Biophotons: A Hard Problem

" There is growing interest in the literature in the role that biophotons appear to have in biology, from studies on seeds and plants to those involving humans. In this short review, we essentially presented the results that our group has obtained in the study of seed germination processes, relating them to the results already reported in the literature. We have seen a kind of phase transition during the germination process, highlighted by changes in the complexity patterns (crucial and noncrucial events) and by a different behavior of the spectral components. At the same time, the analysis of the intensity and the shape of the emission in terms of a generalized logistic equation seems to indicate that during the germination period, the parts of the organism involved in the emission process change according to the degree of plant development." {Credits 1}

" The idea that biophotons, beyond the molecular mechanisms that generate them, are also a manifestation of the degree of complexity of the system can help us answer the question of how such a small signal can transmit information. This can be achieved using complexity matching theory, which was introduced to extend linear response theory of Kubo from the ordinary condition of thermodynamic equilibrium to the more general condition of perennial nonequilibrium." {Credits 1}

" All living beings seem to emit biophotons, and this emission is extremely sensitive to the “state” of the organism that is emitting them. Changes in biophoton emission spectra under any type of stress indicate that something is happening in the living system; the changes in pattern complexity may be an indicator of a loss of cellular communication, identified by crucial events [46], signaling a “loss of complexity”, with the disappearance of crucial events, where loss of complexity may be an early sign of disease. From this point of view, biophotons could have a role in establishing links between the units of the complex living system, despite their ultra-weak intensity." {Credits 1}

" Following this line of thought, we can hypothesize that biophotons are another communication route developed by nature to allow the exchange of information between different cells as well as organisms." {Credits 1}

{Credits 1} 🎪 Paolis, L.D.; Francini, R.; Davoli, I.; De Matteis, F.; Scordo, A.; Clozza, A.; Grandi, M.; Pace, E.; Curceanu, C.; Grigolini, P.; et al. Biophotons: A Hard Problem. Appl. Sci. 2024, 14, 5496. © 2024 The author(s). This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License.