| |
It has
been the legacy of Vernadsky to the future world, to continue the
broad-based research effort he began, to uncover the physical principles
that are behind the differences between living and non-living processes. As
we have heard in Jonathan Tennenbaum's contribution (p. 14), Vernadsky
himself always emphasized a universal approach to this problem: What is
needed is an understanding of what are the physical characteristics
of life that can be measured, among others, in terms of different types of
radiation, different wavelengths, magneto-biological criteria, the coupling
between various living systems, between living and non-living systems,
between living systems and astrophysical systems, and also between
non-living and astrophysical systems, and so on.
I want to report here about a number of biological technologies that have
been developed completely outside of the molecular biology mainstream in the
last 30 years, which provide fascinating insights into the inner state of
living cells. What has been established by these means is, that cells have a
specific kind of communication that is closely connected to extremely weak,
but biologically highly effective, electromagnetic signals. By that, a new
pathway of biophysical research has been opened, which focusses exactly on
those key aspects of life that are systematically ignored by standard
methods of molecular biology and genetics.
In fact, the question "What is life?" has been effectively removed from the
established thinking in biology. Molecular biology, which focusses
exclusively on researching only the "building blocks" of nature, has
completely lost sight of the characteristic differences between living and
dead matter. For molecular biology, there is no qualitative difference
between a living and a dead cell: Just before and after dying, a cell still
contains the same molecules and structures.
But what has happened in between? Where is the "living force" or "animus
vitae," as was once speculated about?
Before we elaborate more on the nature of those electromagnetic signals,
which can also be called "biophotons," we should look at some of the
phenomenal achievements of which living processes are capable. In growing
tissue, it can be estimated that every single cell produces some million
molecules per second, which is more, by several magnitudes, than what can be
produced by laboratory means.
There is another astounding figure: On average, every human being consists
of approximately 10 trillion cells (1013), which are generated by
43 successive rounds of cell doublings. Only after this impressive precision
work, will a human being reach adulthood.
However, at the same time, there is a constant turnover of cells coming and
going: In every individual, every second, approximately 10 million cells
die, and must be replaced in a short period of time, in order to prevent an
entropic decay. It cannot be predicted where and when a cell will die, but
if the replacement rate were to be only slightly lower (or higher), the body
would disintegrate quickly. For example, if the growth rate of intestinal
cells, which have a large turnover themselves, would exceed the cell death
rate by only some percent, the body would rapidly die from obstruction of
the intestines.
The biophysicist Fritz Popp has pointed to the conditions which must be
fulfilled such that all these complex processes occur in a controlled way.
There must be an intimate coupling of cell-to-cell-communication, which,
according to his calculations, can only be possible when the key control
processes occur at the speed of light. Any other means of "information"
transmission, including biomolecules, chemical messengers, and so forth,
would not be sufficient. They would be too slow to guarantee the integrity
of the organism. Already, from this simple calculation, it follows that
light, or some electromagnetic action operating at the speed of light, must
be involved in some form in the organization of living processes.
The first sytematic research into the role of light in living processes was
done by the Russian scientist Alexander Gurwitsch, a contemporary of
Vernadsky, in the 1920s. Gurwitsch established as a conclusive hypothesis
that every living cell emits light, though at a very weak level.
Mitogenetic Radiation
His
original experiment was very simple (Figure 1). Gurwitsch mounted an onion
root in such a way, that the tip of this first onion root pointed to the
side of another onion root, but without direct contact. When the second
onion root, after a certain time, was investigated under the microscope, it
was shown that at exactly the point of near-contact, there was a significant
increase of cell divisions (mitosis) compared to the opposite side.
|
 |
|
Figure 1
GURWITSCH'S FAMOUS ONION EXPERIMENT
The roots of two onions are positioned perpendicularly so that the
tip of one root points to one side of the other root. Gurwitsch found
that there was a significant increase in cell divisions on this side,
compared to the opposite, "unirradiated" side. The effect disappeared
when a thin piece of window glass was placed between the two roots,
and reappeared when the ordinary glass (which is opaque for
ultraviolet light) was replaced with quartz glass, which is
transparent for ultraviolet light.
Source: A.G. Gurwitsch, Das Problem der Zellteilung (The
Problem of Cell Division), 1926.
|
Alexander Gavrilovich Gurwitsch (1874-1954)
 This
"mitogenetic effect," as Gurwitsch termed it, continued to appear when a
small quartz window, which is specifically transparent to ultraviolet light,
was inserted between the two onion roots. However, the effect disappeared
when the quartz window was replaced by normal window glass, or other
material, which is opaque to ultraviolet light. With several other
experiments Gurwitsch was able to definitely prove that the medium of this
mitogenetic effect was, in fact, a very weak ultraviolet radiation emanating
from the tip of the first onion root. He called this "mitogenetic
radiation."
Subsequently, Gurwitsch and his collaborators developed a method to
indirectly measure the intensity and spectral distribution of the
"mitogenetic radiation." This technique, together with Gurwitsch's other
original contributions to biology, including his notion of the biological
field and the existence of a long-range effect between cells during mitosis,
became one of the main fields of biological research during the 1930s, in
the Soviet Union, and elsewhere.
However, increasingly, this approach to biology came under fierce attack by
the proponents of genetics and molecular biology, which then, after the war,
was made the dominant field of research. The major point of criticism from
these circles was, that the mitogenetic radiation did not exist at all, or,
if it did exist, it had no biological relevance whatsoever.
Actually, at Gurwitsch's time, it was technically impossible to directly
measure the weak light emission from cells. This became possible only in the
1950s, when a group of Italian astronomers developed a very sensitive photo
multiplier, which they used to make distant stars visible. When used on
biological samples, it was shown that leaves, germs of wheat, corn, beans,
and so on, emit a constant, but weak light. These results created a brief
uproar in the West, but the affair was then essentially forgotten.
Only in the early 1970s was this basic insight taken up again, when German
biophysicist Fritz Popp, in his work on cancer research, found some very
peculiar properties of a very strong carcinogenic substance.
Shown in Figure 2 is benzpyrene in two forms: the 3,4 benzpyrene, which is
found in coal-tar and in cigarette smoke, and a chemically very similar
substance, 1,2 benzpyrene, which is considered harmless. The only major
difference between the two substances is that 3,4 benzpyrene has a strong
absorption/emission anomaly in the ultraviolet area of the spectrum. Popp
asked himself, could these optical properties of the molecule be the direct
cause of its carcinogenicity, rather than any assumed chemical (molecular)
effect? That idea, of course, went directly against the established position
of cancer research.
|
|
|
Figure 2
TWO
FORMS OF BENZPYRENE
The
3,4 benzpyrene, which is found in coal-tar and in cigarette smoke, is
chemically very similar to 1,2 benzpyrene, which is considered
harmless. The only major difference between them is that 3,4
benzpyrene has a strong absorption/emission anomaly in the ultraviolet
area of the spectrum. Popp asked himself, could these optical
properties of the molecule be the direct cause of its carcinogenicity?
|
|
|
|
|
Figure 3
SCHEMATIC OF POPP'S PHOTOMULTIPLIER
Popp and his colleagues built a high-sensitivity light amplifier,
shown here schematically, which can reliably measure the extremely
weak light emission of biological experiments. A quartz cuvette is
located in the enclosed part of the apparatus before a concave mirror,
which also directs the reflected rays to the light detector. A colored
filter can select specific wavelengths, and the alternating light and
dark ("chopper") plate allows a separation betwen actual signals from
the probe and spurious light from the apparatus itself.
Source: Popp, Biologie des Lichts, 1984
|
In that context, Popp learned about Gurwitsch's work on mitogenetic
radiation, and concluded that, if the assumed optical effect of benzpyrene
were correct, then there must be some kind of light source in the cell, and
very weak photon "signals" would be able to trigger drastic changes in the
behavior of cells.
So, Popp and his collaborators started to construct a very sensitive light
amplifier appropriate for measuring very weak photon emissions from cells. A
schematic view of this machine is shown in Figure 3.
It is a certain irony that Popp, after he had presented his ideas to leading
cancer scientists in Germany, was first denied any research money, because
he said he wanted to find light inside cells. For these people, this was a
completely absurd idea! Only when he pledged to establish that there is
no light in cells, did he receive some funding.
With Popp's photomultiplier machine, it was possible to prove beyond any
doubt that low-level light emissions are a common property of all living
cells. It has different intensities for plant or animal cells, for different
cell types, and it can vary from one moment to the next. It is not regular,
but comes often as "photon explosion" (spikes), especially when the cells
are irritated by outside means.
With Popp's photomultiplier
machine, it was possible to prove beyond any doubt that low-level light
emissions are a common property of all living cells. It has different
intensities for plant or animal cells, for different cell types, and it can
vary from one moment to the next. It is not regular, but comes often as
"photon explosion" (spikes), especially when the cells are irritated by
outside means.
Figure 4
EMISSION
PATTERNS OF TWO BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES, WITH AND WITHOUT CONTACT
Fritz
Popp developed a system with two independent photo multipliers, and a
mechanism by which the two samples under investigation could be optically
separated from each other. Here, in an experiment with the tiny
dinoflagellate
gonyaulax
polyedra,
the top part of the graph shows the pattern of emissions with the shutter
closed; and the bottom graph shows the experiment with the shutter opened,
so that the two samples are in optical contact. As can be seen, the random
events on the top, become a coordinated, tuned process of increased
intensity, with simultaneous spikes of photon emissions.
Listen to
the harmony of biophotons
 
The tones
correspond to the correlation of signals of photon emission in two samples
of gonyaulax polyedra. In the first part of the audio, the dissonance
of the separated samples is heard; in the second part, the harmony of the
two samples in optical contact can be heard. The higher the tone, the better
the correlation of signals in the two samples.
The
Harmony of Biophotons
In fact, one could draw an analogy to music and say,
that a disharmonic process turns harmonic. Actually, as Johannes Kepler
perceived the relations of the planets as a musical harmony of spheres, we
can also, in the case of biophotons, make this harmony audible. Here is how
Fritz Popp set the electromagnetic communication between cells to music!
Please, don't expect these tones to be as beautiful as those in last night's
concert, but creatures such as these dinoflagellates are not human, after
all! First, we hear the dissonance of the separated samples, and then the
harmony of interacting photon emission. [Audio
version of the biophoton tones.] You should
note that the tones you will hear do not correspond directly to single
photons emitted; they correspond to the degree of correlation of signals in
both samples. So, the higher the tone, the better the correlation.
All these findings point to a specific form of electromagnetic coupling,
indicating a specific kind of communication between living cells. Even if it
is not yet known what the actual source of these photon emissions in cells
is—and one should not fall into premature speculation on this point (there
may even be outside, astrophysical influences involved)—they have a definite
biological effectiveness. And Popp has also shown that this weak radiation
must have the quality of a multimodal, multifrequency laser to be effective;
that is, to be coherent in space and time.
Coming back to cancer research, it is not surprising that the use of photon
emission is able to show a clear distinction between healthy cells and
cancer cells.
The graph in Figure 5 shows how normal liver cells (lower curve) have a
relatively stable or even falling level of photon counts at increasing cell
density, while cancer cells of the same cell type show an increasing photon
count at higher cell densities. It can be concluded from that, that
populations of cancer cells have lost the harmony and coherence that is
typical for healthy tissue.
 Figure
5
PHOTON COUNTS OF NORMAL LIVER CELLS VS. CANCEROUS CELLS
Normal
liver cells (lower curve) have a relatively stable or even falling level of
photon counts at increasing cell density, while cancer cells of the same
cell type show an increasing photon count at higher cell densities. From
this, it was concluded that populations of cancer cells have lost the
harmony and coherence that is typical for healthy tissue.
Figure
6
 SCHEMATIC
OF BURLAKOV'S EXPERIMENTS WITH FISH EGGS AND MITOGENETIC RADIATION
In these
experiments, samples of fertilized fish eggs in different phases of
development were brought into optical contact with each
other. Burlakov found that if the age difference between the eggs or larvae
was not too large, there was a significant acceleration in the development
of the younger eggs relative to the older ones. However, if the age
difference was large, the younger eggs showed a strong retardation in
development; even deformities and higher death rates occurred. When
Burlakov used normal window glass as a filter, all these effects
disappeared, but with quartz filters, the effects could be observed.
