Trying to uncover the cause of Morgellans

Agrobacterium & Morgellons Disease, A GM Connection? by Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Prof. Joe Cummins

Global Research, August 20, 2008

Preliminary findings suggest a link between Morgellons Disease and Agrobacterium, a soil bacterium extensively manipulated and used in making GM crops; has genetic engineering created a new epidemic? A fully illustrated and referenced version is posted on ISIS members’ website. Details here. An electronic version of the complete report, or any other complete ISIS report, can be sent to you via e-mail for a donation of £3.50. Please e-mail the title of the report to: report@i-sis.org.uk CDC launch investigation on Morgellons’ Disease The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in the United States announced the launch of an investigation on ‘Morgellons Disease’ in January 2008 [1], after receiving thousands of complaints from people with this bewildering condition, which it describes as follows [2]: “Persons who suffer from this unexplained skin condition report a range of cutaneous (skin) symptoms including crawling, biting and stinging sensations; granules, threads, fibers, or black speck-like materials on or beneath the skin, and/or skin lesions (e.g., rashes or sores). In addition to skin manifestations, some sufferers also report fatigue, mental confusion, short term memory loss, joint pain, and changes in visions.” Morgellons Disease first became known in 2001, when Mary Leitao created a web site describing the illness in her young son, which she named after a 17th century medical study in France describing similar symptoms [3]. Until then, people with Morgellons Disease have been diagnosed as cases of “delusional parasitosis”, in which the symptoms are deemed entirely imaginary, and lesions allegedly due to self-inflicted wounds. Indeed, the debate over Morgellons Disease has continued in the pages of medical and scientific journals right up to the CDC’s announcement [4-7] Dr. Michele Pearson, principal investigator for the CDC said [1] that the primary goals of the study are “to learn more about who may be affected with this condition, the symptoms they experience and to look for clues about factors that might contribute to the condition,” adding that the condition is “complex”, and “may be due to multiple factors.” In response to questions from journalists at the CDC press conference, Pearson said: “ We are aware that many patients have suffered from this condition. And, I can tell you that here at CDC, we have really been seeing an increasing number of these reports over the past year or so.” CDC’s investigation is to be carried out in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research and the US Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Dr. Joe Selby, Director of the Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research, said the study would proceed in three stages. In the first stage, they will identify all members who may have seen a Kaiser Permanente physician with symptoms suggestive of this condition at any point during the 18 months between July 1 2006 and December 31, 2007, and determine whether they meet eligibility criteria for the study. In stage two, all eligible members will be invited to complete a comprehensive web based or telephone survey conducted by the CDC that examines the duration and severity of a variety of symptoms. And in stage three, those with active symptoms will be invited to the division of research for an extensive clinical examination including collection of skin biopsies, blood and urine samples. In a paper [6] published in 2006, researchers from the Morgellons Research Foundation [3] identified the states of California, Texas and Florida as having the highest number of cases of Morgellons disease in the United States. Primary clusters were noted in Los Angeles and San Francisco (California) and Houston, Dallas and Austin (Texas). California accounted for 26 percent of cases in the US, but all 50 US states and 15 other nations, including Canada, the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands, have reported cases of Morgellons disease. The two main occupational groups reporting symptoms are nurses and teachers, with nurses outnumbering teachers three to one. The risk factor common to both groups is suspected to be the possibility of transmitted infectious agents. Skin lesions and fibres may not be readily apparent in all individuals with the disease, as family members of patients often report similar systemic disease symptoms without skin symptoms. Families in which all members are affected often have suspected simultaneous exposure to an inciting agent. Contact with soil or waste products appears to be associated with the disease. Cases have been reported in cats and dogs, as well as horses. What finally prompted CDC to investigate the disease? The Morgellons Research Foundation [3] was set up in 2002 in honour of Mary Leitao, the Foundation’s executive director. It publicises the plight of patients with similar conditions and operates a registry of afflicted families. The Foundation also funds scientific research. It has a Medical Advisory Board of seven with M.D. degree and two with nursing degrees. In addition, it has a Board of Nursing with five other nurses, and a Scientific Advisory Board of six scientists, all with Ph.D. degree; one of which is Vitaly Citovsky. It may have been Citovsky’s discovery last year that finally persuaded the CDC to announce an investigation. The Agrobacterium connection Vitaly Citovsky is a professor of molecular and cell biology at Stony Brook University in New York (SUNY). He is a world authority on the genetic modification of cells by Agrobacterium, a soil bacterium causing crown gall disease in plants, that has been widely used in creating genetically modified (GM) plants since the 1980s because of its ability to transfer a piece of its genetic material, the T-DNA on its tumour-inducing (Ti) plasmid to the plant genome (see later for details). Citovsky’s team took scanning electron microscope pictures of the fibres in or extruding from the skin of patients suffering from Morgellons disease, confirming that they are unlike any ordinary natural or synthetic fibres (see Fig. 1, assembled from Citovsky’s website [8]). Figure 1. Scanning electron microscope images of fibres from skin biopsies of patients with Morgellons Disease - a, white fibre with calcite, scale bar 10 mm; b, green fibre with alumina ‘rock’ protruding, scale bar 20 mm; c, various ribbon-like, cylindrical and faceted fibres all coated with minerals, scale bar 10 mm; d, skin lesion with fibres stabbing through the epidermis, scale bar 300 mm They also analysed patients for Agrobacterium DNA. Skin biopsy samples from Morgellons patients were subjected to high-stringency polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for genes encoded by the Agrobacterium chromosome and also for Agrobacterium virulence (vir) genes and T-DNA on its Ti plasmid. They found that “all Morgellons patients screened to date have tested positive for the presence of Agrobacterium, whereas this microorganism has not been detected in any of the samples derived from the control, healthy individuals.” Their preliminary conclusion is that “Agrobacterium may be involved in the etiology and/or progression” of Morgellons Disease. The unpublished findings have been posted on a website [8] since January 2007. They were further publicized in the “first ever” Morgellons conference in Austin Texas, attended by 100 in March 2008 [9]. A growing list of people are registered with Morgellons Disease, totalling 12 106 worldwide recorded by Morgellons Research Foundation [3], as of 12 April 2008. San Francisco physician, Raphael Stricker, one of only a few doctors who believe the disease is real, said [9]. “There’s almost always some history of exposure to dirt basically either from gardening or camping or something.” He is one of the co-authors on the Agrobacterium research done in SUNY, which reported finding Agrobacterium DNA in all 5 Morgellons patients studied. Stricker suggests it is transmitted by ticks, like Lyme disease, and in a recent survey of 44 Morgellons patients in San Francisco, 43 of them also tested positive for the bacterium causing Lyme disease. Another factor consistent with Agrobacterium being a causative agent, if not the causative agent, is that when patients are treated with antibacterials for their Lyme disease, remission of Morgellons symptoms is seen in most of them [6]. Stricker also told his audience that Agrobacterium lives in the soil, and is known to cause infections in animals and human beings with compromised immune systems. It can cause skin lesions when injected into Swiss mice, a strain that is immune deficient, he said. At this point, the findings on the Agrobacterium connection are still preliminary, as only seven patients have been studied. Nevertheless, the implications are far-reaching if this connection is confirmed, as existing evidence (reviewed below) suggests a link between Agrobacterium and genetic engineering in the creation of new disease agents, and it is paramount for the CDC investigation to include this aspect, if only to rule it out. Agrobacterium and the genetic engineering connection Agrobacterium not only infects human and other animal cells, it also transfers genes into them. It was SUNY professor Citovsky and his team that made the discovery some years ago [10]. Until then, the genetic engineering community had assumed that Agrobacterium did not infect animal cells, and certainly would not transfer genes into them. Agrobacterium was found to transfer T-DNA into the chromosomes of human cells. In stably transformed HeLa cells, the integration occurred at the right border of the T-DNA, exactly as would happen when it is being transferred into a plant cell genome, suggesting that Agrobacterium transforms human cells by a mechanism similar to that involved in transforming plants cells (see Box 1). Human cancer cells, neurons and kidney cells were all transformed with the Agrobacterium T-DNA. Commenting on this research in 2001, Joe Cummins had warned of hazards to laboratory and farm workers [11] (i-sis news11/12) The Agrobacterium vector system for gene transfer Since the discovery in the 1970s that Agrobacterium can transfer genes into plants causing crown gall disease, the soil bacterium has been developed into a vector for inserting desirable genes into the plant genome to create transgenic (GM) plants [12]. Agrobacterium transfers T-DNA – a small region of approximately 5 to 10 percent of a resident tumour-inducing (Ti) or root-inducing (Ri) plasmid – into numerous species of