Background

Present-day paradigms of biology are grounded in biochemistry. Life is able to do the remarkable things it does based on known chemical dynamics and on the special properties of giant biomolecules. The energy involved in biochemical reactions is typically a fraction of 1 eV. Energy is supplied by redox reactions in the mitochondria, which max out at about ½ eV.

In contrast, nuclear reactions take place on an energy scale of millions of eV (MeV). They may release MeV, and they typically require MeV for activation. Hence, chemical energies are a million times too small to have any effect on nuclear chemistry. Requisite energies are available in the center of the sun, or on earth in highly engineered environments like a particle accelerator or a tokamak or a thermonuclear bomb.

Hence, the idea that living things could transmute one element to another are rightly regarded as theoretically preposterous.

Against this background, there have been more than two centuries of credible scientists reporting that they have observed nuclear reactions in living systems. These are nicely summarized in Biberian’s review [1]. Before it was so clearly impossible, several (mostly French) scientists did lab experiments comparing the amount of calcium a chicken took in with the amount excreted in eggshells. Another theme was the different ash composition of seeds compared to the sprouts that grew from them.

In the mid-20th century, the study was advanced by another French scientist, Louis Kervran. He started by replicating Vauquelin’s 1799 work with hens under much more tightly controlled conditions, and with much better analytic chemistry. He went on to document a dozen other nuclear reactions in biological contexts. Sodium can be made into potassium, or potassium into calcium, each by the addition of a single proton. Protons are hydrogen, and they are plentiful in any plant or animal. More surprising is the combination of sodium with oxygen to make potassium (11 + 8 = 19), and magnesium with oxygen to make calcium (12 + 8 = 20). The Coulomb barrier is much higher in this case, because magnesium and oxygen carry charges of
+12 and +8, respectively. Some of the reactions that Kervran reported were endothermic, for example sodium split into lithium plus oxygen. Endothermic nuclear reactions are far more implausible than exothermic reactions because not only does the system have to “borrow” some millions of volts for activation energy; the millions of volts becomes permanently tied up in separating two atoms that “want” to be together. Where does that energy come from? It is a gross violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
 

Kervran wrote up his findings in a 1966 book, published originally in French, also in an English translation which is still available, Biological Transmutations [2].

Most recently, Vysotskii and Kornilova [3,4] have done signature work with Mossbauer spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy, documenting anomalies in isotope ratios. This is expensive and difficult work, requiring specialized equipment. Simple chemical analysis can easily distinguish calcium from potassium from iron from silicon, and the study of biological transmutation is well-grounded in this kind of research. But distinguishing one isotope of iron from another requires the advanced laboratory techniques that Vysotskii and Kornilova have brought to bear. Their work adds another layer of certainty to the evidence that something we don’t understand is occurring. For example, all the iron on earth comprises a mixture of 92% iron 56 with much smaller amounts of iron 54 and iron 57. When Vysotskii and Kornilova report analyzing biological iron and finding large quantities of 54 and 57, the message to nuclear scientists is clear: this can only be the result of nuclear reactions.

The most troublesome component of most nuclear waste is an isotope of cesium, Cs137. It is dangerous to humans and other life forms, and remains dangerous for a century or more, because its decay rate (half-life) is about 30 years. V and K claim that they have cultured a mixture of bacteria that reliably detoxifies the Cs in a few months’ time. They can see the dramatic drop in radioactivity during that time, though exactly what has become of the radioactive Cs is hard not yet determined. Normally, Cs137 turns into a stable isotope of barium by emission of an electron; it is not clear if the bacteria are simply making this reaction happen faster, or transforming the Cs via a different pathway. Vysotskii and Kornilova speculate that they may be adding a proton instead of subtracting an electron, which creates a different stable isotope of barium.

Vysotskii is in Kiev, Ukraine, and working under siege and with no government support in recent years. Kornilova seems to have escaped to Connecticut.

Credibility is added to the concept of biological transmutation by 35 years of research in low energy nuclear reactions, beginning with the 1989 “cold fusion” paper by Fleischmann and Pons [5]. Their results were declared to be ruled out by theory, but there are dozens of labs around the world claiming to have observed LENR since that time [6].

Experimental Tasks

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to replicate any of the work done by Vysotskii and Kornilova. The simplest experiment involves sprouting seeds in distilled water, measuring principal content of the ash before and after. You need not use Mossbauer spectroscopy — indeed, simple chemical analysis and quantitative emission spectroscopy should be quite adequate. If available, a a mass spectrometer might provide further evidence of nucleosynthesis via changed isotopic ratios

Funding Details

Grants are intended to support high‑leverage studies that can produce decisive data with modest resources. There is no pre-determined limits on budgets, rather all proposals will be considered on their merits relative to scope and feasibility. However, priority will be given to proposals that demonstrate: 

• Clear experimental design
• Strong controls and falsifiability
• Potential for replication
• High signal‑to‑noise payoff
• Courageous but disciplined inquiry

How to Apply

Applicants should submit a detailed proposal including 

• Project title and research track
• Researcher CV
• One research paper you have recently written
  
• Background and rationale
• Experimental design and methods
• Budget and timeline
• Expected outcomes and potential implications

Proposals will be reviewed by Josh Mitteldorf. Simply email your materials to: aging.advice@gmail.com

A Call to the Frontier

These grants are designed for investigators who feel the pull of unexplored territory—those who believe that science advances not only by refining what is known, but by venturing into what is not yet understood. If you have a bold idea, a careful design, and the willingness to test the improbable with rigor, Dr. Mitteldorf invites you to apply.

Disclaimer

The Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE) is providing this announcement solely for informational purposes. SSE does not participate in the review, selection, funding decisions, or administration of these grants. All aspects of the grant process, including proposal evaluation and award distribution, are managed exclusively by the sponsoring individual.

Applicants should direct all questions and submissions to Dr. Mitteldorf at aging.advice@gmail.com.

References

1.    Biberian, J.-P., Biological transmutations: historical perspective. Journal of Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, 2012. 7(1): p. 11-25.
2.    Kervran, C.L. and G. Ohsawa, Biological transmutation. 2011: George Ohsawa Macrobiotic.
3.    Kornilova, A.A., et al., Joint transmutation of stable Cs and Sr isotopes in microbiological systems and prospects for accelerated deactivation of liquid radioactive waste. RENSIT: RADIOELECTRONICS. NANOSYSTEMS. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES, 2021. 13(4): p. 501-508.
4.    Kornilova, A.A. and V.I. Vysotskii, Synthesis and transmutation of stable and radioactive isotopes in biological systems. RENSIT, 2017. 9(1): p. 52-64.
5.    Fleischmann, M and Pons, S. 1989, “Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium, J Electroanalytical Chem, 261:301-308, DOI: 10.1016/0022-0728(89)80006-3
6.    Biberian, J-P, Cold Fusion: Advances in Condensed Matter Nuclear Science, 2020, Elsevier, ISBN 978-0128159453