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How to keep the lights on: the mission to make more photostable fluorophores

Fluorescent labels that have greater resistance to bleaching could help researchers to get more from biological imaging.
  1. Ariana Remmel

    1. Ariana Remmel is a physical-sciences journalist based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Illustration of Green fluorescent protein structure showing the barrel structure

An illustration of green fluorescent protein with its characteristic β-barrel. Credit: Sci-Comm Studios/Science Photo Library

Fluorescence microscopy is one of the most powerful tools in the life-sciences toolkit. The unique spectral properties of fluorescent dyes and proteins, collectively called fluorophores, have allowed scientists to capture snapshots — and even movies — of the microscopic universe that makes biology tick. Yet scientists are still perplexed by the fundamental chemistry that keeps the lights on.

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Nature 630, 258-260 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-01591-7

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 12 June 2024: This Technology feature misstated the nature of the protein tag used in SNAP-tag and HaloTag. It also misnamed the process used to differentiate fluorophores.

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