In the last decade, great advances have been made in fundamental research and in the applications of bioluminescence and chemiluminescence. These techniques have become vital tools for laboratory analysis. Bioluminescence imaging has emerged as a powerful new optical imaging technique, offering real-time monitoring of spatial and temporal progression of biological processes in living animals. Bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) methodology has also emerged as a powerful technique for the study of proteinprotein interactions. Luciferase reporter gene technology facilitates monitoring of gene expression and is used to probe molecular mechanisms in the regulation of gene expression. Chemiluminescence detection and analysis have also found diverse applications in life science research; for example, chemiluminescent labels and substrates are now widely used in immunoassay and nucleic acid probe-based assays.

Progress, Perspectives and Problems in Basic Aspects of Bioluminescence (J W Hastings); Bioluminescence of Sharks, A Case Study: Etmopterus spinax (J M Claes & J Mallefet); Chemiexcitation Mechanism for Cypridina (Vargula) and Aequorea Bioluminescence (T Hirano et al.); Study on ATP-Dependent Luminescence Reaction of the Arm Light Organs of the Luminous Squid Watasenia scintillans (K Teranishi & O Shimomura); Bioluminescent Assay of Antibiotic Susceptibility of Clinical Samples (V G Frundzhyan & N N Ugarova); BART: Smart Biochemistry, Bright Bioluminescence, Low-Cost Hardware (O A Gandelman et al.); Mass Spectrometric Approach to Elucidation of Chemiexcitation of Dioxetanes (H K Ijuin et al.); Analytical Challenges for Luminescence-based Point-of-Care Testing Devices in Biomedical Diagnostics (A Roda et al.); Molecular Imprinted Polymer-based Chemiluminescence Sensors (Z Zhang); Conjugate of (Acridinium)x-BSA-Anti-HCV Core to Enhance the Detection of HCV Core Antigen (C D Chang et al.); Simultaneous Multiplex Bioluminescent and Chemiluminescent Enzyme Immunoassay for PCR Products Derived from Genetically Modified Papaya (K Ito et al.); A Sensitive Micellar-Enhanced Chemiluminescence Method for the Determination of Ofloxacin by Flow Injection Analysis (H Ma et al.); Development and Optimization of a Fast and Sensitive ELISA for Polio D-Antigen Using a GZ11-based Signal Reagent (G Zomer & M Hamzink); Detection of Xanthomonas oryzae pv. Oryzicola by Electrochemiluminescence Polymerase Chain Reaction Method (J Wei & L Zhang); A Novel Multicolor Fluorescent Protein from the Soft Coral Scleronephthya gracillima Kuekenthal (Y Kato et al.); Identification of Developmental Enhancers Using Targeted Regional Electroporation (TREP) of Evolutionarily Conserved Regions (C U Pira et al.); Quantum Dots as Fluorescent Resonance Energy Transfer Donors in Antibody-Antigen Systems (S Hu et al.); Synthesis and Photoluminescence of Green-Emitting X2-(Y,Gd)2SiO5:Tb3+ Phosphor Under VUV Excitation (Z H Zhang et al.); The Measurement of Cytosolic ATP During Apoptosis: Bioluminescence Imaging at the Single-Cell Level (R Akiyoshi & H Suzuki); Development of a New Device for Ultrasensitive Electrochemiluminescence Microscope Imaging (LS Dolci et al.); Delayed Fluorescence and Optical Molecule Imaging Techniques for Detecting the Stress Response of Plants to High Temperature (L Zhang & F Wen); Microemulsion Sensitized Determination of BSA with 3-(4'-methylphenyl)-5-(2'-sulfophenylazo) Rhodanine by Resonance Rayleigh Scattering Method (S Ge et al.); The Mechanism of Photon Emission of Biotissues and Its Properties (X-F Pang & X-Y Cao).