- In full:
- Roger Yonchien Tsien
- Born:
- February 1, 1952, New York, New York, U.S.
- Died:
- August 24, 2016, Eugene, Oregon (aged 64)
- Awards And Honors:
- Nobel Prize (2008)
- Subjects Of Study:
- green fluorescent protein
Roger Y. Tsien
-
Who was Roger Y. Tsien?
Roger Y. Tsien (1952–2016) was an American chemist who shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie. He received a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Cambridge in 1977. In 1989, he became a professor at the University of California, San Diego, where he headed a research laboratory.
Tsien, Shimomura, and Chalfie were honored for their discovery and development of green fluorescent protein (GFP), found in the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, as a tool to visualize cell actions, opening opportunities for studying biological processes at the molecular level. Tsien also determined the structure of GFP and how to use its variants to study calcium ions in living systems. His later research focused on distinguishing cancer cells from surrounding tissue and marking nerve cells using fluorescence.
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What is Roger Y. Tsien best known for in science?
Roger Y. Tsien, an American chemist, shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie for his work on the green fluorescent protein (GFP). Tsien discovered how to manipulate GFP to glow brighter and in different colors by shifting the wavelength and intensity of its fluorescence through point mutations in the gene. This made it possible to study different processes in the same cell simultaneously. Tsien also helped determine GFP's structure and how to use its variants to study the role and behavior of calcium ions in living systems.
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What is the green fluorescent protein (GFP) that Tsien worked with?
The green fluorescent protein (GFP) that Roger Y. Tsien worked with is a naturally occurring substance found in the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. GFP is used as a tool to make visible the actions of certain cells. Tsien, along with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie, won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery and development of GFP, which opened opportunities for studying biological processes at the molecular level.
GFP provides a visual signal that scientists use to probe protein activity, such as when and where proteins are produced and how different proteins or parts of proteins move and approach each other within a cell. Tsien discovered how to make the proteins glow more brightly and in different colors by showing that oxygen is required for GFP fluorescence and that point mutations in the gene could shift the wavelength and intensity of the fluorescence.
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How did Tsien use GFP to help scientists study cells?
Roger Y. Tsien, along with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie, won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering and developing green fluorescent protein (GFP), a naturally occurring substance that comes from jellyfish. GFP is used to make the actions of certain cells visible, which has opened opportunities for studying biological processes at the molecular level.
GFP gives scientists a visual signal to probe protein activity, like when and where proteins are produced and how different proteins move within a cell. Tsien discovered how to make the proteins glow brighter and in different colors by showing that oxygen is required for GFP fluorescence and that point mutations in the gene could shift the wavelength and intensity of the fluorescence. Because of this, scientists are able to study different processes in the same cell at the same time.
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What awards did Roger Y. Tsien receive for his discoveries?
Roger Y. Tsien, an American chemist, shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie for his work with the green fluorescent protein (GFP). Tsien discovered how to make the proteins glow brighter and in different colors, which allowed scientists to study different processes in the same cell simultaneously. He also helped determine GFP's structure and how to use its variants to study calcium ions in living systems. Tsien also became a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1998.
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How have Tsien’s contributions to chemistry and biology impacted medical research today?
Roger Y. Tsien's work with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) has significantly impacted medical research today. Tsien, along with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie, won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering and developing GFP, a naturally occurring substance in jellyfish that can make the actions of certain cells visible.
Tsien demonstrated that oxygen is essential for GFP fluorescence and that gene mutations could shift the wavelength and intensity of the fluorescence. His discovery made it possible to study different processes within the same cell simultaneously.
Tsien also developed methods to use fluorescence to distinguish cancer cells from surrounding tissue and to mark nerve cells, which could be helpful in surgery. His expansion of GFP's available color palette earned him a share of the 2008 Nobel Prize.
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Roger Y. Tsien (born February 1, 1952, New York, New York, U.S.—died August 24, 2016, Eugene, Oregon) was an American chemist who was a corecipient, with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie, of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Tsien attended Harvard University before receiving a Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Cambridge in 1977. He remained at Cambridge as a researcher until 1981, when he left for the University of California, Berkeley, and an eventual professorship there. In 1989 he became a professor at the University of California in San Diego, where he also headed a research laboratory. In 1994 he began the research that led to his Nobel honour. Tsien and his corecipients were honoured for their work in the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein (GFP), a naturally occurring substance in the jellyfish Aequorea victoria that is used as a tool to make visible the actions of certain cells. Their work with GFP opened a vast set of opportunities for studying biological processes at the molecular level.
GFP provides a visual signal that scientists use to probe protein activity, such as when and where proteins are produced and how different proteins or parts of proteins move and approach each other within a cell. In the 1960s Shimomura showed that Aequorea victoria’s green fluorescence, which had been discovered in 1955, is produced by the protein that was later named GFP. American biochemist Douglas Prasher analyzed the chromophore in GFP in the 1980s and subsequently found and cloned the gene responsible for making GFP. In 1993 Chalfie showed that the gene that instructs the cell to make GFP could be embedded in the nucleic acids of other organisms, first in the bacterium Escherichia coli and then in the transparent nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, so that they would make their own GFP. This discovery opened the possibility of using GFP in virtually any organism. Tsien then showed, beginning in 1994, that oxygen is required for GFP fluorescence and that point mutations in the gene could shift the wavelength and intensity of the fluorescence—in other words, he discovered how to make the proteins glow more brightly and in different colours. That find made it possible to study different processes in the same cell simultaneously.Tsien also helped to determine the structure of GFP and described how to use GFP and its variants to study the role and behaviour of calcium ions in living systems. He received one-third of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his expansion of the GFP’s available colour palette.
Tsien’s later research involved developing ways to use fluorescence to distinguish cancer cells from surrounding tissue and also to mark nerve cells; it was hoped that both advances would prove useful in surgery.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Tsien received numerous honours, and in 1998 he became a member of the National Academy of Sciences.