Image of the Week!  Image of the Week   A variety of luciferase
genes code for proteins products which catalyze the emission of
light from a substrate without requiring exogenous illumination.
This bioluminescence makes these genes and their proteins very
useful for the noninvaseive study of biological pocesses in
small laboratory animals. Using sensitive CCD cameras we can
image tisses, cells or pathogens in living animals which have
had these genes inserted. Although the amount of light produced
is small, since rodent tissues have absolutely no natural
bioluminescence properties there is no background signal
allowing for highly sensitive detection.  fluc orange fluc
yellow  Agar plates with bacteria expressing an orange and a
yellow light emitting firefly Luciferase are shown.The bacteria
colonies or streaks can be seen glowing after application of
D-Luciferin substrate.  By engineering cells or specific tissues
from animals with these luciferase genes, we can track the
position and measure the burden of su