Visualize Protein:Protein Interactions with Bioluminescence Imaging

Posted on by Simon Moe

If you’re familiar with bioluminescence, you’ve probably used it in plate-based experiments to track various biological processes. You understand it provides distinct advantages over traditional fluorescence assays, particularly when it comes to sensitivity. However, there’s always that one nagging question: how representative is the signal on a cell-to-cell level?

Traditional approaches to decipher cell-to-cell signal rely on complex, time-intensive measures that only approximated the findings acquired through bioluminescence. That’s where the GloMax® Galaxy Bioluminescence Imager comes in. Built to visualize the NanoLuc®-based assays we engineered, the Galaxy goes beyond simple numeric outputs to reveal what’s happening in individual cells.

NanoLuc® luciferase is up to 150X brighter than firefly or Renilla luciferase, giving it the sensitivity to detect subtle protein interactions in complex biological systems. This bright luminescent enzyme enables a much broader linear range than fluorescence, improving detection of small changes in protein activity, such as proteins interacting. Microplate readers measuring NanoLuc® assays rely on signal generated from many cells. This results in an approximation of what is occurring biologically. Truly validating those luminescent readings within a cell population has been challenging—until now. The GloMax® Galaxy allows you to perform bioluminescence imaging, moving beyond the numbers, offering the power to visualize protein interactions directly.

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Understanding the Promise of Immunotherapy in Veterinary Medicine

Posted on by Promega

Immunotherapy in veterinary medicine is a rapidly evolving field that leverages the immune system to fight diseases. These therapies are particularly effective in treating various cancers, including lymphomas, mast cell tumors, melanomas, and osteosarcomas. Beyond cancer, immunotherapies are also being explored for their potential in managing chronic inflammatory diseases, such as autoimmune disorders where the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s own tissues. While traditionally, veterinary treatments have focused on surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, the advent of immunotherapy offers a more targeted approach, particularly for conditions like cancer.  

This targeted approach not only minimizes collateral damage to healthy tissues but also offers the potential for longer-lasting protection by training the immune system to recognize and fight off recurrence of the disease. The interest in immunotherapies has grown in tandem with advancements in human oncology, leading to a crossover of technologies and methodologies into veterinary applications. 

How Does Immunotherapy Work?

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Lab Safety: The Catalyst for Every Great Experiment 

Posted on by Riley Bell

In any laboratory environment, safety is imperative. From conducting basic research to handling hazardous chemicals, the associated risks require strict attention to safety protocols and procedures. And lab safety isn’t just about protecting yourself—it’s about ensuring the well-being of your colleagues or classmates, upholding the integrity of experiments, and protecting your environment. Here are some tips on how you can protect yourself and your surroundings in the lab.

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iGEM Grant Winners Tackle Tough Problems in Synthetic Biology

Posted on by Anna Bennett
Conceptual image depicting dna strands intertwined with robotic parts.

In June, Promega proudly announced the ten winners of the 2024 Promega iGEM Grant. These extraordinary teams have been hard at work preparing for the iGEM Grand Jamboree, which will take place from October 23-26, 2024, in Paris, France. We interviewed a handful of this year’s grant recipients to learn more about their projects and journeys they’ve taken to reach this exciting milestone. Below are stories from four of the winning teams.

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The Buzz on Biodiversity: Exploring Pollinator Diversity Through Mitochondrial DNA Analysis

Posted on by Michele Arduengo, PhD

Almost three-quarters of the major crop plants across the globe depend on some kind of pollinator activity, and over one-third of the worldwide crop production is affected by bees, birds, bats, and other pollinators such as beetles, moths and butterflies (1). The economic impact of pollinators is tremendous: Between $235–577 billion dollars of global annual food production relies on the activity of pollinators (2).  Nearly 200,000 species of animals act as pollinators, including some 20,000 species of bees (1). Some of the relationships between pollinators and their target plants are highly specific, like that between fig plants and the wasps that pollinate them. Female fig wasps pollinate the flowers of fig plants while laying their eggs in the flower. The hatched wasp larvae feed on some, but not all, of the seeds produced by fertilization. Most of the 700 fig plants known are each pollinated by only one or a few specific wasp species (3). These complex relationships are one reason pollinator diversity is critical.

Measuring the Success of Conservation Legislation

A bee pollinates flowers in a field. Pollinator diversity is a critical aspect of ecosystems.
A bee pollinates the lavender flowers.

We are now beginning to recognize how critical pollinator diversity is to our own survival, and many governments, from the local level to the national level are enacting policies and legislation to help protect endangered or threatened pollinator species. However, ecosystems and biodiversity are complex subjects that make measuring and attributing meaningful progress on conservation difficult. Not only are there multiple variables in every instance, but determining the baseline starting point before the legislation is difficult. However, there are dramatic examples of success in saving species through legislative and regulatory action. The recovery of the bald eagle and other raptor populations in the United States after banning the use of DDT is one such example (4).

