Fluorescent proteins are essential tools for probing and understanding biochemical processes as they happen, and scientists are always on the lookout for better markers to noninvasively label and track specific cell types in living organisms in real time. The efforts of three groups could have a significant impact on the future of biological research. The first is a new and brighter red fluorescent protein derived from the anemone 'Entacmaea quadricolor' found by research scientist Dmitriy Chudakov and colleagues at Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry in Moscow and researchers at Evrogen JSC of Moscow. The researches started with the wild protein behind the brilliant red of the anemone and used directed and random mutagenesis to create a new far-red fluorescent protein named Katushka and a monomeric version called mKate. The second was the discovery that the carboxyl group was unexpectedly hidden and buried within the structure of the Cerulean green fluorescent protein. A research group from Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville made the discovery, and the knowledge can guide efforts at designing better genetically encodable probes such as fluorescent proteins. The third is a new fluorescent protein, called VisGreen, with fewer amino acid substitutions than others that can be expressed in plants. VisGreen, made by researchers from the Plant Biotechnology Institute and the University of Saskatchewan, works well in bacteria as well as in mammalian and plant cells.