Can intentions influence the physical world around us?

Dean Radin, PhD, CHI Scientific Advisory Council member and Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, along with a group of fellow researchers designed a study to explore if a medium made with water influenced by human intention would enhance the growth of cultured human Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs).

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are among the most frequently used cell type for regenerative medicine. A large number of studies have shown the beneficial effects of MSC-based therapies to treat different pathologies, including neurological disorders, cardiac ischemia, diabetes, and bone and cartilage diseases.

The motivation to perform this study was based on previous work exploring whether samples of wine and chocolate, also treated by focused intention, would produce subjective improvements in mood. A previous experiment even suggested that consumption of intentionally treated tea influenced subjective mood under double-blind, controlled conditions. All these studies reported significant effects in the predicted directions, supporting an “intention hypothesis.”

Learn More About the Scientist

Dean Radin, MS, PhD, is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Science (IONS) and Associated Distinguished Professor of Integral and Transpersonal Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). His original career track as a concert violinist shifted into science after earning a BSEE degree in electrical engineering, magna cum laude and with honors in physics, from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and then an MS in electrical engineering and a PhD in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. For a decade he worked on advanced R&D at AT&T Bell Laboratories and GTE Laboratories.