DNA teleportation

{{Short description|Fringe hypothesis}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} '''DNA teleportation''' is a [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] claim which suggests that [[DNA]] can produce [[Electromagnetic radiation|electromagnetic signals]] (EMS) that are measurable when highly diluted in water. The claim suggests these signals can allegedly be recorded, transmitted electronically and re-emitted on another distant pure water sample, where the DNA can [[DNA replication|replicate]] through [[polymerase chain reaction]], despite the absence of the original DNA in the new water sample.<ref name=coghlan11>{{cite news|last1=Coghlan|first1=Andy|title=Scorn over claim of teleported DNA|url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20927952-900-scorn-over-claim-of-teleported-dna|access-date=2 June 2016|work=[[New Scientist]]|publisher=Reed Business Information Ltd.|date=21 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413035703/https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20927952-900-scorn-over-claim-of-teleported-dna/|archive-date=13 April 2016}}</ref> The idea was introduced by the [[Nobel Prize|Nobel]] laureate [[Luc Montagnier]] in 2009.<ref name=mont09>{{cite journal|title=Electromagnetic signals are produced by aqueous nanostructures derived from bacterial DNA sequences|last1=Montagnier|first1=L.|author-link1=Luc Montagnier|last2=Aïssa|first2=J.|last3=Ferris|first3=S.|last4=Montagnier|first4=J. L.|last5=Lavallée|first5=C.|journal=[[Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences]]|year=2009|volume=1|issue=2|pages=81–90|doi=10.1007/s12539-009-0036-7|pmid=20640822|s2cid=7158953}}</ref> It is similar in principle to [[water memory]], a similar [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] claim popularised by [[Jacques Benveniste]] in 1988.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Davenas|first1=E.|last2=Beauvais|first2=F.|last3=Amara|first3=J.|last4=Oberbaum|first4=M.|last5=Robinzon|first5=B.|last6=Miadonnai|first6=A.|last7=Tedeschi|first7=A.|last8=Pomeranz|first8=B.|last9=Fortner|first9=P.|last10=Belon|first10=P.|last11=Sainte-Laudy|first11=J.|last12=Poitevin|first12=B.|last13=Benveniste|first13=J.|author-link13=Jacques Benveniste|title=Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|year=1988|volume=333|issue=6176|pages=816–818|doi=10.1038/333816a0|pmid=2455231|bibcode=1988Natur.333..816D|s2cid=12992106}}</ref>

No independent research has been conducted to support the claim and to this day, there is no known or plausible scientific mechanism by which it might work.<ref name="dunn">{{cite news|last1=Dunn|first1=John E|title=DNA molecules can 'teleport', Nobel Prize winner claims|url=http://www.techworld.com/news/personal-tech/dna-molecules-can-teleport-nobel-prize-winner-claims-3256631/|access-date=2 June 2016|work=[[Techworld]]|date=13 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109012645/http://www.techworld.com/news/personal-tech/dna-molecules-can-teleport-nobel-prize-winner-claims-3256631/|archive-date=9 January 2015}}</ref>

==Electromagnetic signals from DNA==

===Bacterial DNA=== In 2009, [[Luc Montagnier|Montagnier]] and his collaborators published a paper titled "Electromagnetic signals are produced by aqueous nanostructures derived from bacterial DNA sequences" in which they reported that bacterial DNA can produce an electromagnetic signal (EMS) that is transferred through the cell culture medium.<ref name=mont09/> In a medium of [[T cell|T lymphocytes]] (a type of [[white blood cell]]), they cultured bacterial DNA from ''[[Mycoplasma pirum]]'' and ''[[Escherichia coli]]''. After filtering to remove all the bacteria, [[polymerase chain reaction]] was performed, which demonstrated the absence of remaining DNA. The solution was then incubated for two or three weeks, after which the presence of bacterial DNA was again detected. After [[serial dilution]], they tested for electromagnetic radiation using a Fourier analysis technique developed by [[Jacques Benveniste]] and his team in 1996.<ref>{{cite journal|last1 = Benveniste|first1 = J.|author-link1 = Jacques Benveniste|last2 = Jurgens|first2 = P.|last3 = Aïssa|first3 = J.|year = 1996|title = Digital recording/transmission of the cholinergic signal|journal = FASEB Journal|volume = 10|pages=A1479}}</ref> They detected electromagnetic frequencies only at high dilutions, ranging from 10−5 to 10−12.<ref name=mont09/>

