The Effect Red Light Has on Protein Synthesis and Growth of Human Fibroblast Cells

History

Red light therapy is definitely not a new concept. It has been used throughout history for various purposes related to healing. The Russians and Czechs were trying to make colour therapy (use of colours to treat the human body) more of a standard. They used a single colour to treat a number of people and these people experienced different reactions as colour effects emotions and therefore produces varying effects. The Russians wanted to standardize colour therapy and thought that if they isolated a certain frequency of red or blue light then they could duplicate the colour therapy regularly. They tried to separate frequencies with lasers but were in for a surprise. They realized that a single frequency of light as found in a laser could stimulate DNA in damaged cell tissue. This is one area that we investigated in our project.

Many others have studied colour therapy as well. Historically, ancient Egyptians have also been recorded to have been using colour for cures and ailments. They often worshipped the sun and realized that without light there could be no life in the world. There are many lists, which appear on papyrus, dating back to 1550 BC, that relate to colour “cures”. The Greeks only considered colour to be a science and this threatened the idea that healing powers of colour rays were very important. Also, the Nei/ching (the Chinese) recorded colour diagnoses approximately 2000 years ago. Aristotle studied light and created many theories about light. He made the discovery that by mixing two colours, a third is produced. He also was the first to discover that light travels in waves. This lead to the idea of wavelengths. Finally, Issac Newton (1642-1727) wrote a controversial paper on colour. Newton passed beams of light through a prism. The light which passed through the prism was not only white, but seven separate colours. The colours were red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. This is now known as the spectrum.