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Hundreds of Civil War Soldiers Were Destined to Die. Then, Their Wounds Started Glowing.
- At Shiloh, soldiers’ wounds reportedly glowed blue at night, a phenomenon later named Angel’s Glow.
- Bill Martin and Jon Curtis investigated the site with a microbiologist, connecting the glow to a bacterium.
- The glow was traced to Photorhabdus luminescens, a bacterium that lives with soil nematodes.
- P. luminescens aids insect hosts and uses toxins that can disinfect wounds in some contexts.
- Lux operon genes drive the light emission seen in the glowing wounds.
- Weather conditions at Shiloh allowed the disinfecting bacteria to thrive briefly on wounds.
- The case linked historical observations to modern science and education recognition.
- Smithsonian Magazine highlighted the Angel’s Glow fact as part of a special report.
- The story links biology and history, showing how microbes can influence battlefield outcomes.
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