Paranormal Investigation of Reiki Effects on Microbial Life Matthew T. Biegler Central Catholic High School

Reiki Japanese spiritual healing practice meaning “universal life energy.” Discovered and developed by Mikao Usui in the late 19th century who passed the tradition on to others. Training is done by a Reiki Master. Anyone willing to learn is able to practice Reiki. Reiki supposedly works via the practitioner intentionally willing the energy toward target areas. Either gets rid of negative energy or provides positive healing energy (disputed). Claims of supposed intelligence exist; can work without target area or diagnosis. Supposedly works on all forms of life.

Reiki (continued) Most practitioners use Reiki to complement Western medicine. Some use Reiki as preventive medicine. One important aspect of Reiki is the willingness of the target to receive its benefits. Few peer-reviewed scientific studies; no foundation in science. Critics propose the placebo effect as the source of Reiki’s effectiveness.

Cellular Stresses Several variables may be responsible for stressing and killing cells. Starvation Toxins Viral infections Radiation Cold temperatures Heat

Escherichia coli A prokaryotic, unicellular, bacterial cell which can most frequently be found in the large intestine of endothermic animals. May be used as an indicator organism for fecal contamination and has been a motive behind some product recalls. Used in this experiment because it is exemplified as a model prokaryote for scientific study due to its extensive documentation. Escherichia coli picture. [ http://www.med.sc.edu:85/fox/e_coli-dk.jpg ].

Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Yeast) A eukaryotic, unicellular, fungal cell. Yeast has been used for baking and fermentation purposes throughout human history. It is a model eukaryotic organism for scientific study due to several similarities with other eukaryotic cells and extensive documentation on the species. Saccharomyces cerevisiae picture: [http://www.sambonds.com/art/beer-stuff/yeast.jpg]

Rationale The reason for this experiment is to determine the effectiveness of Reiki on heat-stressed prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Any significant difference in survivorship curves will lend scientific support for Reiki’s effectiveness with little possibility of a placebo effect.

Hypothesis 1. Null Reiki will not significantly alter the survivorship of heat-stressed E. coli and S. cerevisiae. 2. Alternative Reiki will significantly increase the survivorship of heat-stressed E. coli and S. cerevisiae.

Materials 40 LB agar plates(1% tryptone, 5% yeast extract, 1% NaCl, 2 mL 1M NaOH, 1.5% agar) 40 YEPD agar plates (1% yeast extract, 2% peptone, 2% glucose (dextrose), 1.5% agar) YEPD Media (1% yeast extract, 2% peptone, 2% glucose (dextrose)) LB media (1% tryptone, 5% yeast extract, 1% NaCl) Klett spectrophotometer Sterile pipette tips Micropipettes Vortex Incubator Sidearm flask Spreading platform, spreader bar, ethanol 20 mL Sterile capped test tubes with Sterile Dilution Fluid (SDF) (10 mM KH2PO4, 10 mM K2HPO4, 1 mM MgSO4, 0.1 mM CaCl2, 100 mM NaCl) Escherichia coli B Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Yeast) 0.22 micron syringe filters + 10 mL syringe Reiki practitioner Two 1 Liter Beakers Water Thermometer Hot Plates

Procedures 1. Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultures were grown overnight in sterile YEPD and LB media, respectively. 2. Samples of the overnight cultures were added to fresh medias in a sterile sidearm flask. 3. The cultures were placed in incubators (30°C and 37°C) until a density of 50 Klett spectrophotometer units was reached. This represents a cell density of approximately 108 cells/ml and 107 cells/ml. 4. A 1 liter beaker filled with 100ml of water was placed on a hot plate and heated until it reached 54°C (50°C). This step was repeated in another room with the intention of making the two setups as identical as possible. 5. The microbial cultures were serially diluted in sterile dilution fluid to a concentration of approximately 103 cells/ml. 6. The Reiki practitioner was permitted to prepare the other room with the identical setup for the treatment of the cell cultures within test tubes by the use of gestures and vocal harmonics. 7. Once the water in the 1 liter beaker in each of the identical rooms were at the same temperature, 54°C (50°C), for the E. coli part of the experiment, 0.1 ml. of the E. coli culture was then added to 4 test tubes, yielding a final volume of 10 ml. in each tube. This step was repeated with four other test tubes for the identical set up in the other room.

Procedures (continued) 8. The beaker was then taken off the hot plate and two of the test tubes were placed inside the beaker while the other two remained in their tube tray. This was simultaneously done in the other room. 9. The Reiki practitioner was then instructed to treat the cells with Reiki in that room only, by which she used tuning forks, quartz and celenite crystals in addition to gestures and vocal mantras to administer treatment to the cells. 10. After 15 minutes, the tubes were taken out of the water baths in both rooms, which by this point both beakers had dropped to 48°C (42°C), and an independent source color coded the four(heat-stressed, non-stressed, treated heat-stressed, treated non-stressed) tube groups with blue, green, black or red so as to mask the results to the experimenter for a double blind experiment. 11. After vortexing the test tubes to evenly suspend cells, 0.1 ml. aliquots were removed from one tube and spread on 5 plates of labeled with the same color. This was repeated for the other 7 tubes. Two tubes were used to help safeguard against procedural errors. 12. Steps 3-10 were repeated for the S. cervisiae portion of the experiment. 13. The plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 hours and 30°C for 48 hours. 14. The resulting colonies were counted by the experimenter. Each colony is assumed to have derived from one cell. The colors were then identified as their respective variable groups by the independent source.

Experimental Layout Experimental Layout (Test tubes and heat source)  Plate Layout (LB plates)  Coding Reiki No Reiki Heat Black Green No Heat Blue Red

Data for E. coli Trial and Tube Origin Reiki and Heated No Reiki and Heated Reiki and Unheated No Reiki and Unheated 1 - A 65 71 173 181 2 - A 131 55 167 175 3 - A 126 74 162 184 4 - A 120 63 151 5 - A 106 88 158 198 6 - B 132 144 192 7 - B 116 77 146 195 8 - B 122 75 197 9 - B 113 57 194 10 - B 103 179

Data for S. cerevisiae Trial and Tube Origin Reiki and Heated No Reiki and Heated Reiki and Unheated No Reiki and Unheated 1 - A 140 104 226 243 2 - A 149 129 210 267 3 - A 174 120 191 197 4 - A 155 169 251 195 5 - A 137 127 199 185 6 - B 121 117 238 225 7 - B 136 207 8 - B 142 114 241 161 9 - B 233 170 10 - B 131 124 246 172

Conclusion Given the P-value of the E. coli experiment, it is possible for us to accept the Alternative hypothesis as the data showed significant increases in survivorship outside of chance. However, the P-value for the S. cerevisiae portion of the experiment did not show a significant increase in survivorship, lending support to the null hypothesis.

Conclusion Statistical analysis shows significant increase in the survivorship of E. coli, lending support for the alternative hypothesis. Statistical analysis does not show any significant difference in the survivorship of S. cerevisiae, lending support for the null hypothesis.

Improvements More replications More trials Account for more variables Simultaneous plate spreading Analyzing Reiki’s effects in normal settings More stringent analysis of each aspect of Reiki (sound)

References