===Viral DNA=== In the same year, the team reported similar EMS from the DNA of HIV under high dilution of the culture medium.<ref name = Mont09b>{{cite journal|title=Electromagnetic detection of HIV DNA in the blood of AIDS patients treated by antiretroviral therapy|last1=Montagnier|author-link1=Luc Montagnier|first1=Luc|last2=Aïssa|first2=Jamal|last3=Lavallée|first3=Claude|last4=Mbamy|first4=Mireille|last5=Varon|first5=Joseph|last6=Chenal|first6=Henri|journal=[[Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences]]|year=2009|volume=1|issue=4|pages=245–253|doi=10.1007/s12539-009-0059-0|pmid=20640802|s2cid=29991828}}</ref> They used the HIV1 strain as their prototype – it was the discovery of this virus that led to Montagnier sharing the 2008 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]].<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2008/montagnier/facts/|title = Luc Montagnier – Facts|year = 2008|publisher = [[Nobel Media|Nobel Media AB]]|access-date = 9 June 2019|url-status = live|archive-date = 3 April 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190403121733/https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2008/montagnier/biographical/}}</ref> CEM cells (leukemia T-cells) were used to culture the HIV but no EMS was detected at any level of dilution. However, testing blood samples from HIV-infected patients (including those with symptoms of AIDS, those who have undergone [[antiretroviral therapy]] (ART), and untreated individuals) showed detectable EMS from ART-treated patients with [[viral load monitoring for HIV|undetectable viral loads]] at plasma dilution levels between 10−4 and 10−8.<ref name = Mont09b />

In 2015, Montagnier's team published another finding similar to the original one, but using [[bacterial DNA|bacterial]] and [[viral DNA]]. Here they claim that the electromagnetic waves could be explained in terms of an unspecified quantum effect.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Montagnier|first1=Luc|author-link1=Luc Montagnier|last2=Del Giudice|first2=Emilio|last3=Aïssa|first3=Jamal|last4=Lavallee|first4=Claude|last5=Motschwiller|first5=Steven|last6=Capolupo|first6=Antonio|last7=Polcari|first7=Albino|last8=Romano|first8=Paola|last9=Tedeschi|first9=Alberto|last10=Vitiello|first10=Giuseppe|title=Transduction of DNA information through water and electromagnetic waves|journal=[[Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine]]|year=2015|volume=34|issue=2|pages=106–112|doi=10.3109/15368378.2015.1036072|pmid=26098521|arxiv=1501.01620|s2cid=14826417}}</ref>{{npsn|date=July 2021}}

==The DNA transduction experiment== The experiment was first made in July 2005, and was repeated and filmed for a TV documentary in 2013, released on the French channel France 5 on 5 July 2014.<ref>{{cite news|last = Manil|first = Christian|title = On a retrouvé la mémoire de l'eau|trans-title = We have found water memory|work = [[France Télévisions]]|url = http://www.france5.fr/et-vous/France-5-et-vous/Les-programmes/LE-MAG-N-28-2014/articles/p-20549-On-a-retrouve-la-memoire-de-l-eau.htm|access-date = 20 October 2016|publisher = Doc en Stock, and France Télévisions|date = 5 July 2014|archive-date = 14 July 2014|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140714144749/http://www.france5.fr/et-vous/France-5-et-vous/Les-programmes/LE-MAG-N-28-2014/articles/p-20549-On-a-retrouve-la-memoire-de-l-eau.htm}}</ref> The online journal ''[[Ouvertures (journal)|Ouvertures]]'' detailed the test protocol through interviews with Montagnier.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Lombard|first = Eric|title = Le Pr. Luc Montagnier a-t-il retrouvé la mémoire de l'eau ?|trans-title = Did Professor Luc Montagnier find water memory?|url=http://www.ouvertures.net/luc-montagnier-retrouve-memoire-eau/|journal =[[Ouvertures (journal)|Ouvertures]]|access-date = 8 November 2014|language = fr-FR|date = 8 September 2014}}</ref>

Montagnier's experiment can be summarised as follows:

#A known water sample with 2 ng/ml of 104 bases DNA from an HIV infected patient is diluted by 10 into water and agitated for 15 seconds. After filtration to remove the DNA, the dilution and agitation steps are repeated 10 times, reaching high dilution levels of 10−10. #The highly diluted sample emits [[Electromagnetic radiation|electromagnetic signals]] (EMS) of low frequencies. #This EMS is recorded by a microphone coil and saved as a 6-second WAV file at the lab in Paris. #The WAV file is emailed to a partner team at the university of Benevento in Italy. #The Italian team emits with a coil for 1 hour the EMS of the WAV file on a sample of distilled water in a sealed metal tube. #The water sample is then placed in a [[polymerase chain reaction]] (PCR) machine. #The PCR machine in Italy produces DNA, 98% identical to the initial DNA in Paris.

