Website Review of www.digibio.com
Reviewed by Timothy Fior, M.D., D.Ht.
(Published in the American Journal of Homeopathic Medicine, Vol. 95, No. 1, Spring 2002)
We live in a technologically and information driven age where most books, by the time they arrive in print, are already outdated. With this in mind and with the editor's consent, I have chosen to review a website which compliments my review of the book, "The Memory of Water". This website is essentially Jacques Benveniste's attempt to inform the public about his memory of water research and a new field which he calls "digital biology". There is a picture of Benveniste on the home page, which also has a list of links to other sub pages on the website.
You can subscribe to a free newsletter updating you on the latest research in this field. But there are only 1-2 newsletters per year. The last two (1/15/01 and 5/20/99) both discuss a new in-vitro protocol to study high dilution/memory of water effects based on plasma coagulation. The beauty of the new protocol is that it is fully automated and requires minimal user interaction. In this way, Benveniste hopes to allow other independent labs to verify his results with the new system. Also, they are looking for funding to build more of these automated systems at $40,000 per system. Under the technology section you can watch a 13-minute video delineating in detail the plasma coagulation protocol. I must admit that seemed long to me and thus I didn't view it.
There is a listing of 12 "communication events" which were talks that have been given around the world. The last one given 11/26-12/2/2000 at the 11th international Congress on Stress in Hawaii had an intriguing title of "Digital biology and resonance medicine" and "Water-borne electromagnetic signals: the heart of homeopathy and spark of life". Sure sounds worth a trip to Hawaii to me!
Digital biology is an outgrowth of Benveniste's research on the memory of water. Basically, it has been known for a long time that "every atom of every molecule and every intermolecular bond . . . emits a group of specific frequencies . . . detected at distances of billions of light-years, thanks to radio-telescopes." Although physicists regard these frequencies as an essential characteristic of matter, biologists do not ascribe them any function. Although the term "molecular signal" is frequently used in biology, no one is quite sure the exact nature of that signal. In 1991, Benveniste's group found that they could transfer specific molecular signals using an amplifier and coils. In 1995, he recorded these signals on a computer sound card, which records frequencies up to 20,000 Hz, and then replayed these signals to receptors and produced biological effects as if the original molecules were still there. This led him to surmise that if the "molecule itself is in the presence of its receptor, it does the same thing: it emits frequencies which the receptor is capable of recognizing." Interestingly this is in the same frequency range as the human voice or music, which leads him to suspect that this is why we relate certain sounds with certain emotions. In this way he hypothesizes that biological systems "function like radio sets", coresonating with specific frequencies. These findings, he notes, do not overturn the basic principles of biology, physics, and chemistry as some argue. Rather they explain how molecules communicate so specifically and so quickly. This also explains why slight chemical modifications of molecules produce considerable functional consequences (due to a change in frequency), which structural biologists cannot explain. Although molecular frequencies are much higher than this up to 20,000 Hz range, "a complex set of high frequency waves can produce low frequencies according to the 'beat frequency' phenomenon."
He proposes that all molecules in fact communicate by electromagnetic signals with various receptors. This is in contrast to the lock and key, or structural matching model of molecular communication that is the predominant theory today. However, this predominant theory has never explained the speed at which molecular communication occurs, and this structural approach has not lead to the expected number of new designer drugs.
Now water is important in all this, as "it is the vehicle for information . . . since there are 10,000 water molecules . . . for every molecule of protein." He draws an analogy with submarines that communicate through water with low-frequency electromagnetic waves. They have shown in experiments that molecules at normally active concentrations don't work if you remove the water. That water may have coherent domains (del Giudice and Preparata) suggests a mechanism by which water could store and then transmit these molecular electromagnetic frequencies. Also, he mentions the I<sub>E crystals found in water which offer experimental proof of these coherent domains in water.
The implications of this new theory are far reaching. The active ingredient molecule no longer has to be present to produce its biological effects, and this molecular signal can be sent across the world via the internet. He projects usefulness for the chemical industry, in environmental surveillance, in medical diagnostics, and the agro-food industry. After speaking of the implications, he rails against the mental blocks which scientists have which hamper scientific progress. His memory of water experiments with high dilutions were criticized because scientists incanted "there must be molecules", thereby sticking to their Cartesian mechanistic dogma.
