Noma, K. & Jin, Y. Nat. Commun. 6, 8868 (2015).

Traditional mutagenesis relies on toxic chemicals or radiation; Noma and Jin now report a mutagenesis method that is completely safe for the experimenter. In their approach, the mini singlet-oxygen generator (miniSOG) is targeted to nuclei in the Caenorhabditis elegans germline. Upon illumination with blue light, miniSOG produces reactive oxygen species that lead to a variety of germline mutations. Although the mutation rate is four- to fivefold lower than with standard chemical mutagenesis under the conditions used, the spectrum of mutations is broader. miniSOG induces base pair changes not typically observed in chemical mutagenesis, as well as deletions ranging from 1 to about 1,500 base pairs in length. In addition, the researchers show that miniSOG-mediated chromosome breaks can facilitate the integration of transgenes into the genome.