plants; and as later turns out, also to fungi, algae, and even animal and human cells [13, 14] (see main text). Transfer requires three major elements [13]: T-DNA border direct repeat sequences of 25 base pairs that flank the T-DNA and delineate the region transferred into the host, the virulence (vir) genes located on the Ti/Ri plasmid, and various genes on the bacterial chromosome. Plant genes are also involved in the successful integration of T-DNA [15]. The T-DNA contains oncogenes (cancer genes or gene for forming tumours) and genes for synthesizing opines; none of which is essential for T-DNA transfer, so they can be deleted and replaced with genes of interest and selectable markers. Furthermore, the vir genes and T-DNA region need not be on the same replicating plasmid. This gave rise to the binary vector systems in which T-DNA and the vir genes are located on separate replicating units. The T-DNA containing unit is the binary vector and contains also the origin(s) of replication that could function both in E. coli and Agrobacterium tumefaciens, and antibiotic resistance marker genes used to select for the presence of the binary vector in bacteria. The replicating unit containing the vir genes is the ‘helper’ plasmid. Strains of Agrobacterium harbouring the two separate units are considered ‘disarmed’ if they do not contain oncogenes that could be transferred to a plant. The association of Morgellons Disease with dirt and soil where Agrobacterium lives, the widespread use of Agrobacterium in genetic engineering of plants, and the ability of Agrobacterium to infect human cells, all point towards a possible role of genetic engineering in the aetiology of Morgellans disease via Agrobacterium. Extensive genetic manipulation of Agrobacterium does have the potential to transform it into an aggressive human pathogen. Genetic engineering is nothing if not enhanced and facilitated horizontal gene transfer and recombination, which is widely acknowledged to be the main route for creating new pathogens. Mae-Wan Ho was among an international panel of scientists have raised this very issue in 1998, calling for a public enquiry into the possible contributions of genetic engineering biotechnology to the aetiology of infectious diseases which has greatly increased since genetic engineering began in the 1970s [16]. The epidemiological data of Morgellons Disease are very incomplete, and the Morgellons Research Foundation’s registry of more than 12 000 families afflicted worldwide is almost certainly only a fraction of the emerging epidemic. Still, it is significant that the majority of the cases are in the United States, the first country to release GM crops and remaining the top producer ever since. There are other findings implicating Agrobacterium in transgenic plants released into the environment, particularly during the early years of field trials, when knowledge was poor and safety measures not as stringent as they may be today. Agrobacterium persists in transgenic plants and is a vehicle for gene escape By the late 1990s, the Agrobacterium vector system became very widely used, and many GM crops created were commercially released. Scientists at the Kinsealy Research and Development Centre in Dublin, Ireland, and the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee, Scotland, were concerned that the inserted genes in plants would spread to wild populations by cross-pollination or by horizontal gene transfer to unrelated species, which was by then well-documented in the scientific literature. They considered it “imperative” to address the risk posed in using Agrobacterium as a tool in genetic engineering [17], given its ability to transfer genes to plants. The transformation procedure involves inoculating the cells or tissue explants with Agrobacterium and co-cultivation the plant cells and bacterium for a short period, followed by the elimination of the bacterium with antibiotics. However, if all the bacteria were not eliminated, then “release of these plants may also result in release of the Agrobacterium [with the foreign genes]”, which will serve as a vehicle for further gene escape, at least to other Agrobacterium strains naturally present in the soil. Although various antibiotics have been used to eliminate Agrobacterium following transformation, the researchers stated that “very few authors actually test to ensure that the antibiotics succeed.” The difficulty is compounded because the bacterium can remain latent within the plant tissue. So putting transgenic plant material into culture medium without antibiotics and finding no Agrobacterium is no guarantee that the transgenic plant is free of the bacterium, as was often assumed. In their study, they investigated the ability of antibiotics to eliminate Agrobacterium tumefaciens after transformation in three model systems: Brassica (mustard), Solanum (potato), and Rubus (raspberry). The antibiotics carbenicillin, cefataxime and ticaracillin were used respectively to eliminate the bacterium at four times the minimum bactericidal concentration, as recommended. They found that none of the antibiotic succeeded in eliminating Agrobacterium. The contamination levels increased from 12 to 16 weeks to such an extent that transgenic Solanum cultures senesced and died. Contamination in shoot material decreased over 16 to 24 weeks possibly because only the apical node was used in further culture, but even that did not eliminate Agrobacterium from all the samples; 24 percent remained contaminated at 24 weeks. The binary vector was also present under non-selective conditions up to 6 months after transformation, where approximately 50 percent of contaminated material still harboured bacterial cells with the binary vector at high levels of about 107 colony forming units per gram. The researchers pointed out: “Here is where the possibility of gene escape arises. The presence of the disarmed Agrobacterium in the tissue would not be a problem if the binary vector had been lost, but now its survival and spread are real possibilities.” The binary vector contains the foreign genes as well as antibiotic resistance marker gene(s). There is no limit to the foreign genes that can be inserted into the binary vector. A few years earlier, a research group in Israel had inserted a viroid that causes disease in citrus fruits into the disarmed Ti plasmid of Agrobacterium and used that to infect and transform several plant species including tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Gynura aurantiaca, avocado (Persea americana), and grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) grafted on Troyer citrange (Pancirus trifoliate x C. sinensis) [18]. Extracts prepared from tissues of the infected plants 38-90 days after inoculation were plated on selective media and found to contain large amounts of the engineered bacteria. The researchers warned of “newly formed combinations of persistently transmitted viruses” coupled with “the opportunistic and systemically moving Agrobacterium vector infectious to a wide host range might eventually cause infection and damage to crop plants or natural vegetation” that are “not presently visited by the traditional vectors of the virus disease.” In other words, Agrobacterium persisting in transgenic plants released into the environment has the potential to spread new diseases, and to plants that normally would not be infected by the disease agents. At the time, the researchers did not know that Agrobacterium would also infect animals and humans, and could spread new diseases to them as well. Have these warnings been heeded by other researchers? There is no evidence they have been taken on board. Agrobacterium has since been shown to transform at least 80 different non-plant species including yeasts and other fungi, algae, mammalian and human cells, also the gram positive bacterium Streptomyces lividans. In a recent review, the researchers stated [14]: “Future research has to show whether Agrobacterium-mediated transformation contributed to horizontal gene transfer between microorganisms in the rhizosphere.” But there is already evidence suggesting that Agrobacterium can indeed engage in horizontal gene transfer with a wide range of bacteria in the soil. (For more on horizontal gene transfer see [19] Horizontal Gene Transfer from GMOs Does Happen, SiS 38) Agrobacterium gene transfer mechanisms similar to conjugation in bacteria Ho first alerted regulators to the potential of Agrobacterium contaminating GM plants to facilitate the escape of transgenes in 2003 (see Living with the Fluid Genome [20] and The Case for A GM-Free Sustainable World [21] ISIS publications). By then, Gayle Ferguson and Jack Heinemann at the University of Canterbury, Christchurh, New Zealand, had already pointed out in a review that the process whereby Agrobacterium injects T-DNA into plant cells strongly resembles conjugation, the normal mating process between bacteria [22]. Conjugation, mediated by certain bacterial plasmids, depends on a sequence called the origin of transfer (oriT) on the DNA transferred. All other functions - called tra for trans-acting functions - can be supplied from unlinked sources. Thus, ‘disabled’ plasmids with no trans-acting functions, can nevertheless be transferred by helper plasmids, the same as the binary vector system of Agrobacterium (Box 1). The resemblance does not stop there. The left and right borders of T-DNA are similar to oriT and can be replaced by it. Furthermore, the disarmed T-DNA binay vector, lacking oncogenes as well as virulence genes, can be helped by similar genes belonging to many other pathogenic bacteria. The trans-kingdom gene transfer apparatus of Agrobacterium and the conjugative systems of bacteria are both involved in transporting macromolecules, not just DNA but also protein. Thus, transgenic plants with contaminating Agrobacterium [20] “have a ready route for horizontal gene escape, via Agrobacterium, helped by the ordinary conjugative mechanisms of many other bacteria that cause diseases, which are present in the environment.” In the process, new and exotic disease agents could be created. Investigations on the role of Agrobacterium in Morgellons Disease urgently needed The investigation launched by the CDC needs to clarify the role of Agrobacterium in the aetiology of Morgellons Disease as a matter of urgency. This should include: Molecular characterization of Agrobacterium DNA sequences in Morgellans Disease patients Design of suitable probes for diagnostic purposes and for monitoring soil samples and other suspected sources of infection Introduction of stringent tests for Agrobacterium contamination for all transgenic plants already released or about to be released into the environment.

