Web Exclusives: PawPlus

July 7, 2005:

IMAGES OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY:
Photos courtesy Ron Weiss

Ron Weiss, assistant professor of electrical engineering, and his team of Princeton and Caltech researchers have produced a series of striking images in the past year, several of which are shown here, that demonstrate communication between programmed cells.

Cells were programmed to emit a fluorescent protein in response to their proximity to "sender" cells that produced a chemical to trigger the fluorescence. One type of "receiver" cells was designed to turn green in close proximity to the sender cells, while another type was set to turn red if they were farther away.

The different patterns shown in the images result from different configurations of sender cells. The ellipse pattern, for example, results from the use of two sender discs -- one larger and one smaller.

Says Weiss: "When you show images, I think it connects with people quickly."

Back to the article titled "Programming cells, in a petri dish" , in the July 6, 2005 issue of PAW.