I can only summarily report here on recent, impressive work by the Russian
scientist A.B. Burlakov. He provided a striking example of the superiority
of the biophoton approach over the molecular dogma.
Burlakov brought samples of fertilized fish eggs in different phases of
development into optical contact with each other, and observed the mutual
effects (see Figure 6). He reported the following results:
-
Provided the age difference between the eggs or larvae was not too large,
there was a significant acceleration in the development of the younger
eggs relative to the older ones.
-
However, if the age difference was large, the younger eggs showed a strong
retardation in development; even deformities and higher death rates
occurred. (This conforms, by the way, to observations in nature, that fish
normally avoid laying their eggs in sites where other eggs have already
been deposited.)
-
When he
used normal window glass as a filter, all these effects disappeared, but
the effects could be observed by use of quartz filters, confirming clearly
Gurwitsch's "mitogenetic effect."
-
Using
filters for different wavelengths and polarizers, Burlakov even succeeded
in creating specific alterations intentionally, and subsequently undoing
them. In this way, monster larvae with multiple heads, multiple hearts,
and so forth, were generated, but could be corrected by the appropriate
use of other optical coupling effects.
In fact, this latter case could be the beginning of an era of "biophoton
technology," as Burlakov himself stated, with a potential far bigger than
today's biotechnology, which has had a hard time keeping up with its
far-flung promises. Obviously, in Burlakov's experiments, no changes were
induced in the genome at all—the biophoton action works on the level of the
living process itself.
Magneto-Biology
Finally, we should include in the list of technologies for the
investigation of living processes, the potential of magneto-biology.
Research of this type has a long tradition, especially in Russia. For
example Alexander L. Chizhevsky [1897-1964] made intensive studies of the
correlation between solar-induced changes in the Earth's magnetic field
and the occurrence of physical events, such as epidemics, and other
things. Also Simon Shnoll and his group in Moscow made extensive studies
of the influence of cosmic phenomena on almost all physical processes on
the planet. Professor Bruno Brandimarte of Italy has been a pioneer in the
field of magneto-biology for many years. He has shown that oscillating
magnetic fields of various forms can have striking effects on the healing
of wounds and the increase of blood circulation.
In Figure 7, you see on the left a very bad case of diabetes gangrene, which
would have been hopeless for traditional surgery. But, after treatment with
magnetic fields (right), the foot was almost completely restored.
Figure 7
BRANDIMARTE'S OSCILLATING MAGNETIC FIELD TREATMENT
The Italian scientist Brandimarte has worked with oscillating magnetic
fields to increase blood circulation and heal wounds. Here is one example of
the positive effect of magnetic field treatment. On the left is a very bad
case of diabetes gangrene for which the normal treatment would have been
amputation. After treatment with magnetic fields (right), however, the foot
was almost completely restored.
In conclusion, it must be stated, that we are only at the beginning of the
era of "life technology." Many more approaches like the mitogenetic effect,
the biophoton/laser principle, and magneto-biology must be developed. The
aim is to develop methods, which allow us to study all those multiple
levels, on which the characteristic actions of life occur.
Wolfgang
Lillge, a physician, is the editor of the German-language
Fusion
magazine.
This article was part of a panel discussion on Vernadsky’s Method, at the
Schiller Institute conference, The Ecumenical Battle for the Common Good,
held in Bad Schwalbach, Germany, May 4-6, 2001. The four panel presentations
appear in full in the Summer 2001 issue of 21st Century.
Return to top
|
|
This
Web site is secured with a GoDaddy.com
Web Server Certificate.
Transactions on the site are protected with up
to 256-bit Secure Sockets Layer encryption.
Domain Control
Verified
GoDaddy.com has verified that the certificate
holder controls the domain: acu light
color therapy.com
Site Name
acu light color therapy.com
Certificate Status
Certificate is valid (03/21/2008 -
03/21/2009).
Science
Of Acu Light
