The Mysterious Glow Within Us: Exploring the Science of Biophotons
Science fiction has long depicted characters with otherworldly glows—from E.T.’s luminous fingertip to the demon markings in recent films like “K-Pop Demon Hunters.” While these fictional glows are created through special effects, there’s something remarkable and real happening beneath our skin: humans and all living organisms actually produce tiny amounts of light. These faint emissions, called biophotons, remain invisible to the naked eye but represent a fascinating frontier in biological research that blurs the line between quantum physics and cellular biology.
Unlike the well-understood phenomenon of bioluminescence seen in fireflies or deep-sea creatures, biophotons aren’t produced by specialized light-generating organs. As Catalina Curceanu, a nuclear and quantum physicist at Italy’s National Institute of Nuclear Physics explains, biophotons are individual light particles that appear to emerge as byproducts of normal cellular processes. According to Christoph Simon, a quantum physicist from the University of Calgary, one likely source is the interaction of reactive oxygen species—unstable molecules produced during regular cellular activities. When these reactive molecules attack lipids in cell membranes, they trigger chain reactions where colliding radicals release energy in the form of photons. These light particles typically have wavelengths between 200 and 1,000 nanometers, spanning from ultraviolet through visible light to near-infrared.
Most of these biophotons never reach the surface of our bodies. They’re absorbed by the dense forest of proteins, lipids, and other cellular structures they encounter along the way. However, some do escape—approximately 1,000 photons per square centimeter per second from human skin, according to Simon’s research, which has successfully detected these emissions from live mice. This rate of emission is approximately one-millionth the intensity of a firefly’s glow, making it impossible to detect without specialized equipment. Similar patterns have been observed in germinating lentils and beans by Curceanu’s team, suggesting these emissions may serve some biological purpose rather than being mere cellular waste.
What makes biophotons particularly intriguing to scientists is their potential role in biological processes. Many organisms possess light-sensitive molecules called rhodopsins—we have them in our eyes—but the functional significance of biophotons may lie in much subtler cellular interactions. Philip Kurian, a theoretical physicist at Howard University, has focused on how certain molecules in our bodies can absorb and reemit light. The amino acid tryptophan, a fundamental building block of proteins, is especially fluorescent and potentially significant in this context. Kurian’s research suggests that cellular structures like microtubules—which form the skeleton within cells—have protein arrangements that could allow tryptophan molecules to form quantum information networks.
In these networks, tryptophan molecules could share photons in a quantum state known as superposition, where a particle effectively exists in multiple locations simultaneously. This quantum effect enhances the fluorescence of tryptophan molecules and might enable more efficient information processing within and between cells. Kurian suggests this could partially explain how our brains achieve such remarkable computational power while consuming relatively little energy—a long-standing mystery in neuroscience. The idea that quantum effects might play a role in biological processes represents a fascinating intersection of quantum physics and biology that challenges conventional understanding of cellular functions.
While scientists continue exploring the potential significance of biophotons, Curceanu cautions against misinterpreting this research. The subtle emissions from living organisms bear little resemblance to the dramatic glows depicted in science fiction. We’re not visibly luminous beings, and these emissions remain imperceptible without specialized detection equipment. Nevertheless, the fact that all life emits this faint light represents a profound scientific mystery. As researchers develop more sensitive instruments and more sophisticated theoretical models, they hope to uncover whether these tiny flashes of light are merely cellular exhaust or something more meaningful—perhaps even a fundamental aspect of how life processes information at the quantum level. In either case, the humble biophoton reminds us that the boundary between science fiction and reality can sometimes be surprisingly thin.
