Every living thing gives off light. It spans roughly 200 to 800 nanometers, from ultraviolet through visible light, at only a few to several hundred photons per second from each square centimeter of tissue, far too dim for the eye to see and measurable only with photon counters in complete darkness (Mould et al., 2024).
Four Kinds of Biological Light
- Ultraweak photon emission (biophotons): spontaneous light from ongoing metabolism, with nothing shining on the sample.
- Delayed luminescence: a faint afterglow a sample gives off after it has been illuminated (Mould et al., 2024).
- Induced chemiluminescence: light produced in a laboratory test when a sample is deliberately reacted with an oxidizing chemical.
- Bioluminescence: bright, enzyme-made light, as in fireflies and luminous bacteria, produced by an entirely different mechanism (Kobayashi et al., 2014).
These are easy to confuse, and some of the field’s earliest food studies did not separate biophotons from delayed luminescence (Mould et al., 2024).
Where the Light Comes From
Most biophotons come from oxidative chemistry. As mitochondria produce energy, they also produce reactive oxygen species. When these damage fats in cell membranes (lipid peroxidation), they leave molecules in briefly excited states that release photons as they settle (Mould et al., 2024). Antioxidant defenses keep the light faint; stress that overwhelms them makes it brighter (Kobayashi et al., 2014). In yeast, the afterglow tracked how well the cells’ mitochondria were working (Tian et al., 2022).
Key Numbers
- 200 to 800 nm: the spectral range of biophotons, ultraviolet through visible (Mould et al., 2024).
- A few to several hundred photons per second per cm²: typical intensity (Mould et al., 2024).
- About 2 times: the light from viable soybean seeds compared with seeds that can no longer sprout (Mould et al., 2024).
- About 30%: the drop in UV-driven skin emission after a proanthocyanidin cream, in 25 women (Van Wijk et al., 2010).
- About 11%: the drop in emission from energy healers’ palms after sessions, in small pilot studies (Rubik & Jabs, 2017).
What the Evidence Shows
| Claim | Strength of evidence | Key sources |
|---|---|---|
| Living things give off measurable ultraweak light | Strong | Cifra et al., 2015; Mould et al., 2024 |
| The light comes mainly from oxidative chemistry | Strong | Kobayashi et al., 2014; Mould et al., 2024 |
| Afterglow reflects how well mitochondria are working | Early (one organism, yeast) | Tian et al., 2022 |
| Light can help judge seed vitality | Early, varies by species | Griffo et al., 2024; Mould et al., 2024 |
| Light can help judge herb age, variety, and processing | Early | Sun et al., 2018; Zhao et al., 2017 |
| A plant antioxidant on the skin reduces UV-driven light | Early (one study of 25 people) | Van Wijk et al., 2010 |
| Meditation, intention, and healing change human emission | Early, changes run both ways | Rubik & Jabs, 2017; Van Wijk & Van Wijk, 2005 |
| Acupuncture evens out left-right differences | Early (seven patients, no comparison group) | Van Wijk & Van Wijk, 2005 |
| Biophotons as a medical test | Not established | Mould et al., 2024 |
| Cells communicate with coherent, laser-like light | Not supported to date | Benfatto et al., 2021; Cifra et al., 2015 |
| Organic food carries more light | Not established | Mould et al., 2024 |
| Medicinal mushrooms have known biophoton signatures | No studies yet | None |
Common Questions
Does a healthier body glow less? Not always. Lower light can mean less oxidative stress, but growing, active tissue also shines more, as with sprouting seeds (Mould et al., 2024; Van Wijk et al., 2010).
Do cells talk to each other with light? It is a fascinating idea, but a careful review found no reliable evidence that biophotons are coherent, laser-like light (Cifra et al., 2015). One study of germinating seeds found a structured pattern in the signal and offered coherence as one possible explanation among several (Benfatto et al., 2021).
Can biophotons diagnose illness? Not yet. Researchers have detected disease-linked light in several conditions, but no trials show it beats existing tests (Mould et al., 2024).
