Fluorescent Proteins Illuminating Biomedical Research
Sunday, January 25, 2009 - 20:35
in Biology & Nature
Remarkable new tools that spotlight individual cellular molecules are transforming biomedical research. These new tools are photoactivatable fluorescent proteins (PAFPs) and other advanced fluorescent proteins (FPs). PAFPs and FPs allow scientists to noninvasively visualize the structures and processes in living cells at the molecular level. It is now possible, for example, to follow cancer cells as they seek out blood vessels and spread throughout the body or to watch how cells manage intracellular debris, preventing premature aging.