“Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within...”
Romans 12:2

Commensal Bacteria, probiotics and the mighty dollar

Hilary Butler - Thursday, November 13, 2008

For decades, traditional medical systems, as well as some parts of today's reductionist medical system, have used, suggested and prescribed probiotics, even though there aren't too many doctors who know exactly what's in yoghurt, and even fewer who think to tell people to eat it to recolonise their guts after napalming themselves with antibiotics.

For years, I've collected huge amounts of literature and books on probiotics, gut flora, e-coli, kefir, you name it. For a time it looked like the medical profession might get real about probiotics and realise that here was a world that they had sadly neglected.

I was even stupid enough to get optomistic, but sadly, my optimism was, as usual, misplaced. The secret is now out. Most doctors aren't the slightest bit interested in either learning about how to improve the body flora naturally, or even to learn exactly what all the natural bacteria throughout the body, which we call commensal flora, are there for.

It also doesn't appear to have registered that one recent study showed that the gut bacteria in each individual had radical differences.

But let not such complications get in the way of money.

No, no. Their secret is now out. Big money can only be made by a product that can not only be standardized, BUT which can be exactly manipulated to suit their needs. Yes, the new frontier of probiotics is here folks. GENETICALLY MODIFIED probiotics, the ultimate in control.

And you bet they will cost a lot of money!

But here's the funniest bit.  They don't understand how they work.  Don't you think these people would have been better off figuring out the basics first?

But why are we surprised?

The same tactic is taken with vaccines, where they don't know how vaccines work either. And nothing has changed in the eight years since that was published.

But here's the bit that really got me.  Without understanding even the body, or the significance of individual bioflora differences; without understanding exactly how the genetically modified bacteria that they are making, will work, they 

"have faith that designer probiotics eventually will outperform nature's products."

You know.  The ones they tossed because they couldn't get standardized results with an unstandardized natural product. 

They have "faith". 

You know, that religion that is all about believing that man is always smarter than nature.  They say:

"If designed carefully, and with absolute attention for biological safety in its broadest sense, the development of GM [genetically modified] probiotics has the potential to revolutionize medicine," Lothar Steidler and Sabine Neirynck, researchers at University College, Cork, wrote in a 2005 book on probiotics.

"Scientists and clinicians alike are only now beginning to realize the significant medical applications of probiotic cultures," Sleator said.

I wonder what havoc they will wreak in the process?

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