Does food “store” light? Plants are built from sunlight, and mushrooms make vitamin D from ultraviolet light (Cardwell et al., 2018). Light measurements can register how food is grown and handled, but they do not show that organic food carries more light (Mould et al., 2024).
Open Questions
- What do lion’s mane, reishi, chaga, and turkey tail look like in light, fresh and dried? No one has measured them yet.
- Does time in an immersive light environment change the light from a person’s hands, or its left-right balance?
- Can light measurements become a practical freshness and quality check for wildcrafted herbs?
- Can carefully controlled studies settle whether any biophoton signal is coherent?
Related Terms
Delayed luminescence · Oxidative stress · Reactive oxygen species · Lipid peroxidation · Mitochondria · Photobiomodulation · Photic Lustration · Ergosterol and vitamin D2
References
Benfatto, M., Pace, E., Curceanu, C., Scordo, A., Clozza, A., Davoli, I., Lucci, M., Francini, R., De Matteis, F., Grandi, M., Tuladhar, R., & Grigolini, P. (2021). Biophotons and emergence of quantum coherence: A diffusion entropy analysis. Entropy, 23(5), Article 554. https://doi.org/10.3390/e23050554
Cardwell, G., Bornman, J. F., James, A. P., & Black, L. J. (2018). A review of mushrooms as a potential source of dietary vitamin D. Nutrients, 10(10), Article 1498. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10101498
Cifra, M., Brouder, C., Nerudová, M., & Kučera, O. (2015). Biophotons, coherence and photocount statistics: A critical review. Journal of Luminescence, 164, 38–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jlumin.2015.03.020
Griffo, A., Sehmisch, S., Laager, F., Pagano, A., Balestrazzi, A., Macovei, A., & Börner, A. (2024). Non-invasive methods to assess seed quality based on ultra-weak photon emission and delayed luminescence. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 26838. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-74207-9
Kobayashi, K., Okabe, H., Kawano, S., Hidaka, Y., & Hara, K. (2014). Biophoton emission induced by heat shock. PLoS ONE, 9(8), Article e105700. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105700
Mould, R. R., Mackenzie, A. M., Kalampouka, I., Nunn, A. V. W., Thomas, E. L., Bell, J. D., & Botchway, S. W. (2024). Ultra weak photon emission: A brief review. Frontiers in Physiology, 15, Article 1348915. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2024.1348915
Rubik, B., & Jabs, H. (2017). Effects of intention, energy healing, and mind-body states on biophoton emission. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 13(2), 227–247. https://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/608
Sun, M., Chang, W.-T., Van Wijk, E., He, M., Van Wijk, R., & Wang, M. (2018). Application of delayed luminescence method on measuring of the processing of Chinese herbal materials. Chinese Medicine, 13, Article 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13020-018-0202-0
Tian, M., Li, Q., Liu, Y., Zheng, P., Li, D., Zhao, Y., Wang, B., Li, C., Wang, J., Gao, P., Tang, Q., Zhang, X., & Wu, H. (2022). Relationship between delayed luminescence emission and mitochondrial status in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Scientific Reports, 12, Article 394. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-04290-9
Van Wijk, E. P. A., Van Wijk, R., & Bosman, S. (2010). Using ultra-weak photon emission to determine the effect of oligomeric proanthocyanidins on oxidative stress of human skin. Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology B: Biology, 98(3), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2010.01.003
Van Wijk, R., & Van Wijk, E. P. A. (2005). An introduction to human biophoton emission. Forschende Komplementärmedizin und Klassische Naturheilkunde, 12(2), 77–83. https://doi.org/10.1159/000083763
Zhao, X., Pang, J., Fu, J., Yang, M., Van Wijk, E., Liu, Y., Fan, H., Zhang, Y., & Han, J. (2017). Application of spontaneous photon emission in the growth ages and varieties screening of fresh Chinese herbal medicines. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2017, Article 2058120. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/2058120