Advances in the design and synthesis of fluorescent molecules that reversibly bind chemical messengers in living cells allow researchers to observe the dynamics of a cell's internal biochemistry. This paper discusses the mechanism of tracking Ca ions in cells, probing of [Ca2+]i in diseases, imaging cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in vivo, describes how fluorescence microscopy makes intracellular imaging possible, and describes the design of indicators for biological applications.