Kazuo Murakami

Dr. Murakami fala do 'pensar genético', que é viver cada dia plenamente com uma atitude positiva, evocando assim a felicidade, a alegria, a inspiração e gratidão. Diante da complexidade do código genético, torna-se necessário admitir a existência de um poder maior no universo. O dr. Murakami chama esse poder 'Algo Maior'. Ele acredita que toda a vida emana da mesma fonte - a grande origem. Todas as células têm uma forma semelhante. Portanto, a vida em qualquer forma - humana, animal, vegetal e até uma célula individual - merece ser tratada com respeito e dignidade.… (plus d'informations)

The author of this little book is a top geneticist whose primary achievement within this field has been to decode the human enzyme renin.

He explains that although we have been told that it is genes that largely determine our abilities and state of health, in fact we can “choose” between turning our genes on or off. Potentially deleterious genes can be turned off while dormant genes can be activated.

He was previously an atheist, but his study of genes has led him to believe in the existence of a God-like power that he terms “Something Great”. He became so moved by his discovery of the wondrous powers and intricacies of genes that he realized that they could not have come into existence haphazardly or by themselves, and thus must have been created by the “Something Great” power he refers to.

He posits that it is the power of positive thinking that switches on beneficial genes, and in fact in the course of his research he found that 23 genes were activated by laughing. Positive thinking can activate good genes so that self-healing can occur.

Much of the book is a sort of auto-biography, in that Dr. Murakami tells us of his life as an unsuccessful scientist in Japan who when emigrating to the USA rose to prominence. His tenet is that growth occurs through movement as was the case in his own life. Also, to tap your power it helps to put yourself into a tight spot.

I was somewhat frustrated and irritated by his comments about the children of geniuses not necessarily also being gifted, since he states that the genius and the child “all share the same genes”, since he seems to forget that the mate of the genius (the other parent) has a completely different set of genes, unless of course the child is a clone of the genius! (And we all inherit an equal number of chromosomes - the gene-bearing bodies - from each parent.) When reading this I got the distinct impression that this top geneticist didn’t actually know much about genes. This is of course not true, he just used an unfortunate turn of phrase.

I found the penultimate chapter describing his research into the role of renin in hypertension to be somewhat boring and what with the one thing and the other was tempted to give the book only two stars. However, the final chapter proved to be a redeeming feature of the book.

Here Dr. Murakami elaborates on his feeling of “awe and wonder” in his study of genetics. He “feels the presence of Something Great”. He explains that we are far more wonderful than we think, and just as tomatoes cultivated hydroponically (in water instead of soil) can produce a thousand times more fruit than conventionally grown plants, similarly we humans have a great potential to improve ourselves and perhaps become geniuses if we change our way of thinking and thus activate our beneficial genes. The three things we should strive after are: 1) to have “noble intentions” 2) to live with an attitude of thankfulness and 3) to think positively.

He explains that everything that happens to us is necessary, both the good and the bad, but if we do our utmost to remain positive even in a bad situation, everything will turn out for the best. This is nothing new, but it is always inspiring to hear it again.

To sum up, if you’re particularly interested in genes, and also want to be reminded of the power of positive thinking, then read this little book. Otherwise perhaps not.… (plus d'informations)