BLBase: A Database of Bioluminescent Molecules

The Bioluminescence Hub welcomes you to BLBase. Here, we list the attributes of all studied bioluminescent molecules with a reference to the publication where they were described.

This database is the result of the efforts of eight NeuroNex Bioluminescent Hub Virtual Interns who spent the summer of 2020 and 2021 researching bioluminescent molecules and extracting their properties from the scientific publications that describe them.

Did you find this resource useful? Do you know of a molecule we missed? Get in touch! Send us an email at bioluminescencehub@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @biolumhub.

Special thanks to Rochelle van der Merwe for writing the first version of database code presented here, to Nina Friedman for spearheading this project and mentoring the students, and to Dr. Talley Lambert for valuable discussions and advice.

The image of a shrimp spewing bioluminescent mucus from glands near its mouth is from the NOAA Ocean Explorer Bioluminescence and Vision 2015 expedition, courtesy of Dr. Sönke Johnsen and Dr. Katie Thomas.

This project was supported by NSF NeuroNex 1707352.