In the technology section there is a chronological list of experimental models used to test the memory of water theory, beginning with basophil degranulation in 1984-90, the Guinea pig heart (Langendorff apparatus) in 1990-98, and finally the Plasma coagulation model in 1999 to the present. This is where the 13 minute long video of the plasma coagulation protocol is placed. An interesting note is made in this section that basophil degranulation is "in fact achromasia, i.e. loss of staining by alkaline dyes, without histamine release".
In the friends and foes corner, Benveniste invites debate about his findings and the implications. This section also contains Benveniste's curriculum vitae and a list of selected publications from his total list of about 300. Quite impressive! There is also a section showing his consternation at the scientific establishment entitled "Where is the heresy?" "What is 'hard to reconcile with what we know about molecules?" (D. Herscbach, Nature, 395, 535, 1998). Why the fuss, excommunication, resentment, insults, injuries and, last but not least, the crash landing of fraud-seeking commandos? Will the eternal 'Understand I do not, therefore it is not' prevail forever in science? Can we not say once and for all 'bye-bye' to Galileo-style prosecution and replace it with genuine scientific debate? Given my painful ten-year experience, we may as well start by throwing out the 'pire-review' system which has become, behind its facade of excellence, the main antibody blocking the nearly deceased scientific free exchange, which once was the cornerstone of scientific progress." In a subsection entitled "REPRODUCTION OR RE-RE-RE-RE-REPRODUCTION?" he lists the many replications of his memory of water high dilution research. Interestingly, before the nature article was first published in 1988, four other labs (another French lab, Canadian, Italian, and Israeli labs) had already reproduced the effect of high dilutions on basophil degranulation. The list of reproductions is impressive, with one being at Northwestern University in Chicago.
Overall the site was well laid out, logical, and attractive to the eye. You are always only a click or two away from the information you want. Under the section publications, subsection our publications, you can download a copy of Benveniste's landmark article from Nature entitled "Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE". This feature was nice. However, in the downloaded form of the article, figure 2 printed with the caption overlapping the figure, which was annoying. As delineated in my book review on "The memory of water", this article created a maelstrom in the scientific community, which resulted in Benveniste finally losing his lab at INSERM (the French National Institute of Medicine). In this section there are other publications from Benveniste's lab through 2000. In another subsection, there is a listing of publications from other labs through 1996. This is actually a good homeopathic research bibliography as Jennifer Jacobs' diarrhea study is referenced; David Taylor Reilly's studies are referenced as well as other landmark studies. An up to date listing would be even more useful. Also in the publications section, there is a new subsection that lists 3 press articles about this line of research, all from 2001. Finally, there is a listing of related books on the subject, which includes Michel Schiff's book "The Memory of Water" which chronicles the "Benveniste affair".
In the section "Overview of DigiBio" it is stated the mission of DigiBio" is to bring a clear and irrefutable answer to the controversy over Dr. Jacques Benveniste's observations of what has come to be known as 'the memory of water' phenomenon, that is:
- That water is capable of carrying molecular information (biological messages), and
- That it is possible to transmit and amplify this information, as can be done for sounds and music.
We consider the indicators and the stakes to be such, that it would be irresponsible not to bring forth the earliest possible explanation."
This section describes the present situation:
"From the first high dilution experiments in 1984 to the present, thousands of experiments have been made, enriching and considerably consolidating our initial knowledge.
Up to now, we must observe that not a single flaw has been discovered in these experiments and that no valid counter-experiments have ever been proposed.
Furthermore, these experimental observations, far from opposing currently accepted biological theories, can be integrated as an extension to them.
Finally, the probability that we are in the presence of an artifact and that our work has been erroneous for the past 15 years is diminishing day by day, and we are more and more convinced that we have brought to light a phenomenon essential to biology and to life."
DigiBio's objective is to become the essential actor in the scientific and industrial developments that will emerge from this research.
Their current strategy is through support from industrial and financial investors to develop a "a relatively simple experimental protocol which allows validating some of the phenomena in question." i.e. the plasma coagulation protocol. This will allow independent reproduction of their experiments. Furthermore their goal is to find potential industrial applications.
Finally, there is a contact area, where one can contact Benveniste through the website, provide feedback, and sign up for the free newsletter by email. In this section, Benveniste also invites any offers of sponsorship, but relates that only token industrial and commercial support has been received so far. If someone wants to put some money toward research, which could help explain the mechanism of homeopathy, this would be a good place for the funds to go.
So, if you have some time to navigate the web and need to find some information to feed to the critics of homeopathy, this site is a must visit. Or, if you want to get albeit a bit amplified review of the research on the memory of water, this is probably one of the most up to date resources you will find.