Researchers at Rice University developed a novel fluorescent probe named AnapTh, enabling real-time visualization of localized environmental changes within specific protein subdomains in living cells. This molecular magnifying glass provides unprecedented insight into early pathological processes underlying diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and cancer by revealing domain-specific alterations during protein aggregation. Published in Nature Chemical Biology, this technique advances understanding of disease mechanisms and has potential applications in early drug screening and targeted therapeutic development focusing on protein aggregation disorders.