Glowing jellyfish have lit the way to 2008's Nobel Prize in chemistry for one Japanese and two American researchers, pioneers in illuminating biological processes inside cells and behind diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's.

Osamu Shimomura, 80, of the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass.; Martin Chalfie, 61, of Columbia University in New York; and Roger Tsien, 56, of the University of California-San Diego will split the $1.4 million prize, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science announced Wednesday.

"I didn't think I would win the prize," says Shimomura, a Japanese citizen. How does he feel about winning? "Not bad."

The three researchers received the prize for pioneering the use of Green Fluorescent Protein, which "has functioned in the past decade as a guiding star for biochemists, biologists, medical scientists and other researchers," the academy said in its award announcement. GFP, which is not used in humans, is injected or otherwise inserted into the bodies of laboratory animals. It glows under ultraviolet light, showing biological functions, infections and diseases as they happen in the animals.

"I don't think it was a surprise to anyone. This really fits the definition of Nobel science," says biochemist Richard Armstrong of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, editor of the journal Biochemistry. "It's used to an unbelievable extent in biology, even in high schools, and it's had a major impact."

In 1962, Shimomura and Princeton's Frank Johnson first isolated GFP in materials obtained by squeezing 10,000 jellyfish. His research showed that GFP, unlike other fluorescent proteins that required additives to shine, needed only ultraviolet or blue light to glow.

The glow is "very much like a black light in a 1970s disco," says Chalfie, who first heard of GFP at a 1988 seminar, where he decided to attach the gene for the glow to touch-sensing cells of nematode worms, creating a glowing creature featured on a 1994 cover of the journal Science. "We have the opportunity to follow the development of disease," such as the spread of cancer cells, Chalfie says. "This has become a very popular tool for fundamental biology."

Tsien has expanded GFP to a flurry of colors, such as plum, cherry, strawberry, orange and citrine, which allows researchers to explore multiple processes in lab animals at once. A 2007 Harvard study, for example, made cell types in mouse brains the colors of the rainbow.

"I like pretty colors and have always done so," Tsien says. "We knew this would be a tremendously powerful technique if we could make a direct link between molecular biology and something you could see."

The protein technology serves purposes beyond biology, such as tests for arsenic in well water and even glow-in-the-dark toys.

"This is why we fund basic research into fundamental life processes, things like nematode worms and glowing jellyfish," says Jeremy Berg, head of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which has funded all three researchers during their careers. "The prize shows the importance of tool development in science."

For years not listed, no award was made.

1901

Jacobus H. van't Hoff (Netherlands), for laws of chemical dynamics and osmotic ressure in solutions

1902

Emil Fischer (Germany), for experiments in sugar and purin groups of ubstances

1903

Svante A. Arrhenius (Sweden), for his electrolytic theory of dissociation

1904

Sir William Ramsay (U.K.), for discovery and determination of place of inert gaseous elements in air

1905

Adolf von Baeyer (Germany), for work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic combinations

1906

Henri Moissan (France), for isolation of fluorine, and introduction of electric furnace

1907

Eduard Buchner (Germany), discovery of cell-less fermentation and investigations in biological chemistry

1908

Sir Ernest Rutherford (U.K.), for investigations into disintegration of elements

1909

Wilhelm Ostwald (Germany), for work on catalysis and investigations into chemical equilibrium and reaction rates

1910

Otto Wallach (Germany), for work in the field of alicyclic compounds

1911

Marie Curie (France), for discovery of elements radium and polonium

1912

Victor Grignard (France), for reagent discovered by him; and Paul Sabatier (France), for methods of hydrogenating organic compounds

1913

Alfred Werner (Switzerland), for linking up atoms within the molecule

1914

Theodore W. Richards (U.S.), for determining atomic weight of many chemical elements

1915

Richard Willstätter (Germany), for research into coloring matter of plants, especially chlorophyll

1918

Fritz Haber (Germany), for synthetic production of ammonia

1920

Walther Nernst (Germany), for work in thermochemistry

1921

Frederick Soddy (U.K.), for investigations into origin and nature of isotopes

1922

Francis W. Aston (U.K.), for discovery of isotopes in nonradioactive elements and for discovery of the whole number rule

1923

Fritz Pregl (Austria), for method of microanalysis of organic substances discovered by him

1925

In 1926, the 1925 prize was awarded to Richard Zsigmondy (Germany), for work on the heterogeneous nature of colloid solutions

1926

Theodor Svedberg (Sweden), for work on disperse systems

1927

In 1928, the 1927 prize was awarded to Heinrich Wieland (Germany), for investigations of bile acids and kindred substances

