Alchemy: Biological Transmutation

Natural Alchemy

alchemy-lotus2

Biological transmutation

“The electrochemistry of cold fusion resembles the alleged transmutations of biological chemistry. Biological transmutation”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_transmutation

The very mention of the word transmutation sends shudders through mainstream science. Can this be another reason why scientists are so determined to kill off cold fusion? A return to Alchemy and another reminder that Newton was an Alchemist? The death of atomic theory? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Kervran

Natural Transmutation of Elements in Nature

Past researchers have been astonished by experiments that showed that plants and creatures are able to produce needed elements for growth and health by what seems to be transmutation. This, of course is totally at odds with established atomic theory.

crab1“According to French chemist C. Louis Kervran of the Conseil d’Hygiene in Paris, sea water contains far too little calcium to account for the rapid production of a shell (the calcium content of sea water is about 0.042% and a crab can form a new shell in little more than one day). If the entire body of a crab is analyzed for calcium, it is found to contain only enough calcium to produce 3% of the shell (even taking into account the calcium carbonate stored in the hepato-pancreas just before moulting). Even in water completely devoid of calcium, shellfish can still create their calcium-bearing shells as shown by an experiment performed at the Maritime Laboratory of Roscoff: “A crayfish was put in a sea water basin from which calcium carbonate had been removed by precipitation; the animal made its shell anyway.” (Kervran 1972, p.58) “Chemical analysis made on animals secreting their shells has revealed that calcium carbonate is formed on the outer side of a membrane although on the opposite side of the membrane, where matter enters, there is no calcium. This fact has left specialists perplexed.” (Kervran 1972, p.58)kervran
Sea water contains a sufficient amount of magnesium to form a shell if we accept Kervran’s proposition that crabs routinely transmute magnesium into calcium; Mg + O => Ca. It would be interesting to put a crayfish in water devoid of both calcium and magnesium and see if it can still create its shell.

Normal egg shells produced by hens contain calcium. Kervran (1972, p.41) reported an experiment in which hens were confined in an area in which there was no source of calcium and no calcium was present in their diet. The calcium deficiency became clearly manifested after a few dayswhen the hens began to lay eggs with soft shells. Then purified mica (which contains potassium) was given to the hens. Kervran (1972, p.41) described what then transpired: “The hens jumped on the mica and began scratching around it very rapidly, panting over it; then they rested, rolling their heads on it, threw it into the air, and began scratching it again. The next day eggs with normal shells (weight 7 grams) were laid.
Thus, in the 20 hours that intervened, the hens transformed a supply of potassium into calcium. … An experiment of this kind, using the same mica, was undertaken with guinea-fowls over a period of forty days. The administering of the mica was suspended three times and each time a soft-shelled egg was laid.”
One might suggest that the calcium in the egg shells was borrowed from the bones of the hens. But if this is true, why were soft eggs laid when the mica was withheld and normal eggs laid when mica was given to the hens? In order to avoid the conclusion that the hens transmuted potassium into calcium, one would have to show that mica somehow stimulates a metabolic pathway in which calcium is removed from the hen’s bones and used in the production of the egg shells. This could be completely refuted by feeding the hens mica (and of course absolutely no calcium) for such a long period of time that all the calcium in their bones would have been completely exhausted. If after that time the hens still produce calcium-bearing egg shells, we must conclude that the calcium in the egg shells is not being taken from the bones. At that point, we seem to have no choice but to acknowledge the transmutation of potassium into calcium within the hens.”
The whole thread and the results of other experimenters can be read here:
http://hypography.com/forums/strange-claims-forum/4485-biological-transmutation-is-true.html

The following link is a debunking of Kervrans work that totally ignores his criteria – a need for calcium and or magnesium and a source of the element to actually transmute. In previous experiments the water contained measured amounts of the elements for this very purpose.
Debunking experiments were performed within a Petri dish with no nutrients, artificial light and distilled water and no opportunity to obtain calcium from other sources; not exactly an analogue of natural conditions. There is no mention of the possibility of detection of elements needed by the subject plants and so it can only be concluded that the test was designed as a debunking exercise that was designed to fail.
http://www.luigigarlaschelli.it/Altrepubblicazioni/KERVRAN.htm
http://pacenet.homestead.com/Transmutation.html

