D-Luciferin sodium salt is used as a substrate which, upon oxidation by the enzyme luciferase, produces bioluminescence. This system is employed as a reporter in plants, bacteria, and mammalian cells. Because chemiluminescent techniques are virtually background-free, this reporter gene system is ideal for detecting low-level gene expression.

Luciferin is a common reagent used throughout the biotechnology field and specifically for in vivo imaging. Luciferase labeled tumor cells, stem cells or infectious diseases are often inoculated into research animals such as rats or mice for investigation. The injection of luciferin allows for the real-time, noninvasive monitoring of disease progression and/or drug efficacy in these model systems through Bioluminescence Imaging (BLI).

Luciferin is also commonly used for in vitro research, including luciferase and ATP assays, gene reporter assays, high throughput sequencing and various contamination assays.