Expression of infrared fluorescence engineered in mammals
Thursday, May 7, 2009 - 13:49
in Biology & Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of California, San Diego - led by 2008 Nobel-Prize winner Roger Tsien, PhD - have shown that bacterial proteins called phytochromes can be engineered into infrared-fluorescent proteins (IFPs). Because the wavelength of IFPs is able to penetrate tissue, these proteins are suitable for whole-body imaging in small animals. Their findings will be published in the May 8 edition of the journal Science.