‘Biological Transmutations’, Louis C Kervran
“A transmutation is not always absolute. For example, it is often impossible for a plant, seed, or animal cell to make the transmutation into a specific element if this element is not already present to serve as a catalyst. This principle should be kept in mind. Let us recall Jacob, Lwoff, and Monod, Nobel Prize winners who showed that for a gene to be active requires the “influence” of a certain element which “releases the brakes” and prevents the synthesis of the enzyme.
That is why it is usually vain to try to produce an element with biological transmutation if that element is not already present. In other words, what should be sought is the increase of an element ( which always leads to the diminution of another), not its appearance from zero.
One should never start with absolutely pure products. The metabolic conditions of the animal or vegetal cell must be retained in order to verify an increase of the elements, a proof which will have no room for contention on the part of those chemists who are prone to reject everything new a priori.”

As it can be seen above, a transmutation requires certain protocols to be followed. As all of this is new to both biology and chemistry, a new methodology is required.
We often find in such cases, that by either a deliberate slight of hand or of the experimenter being innocently ignorant of the fact that new methods are needed, the experiment is carried out according to the rules of existing chemistry and will inevitably fail.

http://www.life-enthusiast.com/ormus/orm_bio_transmut.htm

http://www.levity.com/alchemy/kervran.html

http://www.rexresearch.com/kervran/kervran.htm

Energy Development From Elemental Transmutations In Biological Systems
by
Solomon Goldfein
U.S. Army Mobility Equipment Research & Development Command, Ft. Belvoir, VA
Report 2247 (May 1978
http://www.rexresearch.com/goldfein/goldfein.htm

Breaking the barriers beween biology, chemistry and physics.
Toke Lindegaard Knudsen tlk at math.ku.dk
Thu Oct 2 08:30:33 EST 1997
http://forums.hypography.com/strange-claims-forum/4485-biological-transmutation-true.html
http://www.bio.net/hypermail/molecular-modelling/1997-October/001009.html
Below failure of replicated experiment
http://www.luigigarlaschelli.it/Altrepubblicazioni/KERVRAN.htm

I am submitting this very interesting article on behalf of Madhavendra
Puri of the Bhaktivedanta Institute. Could anyone replying to this
posting on the newsgroup please CC a copy to Madhavendra Puri at
<tumle at diku.dk>. That would be most helpful for me. Thank you!
-Toke Lindegaard Knudsen.
EVIDENCE THAT ATOMS BEHAVE DIFFERENTLY IN
BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS THAN OUTSIDE OF THEM
Madhavendra Puri
The Bhaktivedanta Institute
E-mail: tumle at diku.dk