1928

Adolf Windaus (Germany), for investigations on constitution of the sterols and their connection with vitamins

1929

Sir Arthur Harden (U.K.) and Hans K. A. S. von Euler-Chelpin (Sweden), for research of fermentation of sugars

1930

Hans Fischer (Germany), for work on coloring matter of blood and leaves and for his synthesis of hemin

1931

Karl Bosch and Friedrich Bergius (both Germany), for invention and development of chemical high-pressure methods

1932

Irving Langmuir (U.S.), for work in realm of surface chemistry

1934

Harold C. Urey (U.S.), for discovery of heavy hydrogen

1935

Frédéric and Irène Joliot-Curie (both France), for synthesis of new radioactive elements

1936

Peter J. W. Debye (Netherlands), for investigations on dipole moments and diffraction of X-rays and electrons in gases

1937

Walter N. Haworth (U.K.), for research on carbohydrates and vitamin C; and Paul Karrer (Switzerland), for work on carotenoids, flavins, and vitamins A and B

1938

Richard Kuhn (Germany), for carotenoid study and vitamin research (declined)

1939

Adolf Butenandt (Germany), for work on sexual hormones (declined the prize); and Leopold Ruzicka (Switzerland), for work with polymethylenes

1943

Georg Hevesy De Heves (Hungary), for work on use of isotopes as indicators

1944

Otto Hahn (Germany), for work on atomic fission

1945

Artturi Illmari Virtanen (Finland), for research in the field of conservation of fodder

1946

James B. Sumner (U.S.), for crystallizing enzymes; John H. Northrop and Wendell M. Stanley (both U.S.), for preparing enzymes and virus proteins in pure form

1947

Sir Robert Robinson (U.K.), for research in plant substances

1948

Arne Tiselius (Sweden), for biochemical discoveries and isolation of mouse paralysis virus

1949

William Francis Giauque (U.S.), for research in thermodynamics, especially effects of low temperature

1950

Otto Diels and Kurt Alder (both Germany), for discovery of diene synthesis enabling scientists to study structure of organic matter

1951

Glenn T. Seaborg and Edwin H. McMillan (both U.S.), for discovery of plutonium

1952

Archer John Porter Martin and Richard Laurence Millington Synge (both U.K.), for development of partition chromatography

1953

Hermann Staudinger (Germany), for research in giant molecules

1954

Linus C. Pauling (U.S.), for study of forces holding together protein and other molecules

1955

Vincent du Vigneaud (U.S.), for work on pituitary hormones

1956

Sir Cyril Hinshelwood (U.K.) and Nikolai N. Semenov (U.S.S.R.), for parallel research on chemical reaction kinetics

1957

Sir Alexander Todd (U.K.), for research with chemical compounds that are factors in heredity

1958

Frederick Sanger (U.K.), for determining molecular structure of insulin

1959

Jaroslav Heyrovsky (Czechoslovakia), for development of polarography, an electrochemical method of analysis

1960

Willard F. Libby (U.S.), for “atomic time clock” to measure age of objects by measuring their radioactivity

1961

Melvin Calvin (U.S.), for establishing chemical steps during photosynthesis

1962

Max F. Perutz and John C. Kendrew (U.K.), for mapping protein molecules with X-rays

1963

Carl Ziegler (Germany) and Giulio Natta (Italy), for work in uniting simple hydrocarbons into large molecule substances

1964

Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin (U.K.), for determining structure of compounds needed in combatting pernicious anemia

1965

Robert B. Woodward (U.S.), for work in synthesizing complicated organic compounds

1966

Robert Sanderson Mulliken (U.S.), for research on bond holding atoms together in molecule

1967

Manfred Eigen (Germany), Ronald G. W. Norrish, and George Porter (both U.K.), for work in high-speed chemical reactions

1968

Lars Onsager (U.S.), for development of system of equations in thermodynamics

1969

Derek H. R. Barton (U.K.) and Odd Hassel (Norway), for study of organic molecules

1970

Luis F. Leloir (Argentina), for discovery of sugar nucleotides and their role in biosynthesis of carbohydrates

1971

Gerhard Herzberg (Canada), for contributions to knowledge of electronic structure and geometry of molecules, particularly free radicals

1972

Christian Boehmer Anfinsen, Stanford Moore, and William Howard Stein (all U.S.), for pioneering studies in enzymes

1973

Ernst Otto Fischer (W. Germany) and Geoffrey Wilkinson (U.K.), for work that could solve problem of automobile exhaust pollution

1974

Paul J. Flory (U.S.), for developing analytic methods to study properties and molecular structure of long-chain molecules

