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Research paper−233 Synthesiology - English edition Vol.1 No.4 (2009) results from basic research to differentiate their products, to generate new products, and to communicate a positive message to the market.In contrast, the Human Genome Project that started in the 1990s advanced rapidly by attracting knowledge, technology, people, and money, and decoding of the human genome was completed in less than 10 years. However, this advancement fell into the dilemma of sitting around waiting for the next discipline. The scientists initially believed that decoding the genome would provide groundbreaking basic information and great innovations would follow. Until then, it was believed that the human genome contained information for more than 1,000,000 proteins, and there was vague hope that this information would indicate the clear difference between humans and other animals. In reality, there are 21,600 genes in the lancelet, a chordate closely related to vertebrates, and the human has about 20,000 genes; thus, there is 2 % or less difference in genetic information between humans and monkeys. This raises questions such as, “Why are there differences between organisms?” or “Are humans really advanced?” There are now more issues in this postgenome era. Now, kinetic analysis and imaging of biomolecular groups that comprise life are gaining attention as methods to answer these questions.Ohmiya, one of the authors, became interested in bioluminescence in the 1990s and engaged in research on the mechanism that determines the color of luminescence in the firefly, as part of the Sakigake 21 Project of the Japan Science and Technology Agency. He continued research on the biology and biochemistry of luminescence mechanisms of luminescent beetles and the sea firefly in the Faculty of Education, Shizuoka University. There, he succeeded in cloning the 1 IntroductionBioluminescence refers to light produced by bioluminescent organisms such as the firefly. Light-emitting organisms possess a light source and an enzyme that catalyzes the luminescence of the light source. In light-emitting organisms, the light source is luciferin (meaning something that is luminescent or emits light) and the enzyme that catalyzes the reaction is luciferase. The French scientist Raphaël Dubois coined the terms luciferin and luciferase in the 19th century, and many researchers have studied bioluminescence science thoroughly. The field of bioluminescence science is not dominated entirely by European and American scientists, and the Japanese have contributed greatly to this field. For example, before the World War, Sakyo Kanda, who is often considered the second Minakata Kumagusu, wrote Hotaru (Firefly), a work widely recognized both in Japan and overseas. Dr. Yata Haneda, the first director of the Yokosuka City Museum, was a world-class bioluminescence scientist, and Dr. Osamu Shimomura of the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory is the discoverer of green fluorescent protein (GFP), which revolutionized bioimaging technology[1][2].Since the 1990s, biotools using bioluminescence have been commercialized by companies in Japan, Europe, and the United States. However, because bioluminescence science is a composite discipline comprising wide-ranging fields including biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, and engineering, it failed to attract knowledge, technology, people, and money, and little innovative technological development has occurred. This was because of insufficient fusion of disciplines and the lack of a clear path through the “valley of death.” Companies that have commercialized biotools using bioluminescence have not produced sufficient - Production of a multigene expression kit based on bioluminescent proteins-Yoshihiro Ohmiya* and Yoshihiro NakajimaResearch Institute for Cell Engineering, AIST Midorigaoka 1-8-31, Ikeda 563-8577, Japan *E-mail : In the postgenome era, biological network analysis has become essential for elucidating animal physiology. We have developed a revolutionary tricolor reporter in vitro assay system that can be utilized for detailed analysis of a biological network. Bioluminescence has potential for visualizing the dynamics of living systems. To accomplish our vision, we are realizing new technologies through Type 1 Basic Research.From basic research on firefly bioluminescence to Product Realization ResearchKeywords : Product Realization Research, bioscience, biotool, optical technology, gene analysis[Translation from Synthesiology, Vol.1, No.4, p.259-266 (2008)](13)−

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