennae are serrate. The pronotum ...

'' inspired him to study the beetle more in depth. Dubois discovered that not only do the adults glow, but so do the unfertilized eggs, embryo, and larvae. Dubois later conducted studies on '' Scolioplanes crassipes'', wherein Dubois discovered the source of its luminescence is in cells of the wall of the gut. Dubois published a paper studying the light production of '' Pholas dactylus'' in 1887, in which he coined the terms

luciferin Luciferin () is a generic term for the light-emitting chemical compound, compound found in organisms that generate bioluminescence. Luciferins typically undergo an enzyme-catalyzed reaction with Oxygen, molecular oxygen. The resulting transforma ...

and

luciferase Luciferase is a generic term for the class of oxidative enzymes that produce bioluminescence, and is usually distinguished from a photoprotein. The name was first used by Raphaël Dubois who invented the words ''luciferin'' and ''luciferase'' ...

References

1849 births 1929 deaths Bioluminescence French pharmacologists People from Le Mans {{france-med-bio-stub