In 1975, Molecular Probes was founded by Richard and Rosaria Haugland in their kitchen in Minnesota. The biotechnology company eventually located in Eugene, Oregon and specialized in fluorescence.

Invitrogen bought Molecular Probes in 2003 for $325 million in cash. The company became part of Life Technologies, through the merger of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems, and is now part of Thermo Fisher Scientific, following Fisher’s acquisition of Life Technologies in 2014.