LiveScience's Image of the Day

The Crayolas of Biology

Tuesday February 22, 2005

More Images...

Researchers at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have unveiled a rainbow of new fluorescent protein markers that researchers can use to tag cells and observe a range of cellular processes.

Developers of the markers, a team led by Roger Tsien and predoctoral fellow Nathan C. Shaner, have given them Crayola-like names to go with the brilliant colors, including honeydew, tomato, tangerine, strawberry and plum.

"One of the reasons we name the proteins after fruits is to remind people that there is no 'best fruit' in the grocery store," said Tsien.

Protein markers are extremely useful to researchers, and the availability of the new colors will enable scientists to track the effects of multiple genetic alterations in a single cell. By splicing the genes for the fluorescent proteins into specific genes in the cell, researchers can detect when those genes are switched on to produce proteins. They can then use the telltale fluorescent colors to separate the cells visually for further investigation.

-- LiveScience Staff

Credit: Roger Tsien

Advertisement

From the Blogs

LiveScience Blogs
  1. Can A Computer Simulation Solve The Mystery Of Dark Matter?
  2. Modern Gossip Magazine Culture Began With Celebrity Obituaries
  3. 12,000 Year Old Shaman Burial Site Discovered In Northern Israel - And It Was A Woman
  4. Learning About Lightning - Interferometer Records Discharge In Detail To The Microsecond
  5. India To The Moon: Chandrayaan-1 Settles Into Lunar Transfer Trajectory
  6. Those Dang Transcription Factors
  7. Pretty Women Make Men Shortsighted
  1. 10.30.2008 | Leonard David
    Private Moon Lander Group Teams with NASA
    Keep an eye out for Odyssey Moon Ventures — one of the contenders in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition — to announce they... ...
  2. 10.25.2008 | Leonard David
    Armadillo Scraps Further Lunar Lander Challenge Attempts
    Update 7: The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge is over for the day. John Carmack and his Armadillo Aerospace team have declared no more... ...

Related Items from the LiveScience Store

  1. Go to Store
  2. Go to Store

More Stores to Explore