Original article posted here.

In advance of the whitewash

CDC mystery disease study heads toward finish line

Nearing the end of the Morgellons study

Morgellons sufferers and sympathizers protest at the CDC in November 2007. Courtesy of Kelly PickensBy Spencer Freeman

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, partnering with Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California Division of Research, will complete the second phase of its study of the mysterious, and some say nonexistent, Morgellons disease later this month.

The CDC launched the study in January, after Congress received thousands of letters from people claiming to suffer from the disease, characterized by skin lesions, rashes and unexplained fibers found in various parts of the body.

The first stage consisted of identifying all Kaiser Permanente members who may have gone to a physician with symptoms suggestive of Morgellons at any point during the 18 months between July 1, 2006 and Dec. 31, 2007. Researchers then determined whether they met eligibility criteria for the study. In stage two, all eligible members were invited to complete a comprehensive Web-based or telephone survey that examined the duration and severity of a variety of symptoms, reported exposures, other possible precipitating factors and any treatments that may have been found to help.

According to CDC Spokesman David Daigle, in the third, and final, phase of the investigation, those with active symptoms will be invited to come to the Division of Research for an extensive clinical examination, including collection of skin biopsies, blood and urine samples.

Researchers hope that the investigation will help doctors learn more about Morgellons, such as who may be affected, the symptoms associated with the disease, and the factors that might have contributed to it. Results of the study will be released by early 2009.

Also, later this month, a new show on CBS called “The Doctors” is slated to film a two-part segment on Morgellons disease. The show is expected to air in September.

All of this would seem to be good news for Morgellons sufferers. However, even among those, there are some who are distrustful of the CDC’s study and not optimistic about media coverage.

“I do not count on the CDC, which is one of the reasons why I am working so hard to bring awareness myself,” says Laura Galvez, a victim of Morgellons. Galvez took it upon herself to put together a packet containing information about Morgellons that Randy Wymore, a researcher at Oklahoma State University, has been compiling for the past five years, and present it to senators and congressmen representing her home state of Utah.

Galvez, 50, has suffered from Morgellons for more than five years. She says the disease forced her to quit her job and exhaust her Social Security benefits. Before contracting Morgellons, Galvez says she was always fit and active.


“Now I just look like a skinny little old lady,” she says.

According to information on its Web site, the CDC “has received an increased number of inquiries regarding an unexplained skin condition which some refer to as ‘Morgellons.’ Persons who suffer from this unexplained skin condition report a range of cutaneous (skin) symptoms including crawling, biting and stinging sensations; granules, threads, fibers, or black speck-like materials on or beneath the skin; and/or skin lesions (e.g., rashes or sores). In addition to skin manifestations, some sufferers also report fatigue, mental confusion, short term memory loss, joint pain, and changes in vision.”

The CDC does not consider Morgellons a reportable disease, and refers to it as “unexplained dermopathy.” Despite that, the Morgellons Research Foundation fully supports the efforts by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente.

“We have been asking for it and are pleased [research] has finally begun,” says Doug Buckner, associate director of the MRF. Buckner hopes that the CDC study will open the door for people with Morgellons to receive proper medial treatment.

The MRF plans to continue financially assisting ongoing efforts by private researchers already dedicated to finding out more about Morgellons disease.

While there is currently no cure for Morgellons, possible treatments abound. Some Morgellons sufferers, like Wisconsin resident Judith Knilans, have found that using light therapy helps soothe symptoms, even if only temporarily. Knilans, who has had Morgellons for more than 10 years, says it was her doctor, who was running a clinical trial that treated herpes by using lights and dye, who suggested she try light therapy. At that time, he thought her condition was a mutation of herpes, chicken pox and shingles, all of which are members of the same viral family. Knilans says she had excellent results, but her improvement seemed to stall after a month. She began experimenting with different lights and oils, and found a process that worked even better than the treatment her doctor had used.

Karen Wells, a registered nurse in Indiana, has suffered from Morgellons since 2005 and, she says, lost a friend to the disease in 2004.

“Everything is so uncertain, but is does kill,” she insists. “I have seen [Morgellons disease] kill not just my friend, but in the hospital where I work.”

Wells, who works in a neurology unit, says that she sees Morgellons lesions on patients who don’t know they have it. The lesions are sometimes accompanied by cognitive symptoms such as anxiety attacks, panic and nightmares, she says.

“I hate waking up and pulling the covers off me and checking my skin every day to see what new horror is possibly there,” Wells says.

Until recently, attempts to find information about Morgellons on the Web would result in referrals to pages that discussed “delusional parasitosis”—a mental health condition characterized by the belief that one has parasites or bugs crawling on one’s skin.

“My mother passed away thinking I was crazy,” says Wells. “My father won’t talk to me because he feels that my mother could have lived the last days of her life without having to worry about me and this ‘crazy’ disease.”

A few weeks ago, the syndicated “Dr. Phil” program aired an episode spotlighting Morgellons. Knilans was a guest on the show, but the reaction of the Morgellons community was a collective shrug.

“I can almost predict the outcome, especially if this is an older show,” posted one user on the Web site www.morgellons-disease-research.com. “They will look at all of the previously published research in a very logical and methodical way and perhaps mention the CDC study and say ‘We will just have to wait and see what their conclusions are before we decide.’”

According to Knilans, all of the lab tests and biopsies performed on her came back normal, causing doctors to claim that it was all in her head.

“This is a story you will hear again and again for those with this disease,” Knilans writes in an e-mail to The Sunday Paper. “We have to bring awareness that this is real—and it is spreading. We have a huge problem and it is being ignored.”

Buckner agrees: “A doctor told me that if it is not in the medical books or journals, then it does not exist, and that he could not treat what does not exist.”

Original article posted here.

More on self assembling nanotechnology

Scientists Train Nano-'Building Blocks' to Self Assemble

Filed under: Nanomedicine

In the latest issue of the journal Science, there is a report about a novel type of self-assembling polymers that might prove important in medicine.

From the University of Delaware press office:

Researchers from the University of Delaware and Washington University in St. Louis have figured out how to train synthetic polymer molecules to behave--to literally "self-assemble" --and form into long, multicompartment cylinders 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, with potential uses in radiology, signal communication and the delivery of therapeutic drugs in the human body.

The discovery, a fundamental new tool for nanotechnology, is reported in the Aug. 3 issue of the prestigious journal Science.

Darrin Pochan, associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Delaware, and Karen Wooley, the James S. McDonnell Distinguished Professor of Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, led the research effort, which also involved co-authors Honggang Cui, a recent doctoral graduate, and doctoral student Sheng Zhong at UD, and Zhiyun Chen, a doctoral advisee of Wooley's. The research was supported by a Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Team (NIRT) grant from the National Science Foundation.

The focus of the research was block copolymers, which are synthetic molecules that contain two or more chemically different segments bonded together. Block copolymers are used to make a variety of materials such as plastics, rubber soles for shoes, and more recently, portable memory sticks ("flash drives") for computers.

"A block copolymer is a long-chain molecule, a length of which, or block, that is chemically different than the other," Pochan said. "In our case, we took one block that loves water, and another part that does not. So when you put them in solution, the water-hating blocks try to get away from the water, and that's how you get different shapes, called micelles, to form."

The system used by the scientists consisted of a tri-block copolymer composed of polyacrylic acid, polymethylacrylate, and polystyrene introduced into a solution of tetrahydrofuran and water, and organic diamines. The technique relied on divalent organic counter ions and solvent mixtures to drive the organization of the block copolymers down specific pathways into snake-like, one-dimensional structures...

"In the world of self-assembly for nanotechnology, it's challenging to make something other than the shape of a ball," Pochan noted. "If you put little balls full of a drug into the bloodstream, the body's organs and immune system will get rid of them in around a day. But if you place the molecules into long, floppy cylinders, they may stay in the body for weeks," Pochan noted.

