Examining Sound, Light, and Vibrations as Tools to Manage Microbes and Support Holobionts, Ecosystems, and Technologies

1. Introduction

Research into the microbes of human, animal, and plant holobionts as well as ecosystems and planetary level microbial life has demonstrated the importance of being able to support, protect and manage our earth’s most predominant lifeform. Given the fact that humans and most other holobionts on earth are majority microbial by several criteria, usefully managing microbes should be a prime directive of virtually every earth-directed scientific discipline and especially every medical/public health provider.

Yet, this is far from the case, especially when it comes to human holobiont health and wellness. Calls for microbiome first approaches to medicine and public health [1,2] and more inclusion of microbiome considerations in public health initiatives [3] have come during a period when holistic, personalized wellness has been institutionally and increasingly ignored. Other examples involve the lack of protection for microbiomes. Two prominent examples concern the world-wide approval and distribution of the anti-microbial toxicant glyphosate [4], and the continued pervasive inclusion of Akkermansia-toxic, food emulsifier obesogens (e.g., polysorbate 80) in most processed foods [5]. The cost of ignoring the microbiome despite evidence of its increasing importance plays out across a lifetime. For example, microbiome seeding, feeding and balance controls critical development of the immune and other systems in early life [6,7], but also protection against: uncontrolled fear with mental health consequences [8], regulation of pain and inflammation [9,10], neurobehavioral disorders [11], age-accumulated oxidative damage reducing telomere length and longevity [12], disrupted circadian rhythms [13] and sleep disorders [14]. In short, persistently ignoring microbes and the human microbiome on a global scale would be expected to degrade and compromise the health and lifespan of humanity.

Across the Internet of Microbes, communication among and between microorganisms and their hosts occurs in variety of ways. This was discussed in an early review by Reguera [15]. The communication can be wired (via nanowires) or wireless and includes transmission via sound, light (biophotons), bioelectron exchanges as well as electromagnetic and chemical signaling. Examples of these functions in action are evident in the processes of microbial management (e.g., rebiosis), restorative ecology and agriculture, and physiological healing (e.g., the microimmunosome). Importantly, these communication processes are not necessarily independent of each other. For example, Matarèse et al. [16] provided an in-depth discussion of the intrinsic linkage between electromagnetic forces and acoustic vibration.

In this narrative review we: 1) describe two fundamental properties of microorganisms that have the potential for improved management of microbes, 2) examine how conscious microbial networks both affect and respond to sound, light, and vibrations, 3) describe the role of sound and light approaches in driving technological improvements and 4) describe how fundamental features of microbes lead us to powerful tools for holobiont and ecological healing. However, if misdirected, such tools present a significant hazard for the Internet of Microbes.

2. Examples of Special Bacterial Functions that Have Holobiont/Systems Implications

2.1. Communication at a Distance

Significant evidence exists that microorganisms provide a route through which holobionts can communicate at a distance and make changes based on information that originated at a distance. A prime example of this is among plants, which use soil microorganisms (mycelia) as a communication channel and sentient sentries for early alerts to aphid and other pest attacks [17,18]. Plants separated by distance use this microorganism-enabled communication to arm themselves specifically for the impending insect attack. Additionally, the soil microbiome has been shown to affect plant host defenses in general [19,20]. If plants operate at-a-distance by using The Internet of Microbes, is this the status quo among other holobionts?

2.2. Quantum Bacterial Antenna Networks and Applications

In Dietert and Dietert [21] we discussed the ground-breaking research into complex quantum antennae of specialized bacteria. Specific photosynthesizing bacteria have unique capacities to efficiently collect light energy, rapidly pass the energy through a series of proteins and protein complexes and effectively transform and transfer this energy over long distances. Wang et al. [22] describe the light-originating energy transfer function of purple bacteria using pairwise protein interactions that result in a remarkably efficient, rapid and extensive energy distribution system. Kundu et al. [23] found that energy transfer from light harvesting complexes within Rhodopseudomonas molischianum could attain 90% efficiency via the quantum motion of nuclei. The quantum processes involved in antenna-driven energy collection and transfer has been described by a number of researchers [24,25,26].

Engineered antennae systems have also been designed to facilitate such processes as biodegradation. For example, Sezgen et al. [27] have described opportunities for multiscale communications through the engineering of the bacterial antennae systems. Additionally, Chen et al. [28] have discussed using the Bacterial Foraging (BF)–based clustering strategies to improve the lifespan of sensor communication networks. Biohydrogen production also includes bacteria sometimes combined with nanotechnology [29]. Finally, the quantum, purple bacteria, light-harvesting system has inspired researchers to create a related artificial polymeric, supramolecular, column-based, light-harvesting platform that offers not only confined and efficient energy transfer but also full-color tunable emission that is suitable for information encryption applications [30]. This illustrates an example of the specialized bacterial function to breakthrough technology development that exists.

