Brainbow

"Brainbow" is a term coined to describe a process by which individual neurons of a brain are mapped with fluorescent proteins, which allow the neurons to glow with specfic colors under a light source. By controlling the amount of red, green, and blue proteins, it is possible to map each neuron with a distinctive color, much in the way that a video monitor can display a large number of colors.

The technique was developed in the Spring of 2007 by a team led by Jeff W. Lichtman and Joshua R. Sanes, both professors in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. While earlier techniques allowed for mapping only a few neurons, the new method allows more than 100 differently mapped neurons can be simultaneously mapped in this manner. [http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=520492 - "Neuroscience Researchers Expand Usage of ‘Brainbow’ Technology," "Harvard Crimson", November 2, 2007.] The resulting images can be quite striking and in fact have resulted in one of the team members winning an award in a Science Photography competition. [http://www.nature.com/news/2007/071031/full/news.2007.209.html - "Colours light up brain structure," "Nature News", October 31, 2007.]

References

External links

* http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21563910/ - 'Brainbow' paints mice neurons in bright colors
* http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200711023 - Podcast on NPR's Science Friday.
* http://www.conncoll.edu/ccacad/zimmer/GFP-ww/cooluses0.html - "Brainbow" A cool use of GFP