Infrared Proteins Give Deep View Inside Living Animals

A fluorescent protein found in an extremophile bacteria could give scientists an unprecedented view inside living animals.

The proteins, which glow with tissue-penetrating infrared light, could be used to tag cells in living animals, allowing researchers to watch real-time biological processes that have until now been hidden.

The scientists found the protein in Deinococcus radiodurans, an extremophile microbe, that emits infrared light. The original protein was relatively dim, but they tweaked its amino acid content to make it brighter. They then injected mice with infrared proteins that attached to genes in their liver cells.

Using a specialized microscope called a fluorescence molecular tomograph, which assembles three-dimensional images from two-dimensional scans taken at different depths in a target specimen, the liver shells showed up glowing through layers of living tissue.

Original article here.