With advances in genetics, things that glow moved from the natural world into the lab. At the heart of the research is the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, whose genes instruct cells to produce a green fluorescent protein that is responsible for the glow. Insert the jellyfish gene successfully into another organism and its cells will produce the protein that stimulates the glow. Efficient and time-saving, the revolutionary process has given life to several dozen genetically altered small minnows, called golden longfin zebrafish, that shine in polluted waters. Scientists at the University of Cincinnati hope that large numbers of the fish can be bred to flash early warnings of toxic chemicals in rivers and lakes.
Some researchers dream in rainbow colors.
New genes have recently been discovered that offer the hope of a red protein and a blue one. In a competition sponsored last year by the British Biotechnology and Biological Society Research Council, a team of postgraduate students at Hertfordshire University proposed the creation of a Christmas tree that lighted up on its own. They described how to genetically modify a Douglas Spruce and included a business plan for a company to produce and market the glowing tree. Deri Morgan, one of the students, believes it would be possible to go beyond creating a Christmas tree that merely shines green, blue and red. Eventually, he says, the tree could be genetically instructed to glow just at its tips.