Chemists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have found
an easier way to perform one of the most fundamental tasks in molecular biology.
Their new method allows scientists to add a marker to certain cells, so that
these cells may be easily located and/or selected out from a larger cell
population.
The technique, which is described in a recent issue of the
chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition, makes use of the
tight binding of two proteins that are cheaply obtainable but are not found in
human or other mammalian cells. As such, it has advantages over existing
cell-marking techniques.