Effect of cosmic-ray shielding on the ultraweak bioluminescence emitted by cultures of Escherichia coli

Neither the growth of Escherichia coli nor its associated luminescence was significantly affected when cultures were shielded from the soft component of cosmic rays. The study included experiments in which the cultures were shielded intermittently during their two periods of luminescence emission and experiments in which the cultures were continuously shielded throughout their entire growth cycle. These results do not support previous suggestions that the ultraweak bioluminescences from living organisms might be cosmic-ray-excited fluorescences induced in certain biological molecules synthesized during the various stages of growth