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"  Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie, and Roger Y. Tsien. (Photo credits: Shimomura and Chalfie by J. Henriksson/SCANPIX. Tsien by UCSD)  Biologists studying nerve development and the spread of cancer need to be able to see tiny proteins in action and, more importantly, to be able to tag and differentiate them. Three scientists\u2014Osamu Shimomura from Japan and Americans Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien\u2014made tracking individual proteins and genes possible using jellyfish as their starting point. Today they won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their efforts.   Shimomura was researching jellyfish on North America&amp;#039;s west coast in the early 1960s when he found the protein that causes jellyfish luminescence. The protein glows green under ultraviolet light, hence its name, the green fluorescent protein, or GFP. Three decades later, Chalfie discovered the practical use for GFP that has made it one of the most important proteins in medical research\u2014as a marker. Scientists can now attach GFP to the proteins they wish to study and use the green luminescence as an identifier. Lastly, Tsien found a way to make the protein glow in colors besides green, which allows researchers to watch more than one biological process happening at the same time.   GFP allows scientists to study an animal&amp;#039;s organs without removing them from the body, and it also has become an important part of genetic modification. Scientists will often include the gene that makes GFP with their other genetic modifications of plants or lab animals; this allows them to go in later, turn on the ultraviolet light and see whether the introduced genes have taken hold. \u2014Andrew Moseman   RELATED STORIES \u2022 PHYSICS: American and Japanese Scientists Share 2008 Nobel For Contribution to Particle Physics  \u2022 MEDICINE: HIV, HPV Investigators Snag Medicine Nobel Prizes   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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