ChronoBiophotonics

Broadly speaking, ChronoBiophotonics encompasses subject areas which pertain to biological clocks and their timing, interrogation, or control using light. It has been discovered that biological clocks govern biological systems at the genetic, cell, organ, and organismal levels. As such, the impact of the frequency, phasing, and interplay of an organism’s biological clocks and metabolism in biology and medicine is beginning to emerge. In mammals, including humans, light is recognized as the stimulus that regulates the period and phase of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which acts as the master circadian oscillator. Additionally, light stimulates the pineal gland, initiating the production and circulation of melatonin which also impacts the 24-hour cycle, among other bioperiodicities. The central role which light plays in the function of biological clocks exhibiting periods of not only 24 hours but also 28 and 365 days, suggests performing basic research which utilizes light to time, interrogate, or control oscillators can aid in advancing our understanding of human biology and advance the diagnosis and treatment of disease.

The submission of original research and in-depth review manuscripts relating to biological clocks and photonics is particularly encouraged. Other topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:

- Non-ocular pathways of light reception
- Detrimental health effects of artificial light at night
- Light and circadian misalignment
- Light and reproductive biology and reproduction
- Light and circannual (~1 year) rhythms
- Light and melatonin
- Light and mental health
- Light as a (chrono)therapeutic modality (Chronotherapeuticbiophotonics)