Bloody Bay wall in the Cayman Islands
Credit: Jim Hellemn, portraitofacoralreef.comWall of Color
Pictured is the Cayman Islands’ Bloody Bay Wall, a species-rich, 1,000-foot-tall wall of coral that is home to many bioluminescent and biofluorescent animals. To take this amazing photograph, photographers in scuba gear flooded the reef in violet light and captured the corals’ conversion of the light into red and green.
(via fallenpixel)
This is a click beetle (Family Elateridae) that has bioluminescence in the two yellow patches in the pronotum. It is a constant green color and it seems prone to illuminate when it is alert. This was found near the Cerro de San Gil Reserve in Izabal, Guatemala.
by Adrian Tween
Drosophila neural stem cells in the central nervous system are labelled in green (membrane-targeted green fluorescent protein, GFP). Their large nucleoli (involved in cell growth) are shown in blue (stained for Fibrillarin). The nuclei of the surrounding neurons are labelled in red (stained for Elav).
Fluorescent Dreams: Gonodactylus platysoma fluoresces
It’s fitting that we start the third image gallery with this new contribution by Dr. Caldwell, because this pic of a fluorescing G. platysoma is one of the most beautiful images of stomatopods in the website! This was collected and photographed on Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. The animal was illuminated with a blue light (470 nm) and photographed through a strong yellow filter which filters out all of the blue light. Only fluorescent emissions were recorded. The red is a green algae and some coralline algae…
For more information on the phenomenon of fluorescence in stomatopods, click here.
For more informaion on this species, click here.
(via: Blue Board)
‘Brainbow’ Transgenic Mouse Hippocampus
Dr Tamily Weissman, Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University
These neurons from the hippocampus of a mouse were genetically altered with fluorescent proteins from jellyfish to create about 90 shades of color. The Harvard researchers who invented this technique call it “Brainbow”; the vivid hues help researchers observe the complex interactions between brain cells.
Bioluminescent larvae
Genetically engineered angelfish.
A new red fluorescent protein—derived from a brilliant red sea anemone purchased in a Moscow pet shop—can reveal body tissues more vividly than other fluorescent proteins in use today. The Russian researchers who developed the new protein said it can render cancers and other target tissues easily visible in living animals, making them glow like Christmas bulbs.
Mr Green Genes
Though primates that make a glowing protein have been created before, these are the first to keep the change in their bloodlines.
Although the work demonstrates the principle that a gene can be introduced into a primate bloodline, study co-author Hideyuki Okano of the Keio University School of Medicine said it may not be suitable for studying all diseases.That limitation is about 10,000 bases, or letters, of the genetic code. That upper bound will constrain the diseases that can be studied.
Meet Mr Green Genes, the latest addition to the glowing animal menagerie.
Mr Green Genes is the first fluorescent cat created in the United States. Under normal circumstances the feline appears orange, but under UV light, his eyes, gums and tongue glow lime green—the outcome of a genetic experiment done at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species.
Researchers made Mr Green Genes glow green so they could learn whether they could make a transgenic cat, Betsy Dresser, the center’s director, told Newhouse News Service. The gene, inserted into to the cloned kitty’s DNA earlier this year, has no consequence for the feline’s health.
In fact, this green gene and its discovery grabbed the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for three lucky scientists earlier this month.
“We wanted to know for sure that we could insert this gene into a cell and have it multiply,” Dresser told the MSNBC TODAY show’s Amy Robach. No glow, means a no go for the genes. But, because Mr Green Genes glows, the scientists know they nailed the insertion technique, a success that brings them one step closer to being able to insert healthy genes into humans and take the diseased ones out, Dresser noted.
And while the cat’s legacy may transform the medical world in a few years, Mr Green Genes could also leave his mark among his fellow felines in the coming months. “We’ll breed him and we’ll see if his kids glow, too,” Dresser said.