A number of chemists report that plants, animals and human beings
ROUTINELY TRANSMUTE MID-RANGE ELEMENTS (for example, potassium into
calcium or magnesium into calcium) AS PART OF THEIR ORDINARY DAILY
METABOLISM. These transmutations obey rules such as: Mg + O => Ca; K + H
=> Ca. This is revolutionary since, according to current physical theory,
the energy levels required for such transmutations are billions of times
higher than what is available in biological systems. Equally inexplicable
fission reactions such as Ca => Mg + O; Ca => K + H are also reported.
But revolutions in physics have repeatedly occurred, such as the quantum
revolution in which the radical property of non-locality, previously
considered impossible, is now accepted by physicists (see Aspect and
Grangier 1986, Bransden and Joachain 1989, p.671-681, Chiao et al 1993,
Squires 1990, p.173, Rae 1986, p.25-44, and Penrose 1990, p.369).
What I am presenting here is not the “cold fusion” of Fleischmann and
Pons which, as far as I know, lacks clear evidence of actual fusion. Even
if the Fleischmann and Pons effect turns out to be actual fusion, it is
only the fusion of isotopes of the lightest element hydrogen under special
laboratory conditions which is quite different from the UNEQUIVOCAL FUSION
AND FISSION OF MID-RANGE elements found in biological transmutation reports.
Now let us examine the evidence for biological transmutation. Crabs,
shellfish and crayfish have shells made largely of calcium. A crab 17 cm
by 10 cm has a shell weighing around 350 grams. Periodically these animals
shed their shell and create a new one. This is called molting. When
molting, a crab is very vulnerable and hides away from all other creatures
so it can not get calcium by preying on other creatures. According to
French chemist C. Louis Kervran of the Conseil d’Hygiene in Paris, sea
water contains far too little calcium to account for the rapid production
of a shell (the calcium content of sea water is about 0.042% and a crab
can form a new shell in little more than one day). If the entire body of a
crab is analyzed for calcium, it is found to contain only enough calcium
to produce 3% of the shell (even taking into account the calcium carbonate
stored in the hepato-pancreas just before molting).
Even in water completely devoid of calcium, shellfish can still create
their calcium-bearing shells as shown by an experiment performed at the
Maritime Laboratory of Roscoff: “A crayfish was put in a sea water basin
from which calcium carbonate had been removed by precipitation; the animal
made its shell anyway.” (Kervran 1972, p.58)
“Chemical analysis made on animals secreting their shells has revealed
that calcium carbonate is formed on the outer side of a membrane although on the opposite side of the membrane, where matter enters, there is no calcium. This fact has left specialists perplexed.” (Kervran 1972, p.58)
Sea water contains a sufficient amount of magnesium to form a shell if
we accept Kervran’s proposition that crabs routinely transmute magnesium
into calcium; Mg + O => Ca.
It would be interesting to put a crayfish in water devoid of both
calcium and magnesium and see if it can still create its shell.
Normal egg shells produced by hens contain calcium. Kervran (1972,
p.41) reported an experiment in which hens were confined in an area in
which there was no source of calcium and no calcium was present in their
diet. The calcium deficiency became clearly manifested after a few days
when the hens began to lay eggs with soft shells. Then purified mica
(which contains potassium) was given to the hens. Kervran (1972, p.41)
described what then transpired: “The hens jumped on the mica and began scratching around it very rapidly, panting over it; then they rested,
rolling their heads on it, threw it into the air, and began scratching it
again. The next day eggs with normal shells (weight 7 grams) were laid.
Thus, in the 20 hours that intervened, the hens transformed a supply of
potassium into calcium. … An experiment of this kind, using the same
mica, was undertaken with guinea-fowls over a period of forty days. The
administering of the mica was suspended three times and each time a
soft-shelled egg was laid … .”
One might suggest that the calcium in the egg shells was borrowed from
the bones of the hens. But if this is true, why were soft eggs laid when
the mica was withheld and normal eggs laid when mica was given to the
hens? In order to avoid the conclusion that the hens transmuted potassium
into calcium, one would have to show that mica somehow stimulates a
metabolic pathway in which calcium is removed from the hen’s bones and
used in the production of the egg shells. This could be completely refuted
by feeding the hens mica (and of course absolutely no calcium) for such a
long period of time that all the calcium in their bones would have been
completely exhausted. If after that time the hens still produce
calcium-bearing egg shells, we must conclude that the calcium in the egg
shells is not being taken from the bones. At that point, we seem to have
no choice but to acknowledge the transmutation of potassium into calcium
within the hens.
