Bacteria used to create living 'neon signs'

Scientists have created a living 'neon sign' made of millions of bacterial cells fluorescing in unison. The UC San Diego biologists and bioengineers attached a fluorescent protein to the biological clocks of a bacterial colony, then synchronized them to glow on and off together using the bacteria's own communication mechanism.The end result is a microfluidic chip that contains 50 to 60 million bacterial cells and is about the size of a paper clip. Each colony comprises what the researchers call a 'biopixel', an individual point of light, with the larger microfluidic chips containing about 13,000 biopixels.