Ahh, the old homeopathic "water memory" story. It's a rather amusing story, except for the part about it being published in scientific journals. I can't believe the BBC has been duped into thinking this has anything to do with science. Someone at the BBC needs to get some basic science education. (For those of you who don't recall, the original article showed that you could dilute a solution of IgE about 10^130 times (that's 130 10-fold dilutions) and still see an effect. It was postulated that water might have a "memory" effect and pass on the molecular shape of the antibodies. I still chuckle about this, I can't believe that it's making the rounds again.) Perhaps I should approach the BBC about the $60,000,000 that I've got in a Nigerian bank, if only they would give me their bank account number so I could deposit it there, and they would then get a 15% "account transfer fee." mr At 1:01 PM +0100 5/30/02, Rosie Schellenberg wrote: >Douglas Kell from Aberystwyth recommended writing to you as we are seeking >advice about an experiment we would like to conduct as part of a BBC >documentary. > >We're investigating recent claims which have been made that extremely high >(sub-molecular) dilutions of histamine can inhibit basophil activation in >the presence of anti-IgE. This effect has been claimed both through counting >stained cells and measuring CD63 using flow cytometry. > >(See for instance: > Belon P, Cumps J, Ennis M et al, Inflammation Research 1999; Res 48, Sup >1: 17-18 > Sainte-Laudy J, Belon P, Ultra Low Doses 1991; Taylor and Francis: 127-138 >) > >Clearly these results are very surprising and we would like to independently >test these claims by carrying out an experiment. > >The experiment would involve preparing the histamine dilutions and controls >(which we could do at a lab here in London). These would then be tested by >adding them to samples of human basophils, incubating with anti-IgE and >measuring their activation. The experiment would obviously need to be >performed a number of times. > >We are looking for a lab which might be able to help us perform this >analysis. Do you know of any laboratories world wide who would be able to >carry out this experiment? > >Any suggestions you have would be much apprectiated. > >Best regards, >Rosie > >Rosie Schellenberg >Researcher, Horizon >BBC TV >Room 4523, White City, >201 Wood Lane, London >W12 7TS >Tel: + 44 20 8752 7421 >Fax: + 44 20 8752 6155 >
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