Bioluminescence in analytical chemistry and in vivo imaging

Progress in molecular biology has made available new bioanalytical tools that take advantage of the great detectability and the simple analytical format of bioluminescence. Combining luminescent enzymes or photoproteins with biospecific recognition elements at the genetic level has led to the development of ultrasensitive, selective bioanalytical tools (e.g., recombinant whole-cell biosensors, immunoassays and nucleic-acid hybridization assays). Optical in vivo imaging is also growing rapidly, propelled by the benefits of bioluminescent tomography and imaging systems, and making inroads into monitoring biological processes with clinical, diagnostic and drug-discovery applications. Bioluminescence-detection techniques are also appropriate for miniaturized bioanalytical devices (e.g., microarrays, microfluidic devices and high-density-well microtiter plates) for the high-throughput screening of genes and proteins in small sample volumes.