Changing the shape of the micelle could carry a drug in the human body for a long period of time, according to Pochan, potentially providing the sustained delivery of chemotherapy from a single injection...

Although the research is far from practical applications, the team's discovery has yielded a new, fundamental "bottom-up" technique for building nanostructures.

"It's all about constructing materials and nanostructures in an easy way," Pochan said. "The goal is to design a molecule with all the rules--all the information it needs--to zip up into the desired shape and size that you want. Then you throw them in the water and see what you get--hopefully the desired, complex nanostructure."

Ironically, Pochan thought he was done working with block copolymers when he was in graduate school years ago.

"I'm now building on stuff I did in grad school in the '90s on rubber and plastics," he said. "However, if you look at block copolymers as a tool for self-assembly, there are many more potential applications than rubber for your boot or plastic coating for your floor," he noted.

"We can use those same molecules, but train them to get something very useful as far as high technology goes," he said. "It's funny how research comes back in style, and we find new uses for 'old tools.'"

Original article posted here.

Not so ancient history about self assembling nanotechnology published in 2003

Nano-transistor self-assembles using biology

20 November 2003
NewScientist.com news service
Gaia Vince

A functional electronic nano-device has been manufactured using biological self-assembly for the first time.

Israeli scientists harnessed the construction capabilities of DNA and the electronic properties of carbon nanotubes to create the self-assembling nano-transistor. The work has been greeted as "outstanding" and "spectacular" by nanotechnology experts.

The push to shrink electronic circuits to ever smaller dimensions is relentless. Carbon nanotubes, which have remarkable electronic properties and only about one nanometre in diameter, have been touted as a highly promising material to help drive miniaturisation. But manufacturing nano-scale transistors has proved both time-consuming and labour-intensive.

The team, at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, overcame these problems with a two step process. First they used proteins to allow carbon nanotubes to bind to specific sites on strands of DNA. They then turned the remainder of the DNA molecule into a conducting wire.

Proof of principle

"DNA is very good at building things in molecular biology, but unfortunately, it does not conduct electricity. We had to get a metal conductor on the DNA," explains physicist Erez Braun, who led the research.

"This is spectacular work," says Cees Dekker, a nanoscience expert at Delft University in the Netherlands. "It demonstrates that it's possible to use biology to build an inorganic device that works."

"But while it is a first step towards molecular computing based on this type of DNA configuration, we are still many years way from large scale self-assembly electronic devices, such as computers," Dekker cautions.

Bacterial protein

Braun's team began their manufacturing process by coating a central part of a long DNA molecule with proteins from an E. coli bacterium. Next, graphite nanotubes coated with antibodies were added, which bound onto the protein.

After this, a solution of silver ions was added. The ions chemically attach to the phosphate backbone of the DNA, but only where no protein has attached. Aldehyde then reduces the ions to silver metal, forming the foundation of a conducting wire.

To complete the device, gold was added. This nucleates on the silver and creates a fully conducting wire. The end result is a carbon nanotube device connected a both ends by a gold and silver wire.

The device operates as a transistor when a voltage applied across the substrate is varied. This causes the nanotubes to either bridge the gap between the wires - completing the circuit - or not.

Out of 45 nanoscale devices created in three batches, almost a third emerged as self-assembled transistors. They work at room temperature and the only restriction for future devices is that the components must be compatible with the biological reactions and the metal-plating process.

The team have already connected two of the devices together, using the biological technique. "The same process could allow us to create elaborate self-assembling DNA sculptures and circuitry," says Braun.

Original article posted here.

You have been sprayed

"MORGELLONS:"
THE WINE - PEROXIDE TEST
Clifford E Carnicom

I have no medical expertise and I claim none. I am not offering any medical advice or diagnosis with the presentation of this information. I am acting solely as an independent researcher providing the results of extended observation and analysis of unusual biological conditions that are evident.

The following photographs are not pleasant to view and I would prefer to not have to present them. The magnitude of the issue demands that the information be made available to the general public. A method to remove at least a portion of the pathogenic forms that have been reported extensively on this site has been established. The method involves the use of red wine or a red wine-hydrogen peroxide mixture as an extended rinse for the mouth. Please see additional cautionary notes for the use of hydrogen peroxide within this report. Full and entire credit for the discovery of this method is to be given to Dr. Gwen Scott, N.D. and the public has a call to be grateful for the many unselfish contributions that she has made to the understanding of the "Morgellons" issue (please also see A Natural Medicine Approach on this site).

The use of the term "Morgellons" is a dubious approach as the pathogenic forms first discovered within a purported "Morgellons" subject are showing themselves to exist in equal form within the general public. To date, no human being is excluded from the findings of recent research through this site; hopefully exceptions to this case will soon be found. Thus far, fourteen individuals across numerous state lines have subjected themselves to the test method that is depicted on this paper. All fourteen produce and manifest the same physical forms through the gums of the mouth and only the amount of the material produced varies from individual to individual. The manifestation of skin conditions characteristic of the so-called "Morgellons" condition is not required to produce the result shown.

I state clearly again that the pathogenic forms under investigation are repeatedly showing up in the general population, regardless of whether certain "skin anomalies" are present or not. The pathogenic forms were, however, first discovered as a result of examination of these same skin anomalies. The segregation of only certain individuals as having the "Morgellons" condition is completely and totally false; the general population is involved whether they would like to know of it or not. The pathogens found have now been discovered repeatedly across all major body systems and functions, including skin, blood, hair, saliva, dental(gum), digestive, ear and urinary samples.

Gum-dental samples collected after extended wine-hydrogen peroxide mixture rinses of the mouth (e.g., 5 minutes each) and placed upon a glass slide for observation. Mouth brushed and cleaned to best degree possible prior to the test. Material emanates from the gums of the mouth; this individual produces a greater amount of material relative to other individuals. Foam appearance results from the peroxide. Core material is composed essentially of the four pathogenic forms that have been extensively described on this site(encasing filament, sub-micron filament network, Chlamydia-like structures and the "hybrid form"). Samples have repeatedly observed at extreme visible microscopic examination, i.e.., 7000x and they are generally consistent between various samples. One mixture that is under trial is 1/3 3% hydrogen-peroxide mixed with 2/3 dark red wine (e.g.., merlot). Burgundy color results from stain of red wine. Another alternative under investigation is to limit the exposure to hydrogen peroxide by swabbing the teeth with peroxide prior to an extended rinse with red wine. Hydrogen peroxide is NOT to be taken internally. Sensitivity and reactions to peroxide may be of concern and an issue to consider. NO THERAPY OF ANY KIND IS BEING RECOMMENDED WITHIN THIS REPORT; OBSERVATIONAL ANALYSIS ONLY IS BEING PROVIDED. Identical pathogenic forms have now been found across most body systems and functions. The rinse test has in some cases been ongoing for 1-2 months; there continues to production of some material in most every case. Microscopic examination will be required for any final determination. On occasions, the test has been conducted several times in a row (e.g.., 30-45 minute session of approx. 5 minutes each) with no cessation of material to date, although the amount appears to eventually decrease. It appears that the production of material can be correlated directly with the amount of time devoted to testing. The presence of the material also appears to be associated with a ear-blockage condition in one case. Not all individuals produce this amount of material and the sample may need to be examined very closely to determine if it exists; it usually appears as fibrous or stringy if present. The individual providing this sample does not demonstrate any outwardly visible "Morgellons" symptoms.

A similar gum-dental sample after drying and evaporation of the wine-peroxide mixture.
Solid materials remain which form the basis of one of many recent analyses through this site.

One portion of the sample above observed at extreme visible magnification under the microscope.
Dental-gum expelled sample. Sample extracted with use of hydrogen peroxide-red wine mix.
(please refer to Pathogens & the General Population)
Three pathogenic forms visible: bounding filament (black border),
sub-micron interior filament network (blue arrows) and Chlamydia-like organisms(red circles).
Magnification approx. 7000x.

Microscopic examination of another gum-dental sample expelled from a separate individual using the wine-peroxide mixture.
An encasing filament and the Chlamydia-like structures are visible. In this individual the hybrid form is more common
within the bounding filament as opposed to the sub-micron filament network.
Magnification approx. 5000x.

Original article posted here.