==Interpretation== {{Incomprehensible|date=September 2017}} It is proposed by Montagnier<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Montagnier|first1=L.|author-link=Luc Montagnier|last2=Aissa|first2=J.|last3=Giudice|first3=E. Del|last4=Lavallee|first4=C.|last5=Tedeschi|first5=A.|last6=Vitiello|first6=G.|title=DNA waves and water|journal=[[Journal of Physics: Conference Series]]|date=8 July 2011|volume=306|issue=1|article-number=012007|doi=10.1088/1742-6596/306/1/012007|arxiv=1012.5166|bibcode=2011JPhCS.306a2007M|s2cid=1810576}}</ref> that some molecules interact through electromagnetic waves instead of direct contact.{{Failed verification|date=September 2017}} These waves could be trapped into coherence domains formed by water molecules vacuum spheres at quantum scales. These structures would keep the signal in the absence of the original molecule. During the PCR step of the experiment, this remaining signal could have contained the necessary information for the initial DNA to be reconstructed.{{Failed verification|date=September 2017}}

The principle is similar to Benveniste's experiment from 1997<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Benveniste|first1=J.|author-link1=Jacques Benveniste|last2=Jurgens|first2=P.|last3=Hsueh|first3=W.|last4=Aïssa|first4=J.|title=Transatlantic Transfer of Digitized Antigen Signal by Telephone Link|journal=[[Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology]]|year=1997|volume=99|issue=1|pages=S101–S200|doi=10.1016/S0091-6749(97)81064-0|doi-access=free}}</ref> where EMS was recorded from [[ovalbumine]] at the [[Northwestern University]] Medical School of Chicago, and transmitted through email to Benveniste's [[Digital Biology]] Laboratory in Clamart, France. After emitting the signal on pure water for 20 minutes, the water could cause an allergic shock on an isolated Guinea-pig heart allergic to ovalbumine. In both experiments the EMS reproduces the properties of the original molecules in their absence.

==Responses and criticisms== The 2009 publications were immediately followed by scientific comments and criticisms of the credibility of the purported phenomenon, as well as the authenticity of the research. According to chemist Jeff Reimers of the [[School of Chemistry, University of Sydney|University of Sydney, Australia]], "If the results are correct, these would be the most significant experiments performed in the past 90 years, demanding re-evaluation of the whole conceptual framework of modern chemistry."

The credibility of the peer-review system of the journal ''[[Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences]]'', in which the 2009 papers were published, was questioned. It was a new journal of which Montagnier is chairman of the editorial board.<ref>{{cite web |website = [[Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences]] |title = Editorial Board |quote = ''THE EDITORIAL BOARD'' - ''CHAIRMAN'': Luc Montagnier, World Foundation AIDS Research and Prevention, France |url = https://www.springer.com/life+sciences/systems+biology+and+bioinformatics/journal/12539?detailsPage=editorialBoard |publisher = [[Springer Science+Business Media]] |access-date = 9 June 2019 |issn = 1867-1462 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130203011553/http://www.springer.com/life+sciences/systems+biology+and+bioinformatics/journal/12539?detailsPage=editorialBoard |archive-date=2013-02-03 }}</ref> [[Gary Schuster]], at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, compared it to [[pathological science]].<ref name=coghlan11/> [[PZ Myers|Paul Myers]] at the University of Minnesota Morris also described it as "pathological science." He described the paper as "one of the more unprofessional write-ups I've ever run across" and criticized the publication process as having an "unbelievable" turnaround time: "another suspicious sign are the dates. This paper was submitted on 03 January 2009, revised on 05 January 2009, and accepted on 06 January 2009", leading him to ask: "Who reviewed this, the author's mother? Maybe someone even closer. Guess who the chairman of the editorial board is: Luc Montagnier... This is the same nonsense and the same apparatus that Benveniste was peddling."<ref>{{cite web|last=Myers|first=P. Z.|author-link=PZ Myers|title=It almost makes me disbelieve that HIV causes AIDS!|work=[[Pharyngula (blog)|Pharyngula]]|date=24 January 2011|url=http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/01/24/it-almost-makes-me-disbelieve/|publisher=[[ScienceBlogs]] LLC.|access-date=9 June 2019}}</ref> The influence of Benveniste can also be inferred from one of the co-authors, Jamal Aïssa, who was Benveniste's collaborator in the research in which they claim that water memory can be transported through the internet.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> (It was for this research that Benveniste received his second [[Ig Nobel Prize]] in 1998.<ref>{{cite journal|last = Nadis|first = Steve|title = French scientist shrugs off winning his second Ig Nobel prize|journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|year = 1998|volume = 395|issue = 6702|page = 535|doi = 10.1038/26831|pmid = 9783571|bibcode = 1998Natur.395..535N|doi-access = free}}</ref>)

