Previous results of preliminary studies in our laboratory suggest that Qi Gong treatment can stimulate cell growth of cultured human brain cells (astrocytes). Since these masked in vitro studies excluded placebo and other extraneous factors, replication would provide evidence that healing intentionality can have a direct effect on biological systems. The proposed study is a replication of this prior work. It is also an extension to ask whether the number of healing sessions or the distance between the Qi Gong practitioner and the recipient cells affects the response, if any, to distant healing. We will assess opposing cellular functions-cell growth and cell death-following distant healing treatment delivered simultaneously to normal astrocytes and to cancerous (glioma) brain cells. Through a formal series of 360 experimental trials, the study will evaluate three levels of treatment ?dosage? at three different distances in a completely crossed factorial design, so that every dosage level can be assessed at every distance. In addition to Qi Gong/sham comparisons, each experiment includes a sham/sham control to test for extraneous factors. Furthermore, masking will be applied to each scientist having contact with the cell cultures-not just to the data collector. Neither the model of cancer vs. normal cell nor the dose and distance treatment features have ever been tested before in studies of distant healing, and the results will provide key information for designing future studies. The in vitro model is sensitive to subtle healing effects and provides a well-controlled environment for quantifying objective measures that can be easily replicated by independent laboratories to evaluate both the efficacy of distant healing and the treatment features that affect it.
