Proposed Physical Mechanism
Chemi-excitation via oxidative stress by reactive oxygen species(ROS) and/or catalysis by enzymes (i.e. peroxidase, lipoxygenase) is a common event in the biomolecular milieu. Such reactions can lead to the formation of triplet excited species, which release photons upon returning to a lower energy level in a process analogous to phosphorescence. That this process is a contributing factor to spontaneous biophoton emission has been indicated by studies demonstrating that biophoton emission can be attenuated by depleting assayed tissue of antioxidants or by addition of carbonyl derivitizing agents. Further support is provided by studies indicating that emission can be increased by addition of reactive oxygen species (ROS).
Read more about this topic: Biophoton
Famous quotes containing the words proposed, physical and/or mechanism:
“It is true that men themselves made this world of nations ... but this world without doubt has issued from a mind often diverse, at times quite contrary, and always superior to the particular ends that men had proposed to themselves.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Life on board a pleasure steamer violates every moral and physical condition of healthy life except fresh air.... It is a guzzling, lounging, gambling, dog’s life. The only alternative to excitement is irritability.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“A mechanism of some kind stands between us and almost every act of our lives.”
—Sarah Patton Boyle, U.S. civil rights activist and author. The Desegregated Heart, part 3, ch. 2 (1962)