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Nature Chemistry (8 October 2008) | doi:10.1038/nchem.75

Nobel Prize 2008: Green fluorescent protein

Stuart Cantrill

The very aptly named green fluorescent protein — or GFP as it is almost universally known — is a barrel-shaped protein made up of 238 amino acids. Threaded through the long axis of the β-sheet barrel is an α-helix that contains a chromophore that is responsible for the emission of green light when GFP is exposed to either blue or ultaviolet light.