Green fluorescent protein facts for kids

Green Fluorescent Protein, or GFP, is a special substance found in some sea creatures, like the moon jellyfish. It glows bright green! Scientists use GFP to help them see tiny parts inside cells, like molecules. There's also a similar substance called RFP (Red Fluorescent Protein) that glows red and is found in corals.

Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)

GFP is a protein that naturally glows green when exposed to certain types of light. Think of it like a natural highlighter! This amazing glow comes from a special part of the protein called a chromophore.

How GFP Helps Scientists

Scientists use GFP as a tool to study living things. By attaching GFP to different molecules inside cells, they can watch these molecules move and interact. This helps them understand how cells work, how diseases develop, and even how brains function. It's like putting a tiny flashlight on something you want to see!

Changing GFP Colors

Scientists have discovered that even small changes to the GFP molecule can change its color. If they remove just one tiny part of the molecule, the color can shift. Adding a molecule can also change the color. Using this knowledge, scientists have created many different glowing colors from GFP, such as bright cyan (called ECFP) and even pink (called mRaspberry). These different colors allow scientists to track many things at once inside a cell.

Images for kids

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  Aequorea victoria

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  The diversity of genetic mutations is illustrated by this San Diego beach scene drawn with living bacteria expressing 8 different colors of fluorescent proteins (derived from GFP and dsRed).

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  Live lancelet (B. floridae) under a fluorescent microscope.

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  Green fluorescence in the marine copepod Pontella mimocerami.

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  Different proteins produce different fluorescent colors when exposed to ultraviolet light.

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  White light image, or image seen by the eye, of fluorescent proteins in image above.

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  E. coli colonies expressing fluorescent proteins.

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  GFP Movie showing entire structure and zoom in to fluorescent chromophore.

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  Superresolution with two fusion proteins (GFP-Snf2H and RFP-H2A), Co-localisation studies (2CLM) in the nucleus of a bone cancer cell. 120.000 localized molecules in a widefield area (470 µm2).

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  Mice expressing GFP under UV light (left & right), compared to normal mouse (center)

See also

In Spanish: Proteína verde fluorescente para niños