What is a reporter gene used for?

Reporter genes serve several purposes including: 

• Monitoring gene expression and regulation
• Helping researchers get a better understanding of cell signaling pathways by observing regulatory mechanisms and target gene behaviors over time. 
• Enabling visualization and tracking of therapeutic gene expression in gene therapy research
• Evaluating the efficiency and success of gene editing experiments
• Facilitating biomedical imaging
• Developing cell lines for biopharmaceutical production