{"id":45907,"date":"2026-09-28T08:44:40","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:44:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/?p=45907"},"modified":"2026-09-28T08:44:40","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T13:44:40","slug":"word-of-the-day-1149","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/2026\/09\/28\/word-of-the-day-1149\/","title":{"rendered":"Word Of The Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kleptoproteinism<\/em>:<\/p>\n

The new study, published in\u00a0Scientific Reports,<\/em>\u00a0stated that the case of the golden sweeper is one of the clearest examples of a rare phenomenon known as kleptoproteinism. The term comes from \u201cklepto,\u201d meaning to steal, and refers to organisms that take proteins from other species and use them for their own benefit. It is part of a broader phenomenon called kleptobiology.<\/strong> [<\/em>Asian Scientist<\/strong><\/a>]<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Noted in “This Glowing Fish Steals Bioluminescence Instead of Making Its Own Light<\/em><\/a>,” Stephanie Edwards, Discover Magazine<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n

This finding is the clearest evidence yet of a rare biological strategy called \u201ckleptoproteinism,\u201d and it could reshape how scientists think about how life works at the genetic level.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yep, that paragraph references the same fish referenced in the definition, if one digests paragraphs I didn’t quote. But the latter magazine’s article is then followed by this:<\/p>\n

Instead of producing its own light-generating enzyme \u2014 known as luciferase \u2014 the fish acquires it directly from its prey. Specifically, it feeds on tiny bioluminescent crustaceans called ostracods or \u201csea fireflies,\u201d and repurposes their glowing proteins for its own use.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The klepto<\/em> prefix, meaning stealing : theft<\/em> [Merriam-Webster<\/strong><\/a>], usually implies the victim does not suffer fatal consequences, although the theft of, say, a breathing mask could have fatal results. But the act of the single example known is a byproduct of feeding<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I’d rather see a different term constructed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kleptoproteinism: The new study, published in\u00a0Scientific Reports,\u00a0stated that the case of the golden sweeper is one of the clearest examples of a rare phenomenon known as kleptoproteinism. The term comes from \u201cklepto,\u201d meaning to steal, and refers to organisms that take proteins from other species and use them for their \u2026 Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45908,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45907\/revisions\/45908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huewhite.com\/umb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}