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Life Technologies Licenses Quantum Dots Technology to Zymera
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Life Technologies Corporation and Zymera, Inc., have announced a licensing and supply agreement that gives Zymera rights to Life Technologies’ extensive intellectual property estate related to quantum dots.
Zymera will use Life Technologies’ Qdot nanocrystals to create new, self-illuminating quantum dot products to improve in vivo imaging, biomarker discovery and a growing number of biosensing applications.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as academic researchers use Life Technologies’ Qdot nanocrystals for studies of the underlying basis of disease and for detecting targets in complex mixtures. These nanocrystals are nanometer-sized, fluorescent particles made of semiconductor materials, which are invisible to the naked eye. These tiny particles emit intensely bright light when exposed to low-cost violet or ultraviolet light sources, displaying unique colors due to differences in size and composition.
Zymera’s self-illumination technology uses Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) to transfer light from a bioluminescent protein directly to quantum dots. The resulting BRET dots produce light without an external source of illumination, eliminating autofluorescence background and the need for external light sources, such as lasers.
As a result, it is possible to visualize targets deeper in tissue sections or living animals, and to identify multiple targets at the same time with a wider variety of detection devices. Zymera expects to combine the technologies to develop new products for tracing blood and lymphatic fluid flow, tracking cells, and detecting biomarkers for use across a range of life science applications.
Zymera will use Life Technologies’ Qdot nanocrystals to create new, self-illuminating quantum dot products to improve in vivo imaging, biomarker discovery and a growing number of biosensing applications.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as academic researchers use Life Technologies’ Qdot nanocrystals for studies of the underlying basis of disease and for detecting targets in complex mixtures. These nanocrystals are nanometer-sized, fluorescent particles made of semiconductor materials, which are invisible to the naked eye. These tiny particles emit intensely bright light when exposed to low-cost violet or ultraviolet light sources, displaying unique colors due to differences in size and composition.
Zymera’s self-illumination technology uses Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) to transfer light from a bioluminescent protein directly to quantum dots. The resulting BRET dots produce light without an external source of illumination, eliminating autofluorescence background and the need for external light sources, such as lasers.
As a result, it is possible to visualize targets deeper in tissue sections or living animals, and to identify multiple targets at the same time with a wider variety of detection devices. Zymera expects to combine the technologies to develop new products for tracing blood and lymphatic fluid flow, tracking cells, and detecting biomarkers for use across a range of life science applications.
