Dr Roy, I just returned from Integrative Biophysics summer school in Germany on Biophotonics. It is a very interesting frontier discipline that is barely studied here in the US. They look at living systems under complete darkness and observe the ultraweak photon emission given off by the cell or organism. They use either PMT if looking for coherence in the signal (indicating the capacity for communication) or can use a CCD camera for spatial detection and imaging of the emissions. Two types of methods are used: Delayed luminescence where the specimen has a broad spectrum or monochromatic light shined on it for a variable time (up to the saturation point) and then the decay emission in measured. The other is spontaneous emission where the specimen is kept in the dark for 30-45 minutes such that any delayed luminescence fades off, and then the light generated purely by the organism (or food, fruit, algae, bacteria, tumor, skin, etc) is measured and analyzed with statistics. With these methods, quick detection of cancer cells, spoiled foods, bacteria growth, cellular communication, seed germination capacity, mode coupling, water purifcation detection, quality control, etc, etc with new possibilities arising as the technology becomes more "wide-known".
This new biophysics was originally discovered in the 30's but was primarily disregarded in the west, but the Russians and Germans continued research to this day and have made some astounding discoveries. The summer school I went to is the only one in the world, and I was one of 3 Americans of the 28 international students, along with 18 Prof's/Scientists/researchers presenting...
It would be interesting to try and record the delayed luminescence from the polarized areas on the stomatopods.... only issue being it has to be in complete darkness...
any ideas??
