Correction: Cellular Communication through Light

Abstract

Information transfer is a fundamental of life. A few studies have reported that cells use photons (from an endogenous source) as information carriers. This study finds that cells can have an influence on other cells even when separated with a glass barrier, thereby disabling molecule diffusion through the cell-containing medium. As there is still very little known about the potential of photons for intercellular communication this study is designed to test for non-molecule-based triggering of two fundamental properties of life: cell division and energy uptake. The study was performed with a cellular organism, the ciliate Paramecium caudatum. Mutual exposure of cell populations occurred under conditions of darkness and separation with cuvettes (vials) allowing photon but not molecule transfer. The cell populations were separated either with glass allowing photon transmission from 340 nm to longer waves, or quartz being transmittable from 150 nm, i.e. from UVlight to longer waves. Even through glass, the cells affected cell division and energy uptake in neighboring cell populations. Depending on the cuvette material and the number of cells involved, these effects were positive or negative. Also, while paired populations with lower growth rates grew uncorrelated, growth of the better growing populations was correlated. As there were significant differences when separating the populations with glass or quartz, it is suggested that the cell populations use two (or more) frequencies for cellular information transfer, which influences at least energy uptake, cell division rate and growth correlation. Altogether the study strongly supports a cellular communication system, which is different from a molecule-receptor-based system and hints that photon-triggering is a fine tuning principle in cell chemistry.

Entropic Approach to the Detection of Crucial Events

“…The DEA approach using the method of stripes illustrated in this paper will contribute to progress in this field of research, which is not limited to applications in biological and physiological processes. The discussion on the origin of cognition moves from the elementary biological process, for instance cell to cell communication [59][60][61], generating the conjecture that this is based on quantum mechanical coherence, one form of non-commutative probability theory, a theoretical perspective that we believe to be related to SFBM processes on the basis of the fact that the dynamical approach to FBM [4] was derived by the quantum mechanical theory of quantum dissipative processes of Weiss [62]. We think that at this elementary biological level crucial events, namely form of compressible randomness, are generated by SOTC.…”

Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective

“…However, while the influence of ambient light on the behaviours of microorganisms is now well established, communication by light emitted by luciferases of bioluminescent unicellular organisms has not been previously addressed. Previous studies have brought experimental evidence that non-bioluminescent prokaryotic and eukaryotic unicellular organisms such E. coli and Paramecia communicate between themselves through the emission and reception of weak photons [ 264 , 295 , 296 , 297 ]. It is therefore likely that organisms that have evolved specific bioluminescent systems to emit more intense light and modulate light intensity communicate with each other or with other species through light.…”

Convergent Quantification and Physical Support for Teilhard de Chardin’s Philosophy Concerning the Human Species and Evolutionary Consciousness

“…Since the 1930s photon emissions have been recorded from all living systems (Gurwitch, 1926). The rejuvenation of these measurements, primarily stimulated by Popp (1979), has indicated that the photon emissions are not simply metabolic artifacts but are intimately involved with inter-cell and intra-cell communications (Trushin, 2009;Fels, 2009). Popp (1979) has argued that because all (or simply most) of the energy that has contributed to the evolution of biological systems on this planet originates from the sun, "virtual photons" that reflect this history are represented within the matter of the cell.…”