The same device protects cells at one setting and kills them at another.
A 2026 meta-analysis in Redox Biology analysed more than 400 studies and established that cold plasma is hormetic and biphasic. Low-to-moderate doses activate antioxidant defences and favour cell protection. Moderate-to-high doses cause oxidative cytotoxicity and cell death. It maps five control parameters against outcome: frequency, flow rate, voltage, processing time and gas composition.
Any agreed standard for reporting the dose. Which is why the same technology can appear in a paper about healing wounds and a paper about killing cancer cells — both true, different doses.
“Low doses protect cells, high doses kill them. Same device, opposite effect, dose decides.”
Any sentence starting “cold plasma does…” is incomplete unless it says which plasma, at what dose.
The paper is open access. It is the most important idea in the field right now.
This is an extract. The full picture is in The Evidence Map — or start at the library index.
Cold Plasma Research Library. Compiled from Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov, September 2026 — 4,846 cold plasma papers, 662 on plasma-activated water, 52 registered trials. Counts are title-restricted and therefore floors, not ceilings: a low number means barely anyone has made this their subject, not that nobody has ever looked.
These pages describe published research on a technology. They do not describe or endorse any product, they are not medical advice, and nothing here should be used to decide about treating a health condition. Speak to a qualified clinician about anything that matters.