An introduction to human biophoton emission
Biophoton Emission from Lichens
R. P. BAJPAIR
pbajpai@nehu.ac.inor rpbajpai@yahoo.com
Sophisticated Analytical Instrument Centre North Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793022, India and International Institute of Biophysics e.V., Raketenstation Hombroich, Neuss D41472, Germany
Living objects continuously emit photons of almost constant flux though of ultra weak strength [1]. Thespectrum of emitted photons is broadband and lies mainly in the visible range. Even this weak intensityof visible range photons is much higher than expected in blackbody radiation. The emission requires upconversion of biochemical energy ~ 0.01 eV available in (ATP-ADP) transition or its variants into visiblerange photons of energy ~ 3 eV. No universal mechanism for such up conversion has been discoveredso far. The emitted photon signal has unusual features and shows long time patterns. The signal appearssituation specific and show sensitivity to many factors. A suffix bio is added to the signal and photons for indicating unusual features and biological origin. A few seconds exposure of a live object to normallaboratory light stimulate the object to emit an enhanced biophoton flux for a while. The enhanced fluxdecays to pre stimulation level but is observable for a time much longer time than that expected influorescence. The decay is non exponential in character. The spectrum and other unusual features ofthe decaying signal are similar to the non-decaying pre stimulation signal. As a result, it is also calledbiophoton signal though an adjective light induced is added to it and spontaneous to non-decayingsignals. The determination of the strength and shape are problematic in a non exponential decay. Onehas to define suitable measures. A popular and pragmatic measure of the strength is the photon fluxdetected in the first measuring interval immediately after exposure to light. But there is no consensusabout the measure of shape. There is a measure for duration of decay; it is defined as the time in whichphoton flux drops to 10% of its initial value. The strength and duration in biophoton signals varyconsiderably in different systems. Fig.1 gives an artist rendering of a typical biophoton signal thatsummarizes universal features. The maximum duration of decay of ~ 200s occurs in signals of photosynthetic systems. The strength of these signals is also higher by nearly two orders of magnitude. Becauseof high strength and long duration the decaying signal is detectable even with less sensitive detectors.The phenomenon in fact was discovered in photosynthetic systems and was called delayedluminescence. The name still persists but is gradually replaced by light induced biophoton emission An introduction to human biophoton emission
Biophoton_Emission_from_Lichens