Fluorescent Proteins: Green‐Light‐Activated Photoreaction via Genetic Hybridization of Far‐Red Fluorescent Protein and Silk (Adv. Sci. 6/2018)

Genetic fusion of far-red fluorescent proteins and silk is found to be an alternative method to create biomaterials for scalable plasmonic photocatalysis. Although plasmonic photocatalysis has a variety of biomedical and environmental applications, including disinfection and water and air purification, its widespread utilization is limited because of biosafety concerns of foreign nanomaterials and negative environmental consequences of mass production. In article number 1700863, Kwang-Ho Choi, Young L. Kim, and co-workers report reactive oxygen species generated from far-red fluorescent proteins (mKate2) in silk, which can be controlled by green (visible or solar) light. These proteins are shown to enable degradation of organic containments and inactivation of harmful pathogens in a comparable manner to visible-light-driven plasmonic photocatalysis.