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Phycocyanin

Phycocyanin is a blue pigment found in some algae.

Chemical Formula: C₁₆₅H₁₈₅N₂₀O₃₀

Layman's explanation: Phycocyanin is a naturally produced blue pigment that is found in blue-green algae and cyanobacteria, and is metal free. It fluoresces at a particular wavelength, which means that it can be used as a chemical tag. When the pigment is exposed to strong light in a sample, it absorbs all the light energy and releases it back in a range of wavelengths which is very narrow, and since it only attaches to certain cells, one can see which cells have been tagged by the antibodies attached to the phycocyanin. It is a light absorbing stable protein that works well with chlorophylls in the algae. The compound is also used as a coloring agent in biological research, and it is safe enough to use as a synthetic coloring agent in many types of foods and cosmetics.

Keywords: cyanobacteria, coloring

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