orig posted (2000jan31) reposted & completed (2001apr08)**
Wilhelm Reich and orgone provided by PORE = Public Orgonomic Research Exchange ---- © Copyright 1995-2005
** last update (2005 Aug 7)

       One of the most fundamental components of every living organism, whether it be an a plant or animal, procaryote or eucaryote is the protoplasm: the material substrate in which all compounds that form a living organism develop their specific activity. The protoplasm is a viscous liquid of a grayish color surrounded by a membrane. It is composed of water, proteins and various organic and inorganic substances. But it is not just a simple mixture of this components, the protoplasm is highly organized, this organization is evident in the spatial distribution of components within the structure of the protoplasm. One of the most characteristic properties of protoplasm is its ability to undergo a sol-gel transformation. The relative viscosity of the plasma sol is low compared to the moderately rigid structure of plasma gel. The plasma gel is located externally, near the plasma membrane, while the low-viscosity plasma sol is located in the interior of the cytoplasm. Orgonomy postulates that protoplasm also has an specific OR charge which influences every dynamic aspect of biological processes.

    Living matter is represented by organisms: individualized biological systems that have a certain shape, a subtle structure, a fundamental organization and dynamic properties. All living organisms are capable of movement, division or reproduction and react to external stimuli. It is commonly believed that high temperatures have a destructive effect on organic matter and in all living organisms. Few species of microorganisms are capable of growing at temperatures over 45 to 50 o C, these are commonly called thermophyles, such organisms are found in few places in nature: sands and soils exposed to direct sun light, many thermal waters, and places of volcanic and geological activity. Experiments reveal that the most simple organisms, such as prokaryotes, can resist higher temperatures than eukaryotes and that none photosynthetic organisms are more heat resistant than photosynthetic organisms. Each species of organism is adapted to a particular range of 30 degrees C approximately and optimal growth occurs only at a more limited range. Lethal effects appear in any population of microorganisms, when the temperature overlaps the maximum value of temperature for optimal growth. Vegetative cells are destroyed within minutes when exposed to boiling water, yet some bacterial spores can resist boiling temperature during several hours. A method commonly used to destroy all spores in incubation media is fractional sterilization, in this, a culture is heated over 100 degrees C alternatively with periods of incubation during which spores germinate, the process is completed in three days. Every period of heating destroys germinated spores and vegetative cells. Incineration is also used to destroy living organisms, high temperatures (1400 o C) transforms organic matter to CO2 and soot (Pelczar et al., 1982). Nevertheless, experiments with various organic and inorganic substrates indicate that bions assembly in culture media after these substrates have been subjected to high thermal conditions that normally destroy organic molecules and other bio-components (Reich, W., 1938). The present study demonstrates the formation, growth, motility, reproduction and organization of bions at the structural and ultrastructural level of microscopic resolution using experimental thermal conditions that normally destroy all organic components present in the structure of vegetative cells and spores.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
      Ocean sand was obtained from Mochima National Park in Venezuela. The low levels of pollution in this area makes it an ideal place for biological studies of different marine species. Approximately 1.5 gr. of oceanic sand was placed on a spatula and heated for 1 minute to incandescence, using the flame of a Bunsen gas burner (1400 oC). The heated sand was then introduced in a series of 10 experimental test tubes (Sx) containing 10 ml of distilled water, the tubes were closed with a bakelite lid and kept at room temperature for 1 hour. A control series of 10 tubes (Sc ), using an equal amount of non-heated sand and distilled water, was prepared. In all tubes, the heavier sand particles are deposited under gravity at the bottom, forming a sediment, while a suspension of particles, mainly soluble salt and small molecules, form a clear supernatant. The composition of the control media (supernatant) in the control series was analyzed using a scanning analyzer Kevex EDX, model D 3. This supernatant was called Resuspended Marine Media (RMN), since it is composed of the minerals, salts, proteins and other bio-components present in the sea sand. The ionic composition and concentration of protein of this media was: K 36 %; Zn 18.54 %; Cl 36.11 %; Ti 7.60 %; S 1.20 %, Proteins 3.00 mg/20 ml. Both series, Sx and Sc, were placed in sterilizing conditions (121 o C, 15 pounds, 40 min.), after that the tubes were allowed to incubate at room temperature during 24 hours. Sterilization was repeated twice during a 48 hour period, allowing 24 hours of incubation between each sterilization. This process is called fractional sterilization and it is used to destroy both spores and vegetative cells in culture media. Bradford method was used to determine total protein content in control and experimental tubes every 48 hours. Conventional light microscopy was employed to study the growth and development of bions in vitro. For this, 10 to 20 ul of the supernatant was placed on a crystal slide for direct observation. Observations were recorded using a Kyowa medilux UX-12 light microscope and an adapted video JVC-CCD camara, all observations and recordings were made using the 1000x objective. The ultrastructural observations of bions and culture control media (MMR), were made using a Hitachi 2500 scanning electron microscope (SEM). The x-ray analysis of bions and culture media was performed using a scanning analyzer Kevex EDX, model D 3.