Chemtrails and some of our worst nightmares

The Air Force Wants Your LOV: Aerial Seeding of Biological Implants into Food, Water, & Air

by Carolyn Williams Palit

See: ExoticWarfare.org for more information on the psychotronic/directed energy torture part of THE SYSTEM. You can also Google these terms: “Ionatron, PEP, or PIKL.” I am not accusing Ionatron or any other contractor of torturing Americans or other citizens on this planet, but reading up on those terms and visting ExoticWarfare will make you realize that long-distance, pulse plasma weapons do exist and can be used to transmit other energies - microwave, radio, ELF, etc. The plasma beam is used much like an electric line to the targeted person. Article free to post anywhere.


Based on the global attack system discussed in "Hit 'Em Where It Hurts," Air Force 2025

You might want to be familiar with “Weather As a Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025,” a chapter from the future forecast, Air Force 2025.(1) People concerned about the ongoing, worldwide, aerosol operations in the atmosphere termed chemtrails(2) often point to this chapter as evidence that the U.S. Air Force may be involved in global, spray operations for weather control.

Writers – Izakovic Rolando,(3) Amy Worthington,(4) and Scott Gilbert(5) have explored the evidence in detail. While it is obvious that our weather is being manipulated by these aerosol operations and other atmospheric, military applications are afoot, weather control, while a very bad idea, might be minor compared to what I am going to discuss. And, the concept that the spraying is a way to slow down global warming seems like a big-old, cover story.

Lydia Mancini(6) has explored some of the mind-altering aspects of the chemtrails, but I think I have found one of the final pieces of the chemtrail puzzle – the Air Force studied how to put sensors that are nano-scale into a population’s food supply, water, and air through aerial spraying so that they could get those sensors into people’s bodies. Read on to catch on to all the connections.

Chemtrail activists collect evidence that the chemtrail spray contains not only germs(7) but conductive metals, blood cells,(8) carbon powders, sedatives, nano-particulates, crystalline substances, alumina particulates, barium powders, and a kind of polyethylene-silicon fiber.(9)

Recently, Dr. Hildegarde Staninger,(10) an industrial toxicologist, and Dr. Mike Castle,(11) a polyethylene expert and chemtrail activist, put their heads together to determine whether the nano fibers growing out of the skin of people who have the fiber disease, Morgellons, and the nano fibers from chemtrails have any relationship to each other.

People with Morgellons have different colors of nano fibers growing out of non-healing sores on their bodies. Chemtrail fallout has similar, many-colored fibers that look very much like the Morgellons fibers. These fibers are on you and in your home. You can find them with a fluorescent, black light. Ultraviolet light makes them glow. Use a magnifying glass, too.

A number of fibers and tissue samples collected from Morgellons victims and samples of chemtrail fibers were sent to four of the best labs in our country: AMDL, Inc., ACS, Inc., MIT, and Lambda Solutions, Inc.. Castle and Staninger asked these labs to identify these fibers. What came back from the labs is startling(12) and is discussed in detail in “Rense Morgellons Radio Broadcasts, No. 7 and No. 11.”(13) Dr. Staninger has further determined that Texas chemtrail fibers show a match with chemtrail fibers from Italy.(14)

The chemtrail fibers are a kind of infant, “pre-Morgellons” fiber. The Morgellons fibers are more developed, but the fibers are related to the type of nanotechnology that assembles nanowires. From online radio host and Peabody award winner, Jeff Rense, we learn that Morgellons is:

A communicable (nanotechnology triggered?) invasion of human tissues in the form of self-assembling, self-replicating visible tubes, colored fibers, wires, arrays with what seem to be sensors or ‘antennae’, and other visible configurations, some carrying what may be genetically-altered and spliced DNA/RNA. These (nano-triggered) ‘machines’ thrive in alkaline ph conditions and use the body’s bio-electric energy, its minerals and other unidentified elements for power.

Remember these key terms: “self-replicate, sensors, alkaline, minerals, and bio-electric energy.” There is more from the Rense definition of Morgellons:

There is some evidence suggesting these tiny machines possess their own internal ‘batteries.’ They are also believed to possibly be able to receive specific tuned microwave, EMF and ELF signals and information. . . . It is reported by nearly all afflicted that Morgellons nano machines seem to have some kind of hive or ‘group intelligence.(15)

Can the chemtrail nano fibers breakup to become nano particles? Dr. Staninger seems to think they might.(16) Nano particles can pass through the blood barriers in the lungs, enter the bloodstream, and travel to the brain or other parts of the body. In the online journal “Nature,” Jim Giles had this to say:

Nanoparticles - tiny lumps of matter that could one day to be used to build faster computer circuits and improve drug delivery systems - can travel to the brain after being inhaled, according to researchers from the United States.(17)

Dr. Staninger thinks that these nano particles may be able to self-assemble into full-grown nanowires once they are in the brain or other organs.(18) She says we eat this nanotechnology; it is in our food – the plants and animals. She says it copies the DNA of germs or certain other cells that it is in contact with on the inside of our bodies. It makes more germs, more cancers. One kind of nanowire is implicated in the creation of pseudo-hair and pseudo-skin. One woman with Morgellons has tested positive for the pseudo-hair. These self-replicating proteins even create chimeric forms that look a lot like insects or parasites. Babies are being born with these nano machines in them. This is proof that this nanotechnology can pass through the protective barriers in the body.

Dr. Castle has stated that he believes that at least one to twenty million Americans have these sensors, antennae, wires, and arrays inside of their bodies. Morgellons is spreading at the rate of a 1,000 victims a day. That rate will increase because with each year there will be more and more victims to spread it. People who do not outwardly exhibit Morgellons symptoms can still have the nano disease on the inside of their bodies. It is thought that the ones with the symptoms are the ones whose bodies are rejecting the fibers. No symptoms? Your body might be adjusting to the infestation.(19)

Clifford Carnicom is a man with a background in science: geodetics, math, computer science, and physical science. He worked for 15 year with various agencies — DOD, Forest Service, and The Bureau of Land Management. He studies what many believe to be the chemtrail-induced, rising alkalinity of our planet. He documents the increasing amounts of calcium, magnesium, barium, and potassium in our rainwater.(20) Interestingly, J. Walleczck at the Lawerence Berkeley Laboratory researched in 1991 how calcium ions help to transport electricity across the cell membranes at the molecular level.(21) So, mucking around with the natural, mineral balance and electrical properties of the earth and our bodies is not a good thing.

Carnicom also documents the high levels of salts in our soils due to reactive metal salts from the chemtrails. He says it is these salts that are making the earth more conductive.(22) These chemtrail substances are easily ionized by ultraviolet light and are causing the air to have high levels of positive ions. This is unhealthy for all living beings. He is finding the same blood abnormalities among people with Morgellons and those who do not show any signs of Morgellons.

It would stand to reason that if the earth is being altered to become more conductive and alkaline then we, ourselves, are becoming more conductive and alkaline. The earth and all residents are now a favorable home for this alkaline-loving nanotech which can just keep on using up our bio-electricity to self-replicate and self-generate sensors, antennae arrays, and other mystery, nano machines inside of our bodies.

Which brings us to another part of Air Force 2025, “Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts: Strategic Attack in 2025.” This chapter deserves a more in-depth look because it describes how to implant a population with “stealthy,” track and attack, biological sensors that are “thinner than a human hair” by spraying these machines into the food supply, water, and air or by using human agents to do the deed.(23)

Psychotronic (mind control) technologies are mentioned in this study, but not in much detail because that information is classified. The report explores how the weapons system must be able to access what should be private. We read:

The target acquisition system must provide decision makers the capability to detect changes in the personal values of an adversary. Changes in a leader’s emotions, thoughts, or frame of reference are of interest to the strategic attack system. Techniques that get into the ‘head’ of an adversary to obtain valuable information require revolutionary advances. Finding plausible methods for accomplishing this task is the focus of the classified ‘Information Attack’ white paper.(24)

The Air Force would only classify a weapon that can read your thoughts, emotions, and intentions if our country already had this weapon in 1995 or intended to possibly develop it. The sprayed bio-implants and other spy devices are describe below:

Ground-based platforms in 2025 rely heavily on micromechanics and nanotechnology to shrink platforms to microscopic sizes. These platforms could be inserted via human agents, through water or food supplies, or through aerial seeding operations using UAVs. Microsensors thinner than human hairs could transmit data to the Delphi database via UAV or satellite relay. A swarm of ground-based microsensors could ensure constant data transmission of local conditions and activity levels near and inside an LOV.(25)

An LOV stands for “Locus of Values.” An LOV can be a hard target: something physical, or an LOV can be a soft target. “The LOV is that which an adversary holds dear . . . . Soft LOVs are intangible things: Systems, knowledge, or ways of thinking.”(26) A UAV is a unmanned aerial vehicle.

