Green Fluorescent Protein: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:GFP mice.png|thumb|left|450x200px|Mice with GFP inserted into their genomes for neurology studies.]] | [[Image:GFP mice.png|thumb|left|450x200px|Mice with GFP inserted into their genomes for neurology studies.]] | ||
Shimomura was originally looking only to isolate the blue luminescent protein of ''Aequorea victoria'', traditionally thought to be [ | Shimomura was originally looking only to isolate the blue luminescent protein of ''Aequorea victoria'', traditionally thought to be [[luciferase]], but it would soon become apparent that the glow was in fact due to aequorin, a substance related, but slightly varying from luciferase.<ref name="Haldar" /><ref name="Shimomura" /> However, the light emitted from aequorin still differed from the light emitted from the wild jellyfish. This quandary led to the discovery of the green fluorescent protein responsible for this disparity, but sufficient amounts of the protein could not be collected for study until 1979. The journey to discover the nature of GFP had begun.<ref name="Shimomura" /> | ||
In the 1990’s, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Prasher Douglas Prasher], Frank Predergast, and co-workers successfully cloned the gene that encoded for GFP. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Chalfie Martin Chalfie] further pursued this line of work and was eventually able to express GFP in heterologous systems such as E. coli and C. elegans. Chalfie’s research provided the first evidence that GFP was unique as it did not require the presence of any exogenous substance or cofactor for fluorescence.<ref name="Haldar" /> The lack for the need for a cofactor proved that the cloned GFP gene contained all the information necessary for posttranslational synthesis of the chromophore. <ref name="Tsien" /> | In the 1990’s, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Prasher Douglas Prasher], Frank Predergast, and co-workers successfully cloned the gene that encoded for GFP. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Chalfie Martin Chalfie] further pursued this line of work and was eventually able to express GFP in heterologous systems such as E. coli and C. elegans. Chalfie’s research provided the first evidence that GFP was unique as it did not require the presence of any exogenous substance or cofactor for fluorescence.<ref name="Haldar" /> The lack for the need for a cofactor proved that the cloned GFP gene contained all the information necessary for posttranslational synthesis of the chromophore. <ref name="Tsien" /> | ||
