The CREF will host a mini-workshop entitled “Ultra-Weak Photon Emission in Living Systems: Experiments, Complexity, and Perspectives” on 2 July 2026 in Aula Fermi.

This event brings together researchers to explore the fascinating frontier of biophoton emission, bridging a century of history with cutting-edge data analysis, machine learning perspectives, and modern complexity theory.

Abstract

About a century ago, the Russian biologist Alexander Gurwitsch, while studying the growth rate of onion plants, hypothesized that living organisms emit a weak electromagnetic field—today referred to as ultra-weak photon emission (UPE)—capable of influencing cellular development. His observation remained largely overlooked until the 1950s, when the electromagnetic emission of several plant species was measured using photomultiplier tubes operating in single-photon counting mode. It was only in the 1980s that several research groups around the world began a systematic effort to investigate the origin and function of this ultra-weak emission, now commonly known as biophoton emission. Today, UPE has been unequivocally observed in a wide variety of living organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans.

Despite this experimental evidence, fundamental questions remain open regarding both the physical origin of the phenomenon and its possible role in information exchange between cells and organisms. To date, no theoretical model has been able to consistently account for the broad range of experimental observations reported across different biological systems.

This mini-workshop will provide an overview of the experimental phenomenology of biophoton emission, covering systems ranging from germinating seeds and cell cultures to in vivo measurements in humans. Particular attention will be devoted to innovative data-analysis methods currently being developed by the research group led by E. Pace and M. Benfatto to characterize the temporal structure of ultra-weak photon emission.

Photon-counting time series are analyzed using complementary statistical approaches, ranging from photon-count distribution analysis to Diffusion Entropy Analysis (DEA), each probing different aspects of the emission dynamics. In particular, DEA consistently places biological photon emission within the regime of non-ergodic renewal processes ($\delta > 0.5$, $\mu \approx 2.5\text{–}2.9$). Remarkably, this result is consistently observed across cell cultures, germinating seeds, and human measurements, suggesting the existence of a common signature of complexity shared by otherwise very different biological systems.

As a detailed case study, we will present in vivo measurements of ultra-weak photon emission from the palm of the human hand. The measurements were carried out over three independent experimental sessions, each consisting of four consecutive phases: a reference dark measurement, a pre-meditation resting period, a structured meditation session based on Sama Vritti box breathing, and a post-meditation recovery phase. The results reveal a systematic reduction in the intermittency of photon emission during meditation, in agreement with recent electrocardiographic (ECG) and electroencephalographic (EEG) studies performed on subjects following similar meditation protocols.

Finally, we will present a general methodological framework for complexity analysis of ultra-weak photon emission that can be applied to a broad class of biological systems and used to identify the most sensitive analytical observables for future investigations. Possible experimental developments will also be discussed, including new setups for measuring ultra-weak photon emission in biological systems and data-analysis strategies based on machine learning, with the aim of supporting future experimental campaigns and collaborative research with the PAMQ group at CREF.

Workshop Program

Morning Session Chair: Kristian Piscicchia

• 11:00 – 11:15 | Angela Bracco (Presidente del CREF) – Introduzione

• 11:15 – 12:15 | Maurizio Benfatto – E Adesso? Qualche idea su come analizzare i dati

• 12:15 – 13:15 | Elisabetta Pace – Dai semi germinanti al corpo umano: una storia di biofotoni lunga un secolo

🥣 13:15 – 14:15 | Lunch break

Afternoon Session Chair: Catalina Curceanu

• 14:15 – 14:40 | Francesco Sgaramella – Instrumentation for ultra-weak photon emission in biological systems

• 14:40 – 15:00 | Simone Manti – Prospettive di Machine Learning per analisi di dati di biofotoni

• 15:00 – 15:45 | Discussione