1975

John W. Cornforth (Australia) and Vladimir Prelog (Switzerland), for research on structure of biological molecules such as antibiotics and cholesterol

1976

William N. Lipscomb, Jr. (U.S.), for work on the structure and bonding mechanisms of boranes

1977

Ilya Prigogine (Belgium), for contributions to nonequilibrium thermodynamics, particularly the theory of dissipative structures

1978

Peter Mitchell (U.K.), for contributions to the understanding of biological energy transfer

1979

Herbert C. Brown (U.S.) and Georg Wittig (West Germany), for developing a group of substances that facilitate very difficult chemical reactions

1980

Paul Berg, Walter Gilbert (both U.S.), and Frederick Sanger (U.K.), for developing methods to map the structure and function of DNA, the substance that controls the activity of the cell

1981

Roald Hoffmann (U.S.) and Kenichi Fukui (Japan), for applying quantum-mechanics theories to predict the course of chemical reactions

1982

Aaron Klug (U.K.), for research in the detailed structures of viruses and components of life

1983

Henry Taube (U.S.), for research on how electrons transfer between molecules in chemical reactions

1984

R. Bruce Merrifield (U.S.), for research that revolutionized the study of proteins

1985

Herbert A. Hauptman and Jerome Karle (both U.S.), for their outstanding achievements in the development of direct methods for the determination of crystal structures

1986

Dudley R. Herschback, Yuan T. Lee (both U.S.), and John C. Polanyi (Canada), for their work on “reaction dynamics”

1987

Donald J. Cram, Charles J. Pedersen (both U.S.), and Jean-Marie Lehn (France), for wide-ranging research that has included the creation of artificial molecules that can mimic vital chemical reactions of the processes of life

1988

Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber, and Hartmut Michel (all West Germany), for unraveling the structure of proteins that play a crucial role in photosynthesis

1989

Thomas R. Cech and Sidney Altman (both U.S.), for their discovery, independently, that RNA could actively aid chemical reactions in the cells

1990

Elias James Corey (U.S.), for developing new ways to synthesize complex molecules ordinarily found in nature

1991

Richard R. Ernst (Switzerland), for refinements he developed in nuclear magnetic-resonance spectroscopy

1992

Rudolph A. Marcus (U.S.), for his mathematical analysis of how the overall energy in a system of interacting molecules changes and induces an electron to jump from one molecule to another

1993

Kary B. Mullis (U.S.) and Michael Smith (Canada), for their contributions to the science of genetics

1994

George A. Olah (U.S.), University of Southern California in Los Angeles, for research that opened new ways to break apart and rebuild compounds of carbon and hydrogen

1995

F. Sherwood Rowland, Mario Molina (both U.S.), and Paul Crutzen (Netherlands), for their pioneering work in explaining the chemical processes that deplete the earth's ozone shield

1996

Richard E. Smalley, Robert F. Curl, Jr. (both U.S.), and Harold W. Kroto (U.K.), for discovery of a new class of carbon molecule

1997

Paul D. Boyer (U.S.), Jens C. Skou (Denmark), and John E. Walker (U.K.), for discoveries about a molecule that allows the human body to store and transfer energy between cells

1998

Walter Kohn (U.S.) and John A. Pople (U.K.), for their developments in the study of the properties of molecules and the chemical processes in which they are involved

1999

Ahmed H. Zewail (Egypt and U.S.), for creating the world's fastest camera, which captures atoms in motion

2000

Alan J. Heeger, Alan G. MacDiarmid (both U.S.), and Hideki Shirakawa (Japan), for the discovery and development of conductive polymers

2001

William S. Knowles (U.S.) and Ryoji Noyori (Japan) “for their work on chirally catalyzed hydrogenation reactions,” and K. Barry Sharpless (U.S.) “for his work on chirally catalyzed oxidation reactions.”

2002

John B. Fenn (U.S.) and Koichi Tanaka (Japan) for ionization methods analyses of biological macromolecules, and Kurt Wüthrich (Switzerland) for determining the three-dimensional structure of biological macromolecules in solution.

2003

Peter Agre and Roderick MacKinnon (both U.S.) for studies on channels in cell walls.

2004

Aaron Ciechanover (Israel), Avram Hershko (Israel), and Irwin Rose (U.S.) “for the discovery of ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation.”

2005

Yves Chauvin (France), Robert H. Grubbs and Richard R. Schrock (both U.S.)

2006

Roger D. Kornberg (U.S.) for “his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription”

2007

Gerhard Ertl (Germany) for "his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces"