Biophotonics
"The basic idea [underlying] all these phenomena is the superposition of electromagnetic fields, in particular biophotons, in a way that during biologically relevant time intervals within biologically relevant structures, interference patterns of destructive and constructive interference are built up that 'organize' the movement and activity of the biomolecules within and between the cells."
Popp, A. and Zhang, J., Mechanism of interaction between electromagnetic fields and living organisms. Science in China (Series C). October 2000. Vol 43. No 5. 507-18.
Introduction to Biophotonics
The emerging science of biofields is a recognition of the fact that humans are comprised of energy as well as matter. Researchers are just beginning to characterize the various electromagnetic fields that occur within cells, tissues, organs, and a human being. Although there are many proven technologies to diagnose, monitor, and characterize eletromagnetic fields within humans, and therapies that are based on energy are becoming more prevalent (see Energy-Based Technologies and Medical Therapies), understanding the role of energy within the human body is still very much a research project. One of the more established areas of research is biophotonics.
As summarized in Rahnama, et. al.12, all living cells of plants, animals and humans continuously emit ultraweak biophotons (ultraweak electromagnetic waves) in the optical range of the spectrum, which are associated with their physiological states and can be measured. Neural cells also continuously emit biophotons. The intensity of biophotons is in direct correlation with neural activity, cerebral energy metabolism, EEG activity, cerebral blood flow and oxidative processes. There are significant correlations between the fluctuations in biophoton emission and fluctuations in the strength of electrical alpha wave production in the brain.
Biophotons are light emitted by biological organisms either spontaneously or as a result of external stimulation15,26,27. As early as 1923 Russian researcher Alexander Gurwitsch discovered that living tissue gave off photons, which he termed "mitogenic rays." He demonstrated that these ultraviolet rays (photons) stimulated cell reproduction. Gerwitsch's work was replicated in the 1970's and expanded upon by German researcher Fritz Popp. The resurgence of biophotonic research was enabled by the development of the photomultiplier tube which can detect very weak light emissions. Popp was inspired by Herbert Fröhlich, father of superconductivity theory, who was a theoretical physicist in the field of solid state physics who later applied theoretical physics to biological systems.
Fröhlich proposed the existence of "condensates" which are composed of a collection of vibrational oscillators that concentrate their vibrational energy in collective motion. More specifically, he stated that biological systems are highly nonlinear; far away from thermal equilibrium, and must be treated as thermodynamically open systems that constantly carry out work to maintain this non-equilibrium; and macroscopic quantum systems that are able to produce coherent oscillations17, 32. These coherent oscillations have been observed to generate an electromagnetic field that could enable long-range interactions between cells. The action of the electromagnetic waves causes the excitation of coherent vibrations pumped by energy derived from metabolism. This effect should be visible at normal temperatures and occur in all living things, and cells are able to recognize each other at a distance and be attracted or repelled. Fröhlich's hypothesis of coherent vibrations in biological systems provides a theoretical framework for the regulation of biological processes in and between cells, organs, tissues, and the whole human body via electromagnetic fields.
Oschman outlines the scope of coherent vibrations11:
Coherent vibrations recognize no boundaries, at the surface of a molecule, cell, or organism -- they are collective properties of the entire being. As such, they are likely to serve as signals that integrate processes, such as growth, injury repair, defense and the functioning of the organism as a whole. Each molecule, cell, tissue, and organ has an ideal resonant frequency that coordinates its activities.
Fröhlich describes how the coherent vibrations would actually work30:
An assembly of cells, as in a tissue or organ, will have certain collective frequencies that regulate important processes, such as cell division. Normally these control frequencies will be very stable. If, for some reason, a cell shifts its frequency, entraining signals from neighboring cells will tend to reinstall the correct frequency. However, if a sufficient number of cells get out-of-step, the strength of the system's collective vibrations can decrease to the point where stability is lost. Loss of coherence can lead to disease or disorder.
