What are fluorochromes and how can I use them in my research?

Fluorochromes (fluorophores) are fluorescent dyes that emit fluorescence when excited by light of a particular wavelength.  When they absorb light, their energy level is raised to a brief excited state. As they decay from this excited state, they emit fluorescent light of a longer wavelength than the excitation light. Fluorochromes are used to selectively contrast specimens for fluorescent microscopy. The absorption and emission maxima of most commonly-used fluorochromes, together, with advise on their selection can be found here.

Find out more:

• Molecular Probes School of Fluorescence
• Molecular Probes Handbook
• Molecular Probes Fluorescence Spectra Viewer