Over the last eighty years, the profession has experienced an undercurrent effort to align chiropractic with allopathic science, for biologists have obviously made great strides in understanding the mechanisms of life. Currently, conventional biology recognizes that the physical character and behavior of an organism is defined by its protein building blocks. Since the nature of proteins is “programmed” in DNA, medical science recognizes the following hierarchy in regard to information flow in living systems: DNA>RNA>Protein. Based upon this flow, contemporary biomedical thought is preoccupied with the concept of genetic determinism, the belief that an organism’s expression is primarily under the “control” of its genes.

As we approach the new millennium, leading edge cell research now reveals a profoundly different story. The primary difference concerns the fact that genes are not self-emergent.2 This means that genes are unable to turn “themselves” on and off, genes can not “control” their own expression. Obviously, this challenges the concept that genes “determine” our character.

How then are genes controlled? Within the cell’s nucleus, DNA (gene) molecules are ensheathed within a layer of regulatory proteins. Concealed (i.e., protein-encased) genes are inactive. Removing the protein “sleeve” exposes the gene and allows for its activation. The binding and release of regulatory protein is controlled by “environmental signals.”3,4 Consequently, active “control” of cell expression is in the hands of the environment and is not in the domain of the genes.

In contrast to genetic regulation, the “revised” version of information flow reveals that environment represents the prime source of control:

2Environment>Regulatory Protein>DNA>RNA>Protein The processing of environmental information and its translation into biological behavior is carried out by the cell membrane, the “skin” of the cell.5,6 The membrane separates the external non-self environment from the internal self, the cytoplasm. For the following, discussion refer to the illustration below.