Physical chemistry helps biology

A new biolabel to help biologists monitor dynamic processes in biological systems is being developed by a team at Utrecht University in The Netherlands. To detect biomolecules in living systems researchers attach small luminescent labels to the biomolecules which then show up under blue illumination. This is a highly sensitive detection method for biologists; however there are two problems with the labels currently used. Firstly they have limited measuring times and secondly their emission blinks on and off. Sander Wuister and his team from the Debye Institute at Utrecht present a new stable label which has no blinking and a much longer lifespan. The YAG:Ce nanocrystal can be successfully conjugated to organic molecules, a key criteria for successful biolabels. The label can also efficiently transfer energy to another luminescent label which means that it could be used to evidence coupling between two biomolecules. Wuister hopes that this work will lead to the development of a commercial luminescent label.

Helen Fletcher