New Age Ideas

The Genie in Your Genes Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention

The Genie in Your Genes Epigenetic Medicine and the New Biology of Intention

Author Dawson Church applies the insights of the new field of Epigenetics (epi=above, i.e. control above the level of the gene) to healing. Citing hundreds of scientific studies, he shows how beliefs and emotions can trigger the expression of DNA strands. He focuses on a class of genes called Immediate Early Genes or IEGs. These genes turn on within a few seconds of a stimulus. They can be triggered by thoughts or emotions (”I loved that unexpected gift of roses Bill gave me” or “I’m so mad about what Uncle John said at the Christmas party”). Many IEGs are regulatory genes turn on other genes that affect specific aspects of our immune system, such as the production of white blood cells that destroy attacking bacteria and viruses. Epigenetics thus influences our health every day.

He coins the new term “Epigenetic Medicine” to describe healing techniques with epigenetic effects. He also summarizes the science behind the infant fields of Energy Psychology and Energy Medicine, both of which offer promising epigenetic medical therapies, and describes a few of the thousands of powerful personal breakthroughs that are being achieved by therapists, doctors and lay people praticing these techniques. The Genie in Your Genes shows that there is a sound theoretical framework, based on credible experiments, for understanding these astonishing results, and predicts that the insights of Epigenetic Medicine will dramatically advance the fields of both medicine and psychology in the coming decade.

Best of all, The Genie in Your Genes demonstrates that, by taking control of our consciousness and using it to influence our genetic expression, we can sometimes bypass years of therapy, as well as harmful drugs and invasive surgeries, to, in effect, do continuous genetic engineering on our own bodies. This can produce both immediate relief from long-standing anxieties and neuroses, as well as “miraculous” healing of persistent physical conditions, especially autoimmune diseases.

Among a new crop of books that chart the way to a positive health future, The Genie in Your Genes stands out as a solidly grounded and exciting pointer to the future possibilities of a medicine that links soul to body and mind.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Fascinating Introduction to the Medicine of the Future
Dawson Church, Ph.D., has gifted us with a truly fascinating and

important volume in his 2007 *The Genie in your Genes*.

As the prefix “epi” means “above,” this book is about

medicine at a level “above” the gene. Simply put, Dawson makes a

very strong case that the “medicine of the future” will be at least

partially rooted in the notion that our genomes are not fixed,

but that the our genetic code and certainly the way it expresses

is affected, in a direct minute-by-minute way, by our thoughts,

intentions, and feelings, as well as by external factors like diet

and exercise. As Dawson notes, our genome is more like a continuously

rewritten set of software instructions rather than being hard-coded

and immutable.

Unfortunately, modern science and the medical establishment as a whole

is saddled by a seemingly unshakeable conviction, which Dawson calls

“the dogma of genetic determinism,” that our genomes are permanently

fixed, and that the only place that “energy” comes in to healing is

when we plug in our machines that go “ping.” But Dawson shows,

through his meticulous reporting of the results of hundreds of

scientific experiments, that this is not the case at all.

According to Dawson, “As we think our thoughts and feel our feelings,

our bodies respond with a complex array of shifts. Each thought or

feeling unleashes a particular cascade of biochemicals in our organs.

Each experience triggers genetic changes in our cells….Research

is revealing that these activities, thoughts, and feelings have

profound healing and regenerative effects on our bodies, and we’re

now figuring out how to use them therapeutically.”

Consciousness, then, is a seminal key to health, wellness, and healing.

This is why Dawson, among other things, has founded the Soul Medicine

Institute. So if our “genes dance with awareness,” and the

“quality of our consciousness increases the flow of information along

our neural pathways,” then it makes perfect sense that the medicine of

the future might look very different then the incredibly ineffective,

costly, and “broken” system that currently prevails in the

United States. (Even far-sighted President Obama still calls for a

sweeping technological “cure” for cancer in our lifetimes, an

idea which, I believe, is rooted in a wrong-headed notion of what cancer

is, how it can be prevented, and how it can be treated and cured

in individual cases.)

Imagine, then, someone coming in to a doctor with a long-term,

intractable problem. (Dawson does acknowledge that for certain things,

like acute bacterial infections, broken bones, and appendicitis,

there is no substitute for Western technological medicine.) Well,

rather than initially resorting to prescription drugs or surgery,

the doctor of the future might prescribe meditation, affirmations,

or the use of one of the many “energy psychology” interventions,

such as EFT (emotional freedom technique), which can positively change

an individual’s energy constellation with just a few minutes of

“tapping” on well-established meridian points while saying a few basic

affirmations. (Google “EFT basic recipe” if you want to get going with

EFT on your own. It’s simple and easy, and I’ve experienced some

remarkable results after being trained by an experienced

EFT practitioner.) Dawson tells one lovely story of a very

sick man who, upon his visiting a doctor, prescribes many long

conversations with his rabbi, a prescription which ends up saving

the fellow’s life.

