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Reporter Genes

Reporter Genes

Reporter genes are a type of protein-coding gene that are often tagged to a gene of interest. Once inside a target cell, reporter genes usually produce visually identifiable characteristics like fluorescence and luminescence when expressed along with the gene of interest. Thus, reporter genes “report” the presence or absence of genes of interest in an organism, determine the gene expression pattern, or track the physical location of a DNA segment or protein in the cell.
Commonly used reporter...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 8, 2026

An Optogenetic Method to Control and Analyze Gene Expression Patterns in Cell-to-cell Interactions

An Optogenetic Method to Control and Analyze Gene Expression Patterns in Cell-to-cell Interactions

Published on: March 22, 2018

Optogenetic reporters.

Spencer C Alford¹, Jiahui Wu, Yongxin Zhao

¹Department of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G2, Canada.

Biology of the Cell

|November 7, 2012

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Genetically encoded biosensors, engineered from fluorescent proteins, enable live-cell imaging of cellular processes. Future work aims to combine these reporters with optogenetic actuators for simultaneous control and imaging.

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Area of Science:

Biotechnology
Molecular Biology
Cell Biology

Background:

Naturally evolved fluorescent proteins serve as the foundation for genetically encoded biosensors.
Protein engineering has expanded the utility of these proteins for reporting diverse cellular activities.

Purpose of the Study:

To review transduction mechanisms used in engineering genetically encoded reporters.
To discuss the combined use of optogenetic actuators and reporters for advanced cellular studies.

Main Methods:

Overview of transduction mechanisms in reporter engineering.
Discussion of current and future applications in optogenetics.

Main Results:

Genetically encoded biosensors allow for detailed live-cell microscopy and subcellular analysis.
Optogenetic reporters are versatile tools for quantitative biological investigations.

Conclusions:

Engineered fluorescent proteins have led to powerful optogenetic tools for cellular research.
Integrating actuators and reporters promises simultaneous control and imaging of cellular physiology.