In the document, all the sensors are called “unattended ground sensors,” even the bio–implants. In one of the graphics, arrows very blatantly point to unattended ground sensors that are located in the crotch areas of a couple of men.(27) In another graphic, the arrows point to sensors in a man’s shoulder and his wrist. When I read this, my mind flashed on Denzel Washington digging a microchip out of his shoulder in the movie, The Manchurian Candidate. Besides the bio-implants, The Air Force study discusses dropping “grain-sized” sensors from the air to form a surveillance network on the ground, and microsensors can be surreptiously put into homes or appliances.

Micromachining of sound sensors has improved since Air Force 2025 was written. In 2003, the military revealed that they had a sensor network that could be dropped from the air:

In tests, it has dropped tubes containing 10 to 20 sensors from an airplane. Once they hit the ground, the tubes explode, sending the sensors flying. Then they establish connections among themselves and monitor enemy vehicle or troop movements, sending the data wirelessly to planes overhead.(28)

It is now five years later and the sensors in a network like this are about the size of a deck of playing cards. Sensors that are not classified, that is.

Smart dust is not a sound sensor, but it is very small; it is particle size. Smart dust particles are about the width of a human hair. It can be chemically programed to target a specific substance and to self-assemble or stick to it. It changes color to indicate that it has found the targeted substance. It can be used for almost, microscopic tags placed in items or stuck to the clothing of people.(29) Mike Blair and other chemtrail-aware people have noticed that chemtrail fibers often display barbs on their surfaces.(30) In “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts,” we read:

Like prickly cockleburs, tiny sensors would cling to certain humans, effectively tagging them for continuous tracking via overhead platforms.(31)

Domestic security companies may soon be using state of the art ground sensors that can sniff a molecule out of the air and can taste and identify a molecule – “nano–noses” and “nano–tongues.”(32) These can be handy for sniffing cocaine or marijuana molecules wafting of folks as they return home or enter buildings. Nano-noses and nano-tongues can be scanned by light or energy and will change color just like the ground sensors from 2025: “When irradiated by ultraviolet or X-ray energy, these organic changes can be scanned and analyzed by overhead sensors.”(33)

Experts are working on trying to develop sensors that can identify and track people by their unique, personal odor.(34) The authors of “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts” would like sensors to become small enough in the future to be able to send them to you through the mail(35) and use “hordes” of acoustic sensors for extrapolating pictures of structures through seismic mapping in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).(36)

. . . the importance of visual sensors may decrease in 2025 as the strategic attack process relies more on nonlethal methods of attack. In this case, non-traditional sensors that can hear, smell, or taste become essential by providing important bits of data . . . to piece together the effectiveness of an attack.(37)

How could the Air Force “Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts”?

A standoff system loitering along . . . at 50,000 feet can stare 230 miles downrange at an LOV and provide continuous one meter resolution. . . . In addition, a low observable UAV that loiters directly over a specific area will carry sensors that provide continuous one centimeter resolution.(38

These UAVs are the link in the chain that connects to transatmospheric jets, space platforms, and satellites. These space-based assets would send and receive to and from super computers that are located in relay stations on the ground or in orbit. A new satellite radar called MIRIAH(39) can see through most buildings, at night, and in any weather returning a 3-D, any angle, close to real-time image. UAVs can look like dragonflies,(40) birds,(41) helicopters,(42) planes,(43) or even cubes.(44) Activists in Washington, D.C. recently spotted dragonfly UAVs surveilling a protest. They can be powered by hydrogen,(45) solar,(46) fuel-cell, batteries, or a combination thereof.(47) They can hang on an electric line to recharge(48) or be powered up by wi-fi microwave.(49) They can see you, but they can also transmit data. There is even technology that can cloak them so that you, satellites, or radar can not see them.(50)

As a more economical model, space mirrors can be used to bounce data from UAVs to ground stations.(51) A plasma mirror can also be created by a microwave heater beam station that heats the atmosphere, and this plasma area can be used just like a mirror. A Dr. Eastlund pioneered this technology. His work with the HAARP ionospheric heater was sponsored by ARCO, a major aluminum producer which is owned by British Petroleum.(52) Oddly, chemtrails have a lot of aluminum particulates.

The weapons system uses information from: Delphi databases compiled from government records and open sources; human intel on the ground (humint); real-time data from bio-implants and scattered, ground-sensor grids; visuals from sensors on satellites, jets, and UAVs; and archives on history and culture. It uses compilations of psychological beliefs, information on current and international events, knowledge from experts in their fields, past experiences in associated problem solving, and it is a system that can learn. It can “game” scenarios until it presents what it considers the best solution to a human operator and is a computer network that is widely scattered around the world, up-to-date, and “redundant.”(53)

The human operator may choose to “immediately engage or never engage,” or to use “direct or indirect tactics.”(54) He would determine whether to deploy “laser, radio frequency, or energetic particle beam” weapons against targeted people, physical objects, factories, cities, or militaries.(55) These directed energy weapons can be deployed from space, land, or sea from a variety of platforms or bounced by the previously mentioned space or plasma mirrors. Nanotechnology will allow the creation of smaller weapons for use on UAVs.(56) Directed energy weapons “. . . can be ‘tuned’ for a wider range of effects, from low-order intervention to high-order destruction.” And, they are “cost-effective.” How nice.(57)

Futuristic engagement systems and techniques such as holographic projection, noise and gravity fields, biomedical operations, psychological operations, military deception, and information attack are all possible. These innovative indirect means are discussed in the classified C2 and Information Attack white papers. As a complement to those indirect techniques, this paper focuses on target engagements that use direct attacks with lethal and nonlethal power.(58)

Did you catch that? What do they mean by “biomedical operations,” “holographic projection,” “noise and gravity fields,” or some of the other terms? These terms have to do with classified information about “getting into the head” of a person, and command and control (C2). Modern attacks on C2 degrades the enemy’s ability to make the best decisions and makes them change their decision without them realizing that they were ever manipulated.(59)

There is a saying: life mirrors art. Let’s go back to the original chapter we discussed. If the aerosol operations described in “Weather As a Force Multiplier” are just sci-fi, military daydreaming, then why are there charts within that document than can only be described as spray schedules? These charts tell the reader exactly which substances will be sprayed and during which years.

For instance, sensors along with smart dust (nanotechnology) will be sprayed in the skies from the time of the study, 1995, and will increase sharply until 2025.(60)

Did you know that nanowire arrays will soon be used in medicine to power larger biological implants? Like pacemakers . . . or maybe nano devices in the brain?(61,62) You will notice how the technology discussed in “Weather As a Force Multiplier” segues nicely with the technology discussed in “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts.”

A weapon like this can be used for covert war and the micro-management of a population. A nonlethal weapon trained upon a person all the time becomes a lethal weapon. But, we can trust men who think it is no big deal to sneak electromagnetic implants into other people’s privates, right?

The lack of respect for inalienable rights that is displayed by the Air Force officers who wrote this report is shocking. Hitler would have wet dreams about this death-squad technology. Weapons like these will always be abused by someone. That is why the weapons should not even exist.

Someone will say: ”Well, it is only to be used against The Enemy.” How do you spray only one house? How do you spray only one air supply? Shouldn’t there be some kind of ban on turning people into Borgs? It is against treaties for the military to alter the environment. Some Air Force guys happen to think that putting sensors into non-combatants and enemies alike via their food, water, and air is just dandy. Coincidentally, that scenario sure sounds like the chemtrail/Morgellons nanotechnology epidemic ripping through American bodies right now.

I am just not sure I want to give the Air Force my love.

Sources:

1. “Weather As A Force Multiplier: Owning the Weather in 2025,” a future study conducted 1995 – 1996 for the Air Force Chief of Staff, a research paper by Col Tamzy J. House, Lt Col James B. Near, Jr., LTC William B. Shields (USA), Maj Ronald J. Celentano, Maj David M. Husband, Maj Ann E. Mercer, and Maj James E. Pugh, August 1996, Air Force 2025, website, chapter 15.

