another cutting edge - Jeffrey Bland and Metagenics

[Guest guest]

If I may suggest a possible candidate for this bridge, if not in an

individual then at least in an institution, I think there is a huge

potential for the company I work for, Metagenics, to do very exciting

work in this line.

 

For those of you already familiar with Bland, president and chief

scientific officer of Metagenics, you will know that his work in

nutrigenomics (his own brand of proteogenomics) and functional

medicine is very very close to in its worldview.

For those of you that have ever attended any of his scientific

seminars and heard his asides, you will also know that his ideas on

placebo, resonance, the interactions of Prigogine-ic open systems and

the importance of trust in the therapeutic interaction begin to sound

identical to what we mean when we refer to Qi.

 

In the Metagenics congress that he presented here in Australia last

weekend, he talked about how the food we eat can no longer be simply

looked at as a bunch of calories, vitamins, minerals, etc that are

merely the raw materials that our body uses, but instead as a packet

of information the body processes to help itself decide how to shift

it's own homeostasis and which genes to express in what way. What a

perfect description of what a herbal formula is!

 

I have the feeling that Bland is not very familiar with TCM, though

he knows it is something to be respected. Here is the kicker -

Metagenics has recently merged with Healthworld, the Australian

company that distributes Sun Ten (Taiwanese Chinese herbal medicine

granules)in this country. So we now have this international entity

with a multimillion dollar research and scientific capacity, in close

connections with the premier Pharmaceutical company

with 60 odd years in CM herbal extract. Importantly, this aligns

financial interest with the pursuit of modernisation of CM ideas,

with the understanding from the very top that reductionistic science

is not the way forward. Can you see now why I am so excited?

 

Here in Australia Metagenics/Healthworld is a very significant

presence in the industry, that is well known for the quality of

practitioner education it provides for NDs. Since it picked up the

rights to distribute Sun Ten in Australia, it has been struggling to

provide the same cutting edge support for the TCM praccies here, so

far importing great names in traditional theory from Asia, but not

having the impact we desired. My and Dagmar's (also works for HW)

idea is that now science is beginning to recognisably see that CM

ideas are the way forward, we can begin to create seminars for both

TCM people and NDs that helps them better appreciate both in a

coherent framework.

(or anyone else appropriately qualified), any chance we can

interest you in creating and doing cutting edge scientific TCM

seminars in Australia? Don't hesitate to email me at

lchan to talk about what could be done.

 

Cheers

Li

 

 

 

 

, " "

<zrosenbe@s...> wrote:

> There is no doubt about this. I've been watching Leroy Hood's

work

> for several years now. He is a true pioneer, and has taken

biology

> to the next level with his emphasis on a systems approach to

biology

> and physiology. Definite parallels with CM theory.

>

> Now we need someone with enough grounding in both disciplines, or

> Chinese medicine and other related disciplines such as complex

> systems theory, to bridge the gap and state the case.

>

>

> On Jun 12, 2005, at 12:49 PM, wrote:

>

> > another cutting in western science is the resurgence of systems

> > biology. systems biology has come and gone over the years, but

it is

> > now solidly rooted in modern genomics. I won't upset you here.

Read

> > more at

> >

> > http://www.systemsbiology.org/Default.aspx?

> > pagename=whatissystemsbiology

> >

> > or in my blog. Suffice it to say I think this will have

> > ramifications for the understanding of TCM from a biomedical

> > perspective.

> >

> >

> >

> > Chinese Herbs

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >