Introduction
Throughout much of history, human civilizations have adapted to their
environments, which have remained largely predictable over many
generations. Beginning with the Industrial Revolution and exacerbated by
the consequential growth in human populations, the world’s environments
have undergone major changes that have negatively impacted the welfare
and diversity of plants and animal wildlife. In more recent years, the
quality of human life in many parts of the world has been adversely
affected by environmental changes. There is an increasing prevalence of
chronic illnesses, crop failures, droughts, fires, and overt pollution
of the air and many of the World’s waterways. With an estimated 250
billion tons of yearly production [1], synthetic chemicals are
considered the major contributing factor to environmental pollution.
Chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, are also widely considered the
answer to improving health and reversing environmental damage. This
article challenges this assertion by suggesting an energy-based
alternative. It is helpful, nevertheless, to review the progress
occurring in biological and environmental sciences.
Biological research primarily focuses on discovering details of the
chemical pathways that sustain living processes. The major theme of
current research is to identify and, thereby, explain various anomalies,
which can impair normal living functions. Additional endeavors seek ways
to improve life, such as increasing longevity. The studies can range
from the analysis of single chemical reactions to the biochemistry of
whole cells and entire organisms. There are also analyses of the complex
interactions of multiple life forms with one another and with their
physical environments. Groupings of the interactions within the latter
category are referred to as ecosystems [2].
The driving motivation for much of the current research is the discovery
of patentable ways of modifying biological and environmental elements so
that the discoveries can be monetized. This is easier for narrowly
defined aberrant biochemical pathways that can be presumptively linked
to specific human illnesses. The findings lead to therapeutic attempts
to chemically alter the aberrant cellular biochemistry on the premise
that the interventions will specifically correct the identified
anomalies. It is more likely that the interventions will concomitantly
affect other aspects of cellular biology causing various adverse side
effects. These can be hidden or dismissed because of the failure of full
corporate disclosures and conflicts of interest biases by regulatory
officials, respectively. Of greater concern are unforeseen long-term
consequences, which can result in catastrophic disasters, some of which
are never openly discussed. The emergence of AIDS from the use of
chimpanzees in the testing of polio vaccines is a likely example
[3].
Environmental endeavors to add, remove, or modify components within
disordered ecosystems are even less effective and more prone to
unintended adverse consequences. Numerous unknown relationships may
exist within complex ecosystems that only become apparent as the
adversities emerge. Moreover, seemingly distinct ecosystems may also be
shown to depend on one another with extended adverse consequences. The
risks of uncontrollable spreading of environmental and health-related
damage particularly apply to genetic manipulations that seek to alter
the cellular biochemistry of certain types of plants and animals. The
use of virus vaccines and sub-viral components falls within this
category [3-5] It is hard to ensure that introduced modified genes
or infectious agents will not undergo interspecies transfer. This has
already occurred with the renegade cellular and bacterial genes
identified in stealth-adapted viruses [5]. Certain of these viruses
arose from polio vaccines produced in cultured cells from
cytomegalovirus-infected monkeys [3-5].