How did pearls come about?

Pearls are a kind of ornament that people love to wear nowadays. They can not only enhance a person's charm, but also represent luxury. Moreover, the role of pearls is not just for decoration. Pearls are also added to some skin care products. When it comes to the origin of pearls, perhaps everyone has heard of it and knows that pearls are produced by clams. However, this is not an accurate statement. Let us introduce in detail how pearls come from.

Pearls are hard, smooth products produced by mollusks (mainly oysters) in one of three ways.

1. External factors.

The mantle of the clam is stimulated by the invasion of foreign matter (sand particles, parasites). The epidermal cells at the stimulated area take the foreign matter as the nucleus and sink into the connective tissue of the mantle. The epidermal cells of the mantle that sink into the mantle divide on their own to form a pearl sac. The pearl sac cells secrete nacre, which wraps the nucleus layer by layer to form a pearl. Pearls with foreign objects as their core are called "nucleated pearls".

2. Internal factors.

When the outer skin of the mantle of the clam is pathologically stimulated, a part of it undergoes cell division and then separates, and is then covered with the organic matter secreted by itself, while gradually sinking into the connective tissue of the mantle, forming a pearl sac and then a pearl. Because there is no foreign object as the nucleus, it is called "nucleus-less pearl".

3. Artificial breeding.

Using artificial methods, small pieces of living epithelial cells (referred to as cell pieces) are cut from the mantle of the pearl oyster and implanted into the connective tissue of the mantle of the oyster together with an artificial nucleus prepared from the clam shell. The implanted cell pieces, relying on the nutrition provided by the connective tissue, rapidly proliferate around the artificial nucleus, form a pearl sac, and secrete nacre, thus producing artificial nucleated pearls. Artificial nucleus-free pearls are produced by implanting only small pieces of cells into the mantle during surgery. Pearl sacs are formed through cell proliferation and nacre is secreted into the sacs.

【Introduction】

Pearls are an ancient organic gemstone produced by the endocrine function of mollusks. They are calcium carbonate-containing mineral (aragonite) beads composed of a large number of tiny aragonite crystals. Pearls, with their gorgeous colors and elegant temperament, symbolize health, purity, wealth and happiness. They come in various shapes, but the most typical one is round. They come in various colors, but are usually white or light-colored, and have varying degrees of luster. They can be used for decoration or as medicine. A pearl is even made up of thousands of layers of nacre, and it takes 3-6 years to form. Pearls are produced throughout the year, but are usually more abundant in December.