EcoBiotics, noun,
1. A science of human health that approaches the body as a living ecological system
2. A method of natural health enhancement that works to restore ecological balance within the body

EcoBiotic Research - Articles and Projects

The special importance of pleomorphism in EcoBiotic Research

One of the most critical concepts in the EcoBiotic view of health is a biological phenomenon called "pleomorphism." Like most concepts that challenge orthodox views, much confusion exists around this fundamentally simple concept.

In microbiology, pleomorphism refers to the ability of some organisms to change their outer form, their inner structure, and the life strategies in response to environmental clues.

One of the aspects of pleomorphism that has caused great confusion is that for some researchers, especially those with a background in immunology, pleomorphism is understood as a way that bacteria can simplify themselves to evade detection by the immune system. Cell Wall Deficient forms (CWDs), L-forms, spheroplasts, protoplasts, and mycoplasmas are some of the terms used to describe various types of these regressed bacterial forms. This "downward" shift in complexity can be referred to as "regressive pleomorphism."

However, pleomorphism has another face. Beginning with the work of Antonine Bechamp in the mid-1800s and continuing through the groundbreaking work of Gunther Enderlein (1872 - 1968), Royal Rife, and others, numerous researchers have observed cases in which simple, non-cellular particles appear to associate with one another to form more and more complex structures. These "emergent" pleomorphic forms will, under some circumstances, become perfect spheres and tubules, while under other conditions, they will become complex, branched filaments that precisely parallel the growth of fungal mycelia. This type of transformation can be refered to as "progressive pleomorphism."

It is as yet unclear whether these progressed forms represents a reversion of devolved, cell wall deficient bacteria back into their original morphologies, or if the forms are actual microbes that have somehow recombined into functional cells from materials already present in the medium. While this notion is challenging, and hints of "spontaneous generation," the processes that might be potentially involved are not that different from well known mechanisms of bacterial gene transfer such as transduction and transfection. The first article below, "The Theory of Pleomorphic Provolution," explores an evolutionary context in which this system might actually have an adaptive function.

Another possibility is that the complex, coherent forms that progress within a medium may represent "morphological markers" of cellular development, without actually becoming living cells. Nature has many comparable situations in which the morphology of microscopic elements combine to reflect a larger structure. The simplest example is a mineral crystal in which the electromagnetic conformation of an individual molecule repeats countless times to form the beautiful outer symmetry of the macroscopic crystal. This idea is explored in the article below on "Comparing Computer Simulations of Fungal Growth With Filamentous Forms Observed in Live Blood."

Understanding Dynamic Forms Observed in Live Blood

This short paper describes the forms that appear in live blood through the darkfield microscope and compares one class to idealized computer simulations of fungal growth. The paper suggests that many of the forms that appear in the blood are not actual bacteria and fungi, as Enderlein and others have suggested, but morphological markers for processes taking place within the body. In this light, analogies are drawn between these forms and other instances of "parallel morphologies," including the classical Doctrine of Signatures in herbology and the relationship between molecular charge fields and macroscope morphology in crystal growth.

The Theory of Pleomorphic Provolution -
Revisiting the Heresy of Spontaneous Generation

This paper explores a novel explanation for "progressive pleomorphism," the observation by some biologists that certain microorganisms can dramatically progress in complexity within the body. Some researchers, starting with Antoine Bechamp in the 19th Century and Gunther Enderlein in the 20th believed that the progression from benign, non-ceullar forms into pathogenic, cellular organizations is the foundation of chronic illness. This paper suggests that the advancement in complexity arises from a three stage evolutionary process. First, the bacterium or fungus evolves "in the wild." Second, it enters a host organism, in whose lineage it eventually devolves. Finally, some of the devolved elements recombine or "provolve," restoring a semblance of the original, complex organism.

An Open Letter on Pleomorphism-
Unbundling the Enderlein Legacy

Dr. Gunther Enderlein (1872 - 1968) was one of the most eminent microbiologists of the first half of the 20th Century. His most controversial work is his theory of "Bacterial Cyclogeny" which asserted that benign elements within the body are able to unify into living organisms, and that some bacteria are lower developmental stages of mold fungi. While many of Enderlein's notions collapse in the face of modern biological knowledge, this paper attempts to "unbundle" the lessons of Enderlein's work and briefly explores each one on its merits. It's the author's conclusion that while Enderlein's proposed mechanisms for these microbiological changes are no longer tennable, the underlying phenomena are none-the-less real, and that the clinical applications of Enderlein's work are of critical importance.