Abstract

In the course of this paper, we have set out to define a model integrating the Chinese and Indo-Tibetan traditional energy systems with our present-day understanding of how genes function within the organism.

For our model we have chosen the genes which code for the proteins P53, RB1 and CFTR.  The choice of these genes has been dictated by their multitude of functions in vivo:  the gene P53 is a tumor supressor, implicated in a great number of cancers;  the gene RB1 is involved in retinoblastoma;  the gene CFTR is responsible for the appearance of mucoviscidosis, or cystic fibrosis.  We have observed a certain number of correlations between the energy-based representation of genes in their normal and mutated states, and the corresponding physio-pathologies.

Introduction

Genes and DNA

Since the discovery of the structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1954, the understanding of the human genome and its approximately 100,000 constituent genes has continued to move forward, giving rise to a vast literature and new research.

The genes are formed with DNA made from four nitrogenous bases: Thymine T, Guanine G, Cytosine C, Adenine A.

Each gene, grouped into the 23 pairs of chromosomes making up the human genome, codes for one or several proteins corresponding to a specific action within the organism's functions.

From a functional standpoint, the sequence of genes is formed in the following manner:

Introns, formed by sequences of non-coding bases which are not transcribed in messenger RNA.

Non-coding exons, formed by sequences of bases which are also non-coding but which are transcribed in messenger RNA.

Coding exons, formed by sequences of bases transcribed in messenger RNA, functioning in codons or triplets (three adjacent bases), ensuring the synthesis of the correct proteins, with a specific amino acid corrresponding to each group of three bases.

The Traditional Energy System and Fractals

During the sixties, Dr. Borsarello, chief medical officer of the French Air Force, described in his acupuncture course the relationship existing between the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching, the traditional Chinese energy system, and the 64 codons of the genetic code.  Later, Dr. Martin Schoenberger [1] and Fritjof Capra [2] further developed this idea, although without formulating a practical application for it.

Relying on the theory of "fractals" elaborated by Benoît Mandelbrot [3] in 1975, it appears that both the human genome itself and the individual genes within the genome constitute complete energy-based systems, which obey the laws of regulation and functioning which the I Ching and the traditional Chinese energy system [4] allow us to identify, based on study of the human organism.  In fact, "a fractal is a mathematical object which has as its first property the fact that it is always identical to itself, no matter on what scale one is observing it;  this is the property of autosimilitude." [5]  This property is easily detectable in snowflakes as well as in the leaves of ferns.

This horizontal iteration may be extended over different degrees of the organization of matter, whether organic, cellular or molecular.  This may be viewed also as a vertical fractality, an iteration of qualities and functions using different types of energies or structures depending on the degree being observed at that moment, but definable according to one single mathematical schema.

Traditional Energy Systems and Genetics

The human energy system, studied from the traditional viewpoint of acupuncture, sets forth three levels defined according to their functions [6]. 

Four fundamental energies (1+3) are at the basis of this system:

Yuan Qi, original energy (original breath), spark of life, responsible for the continuity of the characteristics of a species (phylogenesis), the most basic of all energies.  Located at the point Ming Men, Yuan Qi is vital or "transcendent" (T) energy, present at all times and places.

Jing Qi, ancestral energy, inborn and acquired, responsible for the transmission of hereditary characteristics (ontogenesis), "genetic" (G) energy of the lower burner.

Yeung Qi, or Yang Qi, breath or respiratory energy, causing "combustion" (C), energy of the upper burner.

Gu Qi, food or "alimentary" (A) energy of the middle burner.

This correspondence, in English, between the initials (T G C A) of the four bases of the genetic code and those of the four fundamental life energies is purely fortuitous.  However, in analysing the mechanisms inherent in their relationship, the following points appear.  According to Chinese tradition, all creation takes place between Heaven and Earth, Heaven always being mentioned first since it existed before the Earth, although both resulted from the primordial separation.  The energy of giving, of love and of feeding is tied to Heaven which is the creator, the active Yang aspect;  vital energy is tied to Earth which is receptive, the passive Yin aspect.  The directions South and West come from Heaven, while North and East come from the Earth [7].

Within the living organism, according to traditional Chinese medicine, alimentary energy (A--Gu Qi) comes from the Heavenly creative energy of giving, of love and of feeding, and is analogous to the South, represented by two Yang lines place one above the other; ancestral or genetic energy (G--Jing Qi) is analogous to the West (represented by a Yin line placed over a Yang line).  Transcendent energy (T--Yuan Qi), analogous to the North (represented by a Yin line placed over a Yin line), comes from Earthly vital energy, as does respiratory or combustion energy (C--Yeung Qi), which is analogous to the East (represented by a Yang line placed over a Yin line).

