With a combination of genetic tricks and fancy proteins, Jean Livet et al. in the current issue of Nature (450, 56-62; 2007) report their work in which they have colourfully labelled hundreds of individual neurons with distinctive hues to create a “brainbow”. The authors have labelled neurons with approximately 90 different colour combinations, providing a significant step towards modelling how the nervous system works normally and in diseased brains.

As well as reading the paper, you can listen to this week’s free Nature Podcast to find out more, and read the Nature editors’ summary of the work here.