Synthesized Organic Fluorescent Dye used to Image Long Term Live-Cell Interactions

By Anthony Barone , Class of 2029 Figure 1.  Image of cells marked with different fluorescent dyes Organic fluorescent dyes have a wide range of uses, including live single-cell imaging and tracking protein movement. Fluorescent dyes allow biologists to observe protein interactions on the cellular level. However, current fluorescent dyes are only visible for tens of seconds before photobleaching, where they are chemically destroyed as … Continue reading Synthesized Organic Fluorescent Dye used to Image Long Term Live-Cell Interactions

Translating Spider Silk to Textiles: Intrinsically Colored Silk Fibers via Fusion Proteins

By Maegan Diep, Class of 2029 Figure 1.  An image of a spider on the web. Spider silk has served as an inspiration for a bio-engineered silk-based material in the textile industry. Its protein-based material opens possibilities for it to be designed to incorporate different functionalities, including different colors. In order to achieve intrinsically colored artificial spider silk, researchers from Sweden decided to investigate the … Continue reading Translating Spider Silk to Textiles: Intrinsically Colored Silk Fibers via Fusion Proteins