The four nitrogenous bases of the genetic code belong to two groups, purines and pyrimidines, "Heaven and Earth."  Because purines are synthesized before pyrimidines, purines correspond to Heaven and pyrimidines to Earth.  Of the purines, adenine (A), the more active and therefore the more Yang since it is a component of ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and is thus necessary to cellular metabolism, is analogous to the South (and also to alimentary energy, A--Gu Qi), while guanine (G) is analogous to the West (and to genetic energy, G--Jing Qi).  It follows, in view of the adenine-thymine and guanine-cytosine links within DNA structure, that of the pyrimidines thymine (T) will be analogous to the North (and to transcendent energy, T--Yuan Qi), and cytosine (C) to the East (and to respiratory or combustion energy, C--Yeung Qi).

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the four great regions are thus shared out amongst the three levels of energy fabrication, distribution and use [8]:

The first level (Three Burners, San Jiao) includes two regions: the peripheral region, which receives the four fundamental energies, and the central region, which generates the two root energies, with for each of these two regions two aspects, internal and external, each one again subdivided into three subsidiary energy-based structures:

Region 1. 
Peripheral aspects of the three burners:  three energy-based structures for reception and three for prewarming, ensuring the internal (R) and external (F) functions of the upper warmer (RS and FS:  respiratory pathways), middle warmer (RM and FM:  upper digestive pathways), and lower warmer (RI and FI: uro-genital pathways).

Region 2. 
Central aspects of the three burners:  three energy-based structures for transformation and three for fabrication, ensuring the internal (R) and external (F) functions of the upper burner (RS and FS:  heart and respiratory functions), middle burner (RM and FM: digestive functions) and lower burner (RI and FI:  uro-genital functions).

The second level of energy distribution ("the passage from anterior heaven to posterior heaven," Hou tian--Qian tian [9]), contains:

Region 3. 
The eight energies of the Marvellous Vessels (Qi Jing Ba Mai) or secondary forces, organized according to the procreative (or generative) cycle (He Du) and responsible for distribution of the two root energies coming from the three burners: 

-nutritive energy (Yong Qi), centrifugal (Yin), represented by blood;

-defensive energy (Wei Qi), centripetal (Yang), governing surface tension.

The third level of usage of distributed energies contains:

Region 4.
Twenty-three utilizing energies:

-Eleven energies for internal functions (Organs/Viscera--Zang/Fu)

-Twelve energies for external functions (Acupuncture meridians--Jing Zhen).

Analytic Strategy

For practical purposes, the analysis of these three levels will take place through each of the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching.  The hexagrams are composed of six lines placed one on top of the other.  The lines may be Yin or Yang (0 or 1 in binary code [10]), the Yin lines being broken in two and the Yang lines being whole or unbroken.  Each hexagram may thus be analyzed according to three different mathematical approaches [11]:

Three times two lines (three bigrams) placed one over the other represent the four fundamental energies (T--G--C--A) functioning three by three--according to the 64 hexagrams--in the three burners which transform them.

Two times three lines (two trigrams) placed one over the other represent the eight secondary energies of distribution, eight hidden forces--hidden because they are undetectable at first sight, being mathematical entities--functioning two by two, according to the 64 hexagrams.

Six times one line (six monograms) represents the Yin or Yang aspect proper to the two distributed root energies, two hidden forces--also undetectable at first sight, being mathematical entities--functioning six by six, according to the 64 hexagrams.  By extension, these 64 hexagrams define the 23 utilizing energies by both their internal and external functions, and situate them in a precise manner.

Eight Hidden Forces:  Marvellous Vessels, Endocrine Glands and Chakras [12]

According to traditional Chinese medicine, the eight Marvellous Vessels, hidden forces making up the distribution system for the two root energies coming from the three burners, are located at the intersection of the fabrication and utilizing systems of an organism's energies, a location described as "the passage from anterior heaven to posterior heaven."  Controlling various functions within the organism, the eight Marvellous Vessels are as follows:

Thrusting Vessel:  Tchrong Mo (TchM), or Chong Mai (in pinyin)

Yin Linking Vessel:  Yin Oe Mo (IoM) [13], or Yin Wei Mai

Yin Heel Vessel:  Yin Tsiao Mo (ITM) or Yin Qiao Mai

Conception Vessel:  Jen Mo (VC-JM) or Ren Mai

Governing Vessel:  Tou Mo (VG-TM) or Du Mai

Yang Heel Vessel:  Yang Tsiao Mo (YTM) or Yang Qiao Mai

Yang Linking Vessel:  Yang Oe Mo (YoM) or Yang Wei Mai

Girdle Vessel:  Tae Mo (TaeM) or Dai Mai

An organism, seen from an anatomical and physiological standpoint, contains within its neuro-endocrine system eight main groups of endocrine glands, which control its various functions and are, as such, analogous to the eight Marvellous Vessels:

Hypothalamus, analogous to the Thrusting Vessel (Chong Mai)

Gonads, analogous to the Yin Linking Vessel (Yin Wei Mai)

Adrenal glands, analogous to the Yin Heel Vessel (Yin Qiao Mai)

Thymus, analogous to the Conception Vessel (Ren Mai)

Pineal gland, analogous to the Governing Vessel (Du Mai)

Pituitary gland, analogous to the Yang Heel Vessel (Yang Qiao Mai)

Thyroid and parathyroid glands, analogous to the Yang Linking Vessel (Yang Wei Mai)

Pancreas, analogous to the Girdle Vessel (Dai Mai).

