Science reveals to us the inexhaustible richness of the world, its unexpectedness and wonder. Science does not profess to solve all problems. There are regions where its writ does not run. – Dr.S. Radhakrishnan

            Primitive man obtained his food much like other animals. He too was a hunter gatherer, but then agriculture happened and everything changed for him and his ecosystem. Man started living in close clusters. He domesticated animals. He was unburdened from the task of constantly looking for food. Family, as an institution, came into being. Now he had leisure which is a prerequisite for contemplation.

           Man wondered at the marvels of his existence and of his surroundings. He tried to find sense in various phenomena of the universe. He acquired the concept of God and spirit. With that he found a reference point for overcoming his fear of helplessness and he could develop a point of support. This acquisition led to initiation of religion as well as culture. God and spirit provided man a very useful and appropriate basis to come to terms with his existence and surrounding. The idea of an omnipotent, benevolent and compassionate God provided him a meaning to his being and support in difficulties. Religion provided him a code of conduct as well as sense of purpose. Religion professed to provide answer to all his queries. As more and more information was acquired and accumulated, man began finding answers to his queries without reference to God or ghost. Parallel lines of wisdom developed. Philosophy and science went on making great strides. Domain of God and ghost shrunk considerably.

           Publication of ‘’On the origin of species’’ by Charles Darwin in 1859 became the harbinger of revolutionary changes in approach to exploration in the areas of religion and wisdom. It denied the role of divine dispensation and presented life to be just matter at a higher state of organization. Divine dispensation has no role in the biological world. Natural selection and survival of the fittest meant that the living beings are perpetually embroiled in by struggle for existence. “Survival of the fittest” in a world, where survival is the sole objective of living provided a rationale to free market economy. Competition and Struggle, followed by Survival 0f the fittest became the buzzwords of enlightened.

         It is a commonplace observation that we are what our DNA is. This implies that our traits are predetermined in our genes and we are helpless about them. This is named Genetic determinism. Genetic determinism is the mechanism by which genes, along with environmental conditions, determine morphological and behavioural phenotypes Genetic determinism holds that genes control Biology. This implies that a person has no say in the way his biology is controlled because he does not determine his genetic endowments. So it would not be wrong to conclude that a person is victim of his heredity. Since the dawning of the age of genetics we have been programmed to believe that we are subservient to our genes. Genetically controlled traits are expressed through chains of chemical reactions that are directed and controlled by specific enzymes. The enzymes are protein molecules; the synthesis of these molecules is controlled and directed by Genes (DNA). This is how genes determine our traits. The environment provides the raw materials and ambience. Thus the environmental signals transcribe and translate the genetic message.

              New Biology shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology; that instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts. Dr. Lipton's profoundly hopeful synthesis of the latest and best research in cell biology and quantum physics is being hailed as a major breakthrough showing that our bodies can be changed as we retrain our thinking.

        Dr Bruce H. Lipton draws the outline of New Biology in his book ''Biology of Belief''. He confesses of being converted into a spiritual scientist on the basis of his studies and personal experiences.

         New Biology visualizes the organism- environment complex as an integrated whole. It moves away from Darwinian concept of competition and struggle of individuals for survival to Lamarckian concept of cooperation among species. New Biology revives the matter- mind conundrum, by suggesting that our thoughts influence our character and that our fate and behaviour is directly linked to our perception of the environment. In simple terms, the character of our life is based upon how we perceive it. In other words, the non-physical mind does influence the physical body as propounded by pre-Darwinian thinkers.

We “forget” about the cooperation necessary for evolution when Charles Darwin emphasized a radically different theory (c.f. Lamarck) about the emergence of life. He concluded 150 years ago that living beings are perpetually embroiled in a “struggle for existence”. For Darwin, struggle and violence are part not only a part of animal (human) nature but the principal forces behind evolutionary advancement. In the final chapter of the, Darwin wrote of an inevitable “struggle for life” and that evolution was driven by the war of nature, from famine and death. Couple that with Darwin’s notion that evolution is random and you have a world, as poetically described by Tennyson, that can be characterised as “red in tooth and claw”, a series of meaningless, bloody battles for survival.

`       Genetic evolutionists warn that if we fail to apply the lessons of our shared genetic destiny, which should be teaching us the importance of cooperation among all species, we threaten human existence. We need to move beyond Darwinian Theory which stresses the importance of individuals, to one that stresses the importance of community. British scientist Timothy provides evidence that evolution is more dependent on the interaction among species than it is on the interaction of individuals within a species. Evolution becomes a matter of the survival of the fittest groups rather than the survival of the fittest individuals.

Ref----- The Biology of Belief by Bruce H. Lipton, PH.D.