2. “Aerosol Crimes & Cover Up,” by Clifford E. Carnicom, carnicom.com, website, numerous pages, 1999 – 2008.

3. “Report Of Chemtrail Spraying Frenzy In Croatia,” from Izakovic Rolando, June 5, 2000, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008.

4. “Chemtrails and Terror in the Age of Nuclear War,” by Amy Worthington, May 2004, “Idaho Observer,” website, 1997 – 2008.

5. “Environmental Warfare and US Foreign Policy: The Ultimate Weapon of Mass Destruction,” by Scott Gilbert, September 23, 2004, author archives, Global Research, website, 2001 – 2008.

6. Bariumblues, by Lydia Mancini, bariumblues.com, website, numerous pages, 2003 – 2008.

7. “Chemtrails:GAO report admits “chaff” – Lab report reveals much more,” July 2006, “Idaho Observer,” website, 1997 – 2008.

8. “ERYTHROCYTES: POSITIVE VISUAL IDENTIFICATION,” by Clifford Carnicom, carnicom.com, website, 1999 – 2008.

9. STRANGE DAYS STRANGE SKIES – YOU ARE NOW BREATHING ETHYLENE DIBROMIDE, NANO-PARTICULATES OF ALUMINUM AND BARIUM AND CATIONIC POLYMER FIBERS WITH UNIDENTIFIED BIOACTIVE MATERIA, by Glenn Boyle, strangedaysstrangeskies, web album, a large collection of photos, lab reports, and documentation that is a work in progress.

10. “Dr. Hildegarde Staninger, Ph.D., RIET-1, Industrial Toxicologist/IH and Doctor of Integrative Medicine, Bio,” September 17, 2007, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008.

11. “Dr. R. Michael Castle, Bio,” May 7, 2007, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008.

12. “Project FMM: Fibers, Meteorite & Morgellons,” by Project FMM Research Team, March 29, 2007, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008.

13. “Rense Special Morgellons Broadcasts,” No. 7, March 29, 2007 & No. 11, no date, mp3 audio files, June 22, 2006 – ongoing, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008.

14. “Texas Chemtrail Samples Compared To Samples From Venice Italy,” by Dr. Hildegarde Staninger RIET-1, November, 27, 2007, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008.

15. “Morgellons Defined,” December 5, 2007, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008.

16. “Rense Special Morgellons Broadcasts,” No. 7 & No. 11.

17. “Nanoparticles in the Brain,” by Jim Giles, January 5, 2004, Nature.com, website, News@Nature section, Nature Publishing Group, 2008.

18. “Rense Special Morgellons Broadcasts,” No. 7 & No. 11.

19. “Rense Special Morgellons Broadcasts,” No. 7 and No. 11.

20. “Calcium & Potassium,” by Clifford Carnicom, March 15, 2005, carnicom.com, website, 1999 – 2008.

21. “Electromagnetic Field Effects on Cells of the Immune System: The Role of Calcium Signalling,” by J. Walleczck, Research Medicine and Radiation Biophysics Division, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, “The FASEB Journal,” Vol 6, 3177-3185, The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, 1992, fasebj.org, website, 1992.

22. “Salts of Our Soils,” by Clifford Carnicom, May 11, 2005, carnicom.com, website, 1999 – 2008.

23. “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts: Strategic Attack in 2025,” a future study conducted 1995 – 1996 for the Air Force Chief of Staff, a research paper by Lt Col Jeffrey E. Thieret, Maj Steven J. DePalmer, Maj Frederick I. Guendel, Jr., and Maj Michael A. Silver, August 1996, Air Force 2025, website, chapter 6, pgs. 8 and 20.

24. pg. 19.

25. pg. 20.

26. Executive Summary, v.

27. pg. 33.

28. “Tech Wave 2: The Sensor Revolution: Soon, sensor networks will track everything from weather to inventory,” The Future of Tech – Roadmap, “Businessweek Magazine,” August 25, 2003, businessweek.com, website, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2000-2008.

29. “SMART DUST – TARGETED SMART DUST HOW IT WORKS,” Sailor Research Group, Department of Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, chem-faculty.ucsd.edu/sailor, website, February 27, 2003.

30. “Chemtrails Over America: A Special Report,” by Mike Blair and other researchers, June 21, 2001, Wisequakker, website, home1.gte.net/quakker, last update: July 4, 2003.

31. “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts,” pg. 23.

32. “Researchers Create DNA-Based Sensors for Nano-Tongues and Nano-Noses,” Physorg.com, website, September 15, 2005.

33. “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts,” pg. 22.

34. “Biometric Person Authentication: Odor,” by Zhanna Korotkaya, Department of Information Technology, Laboratory of Applied Mathematics, Lappeenranta University of Technology.

35. “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts,” pg. 22.

36. pg. 22.

37. Pg. 29

38. Pg. 20.

39. “Global 3-D Wifi SpySat Project Provokes NRO Crisis,” Washington, D.C., January 1, 2007, rense.com, website, 1997 – 2008, further information available at: billgrisham.us.

40. “Dragonfly or Insect Spy? Scientists at Work on Robobugs,” by Rick Weiss, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, October 9, 2007; Page A03,”The Washington Post,” Washington Post.com, website, 1996 – 2008.

41. “Morphing-wing robotic birds to spy on us,” by Roland Piquepaille, Emerging Technology Trends, blog, July 24, 2007, ZDNet: Where Technology Means Business, zdnet.com, website, CNET Networks, Inc., 2008.

42. TAG: Tactical Aerospace Group, website, International Marketing Office, 468 North Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210, copyright: Tactical Aerospace Group Corozal, Belize, C.A., 1981 - 2008.

43. “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” by Greg Goebel: In the Public Domain, v1.4.1, TOC (19 chapters), vectorsite.net, website, March 1, 2008.

44. “They make no sound,” handpen.com, website, no date.

45. “US military plans for new UAV to stay airborne for 5 years,” by Graham Warwick, “Flight Global Newsletter,” flightglobal.com, website, May 25, 2007, Reed Business Information, 2008.

46. “Solar Powered UAV,” by Jim, “The Energy Blog: The Energy Revolution has begun and will change your lifestyle,” thefraserdomain.typepad.com, blog, March 23, 2006.

47. “Experimental Power System Expands Flight Capabilities,” by Rita Boland, Signal: AFCEA’S International Journal,” afcea.org/signal, website, “AFCEA International, 4400 Fair Lakes Court, Fairfax, Virginia 22033,

March 2006.

48. “Air Force developing UAVs that can recharge on power lines,” posted by Nilay Patel, “Engadget,” web magazine, Dec 14th 2007 4:34PM, Engadget and Weblogs, Inc. Network, 2004 – 2008.

49. Aerospace Operations in Urban Environments, by Alan Vick,, “Appendix B: Microwave Recharging of Mini-UAVs and Micro-UAVs,” Rand Corporation, 2008.

50. “Holographic Cloaking Stealth Technology,” by Luke, orbwar.com, website, 2006.

51. “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts,” pg. 28.

52. “Plasma Mirrors – SURVEILLANCE,” by Dr. Bernard Eastlund, eastlundscience.com, website, Eastlund Scientific Enterprises Corporation, founded January 12, 1996. See: “COSMIC IGNITED PLASMA PATTERNS IN ATMOSPHERE – CIPPA.”

53. “Hit ’Em Where It Hurts,” Chapter 3, pg. 12 – 18.

54. Executive Summary, v.

55. pg. 24 – 26.

56. pg. 36.

57. pg. 36 – 37.

58. pg. 23 – 24.

59. “Power And Influence, Information StrikeKnowledge Warfare: Shattering the Information War-Paradigm,” Air Force 2025, prepared by 2025 Support Office, Air University, Air Education and Training Command, November 1996, developed by Air University Press, Educational Services Directorate, College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, website, csat.au.af.mil/2025/index.htm, Executive Summary, White Paper Summaries, Chapter 9, pg. 54, August 1996

60. “What Chemtrails Really Are – The Short Scoop,” by Carolyn Williams Palit, a work in progress, 2005, xiandos.info, website, Republic of Seychelles, 2006.

