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It looks like we're one step closer to having laser vision (or at least, laser-based diagnostic and therapeutic techniques). Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have genetically engineered the world's first "living laser." That's right - a living cell can shoot laser light.
Back in 2008, scientists Martin Chalfie, Roger Tsien, and Osamu Shimomura received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their roles in bringing Green Fluorescent Protein (also known as GFP, the protein responsible for luminosity in the jellyfish A. victoria) and its diverse applications to the front lines of scientific research.
At left (View Whole Article) you can see the laser cell. In the time between 1962 (when the protein was first isolated from A. victoria), and today, GFP has become an indispensable tool in the laboratory, with its applications ranging from that of a reporter protein to environmental biosensor to imaging tracer.
Now, GFP has been incorporated into living human cells for an entirely new purpose: the production of laser light. Optical physicists in Boston have genetically engineered a cell capable of amplifying light and emitting a bright-green directional laser beam visible to the naked eye. Their research is published in the June 12th issue of Nature Photonics.
www.wired.com
Back in 2008, scientists Martin Chalfie, Roger Tsien, and Osamu Shimomura received the Nobel Prize in chemistry for their roles in bringing Green Fluorescent Protein (also known as GFP, the protein responsible for luminosity in the jellyfish A. victoria) and its diverse applications to the front lines of scientific research.
At left (View Whole Article) you can see the laser cell. In the time between 1962 (when the protein was first isolated from A. victoria), and today, GFP has become an indispensable tool in the laboratory, with its applications ranging from that of a reporter protein to environmental biosensor to imaging tracer.
Now, GFP has been incorporated into living human cells for an entirely new purpose: the production of laser light. Optical physicists in Boston have genetically engineered a cell capable of amplifying light and emitting a bright-green directional laser beam visible to the naked eye. Their research is published in the June 12th issue of Nature Photonics.
'Living Laser' Engineered From Human Cells
By Mark Brown, Wired UK Medical researchers from Harvard University have created the first “living laser”; a biological cell that’s been genetically engineered to produce a visible laser beam. [partner id=”wireduk” align=”right”]Lasers need two things to generate beams. They need a gain medium...
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