A ghostly glow was seen emanating from living things in 2025
The detection of mercurial particles of light emanating from mice led to a flurry of interest in biophotons, a mysterious phenomenon that could have applications in agriculture
Life
The detection of mercurial particles of light emanating from mice led to a flurry of interest in biophotons, a mysterious phenomenon that could have applications in agriculture
By Alex Wilkins
25 December 2025
Facebook / Meta Twitter / X icon Linkedin Reddit Email
Living things produce “biophotons”
Mike_shots/Shutterstock
This year, scientists observed an eerie glow emanating from mice that disappears after death, reminiscent of paranormal ideas of a bodily aura. The discovery led to a flurry of interest in the underlying science of biophotons.
Biophotons are ultraweak particles of light that are produced by structures in living cells including mitochondria, which generate energy. Researchers have long sought out these mercurial, faint signals, and the field has often been controversial, in part due to the extreme difficulty of separating out biophotons from other sources of light, like infrared radiation, and proving that they are real.
The experimental hurdles have meant that previous biophoton studies tended to focus on smaller, specific body parts. But in May, at the University of Calgary in Canada and his colleagues detected biophotons emanating from the entire body in four hairless mice. After the mice died, these biophotons rapidly faded away.