07/30/2026
Come experience electroacupuncture with Dr. Brooke at Mosaic Healing Arts!
New research just did something that’s never been done before in acupuncture science: directly watching, in real time, how immune cells change their behaviour in response to stimulating a classic acupuncture point.
Until now, every study on acupuncture and immune function has worked backwards from indirect measurements — a blood marker here, an antibody level there, taken well after treatment. A study published in Nature Biotechnology (July 2026) changed that. Using a new imaging technique fine enough to track thousands of individual immune cells live, for hours, inside a living animal, researchers triggered inflammation and then applied electroacupuncture at ST36 (Zusanli) — and watched the immune cells’ behaviour shift, on camera, in real time.
Specifically: inflamed immune cells (neutrophils) were spontaneously clustering into temporary “swarms” inside the spleen — a behaviour never filmed happening live in an organ before. After electroacupuncture at ST36, those swarms dropped by more than fivefold. Needling without electrical stimulation didn’t produce the same effect.
I’ve written a full breakdown on the blog (link in bio) — including how this fits with, and doesn’t overreach beyond, the wider research on moxibustion and immune function.
📍 Chelsea, SW3
🔗 phoebustian.com/blog