It is now well established that all living systems emit a weak but permanent photon flux in the visible and ultraviolet range. This biophoton emission is correlated with many, if not all, biological and physiological functions. There are indications of a hitherto-overlooked information channel within the living system. Biophotons may trigger chemical reactivity in cells, growth control, differentiation and intercellular communication, i.e. biological rhythms. The basic experimental and theoretical framework, the technical problems and the wide field of applications in the food industry, medicine, pharmacology, environmental science and basic sciences are presented in this book, which also includes the rapidly growing literature. This book is written by the most outstanding international scientists familiar with this topic who have been working in this field for many years.

Most of the specialists working in this interdisciplinary field of physics, biology, biophysics and medicine are associated with "The International Institute of Biophysics" (IIB), in Neuss, Germany, where basic research and possibilities for applications are coordinated. The growth in this field is indicated by the increase in financial support, interest from the scientific community and frequency of publications.

Audience: The scientists of IIB have presented the most essential background and applications of biophotonics in these lecture notes in biophysics, based on the summer school lectures by this group. This book is devoted to questions of elementary biophysics, as well as current developments and applications. It will be of interest to graduate and postgraduate students, life scientists, and the responsible officials of industries and governments looking for non-invasive methods of investigating biological tissues.

Biophoton emission now belongs to a topical field of modern science: It concerns a weak light emision from biological systems. Such molecular events are clearly compatible with collective phenomena as shown by recent developments in the life sciences such as the chaos theory. This book is concerned with the "optical window" of biological interactions and in view of their correlations to many biological functions they provide a powerful, non-invasive tool of analysing biological systems. Topics include food science, pollution, efficacy of drugs including the treatment of cancer and immune diseases, and communication phenomena such as consciousness.The collection of articles in this book covers the historical background, the physics of biophoton emission, those biological phenomena which show evidence of a "holistic" character, and finally discusses applications and biological evolution. This volume serves to bring researchers up-to-date on the subject and draws attention to the many exciting findings that are widely scattered in the scientific literature.

Most of the specialists working in this interdisciplinary field of physics, biology, biophysics and medicine are associated with "The International Institute of Biophysics" (IIB), in Neuss, Germany, where basic research and possibilities for applications are coordinated. The growth in this field is indicated by the increase in financial support, interest from the scientific community and frequency of publications.

Audience: The scientists of IIB have presented the most essential background and applications of biophotonics in these lecture notes in biophysics, based on the summer school lectures by this group. This book is devoted to questions of elementary biophysics, as well as current developments and applications. It will be of interest to graduate and postgraduate students, life scientists, and the responsible officials of industries and governments looking for non-invasive methods of investigating biological tissues.

It is now well established that all living systems emit a weak but permanent photon flux in the visible and ultraviolet range. This biophoton emission is correlated with many, if not all, biological and physiological functions. There are indications of a hitherto-overlooked information channel within the living system. Biophotons may trigger chemical reactivity in cells, growth control, differentiation and intercellular communication, i.e. biological rhythms. The basic experimental and theoretical framework, the technical problems and the wide field of applications in the food industry, medicine, pharmacology, environmental science and basic sciences are presented in this book, which also includes the rapidly growing literature. This book is written by the most outstanding international scientists familiar with this topic who have been working in this field for many years.