Isotopic Resonance Hypothesis: Experimental Verification by Escherichia coli Growth Measurements

TL;DR

This study experimentally verifies the isotopic resonance hypothesis by showing that specific isotopic compositions can enhance bacterial growth rates, challenging the traditional view that heavy isotope enrichment always slows reactions.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental evidence supporting the isotopic resonance hypothesis, demonstrating non-monotonous effects of isotopic composition on reaction kinetics.

Findings

Identified resonance isotopic compositions that increase bacterial growth by up to 3%.

Confirmed non-monotonous dependence of reaction rates on isotopic enrichment.

Supports potential applications in various scientific and industrial fields.

Abstract

Isotopic composition of reactants affects the rates of chemical and biochemical reactions. As a rule, enrichment of heavy stable isotopes leads to slower reactions. But the recent isotopic resonance hypothesis suggests that the dependence of the reaction rate upon the enrichment degree is not monotonous; instead, at some resonance isotopic compositions, the kinetics increases, while at off resonance compositions the same reactions progress slower. To test the predictions of this hypothesis for the elements C, H, N and O, we designed a precise (standard error plus or minus 0.05%) experiment to measure the bacterial growth parameters in minimal media with varying isotopic compositions. A number of predicted resonance conditions were tested, which kinetic enhancements as strong as plus 3% discovered at these conditions. The combined evidence extremely strongly supports the existence of isotopic resonances. This phenomenon has numerous implications for the origin of life and astrobiology, and possible applications in agriculture, biotechnology, medicine and other areas.