I just finished listening to Bruce Lipton’s book, The Biology of Belief.
I found it riveting as I made my commute to and from work each day; at times having to pause a moment longer in my car despite arriving at work, just to hear the end of an important point.
One of the basic premises is that the cell reacts to its environment and uses the DNA as a template to construct only those proteins necessary for that cell in its current environment. He does a remarkable job providing excellent analogies as well as examples from scientific studies. For example, he likens the DNA to being a blueprint. The blueprint must be interpreted by the contractor who constantly makes adjustments when working in the field actually building the house. The cell membrane is much like the contractor in that it reacts to the environment and goes back to the blueprint for guidance (the analogy isn’t perfect). This is one of his more provocative and controversial premises … it is the cell membrane that dictates the longevity of the cell rather than the sequence of nucleotides found within the cell’s DNA. He further discusses the concept of how DNA can be read at various locations and depending on where the RNA begins making it’s copy of the DNA, a unique protein will be the ultimate bi-product. This explains why a relatively small number of nucleotides can produce a disproportionately large variety of proteins. Finally, he delves further into the metaphysical field of quantum energy which resonated (pun intended) greatly with myself as someone who defines himself as spiritual but not necessarily religious. If I were the author I would have title the book ‘The Biology of Hope’ which is something I feel passionate about in the field of medicine.
I highly recommend this book; particularly to anyone who has taken basic biology at the college level. Personally, I found that topic less than exciting as taught at my University but had Dr. Lipton been my professor I might have pursued another career path!
One of the basic premises is that the cell reacts to its environment and uses the DNA as a template to construct only those proteins necessary for that cell in its current environment. He does a remarkable job providing excellent analogies as well as examples from scientific studies. For example, he likens the DNA to being a blueprint. The blueprint must be interpreted by the contractor who constantly makes adjustments when working in the field actually building the house. The cell membrane is much like the contractor in that it reacts to the environment and goes back to the blueprint for guidance (the analogy isn’t perfect). This is one of his more provocative and controversial premises … it is the cell membrane that dictates the longevity of the cell rather than the sequence of nucleotides found within the cell’s DNA. He further discusses the concept of how DNA can be read at various locations and depending on where the RNA begins making it’s copy of the DNA, a unique protein will be the ultimate bi-product. This explains why a relatively small number of nucleotides can produce a disproportionately large variety of proteins. Finally, he delves further into the metaphysical field of quantum energy which resonated (pun intended) greatly with myself as someone who defines himself as spiritual but not necessarily religious. If I were the author I would have title the book ‘The Biology of Hope’ which is something I feel passionate about in the field of medicine.
I highly recommend this book; particularly to anyone who has taken basic biology at the college level. Personally, I found that topic less than exciting as taught at my University but had Dr. Lipton been my professor I might have pursued another career path!
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