A groundbreaking study published on April 25, 2025, in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters by researchers from the University of Calgary and the National Research Council of Canada, has illuminated a hidden facet of life: ultraweak photon emissions (UPE), or biophotons, emitted by living organisms in the visible spectrum (380–750 nm). Stated simply: living things, including people, give off light! Using an electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD), the team measured these faint photon signals from living mice and plants (thale cress and dwarf umbrella tree leaves), observing that the glow fades rapidly in mice after death and intensifies in plants under stress. This discovery suggests UPE reflects metabolic activity, potentially offering a non-invasive diagnostic tool for health monitoring in humans and plants. This discussion explores why organisms emit these photons, the mechanisms behind it, and whether this phenomenon could reshape medicine, agriculture, or our understanding of life itself.

Ultraweak photon emission likely stems from oxidative metabolism, a universal process in living cells. When cells process oxygen, reactive oxygen species (ROS) form as byproducts, particularly under stress from heat, cold, pathogens, or toxins. These ROS oxidise biomolecules like lipids and proteins, exciting electrons to higher energy states; as electrons relax, they release photons in the 200–1,000 nm range, with visible emissions (380–750 nm) detectable by sensitive instruments. In the Calgary study, mice emitted steady photons while alive, which dropped sharply post-euthanasia, suggesting active metabolism as the source. Plants, conversely, glowed brighter under temperature shifts or chemical/physical injuries, likely due to heightened ROS production in chloroplasts or mitochondria. Biophysicist Fritz-Albert Popp's 1970s theory posits biophotons as coherent quantum signals from DNA or cell membranes, facilitating cellular communication. While speculative, the study's empirical data supports a metabolic origin, with stress amplifying emissions in plants and life sustaining them in animals.

The biochemical basis of UPE centers on electron transitions in stressed cells. Oxidative stress disrupts fats and proteins, causing electrons to jump to higher energy levels; their return emits photons, akin to a subatomic spark. In plants, chloroplasts, rich in light-sensitive pigments, may amplify this under stress, explaining brighter glows. In animals, mitochondrial activity likely dominates, ceasing at death, as seen in the mice's fading glow. The study ruled out body heat as the source by rewarming deceased mice, confirming metabolic processes as the driver. Popp's quantum coherence hypothesis, though unproven, suggests biophotons could regulate cellular networks, a notion bolstered by the study's correlation of UPE with physiological states. Alternative theories, like chemiluminescence from radical recombination, remain plausible but less explored.

Does it matter? UPE's correlation with metabolic health positions it as a potential diagnostic tool. In medicine, detecting photon intensity or spectral shifts could flag early disease markers, e.g., oxidative stress in cancer or neurodegeneration, noninvasively. With autism rates at 1 in 36 and chronic illnesses rising, such tools could catch subtle metabolic shifts early. In agriculture, monitoring crop UPE could detect stress from drought or pests, optimising yields as food demand grows 50% by 2050. The study's plant data supports this, showing stress-induced glow spikes. It could be a health barcode for farmers too.

UPE's ultraweak nature, orders below visible light, poses detection challenges. Environmental electromagnetic noise should swamp it, yet the EMCCD isolated it, a technical triumph. However, consumer-grade sensors are distant, and false positives from non-biological light could mislead. The study didn't test mice under stress, limiting animal insights, and UPE's specificity for diseases remains unproven.

UPE could probe life's essence, linking to theories of cellular consciousness or death processes (e.g., DMT's role). Dismissing UPE risks repeating the vaccine-autism saga, where signals were ignored. Even a null result, UPE as by-product, would clarify metabolism, while a positive one could revolutionise diagnostics.

UPE offers a tantalising glimpse into life's metabolic pulse, with potential to transform health and agriculture. Its oxidative origins are clear, but practical applications need rigorous study. Rather than dismissal, the hypothesis demands open inquiry to unlock its promise, or rule it out.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a68081288/living-things-glow/

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c03546

Abstract

The phenomenon of biological ultraweak photon emission (UPE), that is, extremely low-intensity emission (10–103 photons cm–2 s–1) in the spectral range of 200–1000 nm, has been observed in all living systems that have been examined. Here, we report experiments that exemplify the ability of novel imaging systems to detect variations in UPE for a set of physiologically important scenarios. We use electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) and charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras to capture single visible-wavelength photons with low noise and quantum efficiencies higher than 90%. Our investigation reveals significant contrast between the UPE from live vs dead mice. In plants, we observed that an increase in the temperature and injuries both caused an increase in UPE intensity. Moreover, chemical treatments modified the UPE emission characteristics of plants, particularly the application of a local anesthetic (benzocaine) to injury, which showed the highest emission among the compounds tested. As a result, UPE imaging provides the possibility of non-invasive label-free imaging of vitality in animals and the responses of plants to stress.