Summary
It is evident that over the past 50 years a steadily increasing body of scientific knowledge has been acquired indicating the existence for functional electromagnetic properties within living organisms. Not in the mystical, vitalistic sense proposed by Galvani but resting upon modern knowledge of the electronic state of matter and electronic conducting mechanisms, as originally proposed by Szent-Gyorgyi.
The perineural cells of the CNS have been shown to have some properties analogous to semiconductivity and have been identified as responsible for the production and transmission of steady or slowly varying electrical currents within that tissue. This electrical activity has many characteristics of an organized data transmission and control system, with input parameters consisting of injury to the organism and controlled output functions of growth and healing, as well as a "biasing" action upon the function of the neurones proper. Specific solid-state electronic properties of the bone matrix have been identified which constitutes a "self-organizing system" that produces bone growth in response to applied mechanical stress. Growth functions, both in response to injury, mediated through the nervous system DC electrical activity, and in response to mechanical stress to bone, mediated through the piezoelectric properties of the bone matrix, operate by means of cellular responses to very low-level electrical currents of appropriate polarity. This has been determined to be, at least in part, mediated through an initial action upon the cell membrane, with subsequent activation of the internal DNA-RNA mechanism of the cell.
The implication of these findings would appear to be considerable. Clinically, the physician may be able to stimulate a desirable growth process by the application of appropriate electrical parameters, a therapeutic capability never before available. Included in the growth stimulation possibility it would appear feasible to postulate the ability to stimulate growth process, such as regeneration of missing body parts, normally lacking in the human. The "biasing" effect of the direct currents flowing within the CNS upon the action potential activity of the neurones proper could lead to more efficient clinical methods for the control of pain and the production of anesthesia. At the level of basic biological knowledge, further exploration of this electrical data transmission and control system could lead to a better understanding of a number of biological processes of a basic nature, which are poorly understood in the light of the chemical concept alone. Finally, the existence of such an electronic system within living organisms leads to the postulate that it could provide a linkage mechanism between electromagnetic fields in the environment and living things, with changes in the field being reflected in alterations of functions in the living organism.