Coherent vibrations in humans have been found in the acoustic, megahertz, gigahertz, and infrared ranges. Macroscopic coherent states occur when an oscillating electromagnetic field is created within or surrounding a cell. Research has shown that mechanical oscillations of microtubules and cell membranes generate an electromagnetic field, and it is proposed that this field plays role in cell physiology and participates in the controlling of the organization of intracellular processes and interaction between cells14,18,28,33. The constant stream of energy in the form of photons and heat that microtubules receive from mitochondria12,25 has been found to catalyze the ordering of water in cells into a crystalline lattice structure which may play a role in meridians and qi flow in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Biophoton emission has been found in oxidative metabolism in mitochondria, free radical reactions with biomolecules, and in proteins and DNA. There is extensive research on electromagnetic cellular interactions13. Although the use of biophoton emission for diagnostic and treatment purposes is in its infancy28, biorhythms of biophoton production have been found to be on the order of weeks and months and may vary considerably after just ten minutes due to the dynamic nature of biological systems. The intensity of biophoton emission is much higher in the hands and face and can vary considerably (up to fifty percent more or less than the daily average) depending upon skin temperature 16,29. Palm locations produce significantly more photons than dorsal locations, and emission rates vary considerably depending upon the time of day15.
Popp and other researchers have proposed the possible biocommunicaton and bioregulatory effect of photons 17. In this theory, the generated field of photons is a quantum information field that interacts with body molecules and chemistry in a regulatory biofeedback mechanism. It is hypothesized that photons released by the cells form a whole interlinked system working as a synchronized coherent field17. The high degree of order in such light reflects its laser-like properties21. This light is very quiet and shows an extremely stable intensity, without the fluctuations normally observed in light. Because of the stable field strength, its waves can superimpose, and by virtue of this, interference effects become possible that do not occur in ordinary light. Because of its high degree of order, the biological laser light is able to generate and keep order and to transmit information in the organism19,22.
Popp's biophoton theory also postulates a web, or hologram, of light created by the constant emitting and absorbing of photons by DNA, cells, tissues, and organs and proteins. This hologram could correspond to auras, chakras, meridians and other energy matrices that have been part of eastern philosophy and healing traditions for millennia. An energetic matrix could also explain basic morphology, or cell differentiation, and the regulation of myriad other cellular functions. However, there are other theories of morphology that are based on ion flows and gradients4. Although this ion-based theory also depends on electromagnetism, it does not as yet involve biophotons.
There are myriad unanswered questions in biophoton research, such as how and why are biophotons generated; how do biophotons contribute to cellular organization, regulation and communication; what is the source of the information that they carry; can biophotons be modulated; which signals result in which metabolic actions; can photon emission reliably be used diagnostically; what is the relationship between biophotons and DNA; what is the function of the absorption of biophotons by photosensitive molecules; how does weak and strong radiation interact with biological tissue; can condensates (collective electron oscillations) form in biological tissue powered by photons; how do microtubules, mitochondria, and photons interact; and what role might biophotons play in the regulation of cell division and cellular differentiation.
Ongoing research in the emerging science of bioenergy will play a major, if not defining role in 21st Century medicine where energy-based pharmacology could complement chemical-based pharmacology.
More information on the bioenergetic basis of humans and cells can be found in the Qigong and Energy Medicine Database™ , Energy Based Medical Technologies and Therapies, The Scientific Basis of Qigong and Energy Medicine, and Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis by J. Oschman.
1.Bischof, M., Field Concepts and the Emergence of a Holistic Biophysics. International Institute of Biophysics, Published in: Beloussov, L.V., Popp, F.A., Voeikov, V.L., and Van Wijk, R., (eds.): Biophotonics and Coherent Systems. Moscow University Press, Moscow 2000, pp.1-25.
2. Pilla A, Fitzsimmons R, Muehsam D, Wu J, Rohde C, Casper D. Electromagnetic fields as first messenger in biological signaling: Application to calmodulin-dependent signaling in tissue repair, Biochim Biophys Acta. 2011.
3. Havelka D, Cifra M, Kucera O, Pokorny J, Vrba J., High-frequency electric field and radiation characteristics of cellular microtubule network, J Theor Biol., 2011.
4. Levin, M., Molecular bioelectricity in developmental biology: New tools and recent discoveries: Control of cell behavior and pattern formation by transmembrane potential gradients, Bioessays, 2012.
5. Pokorny, J., Vedruccio, C., Cifra, M., Kucera, O., Cancer physics: Diagnostics based on damped cellular elasto-electrical vibrations in microtubules, European Biophysics Journal, 2011.
6. Pokorny, J., Video: Microtubules - Electric Oscillating Structures in Living Cells (Google Workshop on Quantum Biology). 2010.
7. Zimmerman JW, Pennison MJ, Brezovich I, Yi N, Yang CT, Ramaker R, Absher D, Myers RM, Kuster N, Costa FP, Barbault A, Pasche B., Cancer cell proliferation is inhibited by specific modulation frequencies, Br J Cancer. 2011 Dec 1.