3. Sound and Light Frequencies in Holobiont Cellular Life

Among the many ways that microbes and particular bacteria and archaea collect information, generate energy and communicate with each other and holobionts is via sound and light frequencies as well as electrical and magnetic fields and signals [15,31]. Of course, within holobionts these same physical factors can have profound effects on the status of holobiont health. The human body itself generates certain sound signatures [32]. Additionally, externally applied, sound frequency vibrations can have significant effects on the whole human as is applied in vibroacoustic therapy [33,34].

When it comes to light, the human body “glimmers” via the generation of weak photon emissions [35]. Calcerrada and Garcia-Ruiz [36] recently reviewed the literature on ultra weak photon emissions (UPE) emitted from the human body. The authors stressed that it can be used to gauge the internal status of the individual. Because tumor cells have been found to emit increased UPE compared to non-cancerous human cells of the same type, UPE has been seen as a potentially useful tool in early cancer diagnosis [37]. Also termed ultra-weak bioluminescence, Du et al. [38] described how UPE can be used as an oxidative metabolism indicator and is a useful biomarker for specific areas of health vs. disease (e.g., metabolic, skin, and cancer diseases). The researchers also considered UPE when viewed through the lens of traditional Chinese medicine [38]. Finally, UPE has been advocated as a useful tool to detect mitochondrial function vs. dysfunction [39].

Beyond humans, Prasad et al. [40] showed that alterations in UPE is a sensitive signal for injury in plants (Arabidopsis thaliana). Processes affecting the levels of UPE in bacteria have also been examined by Laager et al. [41]. One of the more recently developed luminescence technologies is aggregation-induced emissions (AIE). Wang et al. [42] described the ways in which AIE can be used for cell, tissue and microbes imaging, detection and monitoring of biomarkers and microbes, as an approach to combat disease.

4. The Significance of Vibrations

Vibrations are a fundamental signature of life including that of microbes as described by Kasas et al. [43]. The activity of microbes and cells has a vibrational signature that is extinguished as the cell dies. Kasas et al. [43] showed that nanomotion detectors can reveal microbial life with great sensitivity, and that the vibration fluctuations are largely extinguished as a microbial cell dies due to chemical or physical agents. The presence and status of even individual microbes can be measured based on vibrations. Ramen spectroscopy has been a useful tool to identify phenotypes of environmental microbes based on their specific molecular vibration profile [44]. Since microbes and other cells have their own vibrational signatures, it is not surprising that exposure to externally sourced sound, light and electromagnetic vibrations will interact with microbial populations to produce alterations. Nano-vibration has been used as a preventative tool that blocks adhesion and biofilm formation by Escherichia coli [45]. This narrative review focuses on the sound and light components of vibrationally-induced alterations.

5. Sound and Acoustics: Effects on Microbiota and Beyond

Because sound is a fundamental component of most biological systems, use of sound to manipulate the status of biological materials is gaining ground as a strategy. In fact, the entire field of the study of sound effects on biological and other material is known as cymatics. Attention has also been directed in the application of sound, music and cymatics toward improving human health. For example, a recent review by Liu et al. [46] focused on sub-megahertz (MHz) acoustical waves and their usefulness for medical diagnostics and therapeutics using micromanipulation-based technologies. Sound frequencies are proving useful in both the detection [47] and treatment of human disease [48,49,50]. Examples of diseases and conditions where sound frequency therapy appears promising are the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease [51] and other neurological conditions [52] as well as the promotion of wound healing [53].

Sound frequencies are known to play a key factor in communication among microbes, interkingdom communication, and regulation of individual microbes and microbial communities [18,54,55]. One of the early studies on the use of sound by bacteria for communication and on the impact of different sound frequencies on bacterial responses was conducted by Matsuhashi et al. [56]. Such early studies have led to the realization that sound is a tool that can specifically manage microbial populations both increasing the effectiveness of microbes for industrial purposes and promoting improved health of both holobionts (including humans) and even large, ecological communities. Znidersic and Watson [57] recently described how sound applications could be used to restore damaged landscapes through the return of interkingdom populations including microorganisms.

