Fluorescent Fish 2022-2023 Project – Expression and Analysis of Fluorescent Fish Proteins in Vitro

Rachel Zhang (Form VI), Morgan McDonald (Form VI), Annika Shekdar (Form V), Ethan Boroditsky (Form V)

Project Summary + Project Goal 

Fluorescent Fish is made possible by the discovery of the fluorescent eel in 2013, the first fluorescent marine animal. Since then, the lizardfish was discovered, which is another fluorescent organism, whose protein we are focusing on. We are hoping to express novel fluorescent proteins from fluorescent fish and learn about their fluorescent properties.

Current State

 This past year, we were able to get expression and purification of the protein. We also concluded that the protein was soluble, which is a great indicator that we can move forward with our research, and potentially insert a fluorescent cofactor into the protein.

Next Steps

We will express the fluorescent fatty-acid binding protein on a larger scale and then design a protocol for inducing fluorescence by adding biliverdin. Several other similar proteins will also be expressed and analyzed.

Research Week Poster 

Meet the Team

Rachel Zhang 

Morgan McDonald 

Annika Shekdar

Ethan Boroditsky

Dr. Daniel Fried