In addition to making it very clear how genes respond to internal inputs

(thoughts, feelings, prayers) and external inputs (exercise, diet),

he also does a very nice job in presenting the “bigger” alternative

medical picture. For example, he lays out the different communications

systems that the body uses. That is, not only do we have the

familiar chemical signaling system, but we also have an electromagnetic

signaling system which works at the speed of light, as well as

a “quantum” signaling system that is premised on “entanglement” and

that allows for all sorts of possibilities that modern medicine

doesn’t even consider, including “miraculous” healing, and healing

at a distance (through space *or* time).

Dawson does a very nice job in summarizing the different phases that

medicine has gone through in the United States. He also makes some

very nice comparisons between the kinds of treatments that

technological medicine offers versus what “soul medicine” can bring.

With numerous charts and examples, he shows why and how we should

start with the least invasive therapeutic interventions that can work

for someone, not the most expensive and technologically advanced ones,

especially when the efficacy of many drugs and technological

interventions are called into question by their “placebo effect”

cousins. (My good friend Dr. Jim Fadiman likes to speak about the

“placebo process” rather than the “placebo effect,” indicating, in

line with Dawson’s book, that much of what brings about health,

healing, and wellness has more to do with what we think, feel, and

expect than what is “done” to us.) Finally, the book ends with a

very practical discussion of how to choose an alternative practitioner

as well as some basic physical and energetic exercises

that anyone can do.

Part of what makes this book so good is the detailed discussions,

backed by many scientific studies, illustrations, and real-world

examples, of how the malleability of our genome actually comes

into play. For example, I loved the chapters on “The

Body Piezoelectric” and “The Connective Semiconducting Crystal,”

which lays out in very plausible terms how ancient healing systems

such as acupuncture may work (and maybe might even help explain

exactly why rebounding seems to be so good for people).

My only criticism of this book is that a couple of the chapters,

such as the one on “Scanning the Future,” while very interesting,

tended to be a bit too thin to add very much to Dawson’s main arguments.

That is, it’s truly mind-boggling to think about the fact that there

is very good experimental evidence for the fact that our nervous systems

seem to know, *ahead of time*, what is about to happen to us, but this

gets us into the whole realm of PSI, quantum physics, and so on,

and that’s a subject for a whole ‘nother book.

Overall, however, this is a fabulously interesting and well-researched

book, one that brings together many different streams of evidence and

reason in support of the notion that we are, indeed, far more powerful

than we often think we are or are told that we are. So while Western

technological medicine certainly has its place, it’s

not the only game in town, and in fact should be downplayed or

transcended as we come to realize that “energy” is real, that our

genome’s are not immutably fixed, and that there’s a great deal we can

do to take care of ourselves along the lines of holistic and

complementary medicine and “belief-based interventions.”

I experienced a kind of epic epigenetic epiphany in reading

this book, and I think you will too. Soul medicine, indeed.

5 Stars A treasure chest of ideas and references fro healthy living and aging
Dawson Church’s book is easily accessible for both lay persons and professionals in its clear exposition of the principles of genetic expression and/or suppression. This is a hopeful book for all who seek to understand how our thoughts and actions directly impact our cellular structures and expression of genetic material. Healthy living and aging are linked to our conscious choices with a wide range of research and publication references. I recommend this book, especially to baby boomers who seek documentation of the impact of their choices on body, mind and spirit in the second half of life.–Dr. Dorothea Hover-Kramer, author of “Second Chance at Your Dream”

5 Stars Phenomenal
If you are interested in owning a book that provides all the most current research that bridges spiritual belief and science, this is the book. It is the science behind things we have believed all along, and now have proof for those who did not accept healings and DNA change, etc.

5 Stars Good science to back higher consciousness practices
Like Dr. Bruce Lipton’s Biology of Belief, this book gives scientific credibility to many higher consciousness practices. You’ll find references to extensive research and inspiration for your own personal growth.

5 Stars Kudos for Genie in Your Genes
BS”D

This informative, well written book gives cutting-edge information about the “new medicine” (how your emotions effect your health), which is my specialty in my practice. It is also written in a flowing, easy to read and interesting manner, which the average reader will appreciate and get the most out of.

I enjoyed it immensely.

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