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Friday, June 14, 2013

Soon we might all glow in the dark

If you’ve ever been annoyed that driver at the crosswalk is at least pretending not to see you and not even slowing down slightly, there’s good news. Scientific American reports

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-fluorescent-protein-identified-in-a-vertebrate-animal

The Japanese freshwater eel (Anguilla japonica) has more to offer biologists than a tasty sushi snack. Its muscle fibers produce the first fluorescent protein identified in a vertebrate, researchers report in Cell.

Fluorescent proteins are as standard a tool for cell biologists as wrenches are for mechanics. They do not produce light themselves, but glow when illuminated.

So just imagine the improvement when we humans start glowing when illuminated. All of us will glow, not just pregnant women.  Hide and seek will be a lot harder for kids to play, of course, but I don’t think I’ve seen kids playing hide and seek in years.

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