According to Indo-Tibetan tradition, seven principal chakras or energy centers—Base or Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Frontal or Forehead, and Head or Crown--located vertically along the body, along with an eighth outlying chakra, the Spleen, control psychological and spiritual energy as well as the health of the physical body.  Corresponding on their own level to the Extraordinary Vessels and the endocrine glands, the eight chakras transmit the Vessels' and glands' energy impulses which come from the vehicles of consciousness, composed of subtle substance, for which the chakras serve as a fulcrum, retransmitting towards the upper levels those impulses which come from the physical body:

Lower etheric plane, instinctual, Spleen chakra (Swadhisthana), analogous to the Chong Mai and the Hypothalamus

Upper etheric plane, sensory, Sacral chakra (Swadisthana II), analogous to the Yin Wei Mai and the gonads

Dense physical plane, will to live and cohesion of matter, Base chakra (Mulhadhara), analogous to the Yin Qiao Mai and the adrenal glands

Intuitional plane, love-wisdom, Heart chakra (Anahata), analogous to the Ren Mai and thymus

Spiritual plane, will to be, Head chakra (Sahasrara), analogous to the Du Mai and the pineal gland

Upper mental plane, abstract mind, intelligent activity, Frontal chakra (Ajna), analogous to the Yang Qiao Mai and the pituitary gland

Lower mental plane, concrete mind, Throat chakra (Visouddha), analogous to the Yang Wei Mai and the thyroid and parathyroid glands

Astral plane, emotional, Solar Plexus chakra (Manipoura), analogous to the Dai Mai and the pancreas.

Thus, the Marvellous Vessels and the endocrine glands, as well as the chakras, function not only along the horizontal axis of energy regulation on its own level, but also along a vertical axis of transmission of information and energy from one level to another, and therefore are located at the hinge or turning point between psyche and physiology.

Energy-Based Gene Analysis:  Components

In keeping with the theory of "fractals", and considering that a gene is an energy-based system analogous to those described in Chinese tradition, there remains only the direct application of the preceding data to whichever gene one may wish to study.

Four potential energies, four nitrogenous bases, enter into the construction of a gene:

Thymine--analogous to Transcendent energy (T)

Guanine--analogous to Genetic energy (G)

Cytosine--analogous to respiratory or Combustion energy (C)

Adenine--analogous to Alimentary energy (A)

These relationships of analogy might be interchangeable, a priori;  however, as has been specified earlier, the placement of each base and of each corresponding energy is assigned according to the traditional Yin-Yang dialectic.  Moreover it turns out that, a posteriori or after the fact, an analysis of the I Ching demonstrates the truth of these analogies.  Without entering into excessive mathematical detail, one may note among other things the correspondence of the TGA stop codon with hexagram 12 of the I Ching, "Stagnation, Immobility, Disharmony," for which the traditional commentary, translated by Richard Wilhelm and Etienne Perrot [14], reads as follows:  "The heavens above withdraw, and the earth below plunges further into the depths.  Heaven and earth are not in reciprocal connection.  It is the time of stagnation and decadence...  Heaven and earth have no more commerce with one another, and all things become fixed."  What better definition could one give for the TGA stop codon, whose appearance marks the final point of the protein whose synthesis it halts?

In this connection, it is interesting to note that the Yin-Yang dialectic permits us to understand why three of the codons--TGA of which we have just spoken, TAG and TAA--do not specify any amino acid but instead function as punctuation.  We know the 64 triplets of the genetic code, made with the four bases T, G, C and A, functioning three by three.  We also know, according to the Yin-Yang dialectic, that all building starts from the center, through the intermediary of the North, and then, in a clockwise direction, through East, South, and West.  In fact, it is through the agency of the 64 codons that all protein is synthesized.  To understand how the energy of the center is manifested, energy that is invisible on principle and also hidden behind a "fence," as it were, of the 64 triplets, one may place it into an equation as an unknown quantity x, together with the four bases, also in threes, and then calculate for it a value of T, G, C or A according to the traditional laws of genetics.

