FASHION WATCH | I Spy ... Something Green!
To most eyes, a mouse is a mouse is a mouse. It's the underlying genetics, of course, that matter, and those are usually hard to see. But scientists working with green fluorescent protein (GFP)-expressing transgenic mice have a new gadget that will help them spot their mice with ease.
Constructed like goggles with a miner's headlight, the GFsP-5, manufactured by Biological Laboratory Equipment, Maintenance, and Service (BLS) in Budapest, Hungary, allows researchers to travel freely. The headlight consists of seven blue, light-emitting diodes; turn it on and your GFP mice glow green. "The glasses filter out the blue excitation and let the green emission go through," explains Andras Nagy, senior investigator, development and fetal health, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. "So, you see, in practically real time, the green mice running around." Users can change the angle of light ...