61. “A New Nanogenerator: Researchers are experimenting with a novel nanowire material to power tiny biosensors and portable devices,” by Prachi Patel-Predd, “Technology Review,” Michigan Institute of Technology, technologyreview.com, website, Monday, October 22, 2007

62. “Nanogenerator Fueled by Vibrations: An array of zinc-oxide nanowires that generates current when vibrated with ultrasonic waves could provide a new way to power biological sensors and nanodevices,” by Prachi Patel-Predd, “Technology Review,” Michigan Institute of Technology, technologyreview.com, website, Thursday, April 05, 2007.

Original article posted here.

CNN reports on Morgellons, coming from a chemtrail near you

Interview with Clifford Carnicom

You are being wired. Pathogenic substances being ingested by all of us via chemtrails.

Dr. Hildegarde Staniger on Morgellans and Chemtrails

Strange things coming from the sky. (Not by accident)

Shocking Photos Of Rainwater

By Lesa Jones

Please forward to as many as possibleto find out what these bizarre items are in the rainfall. See Photos Below

Numerous states are reporting veryyellow fallout from the skies in the rain over the past few days. Images of thousands of strange things...and 'elements'...arebeing foundin this precipatation all across theglobe.

Here in the Western US, cobweb type fallout and these two different 'micro bug' things in the photos below are among many others bizarre 'creatures' I have documented over the last 8 months. If anyone can get this material analyzed it would be a great service to our planet. I have numerous samples ready to go.

We have got to get this out in the open. All these different things in the rainwater DO NOT disappear when it evaporates. These items then starts to degrade plastics and grows on glass surfaces.

I have video of the one bug 'spider' types and it is seen moving around and making egg shaped little masses. Please we have got to have a united front on this issue before it gets so out of hand that there is no way to save us from these particulate pollutants and whatever else is falling from the skies.

Look at all the rain and storms in recent days...they could be coating every inch of every space on the ground. Wake up and gather your own samples and see for yourself.

Speak UP, this is a big an issue as global warming and war...Just because we can't see it easily with the naked DOESN'T mean it won't hurt all of us and our children and our Pets. These things are on all of them. They're also in ourhair and on our skin.

Thanks for your time and I thank you from all the little people who are afraid to speak up or are too sick to make their voices loud enough to be heard.

The Bumble Bees are just loaded with the web like structures and the yellow round fallout from the last few days...

Sincerely,

A proud American who loves her country and what is left of her freedoms...which are slowly being stolen from us as is the clean air which we used to breathe...

More pics if you would like to see them:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/coloradomtnmamma/445761115/

Original article posted here.

Petition for Morgellans Action

Congress - Force the CDC to investigate Morgellons Disease

• petition text
• signatures
• email friends

The petition

The undersigned citizens of the United States urgently request a U.S. government oversight hearing to determine why the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is taking so long to investigate the cause of Morgellons Disease. The CDC has admitted that it has been receiving citizen
complaints of symptoms of this disease for over a decade. Letters from senators from a number of states to the CDC calling for action on this apparently infectious condition that now affects about 9000 families have resulted in NO apparent investigation thus far by the CDC.

Recently, a government oversight hearing was called for to investigate complaints of contaminated pet food and determined that there was system wide failure by the FDA to protect pets from contaminated foods. We believe ill and suffering individuals are at least as important as sick pets. There were a number of pet deaths attributable to tainted pet
food. At least 15 persons have died directly or indirectly after being affected by Morgellons disease and thousands more are suffering and becoming disabled.

Most were misdiagnosed as being delusional by dermatologists, largely untrained in psychiatric conditions, using badly flawed inaccurate and unsupportable assertions in the literature. Scientists have identified some of the physical manifestations of this disease using dermatoscopes, microscopes, DNA analysis and chromatography. The manifestations of this disease are real, multisystemic and progressive, not delusional. However the etiologic agent has so far not matched any known human pathogen. There is no cure. Time is of the essence since one half of the 9000 people identifying themselves as ill with this disease have done so within in the past six months. This may represent an emerging epidemic. In our opinion, the CDC is failing in its obligation of "controlling the introduction and spread of infectious diseases," and
we, the taxpayers have a right to know why this is happening and to have the current apparent failure of the CDC addressed immediately.

Sign the petition Click here.

Know thy enemy: The denial machine and how pretty credentials obsure idiotic, unfounded ideas

Internet helps spread delusion that Morgellons a disease

By EDWARD McSWEEGAN, For The Capital

I thought the following might be an interesting experiment: Invent a disease and a set of vague symptoms. Build a Web site and start a tax-exempt charity for the disease. Send out press releases about the newly discovered disease and its disturbing symptoms and provide a link to the Web site. Then sit back and see how many people come to the site or call the foundation claiming to have the disease.
Such an experiment probably would reveal quite a bit about the powers of suggestion, hypochondria and the expanding reach of the Internet.

Unfortunately, someone has done my experiment.

A South Carolina housewife came up with a disease she calls Morgellons and a set up a tax-exempt charity called the Morgellons Research Foundation. Apparently, her son had a rash and, instead of going to the doctor, she started snooping around the Internet for a possible cause. She came across some medical references (from the 17th century) that may have described something similar to her son's "condition" and she latched onto the name. She now has about 7,000 fellow Morgellons sufferers. That's an impressive number of hypochondriacs with online access.

In 2006, Hillary Rhodes, a reporter in Ohio did a story on the Morgellons Research Foundation. She wrote, "Don't visit that (Web) site, though. You might get swept up in what some people believe is a case of mass hysteria. If that's what Morgellons is, it would be the first apparent case to spring from the Internet."

So what exactly is Morgellons disease? From the patient perspective, it's a bizarre skin condition in which worm-like fibers of various colors emerge from lesions on the skin.

"I was feeling things moving under my skin," one patient reported.

From the perspective of most physicians, Morgellons is just another form of delusional parasitosis. Delusional parasitosis is a well-known psychiatric condition in which patients believe they are infested by bugs, worms or parasites crawling on them or under their skin.

To be fair, there are a variety of fleas, bedbugs, lice, mites and ticks that bite and feed on skin. They often leave bite marks that swell and itch, and which may become infected if scratched repeatedly.

But in the absence of obvious bite marks from insects and arthropods, or allergic reactions, many physicians are forced to consider a psychiatric origin for the patient's complaints.

"The patient is intensely anxious, is obsessively focused on his or her symptoms, brings "specimens" of the offending agent … and is unshakable in his or her belief as to the cause," University of Pennsylvania professor Caroline Koblenzer wrote last November. "Elderly women living alone are the most common demographic. Psychiatric co-morbidity, such as depression, anxiety or personality disorder, can usually be uncovered during a careful interview."

Interestingly, delusions, such as contagious diseases, can be spread from one susceptible person to another susceptible person. This is how the Internet can serve as a "vector" or transmitter of illness.

Sociologist Robert Batholomew recently suggested the "World Wide Web has become the incubator for mass delusion and it (Morgellons) seems to be a socially transmitted disease over the Internet."

Such beliefs also are reinforced by a handful of doctors who claim Morgellons is real and treat patients with a variety of antibiotics and expensive supplements. (These are the same doctors who treat people for chronic fatigue, chronic Lyme disease, Gulf War Syndrome, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and other poorly defined syndromes and symptoms.)

Connected and contaminated by the Internet, Morgellons patients have spread the effects of their shared delusions at least as far as Capital Hill, where Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate the matter, and to the CDC where self-diagnosed Morgellons patients were telephoning 20 times a day demanding help.

So now the CDC is investigating Morgellons disease. Last summer, a 12-person task force assembled to review patient data, and develop a case definition for Morgellons disease in order to distinguish its symptoms from those of other well-known diseases. It's not clear how much time and money will be spent investigating a disease imagined in a South Carolina suburb and propagated through the Web.

"There really is no scientific basis at this point to believe that this is real. Many patients with symptoms similar to Morgellons respond well to antipsychotics," Stephen Stone, president of the American Academy of Dermatology told Nature Medicine magazine last summer.

"Seinfeld" character George Costanza nicely summed up the problems of dermatology and skin when he declared, "Wash it, dry it, move on!" Today, in the Internet Age, he probably would say, "Wash it, dry it, log off!"


Dr. Edward McSweegan has a Ph.D. in microbiology and lives in Crofton. He works on and writes about infectious disease issues. He may be contacted at emcsweegan@nasw.org

Original article posted here.