Faint Glow of Life: Scientists Detect Biophoton Emissions in Living Mice, Plants

A team led by physicist Vahid Salari has reported physical evidence of ultraweak photon emission (UPE) in mice and plant leaves, supporting the theory that all living things emit a faint glow that disappears upon death.

Biophotons are photons of light generated by biological systems through oxidative stress and chemical reactions within cells. Although previous studies have noted biophoton emissions in tissues, detecting them in whole organisms has remained a challenge due to background electromagnetic interference and body heat.

To address this, researchers used high-sensitivity electron-multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) and CCD cameras to measure light emissions from four mice, first alive and then euthanized. Each mouse was placed in a dark enclosure and monitored for an hour before and after death, while maintaining body temperature to rule out thermal effects.

The study revealed a significant drop in photon emissions after death. "The difference in the numbers of these photons was clear," the team stated.

A similar experiment was conducted on leaves of thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) and dwarf umbrella tree (Heptapleurum arboricola). The plants were subjected to physical damage and chemical stress, which triggered stronger biophoton emissions at the injured sites. “Our results show that the injury parts in all leaves were significantly brighter than the uninjured parts of the leaves during all 16 hours of imaging,” the researchers reported.

The findings reinforce the idea that biophoton emissions may stem from reactive oxygen species and suggest that monitoring such light could one day be used in non-invasive diagnostics for both medicine and agriculture.