The Genie in your Genes: Epigenic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention

A Book Review by Tim Brunson DCH

When the next shift in conventional medical science occurs within just a few decades, we will recognize many intellectual giants who contributed radically new paradigms. If historians create a "Mount Rushmore" to commemorate the four pivotal thinkers who dared to postulate new ideas, they would surely include C. Norm Shealy, MD, Ph.D., Ernest Rossi, Ph.D., Bruce Lipton, Ph.D. and Dawson Church, Ph.D. While fewer people are familiar with the last character, I assure you that he is destined to become recognized when the medical and psychological sciences full embrace the proper role of energy as a healing phenomenon. Although his latest book, The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention sat on my bookshelf since he autographed it a couple of months ago, upon completing it I must attest that this is a book not to read, but to devour. Yesterday, I was glued to my seat for hours.

Like many noteworthy speakers and authors, Church stands on the shoulders of other great scientists. These include Shealy, his mentor and a major contributor to bioelectric medicine, Rossi, the heir to Dr. Milton Erickson and the author of the recent phenomenal book, The Psychobiology of Gene Expression, and Lipton, whose Biology of Belief turned the Central Dogma on it's head. What Church has accomplished in this book is an amalgamation of recent ideas into a seemingly comprehensive explanation of why energy medicine and psychology work.

Church gives credit to energy psychology great, David Feinstein, Ph.D., for coming up with the title for this book. "The Genie in Your Genes" brilliantly summarizes the theme that true physiological and mental transformation must be at the gene level. And, once this is recognized (and we reject the Central Dogma, which is the prejudice that a person's "nature" is permanently hardwired at the DNA level) the magic of transformation may be more a subject to our wishes. Therefore, it is through the understanding of external influences, such as our thoughts and electromagnetic disturbances, that the protein sheath surrounding our DNA is removed thereby allowing modification at this basic blueprint level. (This process is known as gene expression. Such alternation is known as epigenetics.) Since our mental and physical health is affected by DNA, our ability to alter ourselves at this level presents boundless possibilities.

If I'm correct, what Church is attempting to say is that the key to epigenetic changes are based upon the fact that we are electromagnetic beings living in electromagnetic fields. If you add to this the recognition that health is synonymous with electromagnetic harmony (or harmonic), we start understanding how the concepts of energy and epigenetics meet. Then consider the fact that electromagnetic signal transmission is at a speed of 186,000 miles per second (as opposed to endocrine systems communicating at one centimeter per second) and the fact that cellular membrane's open/closed states and microtubular structure rapidly react to electromagnetic changes. Next, add to this the understanding the piezoelectric signals caused by acupuncture needles or tapping specific spots on one's body affect our cells. Together this rapid alteration at the gene level gives you the beginning of a still rather heuristic understanding as to why energy medicine and psychology works.

The conundrum of this book is why Church wrote it as a highly readable trade book meant for public rather than primarily for professional consumption. Nevertheless, this is a book that professionals, with their insistence on "good literature" documentation and citations, would find meets their scientific satisfaction. I think the answer to his selection of a primary audience lies in the issue of change, which he skirts throughout. He recognizes that altering scientific paradigms is a lengthy process taking many decades or more. Indeed, this was seen with the radical ideas of Sir Isaac Newton, as well as the fact that Einstein's thoughts are still far from being main stream. It is obvious that Church sees public opinion slowly breaking the stranglehold of surgical and pharmacological-based allopathic medicine. He repeatedly cites examples such as the fact that we are spending more on alternative medicine than on deductibles for allopathic care. Regardless, he sees institutional acceptance of energy as a lengthy, but inevitable, process.

After enthusiastically reading this book, I must say that my biggest disappointment is that it is unfinished. However, before you think that this is a criticism, I must point out that it is actually praise. Genie in Your Genes often seems like a theatrical trailer or a season finale that will end with a frustrating "To Be Continued." Yes, throughout this book there are a lot of tidbits and snippets that tweak further interest. But, too often in this book they are yet to be fully developed. For instance, comments about the role (and definition) of consciousness and the impact of thought on electromagnetic fields is touched upon, but not fully developed. (As I am a hypnotherapist, this is where Church's thoughts are the most intriguing.) Like all significant contributions, this book leads you to scratching your head and pondering further possibilities. As Rossi would say, this book really gives you a numinosity that leads you to the next step in the thinking process. Genie in Your Genes is not a finished, intellectual dead-end, but rather a doorway to the next step in our conceptual evolution.