Biophotonics - Definition and Overview

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.

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 (http://biophotonics.ucdavis.edu/biophotonics.html)
• Centre for Biophotonics at University of Strathclyde, UK (http://www.biophotonics.strath.ac.uk/)
• The Institute for Lasers Photonics and Biophotonics at U Buffalo, NY (http://www.photonics.buffalo.edu/research/biophotonics.html)
• BIOP - Technical University of Denmark (http://www.biop.dk/About_biop/About_biop.htm)
• International Institute of Biophysics, Neuss, Germany (http://www.lifescientists.de/)

For a controversial minority view of Biophotonics see: Biophoton