The fundamental connection between sound and microbes means that much greater attention is required concerning sound and microorganisms. Protection against deleterious exposure to certain sound frequencies is critical to protect microbes involved in human, animal and plant health and those supporting ecological media (e.g., soil) and landscapes. Acoustic frequency and strength matters as per the microbial outcomes. For example, Keramati et al. [58] illustrated in their review that ultrasound (greater than 20 kHz) exposure can produce destruction or alteration of many bacteria while increasing the growth of yeast and infrasound (frequency below 20 Hz) can likewise decrease certain bacteria growth but increase the growth of other microbes. In turn, sound frequencies can be used to optimize a variety of applications including: rebiosis/reversing microbial dysbiosis-promoted disease as well as aspects of everyday life (e.g., fermented food and beverage production, enhanced soil for crops/gardening, microbe-driven pollution cleanup, fuel cell efficiencies, and other bioelectric generation applications). Finally, it is important to recognize that sound and light may be more connected than generally assumed [59]. For example, Kassewitz et al. [60] demonstrated that when dolphins focused elocution sounds on specific objects, the reflected sound was captured as images on CymaScope and displayed as both 2-D and 3-D visuals of the exact same objects. Their sounds have embedded within them the visual image of their focus. Hence, there is a cymatics connection between an auditory sound and a specific visual object that embodies the specific sound.

Table 1 illustrates examples of both review articles and research studies on auditory sound affecting microbial populations [15,16,57,58,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73].

There are two extremes of sound frequencies that can play significant roles in affecting microbial populations. These are the sounds above the general human hearing range, termed ultrasound and the sound frequencies below human hearing, infrasound. Utrasound frequencies (greater than 20 kilohertz, kHz) have been used extensively for decades in medical imaging [74,75] and food preservation applications [76]. Infrasound frequencies (below 20 Hz) extends to below the normal human hearing range [77] but are in the range used by several large mammals (e.g., baleen whales and elephants) and birds [78,79,80]. The issue of safety is always a concern. It should be noted that different human organs and tissues are reported to possess specific vibrational frequencies normally falling in the infrasonic range [34,81]. This may explain why sound and vibration therapies are a logical progression for correcting dysfunctions [34]. Microbial beats (sound vibrations from the human microbiome) have been incorporated with technologies as a strategy of both education and analysis [82]. Vibrational spectroscopy is also proving to be useful for microbial analysis in disease vs. healthy comparisons [83].

Table 2 provides examples of ultra- and infra- sounds and microbes [84,85,86,87,88,89,90].

6. Light and Radiation Frequency Modulation of Microbiota

The study of light frequency modulation of microbes and other living organisms falls under the general term: photobiomodulation (PBM) [91]. As described by Santos et al. [92], photobiomodulation traces back at least to Finsen who won the Nobel prize in Medicine and Physiology for his light-based treatment of both cutaneous tuberculosis and smallpox [93,94]. The term photobiomodulation has been become associated with therapy using non-ionizing light sources (e.g., LED, lasers, and broadband light) in the visible and infared spectrums [92,95]. The therapeutic frequencies encompass a range of approximately 600-1200 nm with different frequencies having different skin penetration capacities [92]. Photobiomodulation therapy has been shown to have applications ranging from treatment of inflammatory and metabolic diseases [96] to dermatological diseases [97], neurological conditions [98] and oral diseases [99]. Anytime misregulated inflammation is being addressed by therapies, it is important to look at the microimmunosome as an initiation point of inflammatory regulation [12,100]. Microimmunosome status is also connected to global intersystem interactions such as those that control circadian rhythms and sleep [12]. Hence, awareness of environmental light exposures and their optimization (e.g. minimizing light-driven circadian disruptions) as well as specific light therapies are complimentary for overall wellbeing and health.

As with most of the physical-chemical factors discussed in this review, the impact of light on microbes depends upon the nature and contact of the specific microbial population/community and the frequency, intensity, and duration of the given light exposure. In this regard, we provide examples of the range of effects within that narrative review rather than an exhaustive consideration of the massive range of microbes and the full range of different exposures to light.

Different spectra, intensities, and durations of radiation/light exposures can have different effects on microorganisms. Anti-microbial light and radiation exposure represent a major approach to provide food safety and various anti-contamination strategies. For example, Shahi et al. [101] provided a comprehensive review of the radiation and light emission capacities to inactivate viruses and microorganisms in food processing and other routes of pathogenic transition. For non-ionizing radiation, microwave, ultraviolet, infrared, laser light, and radiofrequency were considered. Ultraviolet light exposure has long been an approach for microorganism inactivation. Masjoudi et al. [102] reviewed the comparative sensitivity of bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and additional microorganisms to UV light exposures drawing upon 250 different studies of UV antimicrobial experiments. Li et al. [103] used multi-beam excitation, multi-wavelength irradiation to inactivate pathogenic microorganisms in water. The emission treatment was found to produce high efficiency DNA damage and reduced repair while causing membrane damage via reactive oxygen species generation.

