A method for treating a biological organism in a medium, comprising heating the
medium containing the organism by a temperature of at least about 2 C. at
a rate which exceeds a relaxation rate of a cellular membrane of that organism,
under such time and temperature conditions which do not thermally denature a substantial
portion of the biological proteins. A method is also provided for treating a biological
organism in a medium, comprising heating the medium containing the organism by
a temperature of at least about 2 C. at a rate which exceeds a relaxation
rate of a cellular membrane of that organism, under such time and temperature conditions
which do not thermally denature a substantial portion of the biological proteins.