Arturo Solis Herrera
Arturo Solís Herrera | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Mexican |
| Known for | "Human photosynthesis" theory of melanin |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Medicine, ophthalmology |
| Institutions | Human Photosynthesis Study Center, Aguascalientes, Mexico |
Arturo Solís Herrera is a Mexican physician and ophthalmologist known for his theory of "human photosynthesis," the claim that the pigment melanin can split water using light to release energy. He directs the Human Photosynthesis Study Center in Aguascalientes, Mexico. He is listed in The Worldwide List of Dissident Scientists.
Ideas
Solís Herrera trained in medicine and ophthalmology (studying at the IPN's Higher School of Medicine, UNAM, and the Hospital Conde de Valenciana). He proposes that melanin absorbs light and dissociates water into hydrogen and oxygen, functioning in animals and humans as an analogue of chlorophyll in plants—a process he calls "human photosynthesis." He argues that this reaction is a fundamental source of energy for living organisms.
On the basis of this claim he has promoted energy applications, including a device he calls "Bat-Gen," described as a battery that generates electricity from a mixture of melanin and water. He has authored The Human Photosynthesis and related publications.
His theory that melanin performs photosynthesis-like water splitting in the human body, and that it can serve as an indefinite source of electricity and hydrogen, lies well outside mainstream biochemistry and physics, and has been met with skepticism owing to a lack of independently reproduced experimental evidence.