Editing Water memory (section)

==Benveniste's study==
{{Main|Benveniste affair}}
[[Jacques Benveniste]] was a French immunologist who sought to demonstrate the plausibility of homeopathic remedies "independently of homeopathic interests" in a major scientific journal.<ref name="personaltribute">{{cite journal|author=Poitevin, Bernard|title=Jacques Benveniste: a personal tribute|journal=Homeopathy|volume=94|issue=2|year=2005|pages=138–139|doi=10.1016/j.homp.2005.02.004|s2cid=71759962 }}</ref> To that end, Benveniste and his team at [[Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale]] (INSERM, French for National Institute of Health and Medical Research) diluted a solution of human [[antibodies]] in water to such a degree that there was virtually no possibility that a single molecule of the antibody remained in the water solution.

Nonetheless, they reported, human [[basophil]]s responded to the solutions just as though they had encountered the original antibody (part of the [[allergic reaction]]). The effect was reported only when the solution was shaken violently during dilution.<ref name="benveniste">{{cite journal
|journal = Nature|title = Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE|volume = 333|date = 30 June 1988|pages = 816–818|doi = 10.1038/333816a0|pmid = 2455231|issue = 6176|bibcode = 1988Natur.333..816D|vauthors = Dayenas E, Beauvais F, Amara J, Oberbaum M, Robinzon B, Miadonna A, Tedeschit A, Pomeranz B, Fortner P, Belon P, Sainte-Laudy J, Poitevin B, Benveniste J|s2cid = 12992106}}</ref> Benveniste stated: "It's like agitating a car key in the river, going miles downstream, extracting a few drops of water, and then starting one's car with the water."<ref name="time">{{cite journal
| author = John Langone
| journal = Time Magazine
| title = The Water That Lost Its Memory
| date = 8 August 1988
| url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968080,00.html
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930093556/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,968080,00.html
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 30 September 2007
| access-date = 2007-06-05
}}
</ref> At the time, Benveniste offered no theoretical explanation for the effect, which was later coined as "water memory" by a journalist reporting on the study.<ref>Beauvais, Francis (2016) ''Ghosts of Molecules - The case of the "memory of water"'', Coll. Mille-Mondes [http://www.mille-mondes.fr], Ed. Lulu.com, {{ISBN|978-1-326-45874-4}} (Chapter 1, page 15).{{self-published source|date=June 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}}

===Implications===
<!--- Could an editor with access to the Nature editorial and/or content knowledge improve in this sub section? --->While Benveniste's study demonstrated a mechanism by which homeopathic remedies could operate, the mechanism defied scientific understanding{{clarify|date=April 2014}} of [[physical chemistry]].<ref name="time" /><ref name=NatureEditorial>{{cite journal|author=Anonymous [John Maddox]|title=When to believe the unbelievable|journal=Nature|doi=10.1038/333787a0|volume=333|issue=6176|year=1988|pages=787|pmid=<!--none-->|bibcode = 1988Natur.333Q.787. |s2cid=4369459|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author = P. Ball |author-link=Philip Ball| title = Here lies one whose name is writ in water | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | date = 8 August 2007 |pages=news070806–6 | doi = 10.1038/news070806-6 |s2cid=97223172| url = http://www.nature.com/news/2007/070806/full/news070806-6.html | access-date = 2011-02-13 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> A paper about hydrogen bond dynamics<ref name="cowan">{{cite journal |author=Cowan ML |title=Ultrafast memory loss and energy redistribution in the hydrogen bond network of liquid H<sub>2</sub>O |journal=Nature |volume=434 |issue=7030 |pages=199–202 |year=2005 |pmid=15758995 |doi=10.1038/nature03383 |author2=Bruner BD |author3=Huse N |display-authors=3 |last4=Dwyer |first4=J. R. |last5=Chugh |first5=B. |last6=Nibbering |first6=E. T. J. |last7=Elsaesser |first7=T. |last8=Miller |first8=R. J. D.|bibcode = 2005Natur.434..199C |s2cid=4396493 }}</ref> is mentioned by some secondary sources<ref name="SpellmanPrice-Bayer2010">{{cite book|author1=Frank R. Spellman|author2=Joni Price-Bayer|title=In Defense of Science: Why Scientific Literacy Matters|url=https://archive.org/details/indefenseofscien0000spel|url-access=registration|date=16 December 2010|publisher=Government Institutes|isbn=978-1-60590-711-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/indefenseofscien0000spel/page/77 77]}}</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Novella|first=Steven|author-link=Steven Novella|title=The Memory of Water: The Science of Medicine|volume=35|issue=3|date=May–June 2011|journal=Skeptical Inquirer|url=http://www.csicop.org/si/show/the_memory_of_water/}}</ref> in connection to the implausibility of water memory.

===Publication in ''Nature'' ===
Benveniste submitted his research to the prominent [[science journal]] ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' for publication. There was concern on the part of ''Nature's'' editorial oversight board that the material, if published, would lend credibility to homeopathic practitioners even if the effects were not replicable.<ref name="time" /> There was equal concern that the research was simply wrong, given the changes that it would demand of the known laws of physics and chemistry. The editor of ''Nature'', [[John Maddox]], stated that, "Our minds were not so much closed as unready to change our whole view of how science is constructed."<ref name="time" /> Rejecting the paper on any objective grounds was deemed unsupportable, as there were no methodological flaws apparent at the time.

In the end, a compromise was reached. The paper was published in ''Nature'' Vol. 333 on 30 June 1988,<ref name="benveniste" /> but it was accompanied with an editorial by Maddox that noted "There are good and particular reasons why prudent people should, for the time being, suspend judgement" and described some of the fundamental laws of chemistry and physics which it would violate, if shown to be true.<ref name=NatureEditorial /> Additionally, Maddox demanded that the experiments be re-run under the supervision of a hand-picked group of what became known as "ghostbusters", including Maddox, famed magician and paranormal researcher [[James Randi]], and [[Walter W. Stewart (chemist)|Walter W. Stewart]], a chemist and freelance [[debunker]] at the [[U.S. National Institutes of Health]].<ref>{{citation |title= E-mailed Antigens and Iridium's Iridescence |others= column "Psychic Vibrations" |author= Robert Sheaffer |volume= 22 |issue= 1 |date= January–February 1998 |work= [[Skeptical Inquirer]] |url= http://www.csicop.org/si/show/e-mailed_antigens_and_iridiumrsquos_iridescence/ |author-link= Robert Sheaffer }}</ref>