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Final Report
May
1985
Covering
the
Period October
1983
to October
1984
BACTERIAL MUTATION STUDY
By:
BEVERLY
S. HUMPHREY
EDWIN
C. MAY
Prepared
for:
Contract
No:
DAMD17-83-C-3106
SRI
Project 7408-10
[
Approved by:
ROBERT
S. LEONARD,
Director
Radio Physics Laboratory
DAVID
D. ELLIOTT,
Vice President
Research and Analysis Division
svimfqi- ws
defy
1 %'^
This document
consists of
pages.
For
-9
(415)
326-6200
*
Cable:
SRI
INTL MPK
• TWX:
910-373-2046
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CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
LIST OF TABLES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I
OBJECTIVE
II
INTRODUCTION
III
METHODS OF APPROACH
A.
Definition of Terms
.
.
1.
Biological Terms
2.
Procedural Terms
B.
Biological Background
C.
Experimental Design
1.
Conceptual Replication
2.
Model Testing Criteria
a.
The IDS Model
b.
The RA or IDSU Model
D.
Protocols
1.
Preexperiment Protocols
a.
Subject Selection
b.
Experiment Site Locations
c.
Hardware Construction
*
2.
Presession Protocols
3.
Session Protocols
4.
Postsession Protocols
IV
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
V
SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE STUDIES
A.
The Role of Feedback
B.
Screening Criteria and Presentation of Psychoenergetic Task
.
.
C.
Biological Protocols
D.
Future Experiments with Other Biological Systems
1.
Single-Cell Systems
2.
Multicell Systems
Appendix—BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS ........
iii
iii
' 39
ii
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Sample Bio-PK Form
Sample Bacterial Assay Form
Sample Feedback Form
Distribution of Mutation Probability for 187 Baseline Test Tubes
TABLES
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-6 for All Subjects
.
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-6 (Subject 164)
.
.
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-6
(Subject 240)
.
.
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-6 (Subject 310)
.
.
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-e (Subject 385)
.
.
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-6 (Subject 531)
.
.
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-6 (Subject 807)
.
.
Normalized Mutation Rates X
10-e (Subject 997)
in
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The experiment presented in this document was a conceptual replication of
reported work in the parapsychological literature, claiming positive
statistical evidence
for
psychoenergetic interactions with biological systems.
Both the energetic and informational
aspects of human interaction with bacteriological systems were examined, with the ultimate
objective of determining, to
first order, whether biological systems can be employed as
psychoenergetic* “intrusion detectors/'
There were two principal experimental hypotheses under consideration.
The
first,
which
will be referred to as the
Intuitive Data Sorting (IDS)
hypothesis,
posits that individuals
are able to identify or “sort out”
locally-deviant subsequences contained within a larger
random sequence using psychoenergetic means.
In our experiment, an IDS hypothesis
predicted that individuals would be able to identify psychically—from a set of test tubes with a
normal statistical spread of mutation rate—subsets of test tubes either with slightly higher or
slightly lower average mutation rates than the overall mutation rate
for the entire
set.
Because
an IDS mechanism appears to be predicated on an individual's
ability to gain information
about a system psychoenergetically,
it
is thought to involve informational processes primarily.
The second experimental hypothesis, which will be referred to
as the Remote
Action (RA)
or IDS Unfavorable (IDSU)
hypothesis, postulates that certain individuals are
able to effect either a predetermined increase or decrease
in a given samples's mutation rate,
by somehow “mentally”
causing physical
(e.g.,
genetic) changes in the bacteria.
Because an
RA mechanism appears to be predicated on an individual's
ability to effect physical changes
in
a system psychoenergetically,
it
is thought to involve causal or energetic processes primarily.
A total of seven subjects contributed six sessions each:
three sessions were
designed to
test the IDS hypothesis, and three were designed to test the RA hypothesis.
In
all
sessions, the subject was confronted with nine test tubes, which were
visible inside
a locked,
environmentally-stable ice chest.
The tubes contained dilute solutions of the bacterium
Salmonella typhimurium
.
The bacteriological preparations were carried out by SRI’s Microbial
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Genetics Department, which routinely uses the Ames Salmonella assay that was adapted
for
use in this study.
In the IDS sessions, the subjects were able to choose three test tubes in which they
wished to promote the mutation rates psychoenergetically (high aim), three tubes in which
they wished to inhibit mutation rates
(low aim), and three that they wished to leave
“uninfluenced”
as controls (no aim).
In
all of the RA sessions, Tubes
1,
2, and 3 were
predetermined as the low-aim tubes
(the subject would attempt to inhibit mutation rates);
Tubes
4,
5, and
6 were the no aim controls; and Tubes
7,
8, and 9 were the high-aim tubes
(the subject would attempt to promote mutation rates).
The basic premise in comparing the
IDS and RA conditions
is that the subjects were given the opportunity to select high-versus-
low mutation rates from a natural spread of nine in the IDS sessions.
Given the
predetermined tubes of the RA sessions, however, the subjects were required to cause
physical changes in the bacteria,
in order to achieve the desired high—versus-low mutation
rates.
The overall result of the experiment showed weak statistical evidence that
individuals are able to sort bacteriological samples according to mutation rate—that
is,
a p <
0.05 was obtained overall in the IDS sessions for the mutation rates of the low-aim test tubes
being lower than the no-aim controls.
Statistical significance was not achieved in any of the
other IDS conditions
(i.e.,
for no-aim mutation rates being less than high aim or for low aim
being less than high aim).
There were no significant differences for various aims observed in
the RA condition.
It must be concluded, therefore, that while there was some evidence that
subjects are able to gain information psychoenergetically about the mutation rates of
Salmonella
, there was no compelling evidence that subjects are able to cause physical
perturbations in these bacteria.
According to criteria
set forth in the beginning of this study, a physical system
will not be considered a candidate intrusion detector unless there
is clear evidence that
it
is
registering energetic effects
(i.e., physical perturbations) concomitantly with psychoenergetic
intent.
To
first order, therefore,
it must be concluded on the basis of this one experiment
that the Salmonella bacterium does not appear to be a promising intrusion detector.
Because this
is the only known experiment of
its kind using Salmonella bacteria
as the target biological system, replication
is strongly recommended—both to verify the
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robustness of the IDS
capability, and to evaluate definitively the efficacy of using Salmonella
as an intrusion detector.
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I
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this subtask was to determine the veracity of the claims in the
parapsychological literature regarding psychoenergetic interactions with biological systems.
A
conceptual replication of the most promising of these earlier claims was undertaken, as a
means to examine whether biological systems register physical effects concomitantly with
psychoenergetic “intent” by an observer.
This
initial experimental effort was an attempt to
determine,
to
first order, whether biological systems can eventually be employed as
psychoenergetic “intrusion detectors.”
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II
INTRODUCTION
One of the ultimate applications goals of psychoenergetic phenomena
is the
determination of whether psychoenergetic intrusion can be detected, and whether counter-
measures
exist against such intrusion.
From a phenomenological perspective, the term
psychoenergetic intrusion can entail what appears to be either energetic or informational
processes,
or both,
as indicated by the following set of operative definitions:
•
The direct perturbation of physical systems that appear to be well shielded
against, or otherwise inaccessible
to, human influence
(energetic).
•
The psychoenergetic acquisition of information thought to be secure against
access
(informational).
•
The perturbation of a physical system that occurs indirectly as a result of an
individual’s attempts to acquire information through psychoenergetic means
(energetic and informational).
Only those intrusions that entail causal interactions with physical systems are likely to be
detected.
A physical system will not be considered a candidate intrusion detector, therefore,
unless
it registers energetic effects directly
(as a result of intentional perturbation), or
indirectly
(as a result of concomitant acquisition of information)
.