[[Philip Ball]] wrote an analysis about Montagnier's work in ''[[Chemistry World]]'', stating "It looks like one of the most astonishing discoveries in a century, yet it was almost entirely ignored." He claims this experiment was never replicated and that the work was "ignored for good reason, namely that it's utterly implausible".<ref name="Ball">{{Cite web |url=https://www.chemistryworld.com/opinion/dna-waves-dont-wash/6373.article |title= DNA waves don't wash |work=[[Chemistry World]] |last=Ball |first=Philip |author-link=Philip Ball |date=10 July 2013|access-date=11 September 2017}}</ref>

On 28 June 2010, Montagnier spoke at the [[Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting]] in Germany,<ref name=Lindau>{{cite web|publisher = [[Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting]]|url = http://www.lindau-nobel.org/PublicMeetingProgram.AxCMS?Meeting=278|title = Program: 60th Meeting of Nobel Laureates (3rd interdisciplinary)|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101217005305/http://lindau-nobel.org/PublicMeetingProgram.AxCMS?Meeting=278|archive-date = 17 December 2010|date = 28 June 2010}}</ref> "where 60 Nobel prize winners had gathered, along with 700 other scientists, to discuss the latest breakthroughs in medicine, chemistry and physics."<ref name=Australian/> He "presented a new method for detecting viral infections that bore close parallels to the basic tenets of homeopathy. Although fellow Nobel prize winners – who view [[homeopathy]] as [[quackery]] – were left openly shaking their heads, Montagnier's comments were rapidly embraced by homeopaths eager for greater credibility. Cristal Sumner, of the [[British Homeopathic Association]], said Montagnier's work gave homeopathy 'a true scientific ethos'."<ref name=Australian>{{cite news|title = Nobel laureate gives hope of credibility to homeopaths|first = Jonathan|last = Leake|date = 4 July 2010|url = https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/nobel-laureate-gives-hope-of-credibility-to-homeopaths-vhwrwbs9pqb|newspaper = [[The Sunday Times]]|access-date = 9 June 2019}} {{cite news|url = http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/nobel-laureate-gives-homeopathy-a-boost/story-e6frg8y6-1225887772305|title = Nobel laureate gives homeopathy a boost|newspaper = [[The Australian]]|date = 5 July 2010|access-date = 9 June 2019|via = [[The Sunday Times]]}}</ref>

Montagnier was also questioned about his beliefs on [[homeopathy]], to which he replied: "I can't say that homeopathy is right in everything. What I can say now is that the high dilutions are right. High dilutions of something are not nothing. They are water structures which mimic the original molecules. We find that with DNA, we cannot work at the extremely high dilutions used in homeopathy; we cannot go further than a 10−18 dilution, or we lose the signal. But even at 10−18, you can calculate that there is not a single molecule of DNA left. And yet we detect a signal."<ref>{{cite journal|last=Enserink|first=Martin|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|year=2010|title=French Nobelist Escapes 'Intellectual Terror' to Pursue Radical Ideas in China|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/47426344/Luc-Montagnier-French-Nobelist-on-homeopathy|volume=330|issue=6012|page=1732|doi=10.1126/science.330.6012.1732|pmid=21205644|bibcode=2010Sci...330.1732E|doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==See also== * [[Homeopathy]] * [[Pseudoscience]] * [[Junk science]] * [[Masaru Emoto]] * [[Water Memory]]

==References==

[[Category:Pseudoscience]] [[Category:Teleportation]] [[Category:Quantum mysticism]] [[Category:DNA]] [[Category:Homeopathy]]