Using Reporter Genes: Transgenic Technology: Part 3
Reporter genes must be easily visible when expressed. Fluorescent proteins such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) from the jellyfish and the luciferase enzyme from the firefly are often used.
What is remarkable is that such methods work at all. It reinforces the notion that the genetic language is shared by all organisms, allowing a mammal to express a gene from a jellyfish.
In this example, a stickleback fish has been injected with a GFP reporter gene fused with a regulatory region of a gene that is expressed in the muscle tissue.
