Skip Over Navigation Links


Search by issue or topic

Ask the Scientist: Dr. Marc Zimmer Answers

Hello. As an 8th grade student, I am curious about a lot of things. But with GFP, how do you study it in your lab if you do not have a computer? Do you rely on microscopes? And one more question, what is it like being a chemist?

Austin, Massachusetts

Dr. Marc Zimmer. Courtesy: Bob Macdonnell

Dr. Marc Zimmer
Courtesy: Bob Macdonnell

Green Light

My lab looks like an office with a few too many computers. We use the computers to calculate the properties of the fluorescent proteins. If we didn't have the computers we would be in trouble. There of course are many scientists who study GFP and don't use a computer. Some of them zap GFP with lasers and then see what happens. I was using computers to examine GFP's properties for 5 years before I ever saw GFP or was even in the same room as the protein.

I enjoy being a chemist. I find molecules very interesting.

This page last reviewed on May 18, 2011