RESULTS
Light microscopy
       After 24 hour, in the (Sx) culture tubes, round vesicles 2-10 um in diameter, containing a clear liquid or protoplasm and surrounded by a thick membrane appear in the media. These vesicular structures refract light intensely (Fig 1).Some of these vesicles present a "tail" of cilia like structures and show autonomous movement (recorded in video).

At 48 hour different types of vesicles appear in the culture media. Some vesicles have an elongated shape while others show a rounded or ovoid shape and protruding motile extensions (Fig. 2).

Vesicles from day 2 up to day 10 form clusters (Fig. 3a),

individual or isolated vesicles are also observed (Fig. 3b).

Vesicular structures were not observed in the control tubes (Sc) during the same period of incubation and observation.

Bradford method for total protein content: growth curve

graph 1:

Protein content in Sx diminishes during the first two days in cultures, after fractional sterilization, it reaches its maximum peak at day 10 (10ug/20ul) and then diminishes uniformly to reach almost the initial value (Graphic 1).

Protein concentration in Sc remained stable (3ug/20ul ± 0.5) during the 12 days of incubation.

Ultrastructural (SEM) and X-ray analysis
Figure 4 shows a micrograph of control media (RMN) from Sc with irregular condensations containing mostly Cl, K, S, Ti and Zn (3500x).

In (figure 5) (1500x), Sx cultures show a distinct crystalline arrangement. Among the smaller crystalline forms, larger structures surrounded by a white material are found.

With larger magnifications, this crystalline region exhibit small rounded vesicles covered by a membranous structure (Fig. 6).

Some of this ovoid vesicles can bee seen covered by a white material, giving them a rough appearance (Fig. 7 below).

In some cases the irregular white material covers most of the surface of the vesicular structure (Fig 8).

Other unusual structures present in cultures (Sx) were highly organized porous leaf like structures (Fig. 9, Fig. 10), not reported to the present date.


These structures are the microscopic equivalent of a sea gorgonia and which I termed microgorgonia sp., these microgorgonia have deposits of a white material on their surface (Fig.11, Fig.12 below). The x-ray analysis revealed a high calcium content (95.17%) of this white material present in many covered vesicles and in the porous structure of these microgorgonia and a smaller amount of Strontium (2.88%). These components are probably in the form of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and strontium carbonate Sr CO3 respectively.

Larger ameboid structures were also observed "crawling" over the crystalline structure (Fig. 13 below).

Irregular wrinkled vesicles were also present in culture media (Fig.14 below),

some of them exhibit an inner cavity (Fig.15 below).

Pointed, needle like structures could also be seen in some samples from Sx (Fig.16, Fig.17).

Highly organized bionous structures with numerous cilia-like projections were also observed in cultures in the Sx indicating an autonomous ciliary motility (Fig. 18 below). In these vesicles the external calcium "armor" is absent.

DISCUSSION
         All the structures observed show morphological and kinetic characteristics of complex living organisms: they are surrounded by a thick membrane structure containing a protoplasm, are capable of growth and division, and are capable of movement. Contrary to what would be expected, Sx cultures show an increasingly amount of newly formed protein, as shown by the Bradford curve. These proteins must have been created de novo, since the method of incineration and fractional sterilization destroy or denaturalizes completely all bio-componets in the media. Although this synthesis can not be understood by appealing to conventional scientific knowledge, orgonomy explains this synthesis de novo in the Sx cultures by primary formation process, that is biosynthesis of bio-components from primeval cosmic orgone energy. SAPA bions also exhibit autonomous movement as can be seen in video tape recordings. All these are unique features that distinguish the living organisms from the non living matter, therefore these bions can be considered living structures in almost every sense; the presence of DNA in this structures is yet to be determined. The ultrastructural and x-ray analysis of bion formation and growth in vitro indicate that, once bions are formed in culture conditions, some of them undergo a process of biomineralization that ends with the formation of a calcium rigid structure, or "armor" around them. This process of self-assembling and formation of an external "armor" or skeleton around SAPA bions is similar to the biomineralization process described for some marine microorganisms. Recent investigations of biomineralization and molecular tectonics show that specific molecular interactions at inorganic-organic interfaces can result in the controlled nucleation and growth of inorganic crystals on an organic matrix (Mann S. et al., 1993; Mann S., 1993). The process called biomineralization occurs in complex materials, such as bones, shells, and teeth. Biomineralization occurs when a pre-organized organic surface serves as template for the subsequent nucleation and growth of the inorganic species. Although details are not yet available, it is considered that the assembly of mineral nuclei is generally governed by electrostatic, structural and stereo chemical factors at the inorganic-organic interface (Mann, S., 1988). The final structure is determined by the dynamic interactions among the organic and inorganic phases and the influence of temperature, ionic strength, pH and concentration (Fioruzi A. et al., 1995). This process is not restricted to the higher organisms but is characteristic of many simple organisms such as bacteria, marine algae and protozoa. It has been a goal of scientists to understand and mimic this self-assembling process in nature in order to create novel composite materials. The study of natural models of biomineralizatión is also relevant in materials chemistry for the development of precisely controlled synthesis of self-assembled intelligent materials (Mann, S., 1993). A great variety of elaborate molecular, microscopic and macroscopic structures composed of bioinorganic materials are produced in nature by self-assembling processes under different physical and chemical conditions. Such elaborate and precise three-dimensional natural architectures, use CaCO3, CaPO4, SiO4 and other relatively simple inorganic minerals, assembled into pre-organized organic frameworks, to produce durable and adaptive biomineralized structures such as bone, teeth, the skeletons of some marine algae like: radiolaria, diatom frustules, cocoliths, seashells, and others.

