Right From the Start: Chiropractic Philosophy and Modern Science
Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D.
Introduction
As a former medical school professor who currently lectures before chiropractors and chiropractic students, I must admit I am very perplexed about the academic foundation of chiropractic education. Major chiropractic colleges create an academic impediment that unknowingly destabilizes their students and hobbles their graduates’ effectiveness.
I am referring to the problem of incorporating a basic medical science curriculum in the foundation of chiropractic education. My concern is not with chiropractic-relevant descriptive courses, such as gross anatomy, neuroanatomy, physiology and neurophysiology. The problems are specifically generated in the presentation of cell biology and biochemistry. Unlike the other basic science courses, cell biology and biochemistry are more than just descriptive in nature. These courses define the “mechanisms” of life upon which modern medicine is built. The medical model, the allopathic healer’s Holy Grail, is derived from these biochemical mechanisms.
The truth of the model is so fundamental to modern science’s philosophy, it has acquired the status of The Central Dogma. This dogma defines the flow of “information” in biological systems. The information that shapes biological expression is presumed to express itself in a linear, unidirectional path. The chain of command originates with DNA (genes), the information is then translated into RNA, and finally expressed as proteins (i.e., the body).
The Central Dogma recognizes that genes are source and life’s character “unfolds’ from information codified in our genome. This assumption provides for genetic determinism, the belief that the traits and quality of our life are predetermined by the genes we acquired at conception.
Genes, are localized within the body’s cells. The cells surround, or are in the periphery of, the central nervous system. In the model, the flow of information starts with genes as source. Information relaying the character of the gene’s expression is sent to the central nervous system via peripheral sensory nerves. The information is then relayed from the spinal cord upwards to the brain, where the information is integrated into awareness. The allopathic model of information flow is: genes>outside>inside>down>above, which can be abbreviated as Genes>O>I>D>A.
I think you see where I am going with this: Chiropractic students are simultaneously taught two diametrically opposed philosophies:
Allopathic Philosophy Genes>O>I>D>A
Chiropractic Philosophy Innate>A>D>I>O
Each philosophy provides an intellectual foundation as to why that particular healing practice “works.” Chiropractic education apparently includes basic science courses so students can be as knowledgeable in “science” as their allopathic peers. This is deemed necessary, since science is the recognized source of truth in Western Civilization. If its “scientific”…it must be true. By teaching the gene-based medical model as truth to its students, chiropractic educators are brazenly negating the validity of their own philosophy and healing art. One cannot bow down to two different gods, nor can one ascribe to diametrically opposed philosophies at the same time.
Most chiropractic students are unaware of this glaring philosophical conflict, yet the discrepancy between the opposing models they are taught is programmed into their subconscious mind (Educated). Operating out of the purview of conscious awareness, the academic conflict programmed in the subconscious undermines the confidence of chiropractic students and practitioners. Built into the awareness of each chiropractor is the gnawing doubt that chiropractic is “not scientific.”
How can this academic paradox be resolved?
Don’t worry, it already has. The medical model of a gene-controlled biology requires that the human genome contain over 10,000 genes. The Human Genome Project results identified that only 34,000 human genes. Two thirds of the genes needed to support allopathic philosophy do not even exist. In light of these results, Nobel Prize winning geneticist David Baltimore concedes that genes do not provide for human complexity. In regard to what “controls” human biology, Baltimore concludes, “What does give us our complexity…remains a challenge for the future.” (Nature 2001, 409:816) Flawed assumptions have led to the allopathic medical model being thrown out the window.
A new scientific awareness had already begun to manifest while the genome project was capturing all the media’s attention. Interestingly, leading edge cell research now reveals that cells are controlled by the conditions of the environment. When the new model is applied to multicellular organisms, such as humans, information would flow from environment>brain>spinal cord>tissue, which may be penned as: Environment (Innate)>A>D>I>O.
Surprise—the new allopathic model is the old chiropractic model.
Bruce Lipton, Ph.D.
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Fascinating information, Dr. Matt.