In contrast to broad band UV strategies for microbe inactivation, a recent clinical pilot study on human female volunteers conducted by Bosman et al. [104] demonstrated that exposure of skin to narrow band ultraviolet light shifted the gut microbiome, significantly increasing both alpha and beta diversity in the non-vitamin D supplementing group enriching for Lachnospiracheae, Rikenellaceae, Desulfobacteraceae, Clostridiales vadin BB60 group, Clostridia Family XIII, Coriobacteriaceae, Marinifilaceae, and Ruminococcus. A significant increase in serum 25(OH)D concentrations was also found in the non-supplementing group, and this increase was correlated with the relative abundance of Lachnospiracea. Increased gut microbiome abundance of Lachnospiraceae was also observed by Ghaly et al. [105] following the skin exposure of mice to narrow band (311nm) ultraviolet light. Narrow band ultraviolet light photo therapy has also been reported to be effective in skin microbiome management of inflammatory allergic dermatitis as reviewed in Dewi et al. [106].

In a recent study, phototherapy treatment (blue LED light with peak wavelength 425–475nm) of jaundiced infants was found to significantly change the gut microbiota profiles (fecal samples) and secondary bile acid profiles. Infants in treatment for jaundice who received antibiotics differed in their gut microbiota profiles from those receiving light therapy without antibiotics [107]. Additionally, Santos et al. [92] provided a recent review of photobiomodulation therapy as it applies to the human microbiome with an emphasis on red or near infared light treatments and the vaginal microbiome.

Light can affect different signaling, metabolic activities, and intra-kingdom vs. inter-kingdom communications involving microbes. For example, Xi et al. [108] found that soil microbe feedback loops guide plant (tree) seedlings in their overall competition depending upon light intensity, the specific mix of soil microbes, and the nature of the plant community (e.g., competitive or non-competitive trees). Results from this study can help to guide strategies involving light + soil microbes in the restoration of ecologically-damaged areas.

Table 3 illustrates examples of the effects of light on microorganisms [92,95,96,104,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126].

The studies and reviews in Table 3 illustrate several key points: 1) light (duration, type) dramatically impacts circadian rhythm, and this is signifcantly linked to microbiome status and risk of disease. The microbiome, circadian clock and aging linkage was previously stressed by us [12]. 2) The type of light is critical and LED white light is not beneficial for the human microbiome or for health. 3) Light pollution can alter the microbiome and increase the risk of inflammatory-driven diseases. 4) Both infared and ultraviolet light can be theraputic for microbiome dysbiosis and certain disease conditions. Light exposure of the skin effects not only the skin microbiome but also the gut microbiome. 5) Light exposure impacts both the microimmunsome and the gut-brain axis. 6) Light conditions and treaments apply to human microbiome and human health as well as to the parellel in agriculture (production animals, plants, soil) and environmental ecosystems. Light-based therapies represent a powerful tool for microbe management as well as for disease therapy. Attention to light conditions is critical for safety to avoid human, agricultural, companion animal, and/or ecological damage.

7. Conclusions

Fundamental quantum properties of microbes, as demonstrated most widely in bacteria, provide a ready path to microbial management not only within holobionts but also across ecological and planetary scales. This is illustrated in our present narrative review of two key microbial properties: sound and light and the capacity of microbial populations to respond to externally applied sound and light frequencies and associated vibrations. Because microbial populations are key to human and other holobiont health and wellbeing, and because they are also integral to ecological and biogeochemical status of the planet, useful application of sound and light approaches are likely to be of greater importance in the near future. Knowledge and appropriate use of these tools is critical to ensure that holistic holobiont healing and well being is achieved, and that holobionts as well as needed ecological microbes are not damaged from hazadardous, inappropriate exposures to the same physical fields. The present review also emphasizes the interconnectedness of earth’s microbial populations via both wired and wireless information flow via the Internet of Microbes. As a result, both local and at-a-distance effects of physical field changes should be expected and anticipated.

Consideration of sound and light as well as electric and magnetic approaches for human and other holobiont health takes on an added importance given the underperformance of pharma-based Western medicine relative to chonic disease cures [1]. In a series of recent publications, we argued that since the mid-20th century, pharma-driven medicine and public health have not only failed to reduce the prevalence of chronic diseases, but have also overseen the growth of polypharmacy and human microbiome and microimmunosome degradation [2,8,127,128]. Hence, it is a useful time to seek alternatives [129]. For this reason it has become more important than ever to expand the range of microbiome-supportive health and wellness strategies that allow us to manage microbes not only in the human holobionts but across the internet of microbial reservoirs on the planet.

This narrative review builds upon a prior review dealing with ancient and alternative healting modalities that have been shown to produce modifications in holobiont microbiomes and/or microbial populations. The significance of the present narrative review is the focus on two functions used by microorgansims to interact with the environment and each other: sound and light. These two field-based approaches to microbe management are also important in technologies ranging from environmental remediation to sustainable energy, and future agriculture. One can expect that just as these tools are having a positive impact on sustainable living, their expanded application to human holobiont health and wellness will be key to microbiome-inclusive medicine.