Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
questions concerning this bio-photonic information. The first
question deals with the developments in the evidence for photons
originating from cells. Despite serious experimental di
culties it
is now clear to every scientist working in this field that photon
emission could be detected from nearly all living cells.
The second question considers the origin of photon emission.
Very weak photon emission has been looked upon so far mainly
from the possible reactions and biochemical pathway that could
be responsible for this phenomenon. In general, those studies
were carried out without considering Gurwitsch's idea of bio-
information of photon emission. An alternative search for the
origin of photon emission has been carried out incorporating the
informational aspect of photon emission. This type of explanation
proposes the existence of a coherent electromagnetic field within
cell populations and has led to the introduction of the term
bio-photons. Bio-photons are characterized by their quantum
character and are supposed to escape from a coherent field. This
alternative explanation issupported by several arguments.
The third question is the most decisive one from an empirical
pointofview.Itisdirectedtotheexistenceofbio-photonemission
in relation with cellular interactions and biological function. In
generaltheideathatbeside,orevenbelow,thebiochemicallevelof
control very weak electromagnetic interactions play a regulatory
role in the living state has received relatively little attention. The
present research has not yet reached the state required for the
ultimate verification or falsification of the hypothesis on bio-
photonic information in cell division and other cell physiological
processes, as originally investigated and suggested by Gurwitsch.
The mystery of the sporadic arising of cell divisions was the
starting point for Gurwitsch to carry out his famous 'mitogenetic
radiation' experiments in 1923. The idea that radiation generates
cell division was based on his early studies (Gurwitsch, 1911)
in which it was demonstrated that (1) there is a reverse linear
relationship between the surface areas of the meristemic cells
and their division frequencies; (2) along the whole onion root
meristem, cell surface areas increase according to the exponential
law. The purely statistical character of spatial distribution of
mitosisdemonstratedinseveralobjects(andparticularlyinonion
roots) supported the concept that mitosis should be based upon a
dualprinciple.Thatis,oneofthefactorswhichmakeacellcapable
of division is assumed to be endogenous (a 'possibility factor'),
