10/31/2010 PERMALINK
Researchers could use plant's light switch to control your cells. SOURCE : Chandra Tucker shines a blue light on yeast and mammalian cells in her Duke University lab and the edges of them start to glow. The effect is the result of a light-activated switch from a plant that has been inserted into the cell. Researchers could use this novel 'on-off switch' to control cell growth or death, grow new tissue or deliver doses of medication directly to diseased cells, said Tucker, an assistant research professor in the biology department at Duke.