Four bases working three by three make 64 triplets (4 to the 3rd power = 64);  five energies, of which one is unknown, also working three by three, make 125 triplets (5 to the 3rd power = 125).  Of these 125 triplets,

64 are triplets which only contain the known bases T, G, C or A.

61 are triplets containing the unknown energy x.

Thus, the center only has 61 opportunities to appear, which is to say again that the center, considered a generating system, may denote only 61 energies, not 64.  The rules pertaining to reproduction of nucleic DNA help define a value of T, G, C or A for the unknown energy x in each of the 61 triplets, excluding only the three codons TGA, TAG and TAA which, being in surplus, do not specify any amino acid.

Energy-Based Gene Analysis:  Regions

Based on the four fundamental energies, four regions may be defined:

Region 1. 
Peripheral aspects of the three burners:

Introns--analogous to the external (R--reception) and internal (F--prewarming) energy-based structures of the upper warmer (RS and FS:  respiratory pathways), middle warmer (RM and FM:  upper digestive pathways) and lower warmer (RI and FI:  uro-genital pathways).

Region 2. 
Central aspects of the three burners:

Non-coding exons--analogous to the external (R--tranformation) and internal (F--fabrication) energy-based structures of the upper burner (RS and FS:  respiratory functions), middle burner (RM and FM:  digestive functions) and lower burner (RI and FI:  uro-genital functions).

Region 3. 
Distribution of the two "hidden energies" produced by the three burners:

Eight hidden forces within the coding exons--mathematical entities, theoretically undetectable at this level, defined by the two trigrams making up each of the I Ching hexagrams--analogous to the eight Marvellous Vessels, the eight groups of endocrine glands and the eight chakras.

Region 4. 
Use of the two distributed "hidden energies"--mathematical entities defined by the Yin or Yang monograms making up the I Ching hexagrams, and expressed in:

23 amino acids [15], analogous to the 23 utilizing energies, of which:

11 energies for internal functions (9 + 2):  
hydrophilic amino acids, analogous to the organs.

12 energies for external functions (11 + 1): 
hydrophobic amino acids, analogous to the meridians.

This fourth region of protein synthesis corresponds to the application of the energies set in function by the gene involved, and in particular by its coding exons (analogous to the Marvellous Vessels, endocrine glands and chakras).  In carrying out the analysis of a gene, this region is thus as indissociable from the three previous regions which engender it, as are the organs and meridians from the Marvellous Vessels and the peripheral and central aspects of the three burners within the organism.

Analytic Models:  Genes P53, RB1 and CFTR

For our study, we are considering three genes:  the gene coding for P53, a tumor-suppressing protein;  the gene coding for RB1 (retinoblastoma); and the gene coding for CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator [16]), a molecule which controls the transfer of chloride and sodium ions, a process made impossible in cases of mucoviscidosis or cystic fibrosis.

The analysis of each gene is first concerned with the four regions specified above, along with the statistical study of the components of each;  next, it is concerned with the mutations of these genes with relation to specific pathologies (P 53:  cancers of various types;  RB 1:  retinoblastoma;  CFTR:  cystic fibrosis).  The results were compared with the elements of the traditional Chinese energy system, as they appear through study of the I Ching.

In order to make the interpretation easier to understand, analogies have been taken into account [17] between biological structures (gene components) and physiological or energy-based structures (components of the organism) which are grouped into the same coherence field:

In the region of the Three Burners, a peripheral function:

-Introns (nitrogenous bases) and reception energies (external: R) or prewarming energies (internal: F) of the upper warmer (RS and FS, respiratory pathways), middle warmer (RM and FM, upper digestive pathways) and lower warmer (RI and FI, uro-genital pathways).


In the region of the Three Burners, a central function:

-Non-coding exons (nitrogenous bases) and transformation energies (external: R) or fabrication energies (internal: F) of the upper burner (RS and FS, heart and respiratory functions), middle burner (RM and FM, digestive functions) and lower burner (RI and FI, uro-genital functions).

In the region of the distribution system:

-Eight hidden forces within the coding exons (2 trigrams making up each hexagram) and eight groups of endocrine glands (acupuncture: eight Marvellous Vessels;  Indo-Tibetan tradition:  eight chakras).

In the region of the utilizing system:

-23 amino acides (building blocks of protein) and 23 organs and meridians:

-11 hydrophilic amino acids and 11 organs for internal functioning [18]

-12 hydrophobic amino acids and 12 meridians for external functioning [19]

For practical purposes, the study of the introns has been carried out by twos and by threes, taking account of the various possibilities due to the extra bases (those not divisible by two or three), as follows:  without the first or without the last base;  without the two first or without the two last bases;  without both the first and last bases.  In sum, out of a desire for simplification and clarity, and since the results remain more or less the same in the other options, we have chosen the option of triplets, without the last or without the two last bases, depending on the case.