Kidney cells can produce laser light
A laser light is seen on the face of South Africa's Tshabalala during their 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifying soccer match against Egypt in Cairo REUTERS

Laser light can be produced out of a human cell and some jellyfish protein, scientists report in Nature Photonics.

A cell that can produce a light-emitting protein, that was first obtained from glowing jellyfish, is engineered and flooded by a weak blue light to emit green laser light.

The technology developed by Malte Gather and Seok Hyun Yun at Massachusetts General Hospital, revolves around something known as green fluorescent protein(GFP), where the light amplification takes place.

Gather and Yun genetically engineered the human kidney cells to produce GFP. The cells were then placed between the mirrors, creating a laser cavity, in which light could bounce many times through the cell.

On infusing the system with blue light, the cell began to emit green laser light.

This may be useful in applications on light-based therapies and improved microscope imaging.