Bioluminescence microscopy using a short focal-length imaging lens.

Bioluminescence from cells is so dim that bioluminescence microscopy is performed using an ultra low-light imaging camera. Although the image sensor of such cameras has been greatly improved over time, such improvements have not been made commercially available for microscopes until now. Here, we customized the optical system of a microscope for bioluminescence imaging. As a result, bioluminescence images of cells could be captured with a conventional objective lens and colour imaging camera. As bioluminescence microscopy requires no excitation light, it lacks the photo-toxicity associated with fluorescence imaging and permits the long-term, nonlethal observation of living cells. Thus, bioluminescence microscopy would be a powerful tool in cellular biology that complements fluorescence microscopy.