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Mpox—The Latest Zoonotic Virus Making Headlines

Posted on by Kelly Grooms

Mpox (formerly known as Monkeypox; 1) has been making the news lately. The declaration by the WHO Director-General naming mpox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC; 2) has a lot of people wondering what it is, how it spreads and how concerned they should be. Understandably, we are all a little jumpy when we start hearing about a new viral disease, but the virus that causes mpox (monkeypox virus) isn’t new.

Artists rendering of monkeypox on a torso.

A member of the Poxviridae family, the monkeypox virus is closely related to the variola virus that causes smallpox; however, monkeypox causes milder symptoms and is less fatal (1). While the virus gained its unfortunate name from its discovery in monkeys in 1958 (3), the original source of the disease remains unknown. The virus exists in a wide range of mammals including rodents, anteaters, hedgehogs, prairie dogs, squirrels and shrews (4) and can spread to humans through close contact with an infected individual or animal. Symptoms can include fever, headache, muscle and back pain, swollen lymph nodes, chills and exhaustion (3). The most distinguishing symptom is the blister-like rash.

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Promega Summer Interns Contribute Skills and Ideas from Logistics to R&D

Posted on by Jordan Villanueva

Internships at Promega aren’t about getting coffee for your boss or shredding thousands of old papers. Promega interns take responsibility for complex projects that create notable impacts for their teams, our customers, or Promega as a whole.

Promega hosted 56 interns over the summer in 2024. These students came with unique skills in science, engineering, marketing, IT and so much more. We asked several of them to write about the work they did, as well as the results and benefits they created.

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High School Interns Get Hands-On Experience in Promega R&D

Posted on by Jordan Villanueva
High school interns Tessara Clark and Evelyn Zadzilka work in the lab during their Maydm internships in Promega R&D
Tess (left) and Evie (right) spent the summer after high school graduation interning in Promega R&D.

If she weren’t working at Promega, Evie Zadzilka probably would’ve spent the summer after high school graduation taking summer classes before reporting to her freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She runs a small art business, and she might’ve spent more time taking commissions.

Instead, Evie spent the summer before college as an intern in Promega R&D, honing her pipetting skills as she learns about primer design and contributing to the development of a new Promega assay.

“I’ve had a great time,” she says. “I’ll definitely take a lot with me from this experience. I’m so glad I got to do it.”

Evie and her fellow intern Tess Clark were the two high school-aged interns placed at Promega through a relationship with a Madison-based nonprofit called Maydm. This organization helps girls and youth of color in grades 6-12 prepare for careers in STEM by providing educational opportunities and experiences. Through school and summer programs, they strive to disrupt systemic barriers by empowering students like Evie to pursue their dreams as entrepreneurs, developers, engineers and more.

“This will really boost my confidence when I get into lab work next year,” Evie says.

High School Internships at Promega

Tessara Clark and Evelyn Zadzilka work in the lab during their Maydm high school internships in Promega R&D
Tess and Evie were placed in Promega internships through the non-profit organization Maydm.

During their senior year of high school, Tess and Evie were both enrolled in dual-credit courses through Madison College. These classes made them eligible to apply for a high school internship through Maydm.

“I’ve been interested in research for a very long time,” says Tess, another recent school graduate preparing to enter the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “I’m going to major in physics next year, and I don’t have many ties to the biotechnology or chemistry I’ve worked with at Promega. But I wanted hands-on lab experience, so that’s how I ended up here.”

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Taking the Plunge: How the Seine Became Olympic-Ready

Posted on by Shannon Sindermann

What would the Olympics be without a little controversy? From spy drones to air conditioning battles and debates over the bronze medal in women’s floor exercises, the 2024 Games had their fair share. Yet, amidst all the drama, one story stood out—the transformation of the Seine River. After being off-limits to swimmers since 1923, the Seine made a historic comeback this summer, hosting Olympic swimming events for the first time in modern history, including a 10K marathon, the aquatic portion of the triathlon and a Paralympic swimming event (4). With nearly 1 billion people watching, the Seine needed to be more than just swimmable – it had to be media-ready, as even a small misstep could have tarnished the river’s new image. 

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Understanding Persistent Digestive Disorders With Multiplex PCR

Posted on by Johanna Lee

Digestive disorders are a leading cause of mortality worldwide, with diarrhea being particularly deadly. Despite declining mortality rates, diarrhea still causes an estimated 1.65 million deaths annually, with the highest burden in low- and middle-income countries, largely due to poor sanitation and lack of clean water. While acute diarrhea has been extensively studied, less is known about the pathogens responsible for long-lasting digestive issues, including diarrhea and abdominal pain that persist for 14 days or more. A recent study in Scientific Reports offers valuable insights into the prevalence of these pathogens and highlights the importance of advanced molecular diagnostics in addressing this issue.

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