            Calcium salts are not the only minerals found in biological systems, many unicellular organisms build cytoskeletons by depositing hydrated silica, (??-a for-??) of amorphous glass. Minerals are also used in different functional mechanisms: as magnetic sensors in magnetotactic bacteria (Fe3 O4 ), gravity balance devices (Ca CO 3 , Ca SO 4, Ba SO4), defense against predators (Si O2, Ca CO3), iron storage and mobilization (Fe2O3 . n H2O in protein ferritin), love darts in snails (Ca CO3) and eye lenses (CaCO3) in fossilized trilobites. The hard parts formed by these minerals are living structures that may undergo active demineralization and remodeling in response to environmental and biological stress. Bone, for example, provides an essential store of calcium in vertebrates and calcium oxalate is a calcium source in plants (Mann, S., 1988).

            This discovery of bion formation at the ultrastructural level of biological organization revealed the ubiquity of this process in the microscopic realm of nature. The ultrastructural analysis also demonstrates that in some cases, bion formation is accompanied by a process of biomineralization and the self assembly of an external calcium "armor", unique porous "leaf like" skeletons with a high calcium content were found in some cultures, their appearance is that of microscopic gorgonia, therefore coined microgorgonia sp. All these findings add a new dimension to the process of bion formation, both in vitro as in natural extreme thermal conditions. The presence of different types of shapes, sizes and structures of bions in culture indicate the many possible adaptations of these newly differentiated forms of life, pointing directly to the origin and evolution of microscopic life. The fact that all the structures observed assemble and grow in vitro when media is submitted to extreme thermal conditions which usually kill other living organisms, even the most heat resistant thermophyles and spores, indicates a process of continual creation in the evolution of species in the microscopic realm, a process that may show some parallels with the evolution and adaptation of multicellular organisms. At the molecular level synthesis de novo of proteins occur although cultures are subjected to extreme thermal conditions that destroy all bio-components. These synthesis de novo is used as an indirect measure of growth in these cultures. While Sx cultures exhibit growth and therefore increase in protein content, Sc shows a rather low and stable content of protein in the culture media. Thus bions can be considered in every sense as a preliminary and fundamental stage in the evolution of life; they are transitional forms from the inorganic stage of organization to the organic and living condition of evolution. The extreme temperatures needed to induce the fast development and growth of bions in laboratory conditions sheds some light into the process of biogenesis, the synthesis of bio-molecules, the structure, the orgonomic dynamics of protoplasm, cellular components and the appearance and evolution of life in the extreme thermal conditions of the primitive Earth.

REFERENCES
Pelczar, Michael J., Reid Roger D., Chan E.C.S.
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Fioruzi, A. Kumar D., Bull L. M., Besier T., Sieger P., Huo Q., Walker S.
A., Zasadzinski J. A., Glinka C., Nicol J., Margolese D., Stucky G. D.,
Chmelka B. F.
Cooperative Organization of Inorganic-Surfactant and Biomimetic Assemblies
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Mann, S.
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Nature, 332, 119-124 (1988).

Mann , S.
Molecular tectonics in biomineralization and biomimetic materials chemistry
Nature 365, 499-505 (1993).

Mann Stephen, Archibald Douglas D., Didymus Jon M., Douglas Trevor, Heywood
Brigid R., Meldrum Fiona C., Reeves Nicholas J.
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Reich, Wilhelm
The Bion Experiments, On The Origin Of Life
Octagon Books, Farrar Straus Giroux, New York (1938)

Reich, Wilhelm.
The Discovery of the Orgone: II. The Cancer Biopathy. Orgone Institute
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Walsh, D. & Mann, S.
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Notes:

Experiments and observations of SAPA bions growth and development in rich media (HBI) cultures, comparative analysis of some aditional video sequences on Brownian movement of staphilococus.sp and the autonomous movement of SAPA bions as well as reactions between different cultures, pH variations in cultures and some other biochemical data were not included in the present paper for reasons of space and unity of reults.

* Highly active SAPA bion culture sequence recommended for Web. Publication or/and any video sequence of SAPA bions in RMM in which bions exhibit their autonomous movement clearly.

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