Bioluminescence Imaging

For a researcher, the ability to follow the element of interest within a living animal, merely by looking at it, was for a long time a futuristic idea. In vivo bioluminescence imaging (BLI) has partly fulfilled this dream: it enables the monitoring and tracking of genes, protein interactions, cells, or small organisms by the emission of visible light. Given the limited amount of light produced, sensitive cameras are needed to visualize the signal. This chapter discusses and exemplifies different forms of light-emitting reporter genes and BLI strategies. An overview of factors influencing the intensity of in vivo bioluminescent signals is given.