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The Light Doctor: the book that started Sensio BioLabs
Sensio BioLabs began with a book. How reading Dr Martin Moore-Ede's The Light Doctor led to a phone call, a visit, and a shared plan to make indoor lighting work for people.
Sensio BioLabs began with a book.
Sensio has designed and engineered lighting since 2000. For most of that time, good lighting meant light that looked right: the right brightness, the right colour, the right mood for a kitchen, bathroom or bedroom. Then I read The Light Doctor by Dr Martin Moore-Ede, and it changed the question I was asking.
The book
Martin first released The Light Doctor in instalments online, starting on the summer solstice in 2023. The paperback and Kindle editions followed on 17 June 2024, and an updated second edition, The Light Doctor: Using Visible and Invisible Light to Boost Health, Improve Sleep, and Live Longer, was released in 2026.
It is written for a general reader, not a specialist. It explains how light acts on the body clock as well as on our eyesight, how modern indoor lighting and screens differ from the natural light we evolved with, and what that means for the lights we choose for our homes and workplaces. It draws on Martin's long career in the science of the body clock, including his years as a professor at Harvard Medical School, where he led the team that located the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the master clock in the human brain.
For someone who had spent more than two decades in lighting, the effect was simple. Light was not only something we see by. It was something the body runs on.
From reading to reaching out
So I reached out to Martin. A few weeks later he flew over to meet the team, and within two days we had agreed to work on this problem together. Martin is now Chief Health Advisor to Sensio BioLabs.
That visit set the tone for how we work. On the train to London, Martin was sketching on the back of a sandwich wrapper, explaining how the body clock responds to light across the day. The science is serious and often complex, but the questions it raises are practical ones we can work on: what light do people actually receive indoors, what are they missing, and how could everyday lighting do better?
In Martin's words
"I'm delighted to support Sensio BioLabs in creating the next generation of light designed for human health. Our understanding of how visible and invisible wavelengths of light affect the body has advanced enormously. As I discuss in my book, THE LIGHT DOCTOR, the mission now is to create affordable, attractive and practical indoor lighting that can make a real difference to health and well-being."
Dr Martin Moore-Ede, Chief Health Advisor
Where to find the book
The Light Doctor is available in paperback and on Kindle. If you want to understand why light matters beyond seeing, it is a very good place to start.
You can read more about the science in our guide Circadian lighting explained and in our article on the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
Start here
Circadian lighting explainedThis article is for general information. It is not medical advice. If you have concerns about your sleep or health, speak to your GP.