Description: One of the most important recent discoveries in cell biology is the green fluorescent protein isolated from a bioluminescent jellyfish. The gene that codes for this protein is active in any type of cell, from microbes to man, producing a "day-glo" dye visible as a bright green light in the microscope. The power of the gene is that by using recombinant DNA technology, GFP can be sliced to any protein, essentially painting that protein green. When such a spliced gene is returned to a cell, researchers can use the microscope to see precisely where that single protein is inside a cell. Further, time-lapse microscopy can be used to examine how that protein and the cellular components that it is part of moves within the cell during the life cycles of the cell.

The pace of discovery in biology has skyrocketed with the advent of large scale gene sequencing projects. GFP technologies provide tremendously powerful ways to examine the properties and behavior of new genes in days or weeks, greatly accelerating the cycle of discovery, knowledge and application in biological sciences. Anyone who has an interest in how cells work will automatically have an interest in GFP and its unique ability to literally illuminate the inner workings of the cell.

This volume is an authoritative and comprehensive treatment of the approaches and techniques used for Green Fluorescent Proteins (GFP).The primary focus of this work is on research using biological systems. The volume covers all aspects of GFP, from its expression in different organisms to specific microscopic and data analysis methods.

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