A healthy glow
Jun 15th 2011, 12:47 by T.C.
Ever since the laser was invented in 1960, lasers have become stable for vast amounts of uses. A group of scientists led by Dr. Seok-Hyun Yun at Harvard Medical School have created a laser from a biological cell. In order to work, a laser needs a lasing medium, that amplifies externally-supplied light, and an optical cavity, which bounces the light back and forth through the medium in order to achieve desired power. Although normally lasers are composed of media such as crystals doped with rare-earth elements, mixtures of gas, and even certain sorts of semiconductors, Dr. Yun designed his new version of a laser with a chemical called Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP). GFP is not only a well-known chemical that is used to keep track of particular proteins and gene sequences, but is also the substance that makes certain species of jellyfish glow in the dark. With the motive of creating a mind-blowing, yet practical technology that could lead to less-risky lasik surgeries and procedures, Dr. Yun began an experiment of programing GFP into human cells. Dr. Yun and his team of scientists genetically engineered a human embryonic kidney cell to produce GFP, and, since lasers are essentially composed of many little mirrors, placed the cell between two tiny mirrors to form a minuscule optical cavity. When they shone pulses of light at the cell programed to produce GFP, it duly produced a “beautiful green” laser beam. More impressively, this light was detectable by the naked human eye! In order to progress with his motive of using this internally programed laser for practical medical uses, such as removing tattoos, correcting short-sightedness, cutting tissue, and whitening teeth, Dr. Yun plans to integrate the optical cavity into the cell itself, removing the need for any external equipment besides a light source that will activate the internal laser beams. With the success of this development, lasers will be generated internally, by a patient’s own cells. Although cynics are skeptical and unsupportive of this creative development, if equipping the cells with optical cavities and then pumping them to produce a laser beam is achieved, laser treatments will be much cheaper, easier, and safer than traditional treatments that require the purchase of off-the-shelf medical lasers from factories in China. This could very well be the achievement that leaves children and adults all over the world "infused" with a passion for science.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/06/laser-emitting-cells
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