High-throughput screens for fluorescent dye discovery

A recent screen of a combinatorial library of fluorescent compounds discovered fluorescent dyes that were able to distinguish myoblasts from differentiated myotubes. New fluorescent dyes that respond to biologically relevant changes in cell state or type are useful as stains in a wide variety of biological experiments, including high-throughput screens for chemical and genetic regulators. Combining this approach with microscopy imaging is likely to be even more powerful and might lead to the discovery of new dyes with interesting and useful properties.