Bioluminescence is a product of biochemical reaction of the substrate (luciferin) with oxygen molecule catalyzed by the enzyme (luciferase). Unlike fluorescence, bioluminescence does not depend on light absorbed by the organism, which allows noninvasive in vivo study of biological processes. It also has high signal-to-noise ratio, compared to fluorescent imaging.

The table below lists stocks carrying transgenes expressing luciferase (plain), proteins tagged with luciferase (intact or split), as well as constructs with dsRNA or gRNA targeting the luciferase gene.