Sea coral tags proteins in cells

March 20, 2006 | Source: KurzweilAI

The glow emitted by Dendra, derived from the sea coral Dendronephthya, makes it possible to precisely label an object, such as a cell, organelle, or protein, with a flash of light and then to follow the object’s movement over time.

The light source of the laser-scanning confocal microscopes that researchers commonly use to peer into living cells can activate the tag, which should make the new tool useful to many scientists.

Source: Howard Hughes Medical Institute news release