Re: can frog embryos change to salamander embryos by transmitting DNA info

Hello Richard,

I have read the text you linked to and watched the video you provided.  My understanding of this theory is that this scientist believes that DNA (and potentially other complex biopolymers) can transmit genetic information not only through the central dogma of biochemistry (DNA gives rise to RNA gives rise to effector proteins) but through other, less well-defined "waves."  I'm assuming that these waves are based on higher order physical structures of the DNA, but it is never made entirely clear where they originate. 

Certainly DNA and other biological molecules can bend electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths to provide information.  For instance, one of the most important experiments that led to the discovery of DNA's structure was the characteristic diffraction of x-rays by the double helix.  When scientists want to know the structure of a protein, one of the most helpful experiments can be shining x-ray radiation through a pure crystal of that protein and analyzing the diffraction pattern.  If this ability to alter EM radiation can be used to transfer information from one molecule to another, well...I am not so sure. 

I mostly focused on the text you provided.  The video was being translated through two languages (Russian to German, then to English), and I do not believe the interviewer was entirely objective, and I do not want to attribute opinions to Dr. Gariaev that might misrepresent his assertions.  In the text, Dr. Gariaev mentions an experiment where a group of rats are treated with a toxic glucose-mimicking chemical that specifically kills beta cells in the rodent pancreas, yielding diabetes.  He mentions that all of the rats died.  He then mentions that rats whose pancreata were exposed to light images/waves created by "reading" healthy pancreatic tissue from newborn rats survived.  Without seeing the primary data, I cannot make any judgment on this story one way or another.  Perhaps the second group of rats responded differently to the alloxan.   Perhaps the alloxan dose was different for the second group of rats.  Maybe only a few rats were tested, and randomness can explain these findings.  Maybe any combination of lights waves from a bio-computer can regenerate beta cell mass.  We cannot accept or reject any of these hypotheses (or Dr. Gariaev's hypothesis that the information from the healthy pancreas was recorded and then imposed on the unhealthy rats) without empirical data.

I searched all of my sources for refereed publications on WaveGenetics and could find no primary publications.  I can tell you that my opinion is that this is probably hokum.  If scientists were able to perform the miraculous feats Dr. Gariaev has claimed, they would be famous all over the world.  It would literally change even the most basic assumptions about biology, chemistry and physics.  Every other biologist on Earth would be racing to repeat these discoveries.  Journals would be climbing over one another to publish the papers associated with that group.  None of that seems to exist for WaveGenetics. 

As far as converting a frog embryo to a salamander embryo...again, I just cannot believe that assertion without seeing very convincing primary data.

As people who are interested in science, we should always strive to accent new theories and accept new phenomena.  Imagine how people must have first reacted when Becquerel discovered toxic energy pouring out of Uranium samples in the 1890s, for instance.  But we must always demand empirical data presentations before we believe new assertions. 

I hope this helps!

Billy.