I just came across an interesting newspaper cutting from 1999, by Paul Sieveking, editor of Fortean Times.
" The faint luminescence seen in jellyfish,glow worms and fire-flies is caused by a combination of Luciferin.Luciferase and Adenosine Triphosphate. Bruce Bryan of Pittsburg has been granted an American patent for extracting this compound to mix with food and make it glow.He said his firm,Prolume,was developing a cake frosting which would glow bright blue for 30 minutes.After that, he planned to produce luminescent yoghurt, ice cream and drinks. Prolume executives announced that "these additives are safe since they are present in the ocean`s food chain"; however,the United States Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve luminous foods for human consumption. In 1997,Japanese scientists took a gene from a fluorescent jellyfish(Aequorea victoria) and incorporated it into mouse embryos,thus producing mice that glowed green under artificial light. The aim was to `tag` tumorous cells with the fluorescence gene so that they could be easily traced. Last week a team of scientists in Hawaii claimed that they,too,had been making mice glow. Another type of luminescence was witnessed a few weeks ago by a woman in Lakenheath,Suffolk.She was very worried and puzzled by flashing green lights coming from the Huggies disposable nappy on her 11 month old son. This was explained as Triboluminescence: mechanical energy,in this case friction caused by the taping and untaping of the nappy,being converted into light energy. The phenomenon is both natural and harmless; although it seems exceedingly odd that nappy triboluminescence is unknown to nappy manufacturers,considering that 3 billion disposable nappies are sold in Britain every year. An easy way to produce triboluminescence, apparently,is to open the flap of a self-seal envelope in a completely dark room. On December 10th 1998,a woman in Quang Nam province, central Vietnam,discovered that parts of her skin were glowing in the dark. The glow reportedly increased when she wore nylon garments. A similar condition was reported in March 1997 by a 17 year old Vietnamese boy. The previous month,he had noticed that his body was unusually warm and patches of skin gave off a bluish-white light which flickered and died. He was said to be the third person to exhibit the symptoms. Data on glowing humans can be found in medical and religious literature. An Italian woman, Anna Monaro,was made famous in 1934 as "the luminous woman of Pirano". She suffered from asthma,and for several weeks emitted a blue glow from her breasts as she slept.This was visible for several seconds at a time,recorded on film,and witnessed by many doctors. One psychiatrist said it was caused by "electrical and magnetic organisms in the woman`s body developed in eminent degree"(whatever that meant). The psychiatrist speculated that an abnormally high level of sulphides in her blood,caused by her fasting and religious zeal,made her blood luminescent;but this failed to account for the localisation and timing of the blue flashes. The correspondent of the `Times` noted: "The frequency of her breathing and her heart beats are redoubled when the luminous phenomenon is manifested,after which a heavy perspiration is noted". Stories of saintly luminescence in Christian hagiography are legion. In an account of Blessed Giles of Assisi,we are told that one night "so great a light shone round him that the light of the moon was wholly eclipsed thereby". The house of Blessed Aleidis of Scarbeke seemed to be on fire when she was praying; while the cell of St Louis Bertrand "appeared as if the whole room was illuminated with the most powerful lamps"." I wonder if they ever got round to producing luminescent yoghurt,ice cream and drinks, I`ve never seen any. I tried unsealing the flap of a self seal envelope in total darkness, and it definately works. A faint blueish glow is produced as you unseal it.