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Notes on the role of DNA in the human spiritual
and biological evolution
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When the famous physicist Erwin Schrödinger, Nobel Prize 1933 for his equation and his contribution to Quantum Mechanics, wrote his essay What is Life in 1944 about the physical laws operating at the level of cellular biology, he included a speculation on how genetic information could be stored in molecules. This idea served as inspiration for James D. Watson in his research on genes; which eventually lead to the discovery of the double helix structure of the Deoxyribonucleic Acid molecule (DNA) and its role as storage of genetic information. DNA is what genes are made of. The study of DNA is very important, not only to understand how hereditary characters are transferred and how the protein synthesis process work, but it is also important to better understand some mind-body processes. Our knowledge of the multiple roles of DNA, and the processes around it, is constantly growing. From the decoding of the human genome, to the possible roles of the so-called Junk DNA, to unexpected ways of transferring genetic information, to the effects of stress and mental states on genes, to the way food actually "talks" to genes, the emerging picture is fascinating. This cutting edge research has enormous implications, not only in medical applications and the creation of new and better drugs, but also in our deeper understanding of biological life. This new picture is questioning some simple reductionist paradigms of the past, and at the same time hinting at the yet untapped potentials of the human mind. The purpose of this page, as other pages on the website, is to introduce the reader to some recent scientific findings in this area of research and its possible implications in the understanding of conciousness and mind-body relationships. Some ideas expressed here are still in development at this time, and some of them may be proved wrong in the future, but in any case we hope that these notes are informative, and perhaps intellectually stimulating. Central Dogma of Molecular Biology The Central Dogma of molecular Biology, as defined by James D. Watson and Francis Crick, states that in the protein synthesis process, information flows in one direction only, according to the following simplified diagram: DNA -> RNA -> Protein. The word "dogma" was appropriately chosen since Watson and Crick realized that not having evidence of another mechanism at the time, does not mean that such different mechanism is impossible. Unfortunately, other biologists later mistakenly assumed that the dogma was truth, which lead to the erroneous reductionist conception that life is essentially determined by the information stored in the DNA. However, several recent discoveries are strongly questioning this reductionist "dogma", showing once more how nature tends to organize in complex ways with many different control mechanisms at many levels interacting with each other (feedback control loops). Examples of the discoveries that are questioning the Central Dogma are:
Prions, Retrovirus, and Nanobacterias. Besides the questions surrounding the Central Dogma, the strongest empirical evidence to the fact that DNA alone does not determine the whole biology of organisms comes from the study of identical twins. For example, identical twins can develop different diseases, or have different sexual preferences like homosexuality or heterosexuality, or develop different mental illnesses like schizophrenia, or different psychological behaviors like obesity, or be completely healthy; all from the same genetic basis. Not to mention the amazing cases of identical twins who know what they are thinking or feel their sibling pain. However, the focus of this article on DNA and how much (or how little) we know about it. And in this area some questions remain unanswered: What are the effects of the human mind on the DNA? This is a valid question with important implications. We know, from tests made on medical students, that stress has a direct effect on RNA, the active copy of DNA; which may account for many psychosomatic illnesses. We also know, from the works of Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, that stress has an affect on telomeres, which is DNA at the end of linear chromosomes, and this in turn has an effect on aging since telomeres behave as some kind of cellular division counter, for every time a cell divides, it loses a small piece of one of its strands of DNA. See Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn works on the effects of stress on telomeres and
aging: The question is then, if stress has a negative effect on DNA (a kind of nocebo effect), can positive thoughts have a positive effect on DNA (a kind of placebo effect)? And if this is the case, what are the implications in medical practice and in human evolution? If humans can modify their own DNA by thought only, and they are constantly doing it, whether consciously or not, can this have an effect in a the "direction" of human evolution? Is this some kind of Lamarckian effect? How important is this factor compared to natural selection? Historical Note: Jean-Baptist Lamarck proposed a theory of
evolution, fifty years before Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, based
on the "inheritance of acquired characters"; in simple words this means that,
according to Lamarck, living organism evolve because they try to survive in
any environment. An example of empirical evidence in favor of Lamarckism can
be found in the experiments conducted by William McDougall at Harvard where he
found that children of rats that had learned the maze were able to run it