Kervran (1972, p.52) described experiments performed in 1959 by the
French government in the Sahara desert. The government was interested in determining the nutritional requirements of petroleum workers in the
extreme heat prevalent in the desert. In the first experiment, conducted
near a place called Ouargla, the total amount of magnesium ingested per
day per man was measured and compared with the amount excreted. It was found that, on the average, each man daily excreted 117.2 milligrams of magnesium more than he ingested. Thus, each day, each man lost on the average 117.2 milligrams of magnesium. Now we must consider how much magnesium is on reserve in the human body: it turns out that the body is
not able to mobilize more than 5000 milligrams of magnesium. Thus, at a
daily loss of 117.2 milligrams, it is clear that after 50 days the bodies
of the petroleum workers should have been completely depleted of
magnesium. But the experiment was conducted for 180 days and each day each man excreted on the average 117.2 milligrams more than he ingested.
The second experiment lasted for 240 days and was conducted near
Tindouf which has a drier climate. This time each man excreted each day an average of 256 milligrams of magnesium more than he ingested. Under these conditions, after 20 days, each man should have been completely depleted of magnesium; but somehow they survived for 220 days thereafter. It seems difficult to avoid the conclusion that the human body is able to create magnesium.
Biochemist H. Komaki of the University of Mukogawa in Japan reported
that a number of different families of microorganisms such as Aspergillus
niger and Saccharomyces cerevisiae create potassium during growth. (Komaki
1965, 1967)
Kervran described a germination experiment using ryegrass seeds (type
Rina) performed in 1971 by the Laboratory of the Societe des Agriculteurs
de France (Kervran 1972, p.107). Out of an initial group of 2000 seeds,
1000 were set aside as a control batch and the other 1000 were germinated.
The control batch weighed 2.307 grams before drying and 2.035 grams after drying. These 2.035 grams were analyzed and found to contain 3.02
milligrams of magnesium, 6.97 milligrams of potassium, 6.00 milligrams of
calcium and 0.021 milligrams of copper. The magnesium, calcium and copper contents were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy and the potassium content was determined by flame emission.
The 1000 seeds to be germinated were germinated for 29 days in Petri
dishes under a plastic sheet to insure that no dust could get in. Aside
from 430 milliliters of Evian water, absolutely nothing else was supplied
to the seeds during germination. 430 milliliters of Evian water was found
to contain 10.32 milligrams of magnesium, 0.39 milligrams of potassium,
33.11 milligrams of calcium and 0.00 milligrams of copper.
After the 29 day germination period, the plants were converted to ashes
under high temperature and the ashes and residual Evian water in the Petri dishes were found to contain 3.20 milligrams of magnesium, 16.67
milligrams of potassium, 36.50 milligrams of calcium and 0.10 milligrams
of copper.
Before germination there were 6.97 milligrams of potassium in the
seeds. During germination 0.39 milligrams of potassium were added to the
growing plants (this came from the Evian water). If atomic nuclei can not
be altered in biological systems, we expect that after germination there
should be 6.97 + 0.39 = 7.36 milligrams of potassium in the plants and
residual Evian water. But this was not the case. After germination the
plants and residual Evian water were found to contain 16.67 milligrams of
potassium. Thus 9.31 milligrams of potassium were apparently created
during germination.
Before germination there were 3.02 milligrams of magnesium in the
seeds. During germination 10.32 milligrams of magnesium were added to the
growing plants (this came from the Evian water). If atomic nuclei can not
be altered in biological systems, we expect that after germination there
should be 10.32 + 3.02 = 13.34 milligrams of magnesium in the plants and
residual Evian water. But after germination the plants and residual Evian
water were found to contain only 3.20 milligrams of magnesium. Thus 10.14
milligrams of magnesium were apparently destroyed during germination.
Before germination there were 0.021 milligrams of copper in the seeds.
During germination 0.00 milligrams of copper were added to the growing
plants. Assuming that atomic nuclei can not be altered, we expect that
after germination there should still be 0.021 milligrams of copper in the
plants and residual Evian water. But it turned out that after germination
the plants and residual Evian water were found to contain 0.10 milligrams
of copper. Thus 0.079 milligrams of copper were apparently created during
germination.
Before germination there were 6.00 milligrams of calcium in the seeds.
During germination 33.11 milligrams of calcium were added to the growing
plants (from the Evian water). Assuming that nuclei can not be altered, we
expect that after germination there should be 39.11 milligrams of calcium
in the plants and residual Evian water. However, after germination the
