The idea itself grew out of Chao's research on baculoviruses. In 1996, Chao attracted global notice with an article in Nature on his research into fluorescing insects, which involved introducing the genes that produce GFP into baculoviruses. In those days, his focus was on the larva of the cabbage moth (Plutella xylostella), not the silkworm.
1996 年，趙裕展在國際知名的 Nature 雜誌上，發表了藉由桿狀病毒殖入水母螢光基因的「螢光蟲研究」，引起各界矚目，只不過當年拿來研究的對象是迷你的菜蟲（小菜蛾的幼蟲），而不是蠶寶寶（蛾的幼蟲）。