Molecular Probes is a biotechnology

Biotechnology

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...

 company located in Eugene, Oregon

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

 specializing in fluorescence

Fluorescence

Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore lower energy, than the absorbed radiation...

. The company was founded in 1975 by Richard and Rosaria Haugland in their kitchen in Minnesota, then moved briefly to Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 and finally to Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 in the early 1980s. In 1989, Molecular Probes moved from Junction City to its current location in Eugene. Invitrogen

Invitrogen

Invitrogen Corporation was a large, multinational biotechnology company headquartered in Carlsbad, California. In November 2008, a merger between Applied Biosystems and Invitrogen was finalized...

 bought Molecular Probes in 2003 for approximately $325 million in cash. While in Texas, the Hauglands developed the Texas Red

Texas Red

Texas Red or sulforhodamine 101 acid chloride is a red fluorescent dye, used in histology for staining cell specimens, for sorting cells with fluorescent-activated cell sorting machines, in fluorescence microscopy applications, and in immunohistochemistry.Texas Red fluoresces at about 615 nm,...

 dye, a rhodamine

Rhodamine

Rhodamine is a family of related chemical compounds, fluorone dyes. Examples are Rhodamine 6G and Rhodamine B. They are used as a dye and as a dye laser gain medium. They are often used as a tracer dye within water to determine the rate and direction of flow and transport...

 derivative. Other dyes have names that reflect their Oregon heritage, including the Oregon Green and Cascade

Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...

 Blue dyes, while Marina Blue and the Alexa Fluor dyes are named after the Hauglands' children, Marina and Alex.