Nobel Prize in chemistry commends finding and use of green fluorescent protein

One researcher is awarded for discovering the protein that helps jellyfish glow and two for making the protein into a crucial tool for biologists.

Making cells glow with a protein borrowed from jellyfish is one of the brightest ideas in chemistry. At least that is what the RoyalSwedishAcademy of Sciences implied when it announced October 8 that the 2008 Nobel Prize in chemistry would be awarded to three scientists who were instrumental in discovering green fluorescent protein, commonly called GFP, and developing the protein as a powerful tool for basic biological research.

GOOD START One of this year’s Nobel winners, Roger Tsien, also won the 1968 Westinghouse Science Talent Search.