Gloring BActeria
This tropical scene, reminiscent of a postcard from Key West, is
actually a
petri dish containing an artistic arrangement of genetically
engineered
bacteria. The image showcases eight of the fluorescent proteins
created in the
laboratory of Roger Y. Tsien, a cell biologist at the
University of California,
San Diego. Tsien, along with Osamu Shimomura of
the Marine Biology Laboratory
and Martin Chalfie of Columbia University,
share the 2008 Nobel Prize in
chemistry for their work on green
fluorescent protein-a naturally glowing
molecule from jellyfish that has
become a powerful tool for studying molecules
inside living cells.
Courtesy of Nathan Shaner, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute.
Featured in the October 15, 2008, issue of Biomedical
Beat.