Monday, March 28, 2016

Skinbows leave no pot of gold but they do shine!

        Today I've brought you a look into a topic we've covered in class and in lab. Fluorescence in bacteria is one thing, but the study conducted in Nature magazine shows viewers what happens when you add these fluorescent proteins into zebrafish DNA. Scientists have studied how DNA can be transferred into other organisms and through experimentation have found that when the skin cells regenerate in the fish after sustaining damage they actually made several different bundles of color. When these pigments are allowed to be varied with these colors rather than following the normal genetic make-up, the expression is pretty interesting to see. It doesn't help the fish to be fluorescent in the wild as they can be spotted by predators. But it gives us a way to view what happens when skin cells are doing their designated function, as well as explains a little as to why scarred tissue appears different than the skin around it.
        There is a video of the what the cells look like during the process of regeneration in the link above to the magazine. And I have included a link to the research paper here. Other than these pictures they have plenty of other data that goes into detail about the experiment itself. They talked about barcoding the superficial epithelial cells, (SEC's) those on the outer part of the skin, so that each variation of color is linked to specific strains of cells. They documented the interactions the cells underwent to achieve these interactions.

       Perhaps research like this can lead to advances in skincare. If we know in which concentrations the variations of our own skin cells are affected when we get scarred or burned perhaps we can learn how to improve skincare treatments for lacerated and burn victims. Or at least find safer ways to get the right kind of tan for the summer. There are many possibilities to explore.

2 comments:

  1. I wonder if there are any other species that express GFP naturally without it being artificially injected into them. Also, I wonder if it's a possibility that GFP could be used in humans for detecting cancer cells more easily. If it is possible then that could lead to new scientific discoveries on how to cure or treat cancer more efficiently.

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  2. I wonder if there are any other species that express GFP naturally without it being artificially injected into them. Also, I wonder if it's a possibility that GFP could be used in humans for detecting cancer cells more easily. If it is possible then that could lead to new scientific discoveries on how to cure or treat cancer more efficiently.

    ReplyDelete