Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 5.3
Gurwitsch's onion root experiment (
source
: http://www.21st
experiments. Meanwhile, biology moved on to a golden age of
genetics supported by the numerical calculations of QM and the
discovery of the helical structure of DNA. The molecular viewpoint
now dominated, and the field view remained unsupported for
severaldecadesuntilQuickendenandPoppfromthe1970sonwards
used photomultiplier techniques to successfully determine UV
fields were truly involved in cellular dynamics. These techniques
originated in astronomy where very weak photon streams could
be accurately measured across the universe. Using modern photon
counters the biophotons from strands of DNA were found to be
coherent, as ifthe DNA were acting like a biologicallaser.
In general, from around 1970, the microbiological community
no longer saw UV radiation as centrally involved in division and
growth. Rather it was seen as a by-product, a result of what
was considered to be a more fundamental biochemical action. Yet
once realised, the field view did not go away. In 1996 Fleming
saw the role of membrane protein diffusion in attaining the
amazingly high dielectric permittivities of some tissues such as
the liver (
ε
≈
10
7
). In this view the membrane proteins
of many neighbouring cells polarise and align, causing enormous
magnificationoftheoriginalsignalfromasinglecell.Measurements
reveal this amplification occurs for both static and time-varying E
field sources. A corresponding rotation of the membrane proteins
occurs with both static and time-varying H field sources, perhaps
liver
r