faster: Lamarckian theory is historically important because for the first time the concepts of intention and purpose in life were considered key factors in evolution. Later on, the Darwinian concept of "natural selection from random genetic variations" made Lamarckism seem obsolete. However, today some discoveries in Epigenetics are hinting at a return of some of the ideas introduced by Lamarck. Perhaps these old and new ideas about how biological evolution works will soon be integrated in a new theory where the causes of evolution are multi-factorial, with natural selection and inheritance of acquired traits being just two of them, as it is shown in the proposed Multi Organizational Evolution Model at the end of this page. RNA Interference and Gene Silencing RNA is the active copy of DNA and plays a key role during the gene
expression process. The recently discovered effect called RNA Interference has
great promising potential in medical applications and in the better
understanding of the Gene Silencing mechanism. Another important implications
of this research is that, besides the information contained in the DNA, there
are several other mechanism or pathways that determine which actual genes are
expressed and which aren't; and that this "peripheral" information can in
fact be inherited through a different kind of mechanisms called Epigenetics,
even though this epigenetic information is not coded in the nuclear DNA. Epigenetics and Morphogenesis Epigenetics, from Greek prefix "Epi" which literally means "on top of genetics", is a new area of scientific research about genetic traits that are inherited despite a lack of change in the nuclear DNA sequence itself. The existence of epigenetic factors by itself challenges the commonly held misconception that our genes are our destiny. Morphogenesis is the branch of development biology that studies how biological forms come to be, from shapes of tissues and organs, to whole organisms. In particular it deals with the question of how cells grow and differentiate, that is, how can stem cells "know" that they should become specialized cells required by the different tissues, and to perform the very different functions required by the organism as a whole. Compared to another very well known branch of Biology, evolution, we can say that as the Theory of Evolution is meant to explain how living organisms develop in time, we should also have another good theory to explain how organism develop in space; perhaps a quantitative theory, as opposed to the current Theory of Evolution which is only a qualitative one. The questions that remain unanswered are these: If cell's form and function are genetically programmed, and given the fact that all cells have the same genes and the same genetic "program", how is it possible for cells to develop so differently, from eye to liver, from arms to legs, and so on? Where is that "additional" information about what a cell must become in a tissue? And if form and function depend on the cell's physical position in the organism, how do cells know their positions and how do they incorporate that information into their own development? Is there some kind of Morphic Field that holds that information? Dr. Rupert Sheldrake, an important biologist considered a leader of
post-Darwinian evolution theory, author of A New Science of Life,
The Sense of Being Starred At, The Presence of the Past: Morphic
Resonance and the Habits of Nature, and other important books, has introduced
the Theory of Morphogenetic Fields to explain the organization and development
of biological forms and its relationship to conciousness. Some of the
information in the morphogenetic fields could be inherited through and
Epigenetic mechanism, meaning that this "position information" is not require
to be coded in the nuclear DNA. The ideas around morphogenetic fields are
still in development, and of course they are very controversial, but so far
nothing better has been presented to explain the issues surrounding the
development of biological forms. Dr. Sheldrake has also proposed a series of
experiments that should help falsify (or validate) his theory. Junk DNA and Subtle Energy The so called Junk DNA refers to the DNA for which no function has been
identified yet. It is considered that 98.5% of human DNA is "junk", including
most of the sequences within "intros", because they do not participate in the
process of protein synthesis. Since the natural processes that support life
are very efficient as a general rule, this apparent "waste" in nature is very
odd indeed. Some researchers have suggested that Junk DNA may be the molecular support for another kind of genetic language or that they are the repository of a form of biophysical "subtle energy". Curiously, the idea of the biophysical subtle energy sounds very similar to the vital energy of the Eastern traditions, like the Prana in the Hindu tradition and the Chi of the Chinese medical tradition, and very similar to the now outdated concept of Animal Magnetic Fluid introduced by Franz A. Mesmer (Mesmerism) in the Western world. This is interesting because even as today we know that this vital "fluid" cannot be "magnetic", as they thought in the times of Mesmer, it may well be a different kind of energy, which is real and behaves as a field, although not directly related to electromagnetism as we know it. Dr. William A. Tiller in the US as well as some researchers at the Russian
Academy of Science are pursuing similar ideas around the concept of subtle
energy. See Dr. Tiller article on Subtle Energy: Also very significant are the experiments on the effect of distant
intention on the form of water crystals as Dr. Dean Radin has been able to
verify, in a double-blind test, regarding the claims previously made by Dr.
