I read that Japanese researchers have developed very sensitive camera that recorded bioluminescence in humans; is it possible and if so what is the mechanism behind it?
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$\begingroup$ I assume blackbody radiation doesn't count? $\endgroup$– ShepCommented May 8, 2012 at 8:43
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$\begingroup$ We have more bacterial cells than eukaryotic cells in our bodies, so maybe some of them are bioluminescent? $\endgroup$– RodrigoCommented Apr 30, 2015 at 17:51
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1 Answer
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From the article you linked:
virtually all living organisms emit extremely weak light, spontaneously without external photoexcitation. This biophoton emission is categorized in different phenomena of light emission from bioluminescence, and is believed to be a by-product of biochemical reactions in which excited molecules are produced from bioenergetic processes that involves active oxygen species
They reference these two works. The first is a 1988 review from Popp et al. (1988):
Biophoton emission - Experientia 44:543–600. (sorry, I cannot find the link to a full text...)
Fritz-Albert Popp is the biophysicist who first developed the biophoton theory.
The second work they reference is by the same first author:
In vivo imaging of spontaneous ultraweak photon emission from a rat's brain correlated with cerebral energy metabolism and oxidative stress. - Kobayashi M, et al.
Finally, a search in Pubmed reveals various other articles by different authors studying different species.
