Bayer: Science For A Better Life - research

Marine creatures helping in medicine

The tell-tale glow

Lumincent substance: Dr. Stefan Golz demonstrates a luminescence reaction – the principle of luciferase.

Search for active ingredients: In preparation for the test, a pipette needle distributes substances on to a microtiter plate. Any hits are then signaled by the luminescent substance luciferase.

The depths of the world's oceans are often brightly colored: fish, crabs and jelly fish glow in a variety of hues. In most cases the purpose of these luminescent substances is not clear, but for Bayer HealthCare researchers they are an important help: in their search for new medicines, they are pinning their hopes on a luminescence gene found in sea crabs. They are collaborating successfully on this project with a scientist in deepest Siberia.

Tools from the White Sea

Russian biophysicist Professor Eugene S. Vysotski fished the luminescent crab from the depths of the White Sea. The function of "its" luminescence gene, luciferase Lu164, in nature is as yet unknown. It is now being used as a research tool in the search for new active ingredients in Bayer HealthCare's high-throughput screening program. Luciferase Lu164 starts to luminesce when a specific chemical reaction takes place in cells; researchers can use it to find out exactly what is happening in the cell. In the following article (PDF file) you can find out more about German-Russian co-operation and the high-throughput screening process.