Human body emits faint light that ceases at death, study suggests

A groundbreaking study by the Canadian researchers showed that living organisms emit an extremely faint light, known as Ultraweak Photon Emission (UPE) and that it disappears at the time of death.

The research which culminated in the finding that the light disappears at death was published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters.

Biophotons are primarily faint particles of light emitted by living cells, which are believed to be a spinoff of metabolic processes involving reactive oxygen species (ROS).

The light particles fall within a frequency range of 200 to 1,000 nanometers, making them invisible to the naked eye and detectable only with specialized equipment, such as electron multiplying charge-coupled device (EMCCD) cameras.

Methodology of Research

The research was conducted by the University of Calgary under the umbrella of the National Research Council of Canada.

The experiment was performed in two distinct steps.

• The mice experiment was conducted by placing four mice in a dark box and photographing them for an hour while alive, and a significant decrease in biophoton emission was observed post-mortem.
• The second step was plant study in which the researcher's studied leaves from thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) and dwarf umbrella tree (Heptapleurum arboricola).

After a 16-hour period, healthy leaves started to emit more biophotons than deformed leaves. This finding ultimately links photon emission to vigor.

This study provides insight into a deeper understanding of biophoton emissions, their role in stress responses, and the variations that occur during the transition from life to death.

Nonetheless this study opens new avenues for prospecting how light at the microscopic level reflects the state of living organisms.