The term biophotonics denotes a combination of biology and photonics, with photonics being the younger sister of electronics and reflecting the expectation that photons might play a similar central role in future information technology as electrons do today.

Biophotonics has therefore become the established general term for all techniques that deal with the relation of organic material and photons, the quantum units of light. This refers to emission, detection, absorption, reflection, modification, and creation of photon radiation from living organisms and organic material. Areas of application are life science, medicine, agriculture, and environmental science.

Biophotonics by F.A. Popp: Biophotonics is the science and technology of the interaction of photons within and on biological systems.

The term was first used and introduced about 1990 by L.V.Beloussov (Chair of embryology, Moscow State University, grandson of Alexander Gurwitsch) and F.A.Popp (see biophotons). Of basic importance is the analysis of biophoton emission and luminescence, in particular delayed luminescence. Fundamental knowledge and application of photobiology, photobiophysics and photochemistry, including quantum optics and the techniques of optical engineering belong to the instruments of this interdisciplinary direction of science. There are two renowned groups of many years standing experience, e.g. the International Institute of Biophysics (IIB) and the American National Science Foundation which took up this term Biophotonics at about 1995 in just the same sense. Biophotonics developed to one of the most fashionable interdisciplinary approach to all topics of lifesciences. There are already a lot of applications and a rapid integration in medicine, food science, environmental protection, and optical engineering.

Some References.

Popp, F.A., Li, K.H. and Gu,Q. (eds.): Recent Advances in Biophoton Research and Its Applications. World Scientific, Singapore 1992. Beloussov, L.V. and Popp,F.A. (eds.):Biophotonics. Moscow State Univesity 1994, Bioinform-Services, Russia 1995. Cohen, S., and Popp,F.A.:Low-level luminescence of the human skin. Skin Research and Technology 3 (1997), 177-180. Beloussov, L.V., Popp,F.A., Voiekov, V., and van Wijk, R.:Biophotonics and Coherent Systems. Moscow University Press, Moscow 2000. Popp,F.A. and Beloussov, L.(eds.): Biophotonics. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht-Boston-London 2003. Prasad, P.N.: Introduction to Biophotonics. Wiley, Hoboken, New Jersey 2003. Van Wijk, R. and Shen,X. (eds.):Biophotonics, Springer, Berlin-Heidelberg-New York 2005. www.lifescientists.de

Applications

In microscopy, the development and refinement of the confocal microscope, the fluorescence microscope, and the total internal reflection fluorescence microscope all belong to the field of biophotonics.

The specimen that are imaged with microscopic techniques can also be manipulated by optical tweezers and laser scalpels, which are further applications in the field of biophotonics.

External links

• NSF science and technology center for Biophotonis at UC Davis
• Centre for Biophotonics at University of Strathclyde, UK
• The Institute for Lasers Photonics and Biophotonics at U Buffalo, NY
• BIOP - Technical University of Denmark
• International Institute of Biophysics, Neuss, Germany

For a controversial minority view of Biophotonics see: Biophoton