8. Georgiev, D., Bose-Einstein condensation of tunnelling photons in the brain cortex as a mechanism of conscious action, [Preprint], 2004.
9. Kim, et. al., Influence of body parameters on gastric bioelectric and biomagnetic fields in a realistic volume conductor, Physiol Meas. 2012 Mar 14.
10. Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group, Quantum Biology, https://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/quantum_biology/.
11. Oschman, J., Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis, Churchill Livingstone, 2000.
12. Rahnama, M., Tuszynski, J., Bokkon, I., Cifra, M., Sardar, P., Salari V., "Emission of mitochondrial biophotons and their effect on electrical activity of membrane via microtubules", Journal of Integrative Neurosciences, 2011, vol 10, no. 1, p. 65-88.
13. Cifra, M., "List of modern experimental evidence on cellular photonic interactions", UPE-DataBase Newsletter, 2010a, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 5-7.
14. Cifra, M., Pokorny, J., Jelinek, F., Kucera, O., "Vibrations of electrically polar structures in biosystems give rise to electromagnetic field: theories and experiments", In Proceedings of Progress In Electromagnetics Research Symposium 2009, Moscow, Russia, August 18-21. Cambridge: The Electromagnetics Academy, 2009, p. 138 - 142. ISSN 1559-9450.
15. Cifra, M., Van Wijk, E., Koch, H., Bosman, S., Van Wijk, R., “Spontaneous Ultra-Weak Photon Emission from Human Hands Is Time Dependent”, Radioengineering, 2007, Vol. 16, n. 2, p. 15-19, ISSN 1210-2512.
16. Cifra, M., Van Wijk, E., Van Wijk, R., “Endogenous electromagnetic field in biological systems: measurement of spontaneous photon emission in visible range from the human body”, In Odborne seminare - Sborník za rok 2006/2007. Praha: Czechoslovak section IEEE, 2007, p. 40-48. ISBN 80-86582-21-3.
17. Cifra, M., “Measurement of spontaneous photon emission from the human body: technical aspects, parameters, time and temperature dependent fluctuations of photon emission”, master degree thesis, University of Zilina, Slovak Republic. 2006.
18. Cifra, M., Havelka, D., Kucera, O., Pokorny, J., "Electric field generated by higher vibration modes of microtubule", In Microwave Techniques (COMITE), 2010 15th International Conference on, p. 205 - 208, 2010.
19. Schmidl, G., Experimental Evidence for the Frolich Hypothesis, https://www.fourcoffees.com/project/evidence.html#Pak01.
21. Nobrega, C., Biophoton – The language of the cells. What can living systems tell us about interaction?, Technoetic Arts: A journal of Speculative Research Vol. 4 No. 3, 2007.
22. Bischof, M. Biophotons – The Light in our cells. Journal of Optometric Phototherapy. 2005.
23. Rubik, B., The Biofield Hypothesis: Its Biophysical Basis and Role in Medicine. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 8. No 6, 2002, pp. 703-717.
24. Van Wijk R, Schamhart DH., Regulatory aspects of low intensity photon emission, Experientia, 1988.
25. Cifra, M., Havelka, D., Kucera, D., Biophysical role of oscillatory electric field generated by undamped microtuble vibrations, In 6th International Workshop on Biological Effects of Electromagnetic Fields, Istanbul: Bogazici University, 2010.
26. Popp F.A. Properties of biophotons and their theoretical implications. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 2003;41:391–402.
27. Gall D., et al. Measurement of low-level light emission under lab conditions. In: Chang J., et al., editors. Biophotons. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1998. pp. 159–182.
28. Joseph, et. al., Biophoton Detection and Low-Intensity Light Therapy: A Potential Clinical Partnership, Photomed Laser Surg. 2010 February; 28(1): 23–30.
29. Cohen, S., Popp, F.A., Whole-Body Couting of Biophotons and its relation to biological rhythms, In: Chang J., et al., editors. Biophotons. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers; 1998. pp. 183–193.
30. Fröhlich, H., Coherent electric vibrations in biological systms and the cancer problem. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques MTT 26:613-617.
31. Morris, P, Perkins A., Diagnostic imaging, Lancet. 2012 Apr 17.
32. Srobar, F., Fröhlich Systems in Cellular Physiology, Prague Medical Report / Vol. 113 (2012) No. 2, p. 95–104.
33. Pokorny, et. al., Mitochondrial Metabolism – Neglected Link of Cancer Transformation and Treatment, )Prague Medical Report / Vol. 113 (2012) No. 2, p. 81–94.