Masaru Emoto that "intention affects the formation of water crystals". Biophotons Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp with the International Institute of Biophysics, a
leading researcher on biophotons: Electromagnetic Fields and Global Conciousness Here is an interesting speculation. We have already mentioned in the previous paragraphs how DNA, subtle energy, biophotons, and electromagnetic interactions in general, can play a role in the mind-body relationship. Now consider our planet Earth, which is basically a giant moving magnet. Would it be possible that the interactions that support the mind-body relationships at an individual level, would also support some mental relationships between all human beings living on planet Earth; commonly known as Global Conciousness? These global conciousness interactions could even be manifested in
physical phenomena, as in the case of Global Correlations being studied at
Princeton University: And they could also explain the practical results obtained by
Transcendental Meditation (TM) programs applied to reduce violent crimes in
some big cities: Could it be possible for humans, through a Global Conciousness effect, influence our physical environment, including the Earth climate? Perhaps even subside global warming? Is that too far fetched? Regarding the Earth Magnetic Field (EMF) it is important to note that this is not a static field. EMF changes magnitude and direction through time, and it is a fact that the EMF is currently changing; even to the point where EMF could disappear altogether or magnetic poles could get inverted, as it has happened in other geologic periods. Besides water and the primordial cell DNA, the EMF is a key factor for live on Earth to exist. This is self evident when we realize the interactions that are going on between the EMF, the ionosphere and magma. The ionosphere is also an essential component for live as we know it, since it provides a natural shield against the solar wind (made of highly energetic ionizing particle) and the cosmic radiation arriving from several areas of the universe. On the other hand, magma movements are related to tectonic activity, which can cause volcano activity, earthquakes, tsunamis, and other natural catastrophes.
Some links about the shifting and possible inversion of the EMF:
How all this work together, and what is the relationship between physical
activity of the planet Earth and global conciousness, is something that
science would have to address sooner than later if we really want to
understand (and consciously influence) the human spiritual and physical
evolution on planet Earth. To finalize, we must say that the study of DNA sometimes feels like one is unraveling the deepest mysteries of life on Earth, like if we are finally discovering how it all works together, from physical matter, to life, to the human mind, to Spirit, and the other way around.
It is is not a surprise then, that some prominent scientists today are finding their spirituality in the pursue of their research work in DNA and Genetics. An example of this can be found in the recently published book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins. Dr. Collins, a pioneering medical geneticist who once headed the Human Genome Project, who explains in his book that, "the experience of sequencing the human genome, and uncovering this most remarkable of all texts, was both a stunning scientific achievement and an occasion of worship." Multi Organizational Evolution Model The proposed Multi Organizational Evolution Model features biological evolution as a process which is part of a greater system where Conciousness plays a key role as the intelligence center, or Central Processing Unit, within the control loop, having information sources originated at different organization levels, including the physical environment and the cellular DNA, and having causal feedback flows in both directions of the organizational hierarchy, as it is shown in the following simplified diagram:
The role of Natural Selection in MOEM:
Natural Selection is a natural process, that is a function of the environment, which filters out the "tails" of the statistical distribution of genetic traits. The MOEM posit is that if researchers were are able to calculate the actual statistical distribution of the alleles or variations of genes in a given biological population, they would find that such distribution is not symmetrical, as opposed to a Bell curve, and more importantly is that as individuals in that population learn and acquire knowledge that helps them in their survival, the distribution will change, and this will be reflected in a "bias" or asymmetry in the statistical distribution.
That is what the MOEM diagram is representing, and that is
why all biological beings --in more or less degree depending on their level of
consciousness-- can influence the direction and speed of their own evolution, by adding
a certain small bias over the otherwise random process of genetic mutation. In
other words, by learning and by other mental processes, more or less
consciously, biological beings are adding purpose and direction over an
apparently purposeless and random process. The role of natural selection in MOEM, as a process that is a function of the
physical environment, is precisely to
filter out the tail of the statistical distribution, forcing the
reconfiguration of the distribution with a new mean value and a new shape. In summary, MOEM states that besides random mutations, here are other pathways for DNA variations, including epigenetic pathways related to mind-body processes, that can change DNA in a "preferential" direction, adding a small bias to the direction and speed of biological evolution; even in the case of single cell organisms since in all biological organism we can always find a certain level of conciousness and intelligence.
Randomness in Physics and Biology:
In Physics, randomness has a very specific meaning related
to the quality of the information contained in the quantum states, and to the
possibility of establishing causal relationships between physical magnitudes
commonly known as physical laws. Physical magnitudes can be random for two
reasons, one is due to a fundamental principle (The Heisenberg Uncertainty
Principle) and another is due the difficulty of calculation (or limitation of
knowledge or just ignorance)
from our macroscopic perspective.
Another example of the second kind of randomness would be
something like flipping a coin. Since there are so many factors at play that
can influence the outcome of a single try, we "choose" to use a probabilistic
or statistical approach to be able to make some predictions about the outcome
of the experiment. The questions is, are we doing this due only to the
difficulties of the calculation or due to our ignorance of all the factors
that may be at play? That is, are we using the word "randomness" as an cop out
or as a cover-up of our own ignorance?
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This site was last updated 01/12/08
