May 15, 2009: Life Technologies Corp. (Nasdaq: LIFE) 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-size, 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 novel self-illumination technology uses Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer, also referred to as BRET, to transfer light from a bioluminescent protein — such as luciferase — 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.
This image shows the tuneability of Qdot nanocrystals. Five different nanocrystal solutions are shown excited with the same long-wavelength UV lamp; the size of the nanocrystal determines the color. (Image courtesy of Life Technologies)
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.
“This agreement enables Life Technologies to work with Zymera to expand the applications of our quantum dot technology portfolio beyond fluorescence into bioluminescence, which will enable our entry into new markets,” said Mark Stevenson, president and chief operating officer at Life Technologies
“The combination of Zymera’s technology with our fluorescent nanocrystals has the potential to create powerful solutions for the applied markets and other applications.”
“Quantum dot technology is one of the fastest-evolving technologies in life science,” said Steve Miller, vice president of commercialization at Zymera. “By licensing intellectual property from the market leader in fluorescence-based applications, we are able to advance our Zymera solutions to further unleash the potential of self-illuminating quantum dot products for more scientists to apply this technology to get a clearer picture of complex samples.”