Illuminating Epigenetics and Inheritance in the Immune System with Bioluminescence

The remarkable process of light emission by living organisms has fascinated mankind for thousands of years. A recent expansion in the repertoire of catalytic luciferase enzymes, coupled with the discovery of the genes and pathways that encode different luciferin substrates, means that bioluminescence imaging (BLI) is set to revolutionize longitudinal and dynamic studies of gene control within biomedicine, including the regulation of immune responses. In this review article, we summarize recent advances in bioluminescence-based imaging approaches that promise to enlighten our understanding of in vivo gene and epigenetic control within the immune system.