plants and residual Evian water were found to contain 36.50 milligrams of calcium. Thus 2.61 milligrams of calcium were apparently destroyed during germination.
The following challenge can be made: no one knows how much potassium, calcium, magnesium and copper was in the seeds before they were germinated. It was assumed that the amounts of these elements was not
significantly different from the amounts of these elements in the control
batch. How do we know this is true? What should have been done is to start
with a 100 grams of seeds, mix them around thoroughly, weigh out 50
batches of 2.000 grams each, randomly select 25 of these as control
batches, determine the amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium and copper
in these batches and note the maximum variation in these elements among
these batches. The remaining 25 batches can then be germinated and the
plants analyzed for element content. In this way we would have some
measure of the variation among different batches (both germinated and
control).
On the positive side, it can be argued that since the seeds of the
control and germinated batches were of the same type, the variation in
element content between these two batches was not significant. Some
support for this idea can be found in the data provided by chemist D. Long
of the Michaelis Nutritional Research Laboratory in Harpenden, England.
Long analyzed (using atomic spectroscopy) six batches of ryegrass seeds
(each of which weighed 5.4 grams before drying) and discovered that the
difference in potassium content between the batch containing the greatest
amount of potassium and the batch containing the least amount of potassium
was 0.054 milligrams of potassium per gram of dry seed weight. Similarly,
the maximum difference in magnesium content was 0.033 milligrams per gram
of dry seed weight, that of calcium was 0.091 milligrams per gram of dry
seed weight, and that of copper was 1.19 micrograms per gram of dry seed
weight. (Long 1971, p.7)
Kervran proposed that the plants performed the following nuclear
reactions: Mg + O => Ca; Ca => K + H. Kervran did not discuss the reaction
involving copper.
Based on experience derived from similar experiments, Kervran said
that if the seeds are germinated in doubly-distilled water, the amount of
transmuted material is much smaller and may fall within the range of
experimental error and therefore not be significant. The reason for this
is that each kind of plant is only able to transmute certain elements into
certain other elements. Thus the experimenter must provide the plant with
a certain amount of certain elements if he wants to observe a large amount of transmuted material. For germinating ryegrass seeds, Evian water is the perfect growth medium because it provides this particular kind of plant with the elements it needs.
Kervran (1972, p.132) also described a series of experiments in which
wheat and oat seeds were germinated “on porous ashless paper saturated
with a fertilizing solution of salts dissolved in water. The solution was
free of calcium.” In the case of wheat (Roux Clair) there was 3.34 times
more calcium in the plants than in the seeds; in the case of one kind of
oats (Noire du Prieure) there was 4.16 times more calcium in the plants
than in the seeds; in the case of another kind of oats (Panache de Roye)
there was 4.51 times more calcium in the plants than in the seeds. The
calcium content was determined by two independent methods (conventional
chemical analysis and atomic absorption spectroscopy); both methods agreed
closely. Kervran performed more than 20 such experiments, mostly on oat
seeds.
Kervran (1972, p.133) mentioned that the moon plays an important role
in the production of calcium. The above huge increases in calcium were
obtained in experiments in which the germination started at the new moon
and stopped on the second full moon (after 6 weeks). This is an important
consideration for those who attempt to duplicate these results. A lunar
influence on the metabolic activity of various plants and animals was also
reported by biologist Frank A. Brown. (Gauquelin 1969, p.131-133)
D. Long questioned Kervran’s methods of analysis. Long (1971, p.9) said
that Kervran had made (in some of his earlier experiments) the mistake of
comparing the ash weight of the control batch with the ash weight of the
plants after germination. Kervran may have made this mistake in some of
his earlier experiments but he did not do so in the ryegrass, wheat and
oat germination experiments described above. In these experiments, he
rightly compared the weight of the control batch with the weight of the
seeds to be germinated. In other words, the weight comparison was done on
the two batches of seeds before one batch was germinated. This is the
correct procedure as acknowledged by Long himself.
Long germinated ryegrass seeds in deionized water and reported that he
was unable to observe a transmutation of elements. As discussed above,
this is to be expected since without a sufficient input of certain
elements, there is insufficient material to be transmuted.
A more serious criticism is Long’s claim that he corresponded with
Kervran who advised him to germinate green lentil seeds (Leguminacae) in
