Abstract

Biochemically generated e1ectron1cally excited states are ubiquitous in living systems and the light such states emit can be used to probe the underlying processes involved. Aside from the well known and understood bioluminescence reactions found in fireflies, bacteria and sea creatures, there is a less well understood emission from almost all animal and plant tissues characterized by its extreme weakness, ranging in Intensity from a few to perhaps 10³ photons per second per square centimeter of sample. This ultraweak or biophoton emission has no single source but arises from many processes, mostly oxidative or of a charge transfer nature, which are central to the biochemistry of life.

© 1988 Optical Society of America