Abstract
Further experiments support the original suggestion of one of the authors (T. C. B.) that low concentrations of the heavy isotope of hydrogen in water will yield more significant physiological results than pure heavy water. The water employed had been slightly concentrated by commercial electrolysis and had a specific gravity of 1.00061 or 1 part in 2,000 of deuterium. Short lengths (5 to 50 cells) ofSpirogyra filaments lived longer in the isotope water (average 6.3 days for 355 cells) as compared to their longevity in ordinary distilled water (average 3.3 days for 322 cells). The experiments indicate that this effect was not due to differences in salt, CO2, or O2 content of the water samples.Planaria maintained their body size for longer periods in the isotope water. Fermentation by suspensions of commercial yeast, and digestion of starch by pancreatic amylase were inhibited only after a period of incubation of the enzyme in the heavy water; the degree of inhibition of the former reaction was, however, very nearly indentical for incubation periods of 16 and 166 hours indicating a stoichiometrical relationship between the isotope and the enzyme.
Published Version
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