Bio-photonic horizontal gene transfer between bacterial colonies: a pre-registered falsification protocol

Living cells emit ultra-weak photons as a by-product of oxidative metabolism, and there is experimental evidence that cells separated by glass can influence one another through light alone. Whether such emission can carry information sufficient to alter gene expression in a receiving population has not been tested. This document specifies a protocol to test it, together with the conditions under which the hypothesis is rejected. Two populations of Escherichia coli are separated by a barrier that excludes chemical diffusion, mechanical coupling and electrical contact but transmits light in a defined band. Transfer is scored as the acquisition of an antibiotic-resistance and fluorescence phenotype by the receiving population. The decisive control replaces the transmitting barrier with one that blocks the ultraviolet band. The protocol is published before any data are collected so that the prediction and the refutation criteria are fixed in advance.