In the parapsychological literature, the energetic manifestations of psycho-
energetic intrusion are variously referred to as remote action (RA), remote perturbation (RP),
psychokinesis (PK)
,
telekinesis (TK)
, and so forth; informational processes are most often
referred to as remote viewing (RV), clairvoyance, precognition, and the
like.
The term
countermeasures may be defined as the shielding or jamming of psychoenergetic intrusion by
either physical or mental processes.
Before the higher-order problem of countermeasures can be addressed,
experimental verification of the existence of psychoenergetic intrusion must
first be obtained.
Detection of the putative energetic aspects of psychoenergetic intrusion can be accomplished
most directly by designing experiments in which an individual’s primary task
is to actively
attempt to cause perturbations in various types of physical systems. ‘Numerous RA
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experiments of this type, using a wide variety of physical systems, have been cited in the
parapsychological literature.
One category of candidate target physical systems
is biological systems; the
precedent for using these
in RA experiments has been well established.
Of particular interest
(because of
its similarity to the experiment detailed in this document)
is Carroll B. Nash’s
experiment involving the psychokinetic control of bacterial mutation.*
The published abstract
of the Nash experiment
is provided here:
Three experimenters each tested 20 subjects not known to be psychically
gifted.
Because of procedural errors, results were obtained for only 52
subjects.
Each subject was tested in a single run with a separate set of
nine tubes of a mixed culture of lac-negative and lac-positive strains of
Escherichia
coli.
Mutation of lac-negative to lac—positive was mentally
promoted in three of the tubes, mentally inhibited in three, and three of
the tubes served as controls.
The mutant ratio of lac-positive
to total
bacteria was greater in the promoted than in the inhibited tubes,
with
two-tailed p < 0.005; less in the inhibited tubes than in the controls,
with
two-tailed p < 0.02; and greater in the promoted tubes than in the
controls, although not significantly so.
The results are interpreted to
suggest that the rate of bacterial mutation was psychokinetically affected.
The experiment described in this report also undertook to investigate
psychokinetic influence on bacterial mutagenicity, but
it differs significantly from the Nash
experiment in certain of
its experimental protocols and underlying theoretical assumptions.
The overall objective was also different than that of the Nash experiment in that the SRI
study
is concerned with providing a
“first order” examination of the existence of psycho-
energetic intrusion detection with biological systems,
as a precursor to investigating the
necessity and/or
feasibility of countermeasures against such intrusion.
Nash, C.
B., “Psychokinetic Control of Bacterial Growth,"
Journal of the Society for
Psychical Research,
V
ol.
51, pp. 217-226 (1982).
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Table
NORMALIZED MUTATION RATES
X
6 FOR ALL SUBJECTS
Condition
Aim
Low
No
High
Remote Action (RA)
3.08
3.17
3.06
Remote Action (RA)
3.37
2.92
2.88
'
Remote Action (RA)
3.08
2.97
3.13
Mean
3.18
3.02
3.02
t (Low < No)
=
-1.160
n.s.
Statistics*
t (No < High)
=
0.412
n.s.
t (Low < High) =
-1.200
n.s.
Aim
Condition
Low
No
High
Intuitive Data Sorting (IDS)
2.80
3.25
3.23
Intuitive Data Sorting (IDS)
3.06
3.08
3.11
Intuitive Data Sorting (IDS)
3.11
3.12
2.90
Mean
2.99
3.15
3.08
t (Low < No)
=
1.690
0.047 ^
Statistics*
t (No < High)
=
-1.190
n.s.
t (Low < High) =
0.550
n.s.
* Degrees of freedom =
124.
^ p-value.
From this analysis,
it can be concluded that psychoenergetic functioning occurred
that was consistent with results reported by Nash.
While the size of the effect observed in
this
experiment was small compared with Nash’s,
it
is consistent with the IDS hypothesis that
certain subjects demonstrate
a psychoenergetic
ability to sort test tubes according to mutation
rate.
(It should be noted that an IDS channel was also present in Nash’s experiment, but
that Nash’s significant result was interpreted exclusively within the RA hypothesis framework).
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