Besides deploying its know-how in use of GFP as a reporter gene, scientists at Aurora invented CCF2, a dye combining fluorescein and 7-hydroxycoumarin that creates a fluorescent signal when cleaved by beta-lactamase; this allowed beta-lactamase to be used as a reporter gene. The BLA system has become widely used in research labs.Ge Wu. Assay Development: Fundamentals and Practices. John Wiley & Sons, 2010 pp 280-281 Aurora also sold proprietary stable cell lines containing its reporters for use in assays conducted with its equipment, and was unusual among its peers for requiring milestones and royalty payments on drugs brought to market that were discovered using its cell lines.
