╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ B I O L U M E ║ ║ light written into living tissue ║ ║ ║ ║ ·.·:·.· glow as signal ·.·:·.· ║ ║ ║ ║ ── diagnostic imaging, but alive ── ║ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
We engineer bioluminescent proteins that light up disease in living tissue — real-time, non-radioactive, cellular-resolution diagnostic imaging. No contrast agents. No ionizing radiation. Just organisms glowing in the void of the body.
Our proprietary LuxCassette platform fuses stabilized luciferase variants with disease-specific antibodies. When the construct binds its target, a substrate trigger produces photons — captured by our ultra-sensitive cryogenic detector array.
Thermostable Gaussia and NanoLuc variants, codon-optimized for human cell compatibility. Emission tuned to 480nm — the sweet spot for tissue penetration with minimal autofluorescence.
┌─ substrate ─┐ │ coelenter │──→ hν @ 480nm │ azine │ 2.3 × 10⁶ photons └─────────────┘ per binding event
A 4096-sensor SPAD array cooled to -40°C, detecting single-photon events at clinically relevant depths. Signal-to-noise ratio 14× higher than conventional optical imaging.
sensor: 4096 × SPAD temp: -40°C SNR: 14× baseline depth: up to 12cm tissue
Four FDA-pathway substrates with tunable pharmacokinetics — from 4-minute flash kinetics for intraoperative use to 72-hour sustained emission for longitudinal monitoring.
BLZ-flash → 4 min intraop BLZ-sustain → 72 hr monitor BLZ-loc → 30 min biopsy BLZ-trace → 14 day tracking
Our trained diffusion model reconstructs 3D volumetric images from sparse photon counts — turning a few thousand detected photons into a clinical-grade tomographic render.
input: ~8K photon events model: BiolumeDiff v3.1 output: 256³ voxel volume time: 3.2 sec / frame
Six application tracks in active clinical development — each maps a specific disease to a tuned luciferase-substrate pair.
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: · · :
· ● · tumor margin
· · · glow
··:··BLZ-flash lights up residual tumor cells in real time during resection — 0.3mm resolution, no frozen-section wait.
· · · · · · ◐ ◐ ◐ · sentinel · ◐ ● ◐ · node · ◐ ◐ ◐ · mapping · · · · ·
Replace radioactive tracers with bioluminescent substrates — same accuracy, zero ionizing radiation exposure for staff and patient.
──·──·──·── · ● · plaque ──·──·──·── detection · ● ·
Targeted reporters bind to inflamed macrophages in atherosclerotic plaque — identify rupture-prone lesions before events.
·.·.·.·.· · ● → ● · cell · → · tracking ·.·.·.·.·
BLZ-trace labels CAR-T and stem cells for 14-day longitudinal monitoring — verify engraftment without biopsy.
· · · · · · ● ● ● · infection · ● ● ● · foci · · · · ·
Bacteriophage-delivered reporters express only in live bacterial colonies — pinpoint deep infections without exploratory surgery.
·:·:·:·:· · ● ● · drug · ● · biodist ·:·:·:·:·
Replace serial sacrifice studies with longitudinal bioluminescent imaging — track compound distribution across a single cohort.
Our platform is built on published evidence — from luciferase engineering to first-in-human safety trials.
╔═══════════════════════╗ ║ PHOTON FLUX MAP ║ ║ ║ ║ · · · · · · · · ║ ║ · ● ● · · · · · ║ ║ · ● ● ● · · · · ║ ║ · · ● ● · · · · ║ ║ · · · · · · · · ║ ║ ║ ║ target: 2.1mm ║ ║ depth: 8.4cm ║ ║ SNR: 22.7 ║ ╚═══════════════════════╝
From luciferase stabilization to first-in-human oncology imaging, our research pipeline is transparent and reproducible.
A 38-person team across Boston and Zürich — spun out of MIT and ETH Zürich in 2022.
Former MIT Synthetic Biology Lab. 12 years engineering luciferase variants for in-vivo use.
ETH Zürich optics. Designed the CryoDetect sensor array and photon reconstruction pipeline.
Surgical oncologist, Dana-Farber. Leads the intraoperative tumor margin clinical program.
Directed evolution specialist. Holds 6 patents on thermostable luciferase variants.
·.·:·.· the body is not dark ·.·:·.· ·.·:·.· we give it a voice ·.·:·.·
Request a clinical demo or a research collaboration. We'll send a substrate sample kit within 14 days.