water containing certain minerals. Long reported that although he did this
he was still unable to observe a significant transmutation of elements.
But Long did not attempt to duplicate the best of Kervran’s germination
experiments, namely the ryegrass, wheat and oat experiments described
above. I hope that many scientists will do these experiments and report
the results to the scientific community.
In the 1950s Pierre Baranger, a professor and the director of the
Laboratory of Organic Chemistry at the Ecole Polytechnique in Paris,
performed a large number of germination experiments and concluded that
plants routinely transmute elements. Baranger did his experiments
independently of Kervran. Baranger said: “My results seem impossible, but
here they are. I took every precaution. I repeated the experiments many
times. I made thousands of analyses for years. I had the results verified
by third parties who did not know what I was investigating. I used several
methods. I changed my experimenters. But there is no escape. We must
submit to the evidence: plants transmute elements.” (Michel 1959, p.82)
I tried to get more information by writing letters to the Ecole
Polytechnique, the Societe des Agriculteurs de France and the Agronomie
Research National Institute, but I received no reply.
In 1975 chemists O. Heroux and D. Peter of the Division of Biological
Sciences of the National Research Council of Canada conducted a meticulous
experiment with rats (Heroux and Peter 1975). They measured the amount of
magnesium ingested through food, water (and even air) as well as the
amount of magnesium excreted in the form of urine and feces over three
periods of time: 69 days, 240 days and 517 days. In the case in which the
rats were fed a diet in which the amount of magnesium ingested was less
than the amount of magnesium excreted, it was expected that the total
amount of magnesium in the body would decrease. In fact, long before the
517th day of the experiment it was expected that there would be zero
magnesium in the body. However, when the rats were analyzed for total
magnesium on the 517th day, each rat contained, on the average, 82
milligrams of magnesium. The method used to determine the amount of
magnesium in the body, food, water, air, feces and urine was atomic
absorption spectroscopy.
Heroux and Peter verified the accuracy of their determinations by
giving samples to two other laboratories (the Division of Chemistry at the
National Research Council and the Department of Chemistry at McMaster
University); both of these laboratories obtained essentially the same
results as Heroux and Peter at the Division of Biology at the National
Research Council. Finally, other methods were used (such as destructive
neutron activation and spectrographic emission) and these methods yielded
results very similar to those obtained using atomic absorption
spectroscopy.
I do not advise the replication of this experiment since it involved
killing the rats in order to analyze their bodies for magnesium.
Experiments involving animal killing are not required since there are many
ways (as described above) to verify biological transmutation without such
killing.
Bibliography
Albert, D. “Bohm’s Alternative to Quantum Mechanics.”
Scientific American, May 1994, pages 32-39
Aspect, A. and Grangier, P. “Experiments on Einstein-
Podolsky-Rosen-type Correlations with Pairs of Visible Photons.”
In Quantum Concepts in Space and Time (edited by R. Penrose and
C. J. Isham). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986
Bohm, D. and Peat, F. Science, Order and Creativity.
New York: Bantam Books, 1987
Bransden, B. and Joachain, C. Introduction to Quantum Mechanics.
Essex: Longman Group U.K. Limited, 1989
Chiao, R., Kwait, P. and Steinberg, A. “Faster than light?”
Scientific American, August 1993, pages 38-46
Darnell, J., Lodish, H. and Baltimore, D. Molecular Cell Biology.
New York: W. H. Freeman and Co., 1990
Gauquelin, M. The Cosmic Clocks. London: Peter Owen, 1969
Heroux, O. and Peter, D. “Failure of balance measurements to
predict actual retention of magnesium and calcium by rats as
determined by direct carcass analysis.” Journal of Nutrition,
1975, volume 105, pages 1157-1167
Kervran, C. Louis. Biological Transmutation.
New York: Swan House Publishing Company, 1972
Komaki, H. “Sur la formation de sels de potassium par
differentes familles de microorganismes dans un milieu sans
potassium.” Revue de Pathologie Comparee, Paris, September 1965
Komaki, H. “Production de proteines par 29 souches de
microorganismes et augmentation du potassium en milieu de
culture sodique, sans potassium.” Revue de Pathologie Comparee,
Paris, April 1967
Long, D. B. “Laboratory Report on Biological Transmutation.”
Monograph of the Henry Doubleday Research Society.
Braintree, Essex, England, September 1971
Michel, A. “Un savant francais bouleverse la science atomique.”
Science et Vie, Paris, 1959, pages 81-87
Penrose, R. The Emperor’s New Mind. New York: Vintage Press, 1990
Rae, A. Quantum Physics: Illusion or Reality? Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1986
Squires, E. Conscious Mind in the Physical World.
Bristol: Adam Hilger, 1990