Brainbow
Sign in to saveThree brainbows of mouse neurons from Lichtman and Sanes, 2008|thumb|right Brainbow is a process by which individual neurons in the brain can be distinguished from neighboring neurons using fluorescent proteins. By randomly expressing different ratios of red, green, and blue derivatives of green fluorescent protein in individual neurons, it is possible to flag each neuron with a distinctive color. This process has been a major contribution to the field of neural connectomics.
~12 min read
Article
9 sectionsContents
- History and development
- Methods
- Mice
- ''Drosophila''
- Zebrafish
- Limitations
- See also
- References
- External links
Three brainbows of mouse neurons from Lichtman and Sanes, 2008|thumb|right Brainbow is a process by which individual neurons in the brain can be distinguished from neighboring neurons using fluorescent proteins. By randomly expressing different ratios of red, green, and blue derivatives of green fluorescent protein in individual neurons, it is possible to flag each neuron with a distinctive color. This process has been a major contribution to the field of neural connectomics.
The technique was originally developed in 2007 by a team led by Jeff W. Lichtman and Joshua R. Sanes, both at Harvard University. The original technique has been adapted for use with other model research organisms including the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), zebrafish (Danio rerio), and Arabidopsis thaliana.