Vol 43 # 3 September 2011 - Kma.org.kw

September 2011
KUWAIT MEDICAL JOURNAL 173
Editorial
Magical Mem-Brain- Biology’s Holy Grail
Belle M Hegde
The Journal of the Science of Healing Outcomes, State College, Pennsylvania, USA and Mangalore, India*
Manipal University, Manipal India**
The Middlesex Medical School, University of London, UK#
Northern Colorado University, USA##
Kuwait Medical Journal 2011; 43 (3): 173-175
“The goal of life is living in agreement with nature.”
Zeno
From Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers
I have lifted the first half of the caption directly
from Bruce Lipton, the celebrated new biology’s guru
and a noted cell biologist. He was a tenured professor
at Wisconsin School of Medicine. Modern medical
physiology (biology included) follows the outmoded
linear model of Newtonian physics of deterministic
predictability [1] . Euclidean geometry is another blow
to our thinking in biology. To cite one example there
is no single organ in the human body, any animal
or plant kingdom that fits the Euclidean geometry;
the latter applies to inanimate integer structures
like cones, squares, cubes etc [2] . Take the example
of the human heart. This can never be measured by
conventional Euclidean geometry but we still do and
make management decisions based on that to the
detriment of our patients. Humans fit into the new
Fractal geometry, first introduced by a computer
scientist, Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975 [3] .
Mandelbrot’s equation is very simple. There is a
basic equation of simple multiplication and addition.
Take any number, multiply it by itself and, then add
the original number to it. This simple equation can
decipher all happenings in Nature. The equation
needs to be repeated ad infinitum to get the desired
results. Though it looks simple, it has a self similarity
built into it, which is the crux of all that one sees in
nature, be it a cloud, a leaf, kidney nephrons, bronchial
branching or the branching of the vascular tree. This
is the new science of Chaos and Fractals. The selfsimilar
pattern makes for efficient functionality, in
addition. One can understand why Nature has given
us just about the same amount of genes as that of a rat.
There is no need for a gene for every action. A single
message can get million things done simultaneously
in the Fractal science. Mandelbrot’s equation results
in a new science in place of Euclidean geometry,
called Fractal geometry. Fractals are bits; they are noninteger
[2] . Fractal geometry can measure the human
heart, the length of the wavy border of a country like
Ceylon or, for that matter, anything in Nature!
The next area that needs a relook is the time honored
concept that the nucleus of the cell with its genes is the
master of all that happens to us. While there are vital
genes out with the nucleus in the mitochondria, genes
are not our masters. Our bane has been the Darwin’s
theory of evolution which is flawed from the word go.
Modern science has taught us that it is the environment
which controls what happens to us and that is what
determines the evolutionary process in principle [4] . It
is the environmental happenstance that energizes us.
The genes only play a secondary role dictated by the
environment [5] . This latter concept fits in very well
with Lamarckism. Evolution is not a fight for survival
of the fittest but a co-operation for the growth of the
whole. Darwin’s fight is taken to heart by the present
business tycoons to loot the common man. The world
is divided between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”
This can not go on for ever. Until the basic needs of the
lowest of the low are met there will be no lasting peace
on this planet. That is what our body cell function
tells us in such elegant language of Nature. The cell
function also teaches us the nature of the Supreme
Being, not the one that sits in our shrines, *but the real
one, the super-consciousness, the all pervading energy
that runs this world. Cell biology could teach a lesson
or two to the non-believers. Do not get me wrong: I
never meant that ritualistic religion is the truth; it is a
myth for power.
Each cell in our body, which was a whole unicellular
organism itself to begin with, in evolution billions of
years ago. That cell had, perforce, to perform all the
functions that a human being does now to survive.
Address correspondence to:
Prof. B. M. Hegde, MD, FRCP, FRCPE, FRCPG, FRCPI, FACC, FAMS, “Manjunath”, Pais Hills, Bejai, Mangalore-575004. India.
Tel: +91 824 245 0450; E-mail: hegdebm@gmail.com; web site: www.bmhegde.com
*Editor in Chief, **Vice Chancellor (Retd), #Former Visiting Professor of Cardiology, ##AffiliateProfessorofHumanHealth.
E-mail: hegdebm@gmail.com