PICK A COLOR: Each tube shows the fluorescence of a mixture of a specific RNA and a synthetic fluorophore whose structure is based on the fluorescent moiety of GFP. SAMIE JAFFREY AND JEREMY PAIGE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Even with the amazing array of tools available to biologists studying cellular functions, watching these processes unfold inside a living cell remains a challenge. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) revolutionized imaging and the spatial understanding of how proteins interact within living cells, but a lot of information is also embedded within the production, processing, and manifold interactions of RNA.
Researchers are using RNA tracking systems to follow the paths of noncoding RNAs, the transcription of mRNA, splicing patterns, and the trafficking of RNA in development and in RNA-based disease processes. But as with all imaging techniques, you have to consider whether the labeling method will interfere with the process that you’d like to study, says Bruce Armitage, a chemist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ...
