An Explanation of the Powers of Franz Mesmer

Introduction: Although Franz Anton Mesmer is immortalized in our language with the verb – to mesmerize – his discovery of animal magnetism has been reinterpreted over the centuries to mean a sexual power of attraction. Only specialists in the fields of mental and spiritual healing are really acquainted with the man Franz Anton Mesmer and what place he occupies in the history of human civilization. This article attempts to rectify that situation and give a testimonial to the greatness and genius of the real person Franz Anton Mesmer who not only was the pioneer of virtually every modern practice of mental and spiritual healing and profoundly changed modern religious practices in general, but also anticipated by almost 250 years the modern science of radiogenetics where it has now been found that the ferritin in our bodies, which is a paramagnetic material that can be manipulated by electromagnetic waves (radio waves including brain waves) and also by magnetic fields. In other words, there really is a magnetic fluid in our bodies and there really is such a thing as animal magnetism as originally claimed by Franz Anton Mesmer. 

Results: This article does not claim that Franz Anton Mesmer invented animal magnetism, and if he had not lived, then all the modern practices of mental and spiritual healing as well as hypnotism, psychology and psychiatry would not have occurred, because quite clearly all these practices and disciplines are the essence of the human condition, and if Franz Anton Mesmer had not started the ball rolling, then some other historical person would have. This article attempts to address the fact that the historical person Franz Anton Mesmer was the genius who started the ball rolling, and for that reason alone his name deserves to appear in lights in the history of human civilization. The name Franz Anton Mesmer should have top billing.  

Discussion: 

Magnetic biopsies have been conducted for decades which, in principle, have been able to count the number of ferritin atoms in the liver for example; but there are a number of difficulties with the procedure and it has been found normally to be only effective in diagnosing an iron overload, not an iron deficiency (Williamson et al., 1983). I mention this merely to demonstrate that scientists have known all along that ferritin in the body is a paramagnetic material and therefore has a magnetic susceptibility. This fact alone vindicates Mesmer’s animal magnetism. In 2014, a research paper was published in Nature Genetics which launched a new direction in optogenetics which is known as radiogenetics (Stanley, et al., 2014). Radiogenetics will make it possible to remotely control biological targets in living animals without wires, implants, or drugs. A research team at Rockefeller University used electromagnetic waves to turn on insulin production to lower blood sugar in diabetic mice. A naturally occurring iron storage particle in the body, ferritin, when exposed to a radiowave or a magnetic field can activate an ion channel called TRPVI which in turn leads to the activation of an insulin producing gene. These two proteins, ferritin, and TRPVI acting together as a nano-machine can be used to trigger gene expression in vivo. And it is all done by radiowaves. The method allows one to wirelessly control the expression of genes in a living animal and could potentially be used for conditions like hemophilia to control the production of a missing protein. 

Two key attributes are that the system is genetically encoded and can activate cells remotely and quickly, says Jeffrey Friedman, Marilyn M. Simpson, head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at Rockefeller University (Veilleux, 2014). Researchers are now exploring whether the method can also be used to control neural activity as a means for noninvasively modulating the activity of neural circuits. Radiogenetics is being heralded as being more effective than other systems in optogenetics that simply use light as the on/off switch, which tend to be only effective near the skin and require permanent implants. Originally the researchers used low-frequency radio waves which heat or move the ferritin particles and the TRPVI which is situated in the membrane surrounding the cell opens up a channel allowing calcium ions to flow through and activate a piece of synthetic DNA implanted upstream to the gene they want to turn on. In this case, it was the gene that synthesizes the protein insulin, but it seems that in this way they can activate any gene of interest (Veilleux, 2014). Interestingly the researchers were able to achieve the same result by manipulating the ferritin with a magnetic field, which recalls the theories of Franz Mesmer in the 18th century about animal magnetism and the magnetic cure (Mesmer, 1779, as cited in G. Bloch, 1980). It could well be the case that a hypnotist is able to channel their brain waves which are ELF radio waves to manipulate the ferritin in the cells and genes of their subjects. 

Mesmer himself stated that the magnets were immaterial to his treatment regarding what was essential was his state of mind towards the patient. He was willing the patient to be healed (Mesmer, 1776, as cited in G. Bloch, 1980) and it is well settled that the brainwaves (ELF radiowaves) of healer and patient become synchronized (Cade & Coxhead, 1996; Fahrion et al., 1992). The use of a radiofrequency-driven magnetic field is a big advance in remote gene expression because it is non-invasive and easily adaptable, says Johnathan Dordick, who is Howard P. Isermann, professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering and vice president of research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Martialay, 2014). You don’t have to insert anything – wires or light systems – since the genes are introduced through gene therapy. You could have a wearable device that provides a magnetic field to certain parts of the body, and it might be used therapeutically for many diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases. The prospects appear limitless at this point (Veilleux, 2014). In this current study, we’ve shown that by opening the TRPV1 channel to allow calcium ions to enter the cell, we can turn on a gene. Since neurons can be depolarized by calcium and other positively charged ions, such as those the TRPV1 channel controls, we hope that this system may be effective at regulating neural activity, according to co-first author Sarah Stanley, a senior research associate in Friedman’s lab (Veilleux, 2014).