The control acacias, grown in the 0 mG environment, are about 6 centimeters high. The trees grown in the 15 mG field are twice that big, between 12 and 13 centimeters tall. And these are no wan, spindly, starved saplings. Ironically, the ELF-related tree growth may be obliquely related to the increase in cancer linked to prolonged ELF exposure. Joshi speculates that a parallel process may underlay both phenomena.
Most organisms contain a gene that regulates cell division.
Plants in electromagnetic fields grow extremely fast but they don't get cancer. Somehow, plants, unlike people, seem to turn that gene back on and take the ELF-induced growth in stride. Joshi is hard-pressed to mask his excitement when he talks about his work, both the answers it yields and the questions it raises. We are fortunate to have landed on the right problem at the right time. You never know until you do the experiment.