Is it true that water has memory?

Modern homeopathy is largely based on the effect of “structured water”. We check whether there is evidence of an effect.

On large quantities Internet sites, V books, and also central press In the 1990s and early 2000s, one can come across statements that water has memory. In 2006, the state TV channel Rossiya showed a high-budget documentary in prime time "The Great Mystery of Water" who made this theory popular among us. The film was made with the channel's money and received the TEFI television award. According to the film and publications, scientists presented research results that document it.

We are talking about research in the 80s of the last century by the famous French immunologist Jacques Benveniste, published based on them, an article was published in the authoritative scientific journal Nature. And also (in the Russian-speaking environment) about the work of Doctor of Biological Sciences Stanislav Zenin, who allegedly proved in his 1999 doctoral dissertation a geometric model of the main stable structural formation of water molecules (structured water), and then obtained an image of these structures using a contrast-phase microscope.

According to these studies, "water has the ability to remember what substances were dissolved in it. And not only remember, but also reproduce the properties of solutions, despite the fact that there is actually not a single molecule of the required substance in the solution. This effect is achieved due to the fact that water molecules are supposedly arranged in a certain way around the molecules of the dissolved substance and subsequently retain this structure,” the publication writes N+1.

The results of experiments by Benveniste and his colleagues, published in Nature, contradicted those available at that time (yes even now) ideas about the physical and chemical properties of water. Therefore, the editor of the journal Nature agreed to accept the publication only on the condition that the researchers would conduct a repeat experiment under the supervision of an independent commission.

Such an experiment took place and, in general, initially confirmed the findings of the French laboratory. However, when trying to “blind” the testing (that is, to make sure that the experimenter did not know which test tube contained the active substance and which contained an empty sample or standard for comparison), everything changed: the water refused to remember anything.

It is still unknown what caused Benveniste’s initial success. Either he deliberately wanted to deceive the scientific community, or he sincerely believed in his incredible results, but the scientist never admitted his own mistake, ended his academic career and continued his experiments in an independent laboratory.

As for Stanislav Zenin, Russian scientists did not even try to verify his results. He has no international publications. And the analysis by chemist specialists of his dissertation shows extremely low methodological level and complete absence of experimental part. That is, they believe that there is nothing to seriously argue with.

Most of the sites that now continue to talk about the memory of water are engaged in the sale of either “correctly structured water” or a variety of devices for its structuring. The Japanese was more successful in this than anyone else in his time. Masaru Yamoto, which showed everyone “beautiful” ice crystals from water, which were supposedly influenced by good music or a kind word, and “ugly” ones, which were subject to bad influence.

But Yamoto had no scientific publications at all, and by training he was a specialist in international relations. And he received his doctorate in alternative medicine. But he clearly succeeded in marketing, as he successfully sold Indigo Water - "geometrically perfect water with a message to your body" - for $35 for about 150 ml.

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on topic:

1. https://nplus1.ru/material/2017/04/18/water-myths
2. ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structured_water
3. http://klnran.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/m02_p4_water.pdf Appendix “On the Memory of Water” to the “Memorandum on Homeopathy” of the Commission for Combating Pseudoscience and Falsification of Scientific Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences.