MIND OVER GENES Workshop by Bruce Lipton, Ph.D 2007

Written by Bruce Lipton, Ph.D
Format: MP3

Bruce H. Lipton, PhD

Earlier in my career as a research scientist and medical school professor, I actively supported the perspective that the human body was a ‘biochemical machine programmed by its genes.’ We scientists believed that human strengths, such as artistic or intellectual abilities, and human weaknesses, such as cardio-vascular disease, cancer or depression, represented traits that were preprogrammed into our genes. Hence I perceived life’s attributes and deficits, as well as our health and our frailties, as merely a reflection of our heredity expression.

Until recently, it was thought that genes were self-actualizing—that genes could ‘turn themselves on and off.’ Such behavior is required in order for genes to control biology. But our understanding is evolving. Though the power of genes is still emphasized in current biology courses and textbooks, a radically new understanding has emerged at the leading edge of cell science. It is now recognized that the environment, and more specifically, our perception (interpre-tation) of the environment directly controls the activity of our genes. Environ-ment controls gene activity through a process known as epigenetic control.

This new perspective of human biology does not view the body as just a mechanical device. Rather, it incorporates the role of a mind and spirit. This breakthrough in biology is fundamental in all healing, for it recognizes that when we change our perception or beliefs, we send totally different messages to our cells and thus reprogram their expression. The new-biology reveals why people can have spontaneous remissions from disease or recover from injuries deemed to be permanent disabilities.