Quantum Biology of Light

What is the Quantum Biology of Light?

The emerging field of quantum biology has discovered that light has a foundational impact on human biology. From the reverence and ritual of ancient indigenous cultures to heliotherapy at the turn of the nineteenth century to the emerging understanding of the quantum biology of light, light is something that has fascinated humans for ages.

What is the Quantum Theory of Light?

Quantum physics uncovered the dual nature of light. A photon, a unit of light, can act as both a particle of light and as a wave light energy. This is the foundation of quantum physics. Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discoveries with light. Einstein discovered that when light is intense enough, it can knock an electron off of metal. This was one of the scientific discoveries that birthed quantum physics. Something similar can be seen in the human body. Light at different spectrums can create free electrons for the body to use as energy. Quantum biology is uncovering astounding properties about light and life. Greg Engel and Graham Fleming from UC Berkeley discovered that a photon of light travels to the photoreactive center for photosynthesis to occur using quantum phenomena. When researching photosynthetic bacteria they discovered that a photon of light uses quantum superposition and the proteins within the bacterium utilize quantum coherence, or quantum beat, to vibrate in a way that keeps the photon on its fastest path to the photosynthetic reaction center. This opened up a world of quantum biology and light.

What is Cercadian Medicine?

The field of chronobiology has found that almost every single cell in our body has a circadian clock. The light that enters our eye travels to the superchiasmatic nucleus in the brain (SCN), the master circadian clock of the body. The SCN sends an electrical signal to all the other circadian clocks within cells throughout the body. Biological function and health are guided by the light in our environment. It influences hormonal cascades, immune system, metabolism, neurotransmitters and a variety of biological processes. Tending to the light in our environment has a primary influence on overall health and biology.

What are BioPhotons?

Researchers have found that all living systems emit weak light called biophotons. Our cells emit light through a variety of biological processes in the mitochondria, DNA and throughout the body. These weak ultraviolet light emissions have been found to be coherent, not random, suggesting a mode of communication. Stressed cells show an increase in biophoton emission while dying cells show a decrease in biophoton emission. It seems that it is not only the light in our environment that molds our biology; the light within us might be playing a role as well.