Uses of viral vectors have thus far eclipsed uses of non-viral vectors for gene therapy
delivery in the clinic. Viral vectors, however, have certain issues involving genome …

Phytochrome photoreceptors absorb far-red and near-infrared (NIR) light and regulate light
responses in plants, fungi, and bacteria. Their multidomain structure and autocatalytic …

Monomeric near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent proteins (FPs) are in high demand as protein
tags and components of biosensors for deep-tissue imaging and multicolour microscopy. We …

Highlights•Available phenotypes and photochemical properties of near-infrared fluorescent
proteins.•Applications of near-infrared fluorescent proteins in basic and translational …

Since mammalian tissue is relatively transparent to near-infrared (NIR) light, NIR fluorescent
proteins (FPs) engineered from bacterial phytochromes have become widely used probes …

Splitting bioactive proteins into conditionally reconstituting fragments is a powerful strategy
for building tools to study and control biological systems. However, split proteins often …

Individual RNA remains a challenging signal to synthetically transduce into different types of
cellular information. Here, we describe Ribozyme-ENabled Detection of RNA (RENDR), a …

Highlights•Fluorescent probes or optogenetic tools can be developed using phytochrome
modules.•Bacteriophytochromes provide advantageous properties in protein engineering …

Over half of all the natural nanomachines in living organisms are multimeric and likely
exploit the self-assembly of their components to provide functional benefits. However, the …

High transparency, low light-scattering, and low autofluorescence of mammalian tissues in
the near-infrared (NIR) spectral range (~ 650–900 nm) open a possibility for in vivo imaging …