“You Have a Glow,” Isn’t Just a Nice Thing to Say…It’s Science

In 2009, researchers discovered the human body gives off light. This glow is drowned out by the ambient light all around us, but with the right conditions and instruments, it can be seen and even recorded. 

Chemical Reactions in a Living Body Emits Light 

Bioluminescence is what happens when a living organism emits light like fireflies or jellyfish. Turns out it isn’t just these creatures that can glow, humans emit light in the same way as chemical reactions take place in our bodies.  

When the body process certain enzymes it excites certain molecules that then release the energy as photons when it returns to its normal state. These light emissions can be at different levels of energy and give off different frequency and colors. 

Medical Research is Using the Body’s Light to Improve Health 

Detecting the light coming from the body has already resulted in new treatments. It has been used in cancer diagnosis by showing where tumors are and how it has spread. It has helped in creating new medicines and how they affect the body. 

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This is just the beginning. They have just scratched the surface of understanding how these light emitting reactions work and what it means for keeping the body healthy. Further research will continue to bring greater diagnostic breakthroughs. 

Read More: Do People In Utah Want Vaccines In Their Salad?

It is also interesting to find science has discovered what most of us knew intuitively. That there was light coming from other people. They say it is too dim for people to see and even machines have a hard time picking it up, but I’m not sure that is totally true.