The green fluorescent protein (GFP) is a protein composed of 238 amino acid residues (26.9kDa) that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to light in the blue to ultraviolet range.
In cell and molecular biology, the GFP gene is frequently used as a reporter of expression. In modified forms it has been used to make biosensors, and many animals have been created that express GFP as a proof-of-concept that a gene can be expressed throughout a given organism.
Martin Chalfie, Osamu Shimomura, andRoger Y. Tsien were awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on 10 October 2008 for their discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein.
Although many other marine organisms have similar green fluorescent proteins, GFP traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria.
A supportive ring has been added, because without this the model turned out not to be strong enough.