Luminous Life - Light Generation

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The luminous creatures and life forms we've surveyed so far all make use of a specific chemical reaction to produce light. If they don't create the reaction themselves, they have a symbiotic relationship with light-generating bacteria that are housed in a special light organ within the host animal.

But it turns out that there is another biological mechanism that generates photons, or the basic unit of light. Ultraweak photon emission is the term for the process that creates biophotons - photons created by biological systems. Scientists think that all living cells, plant and animal, do create light in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. But the light is so weak, special detectors are needed to pick it up.

So while we may envy those amazing sea creatures and fireflies that flash beautiful light, we ourselves are emitting a very low level of light. You're doing it, right now, even as you read this. In humans, the fingertips, forehead and soles of the feet seem to give off the most light.

Biophoton image of a hand.

The light is thought to be created by a chemical reaction, like bioluminescence, but the reaction is tied to the DNA molecules that reside in the nuclei of our cells. The hypothesis is that DNA both stores and releases the photons to form a network of light that is used for communication and to regulate various processes within the body. Some potential applications for the science of biophotonics include non-invasive medical diagnostics, food and water quality testing and cancer research.

Our journey to explore the luminous life around us has ended with ourselves, with tiny packets of light pulsing through the very stuff of life within us. We're so much more interesting than we realize.