Biophotons: Introduction

Biophotons

1998 edited by
Jiin-Ju Chang
Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy o/Sciences, Beijing, China
International Institute 0f Biophysics, Hombroich, Germany
Joachim Fisch
Institute 0f Optical Devices, Technical University Ilmenau, Germany
and
Fritz-Albert Popp
International Institute 0f Biophysics, Hombroich, Germany

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Since the discovery of ,,mitogenetic radiation“ by Alexander Gurwitsch about 75 years ago almost two generations of scientists have passed. More and more it turns out that the original ideas of the discoverer, who postulated the existence and the cell growth stimulating function of single ultraviolet photons, are confirmed by the present science which

• has been sucessful in showing evidence of „ultraweak cell radiation“ in the visible and UV -range,
• is becoming aware now of the basic role of „photonic communication“ in Biology and modern Physics (Quantum Optics, „non-classical light“).

If one takes into account that true theories cannot be proven at all, but only wrong ones can be rejected, 75 years of unsuccessful objections, rejections, and suppressions of Gurwitsch’s visions and a suddenly increasing agreement to his ideas is a rather strong argument in favour of this important pioneer. This is one of the conclusions which can be drawn from the most recent papers on this field. The variety in the presentation impressively reflects the interdisciplinary character.

1. We start with a paper of G. Renger who bridges the gap between conventional Photo- Biophysics and Biophoton Research.
2. The contribution of R.Vogel and R. Süßmuth is a foray into the investigation of „low-level-luminescence“, where a puzzling nonlinear absorption of weak light has been confirmed experimentally now also in the case of bacteria.
3. M.Hiramatsu discovered a surprising correlation between biophoton emission and defense response in plants which will be reported in the third paper.
4. X. Shen and coworkers confirm the exciting non-substantial biophotonic communication of blood cells during phagocytosis. This throws a completely new light onto the immunological reactions in blood.
5. R. van Wijk and his colleague introduce a new powerful tool of optical tracers in molecular biology.
6. H.Niggli shows evidence of the link between photorepair and biophoton emission, in particular of the interaction of biophotons with the DNA.
7. X. Shen and F.A. Popp report about a coincidence method which is used for calculating the photo counts statistics (peS) of a weak light source under non-stationary conditions. There is new indication of the coherence of biophotons.
8. V.L.Voeikov and his colleague demonstrate nonlinear chemical effects at low concentrations of the reactants, pointing to a completely new field of chemistry and biochemistry .
9. F. Musumeci and coworkers investigate the problem of the coherence of biophoton emission in the case of an unicellular algae.
10. L.Beloussov and his collegue demonstrate nonlinear biophoton effects on developing eggs and embryos, confirming further the theory of Beloussov’s grandfather (Alexander Gurwitsch).
11. The eleventh chapter the book focuses briefly onto technical and theoreticalquestions of the instrumentation. W.Heering is the expert for introducing the reader to the rather difficult problems of demonstrating significant effects under the condition of lowest intensities.
12. Using the example of a „whole-body biophoton counter“, the group around D.Galland J .Fisch show evidence of biophoton emission of the human skin and investigate the problem of the sensivity of the multiplier techniques for measuring single quanta.
13. Chapter 13 is another excursion into a new field of application: the first report on systematic biophoton measurements of the human body and the correlation of biophoton emission to biological rhythms, revealed by S.Cohen and F.A.Popp ..
14. The extraordinary optical properties of human tissue invite to applications in cancer diagnosis. Experimental results on human melanoma, using a fluorescence imaging technique, are reported by B.W. and S.Chwirot and coworkers.
15. The high sensitivity of single-photon counting techniques allows the measurement ofelectric currents in fluids with the highest reliability. The conductivity measurement(„electroluminescence“) provides a powerful new tool of detecting microbialcontamination and, in general, small changes in the quality of fluids. J.J.Chang and F.A.Popp present a basic report.
16. The question of biological organization, based on non-substantial communication, isdiscussed from Chapter 16 on. JJ.Chang and F.A.Popp start with the experimental evidence of partially synchronous flickering of dinoflagellates.
17. B. W.Chwirot investigates the crucial problem of local and non-local informationoriginating from biophotonic and autofluorescence analysis.
18. F.A.Popp and J.J.Chang discuss the informational character of biophotons, the rolefor biochemical reactivity as well as for growth regulation and spatio-temporal organization in living sytems.
19. B.Zeiger presents a new and fundamental biophysical theory of the germination capacity of seeds which helps to judge the importance of investigating entropic parameters for a deeper understanding of life
20. Q.Gu points to the remarkable possibility that biophotons have to be traced back to „non-classical light“, where the quantum character is necessary for displaying highest signal/noise-ratio.
21. R.P.Bajpai follows Gu’s arguments in investigating carefully the dynamics of „delayed luminescence“.
22. GJ.Hyland, coworker and follower of Herbert Fröhlich in England, presents anoverview of the theoretical implications and functions of coherent fields in biology.
23. M.Lipkind, one of the last students of Alexander Gurwitsch, and now a well established virologist, discusses the modem view of field theories and cohence in terms of Gurwitsch’s morphogenetic field theory.
24. M.Bischof has been working on the history of biophysics for a long time. He reports about the development of field theories and holistic approach to biology over the last centuries.
25. Lastly, Fanchon Fröhlich, wife of the late Herbert Fröhlich, gives an impression of the deep and wide implications of coherence for a new understanding of life.