This laboratory seminar on Bions, Biogenesis and the Reich Blood Test has been offered by the Orgone Biophysical Research Lab each summer since 1996, and has been updated and improved each year. It is a unique offering on the West Coast, led by instructors with decades of experience in the field of scientific orgonomy. Students will gain a first-hand look at many of the centrally important methods and preparations described by Wilhelm Reich in his books The Bion Experiments: On the Origins of Lifeand The Cancer Biopathy. Major topics to be covered are:

*The basic concepts of light microscopy, including the differences between achromatic, apochromatic and planapochromatic lens systems, brightfield versus darkfield, sunlight versus artifical illumination, and related biological and optical principles.

* Wilhelm Reich's basic discoveries on bionous disintegration (from hay and grass infusions), bionous decay of soils, Experiment 20, the bionous origins of protozoans, the origins of cancer cells from bionously disintegrated tissues, and the cancer biopathy.

* A survey of various theories on the origins of life, from the early work of Bastian and Bechamp (critics of Pasteur) to the modern times.

* Sterilization methods, including autoclavation and micropore filtration; preparation of specialized nutrient broths, for microbe growth, and the biochemistry of basic bion preparations as derived by Reich from his "Basic Antithesis of Vegetative Life Functions".

* The viewing of bions from various preparations: We start with a simple soup preparation, similar to Reich's very first experiment, to observe the development of radiating bions in ordinary foodstuffs. Disintegrating grass (fresh and several days old) is observed, in various states of bionous decay and subsequent re-organization: org-protozoa (classically called vorticella), paramecium and ameba are generally observable and identifiable as developing directly from the disintegrating plant materials. Autoclaved and ultra-filtered preparations made according to Reich's formula also will be observed, showing similar bionous and cell-like properties. Plasmatic flakesfrom Experiment 20 (from boiled, filtered, autoclaved and frozen soil) will be demonstrated and discussed.

* An emphasis will be placed upon viewing preparations in the living condition, as opposed to stained and "fixed" preparations, which are dead materials. Red blood cells will also be viewed in the living condition, and Reich's method of the Reich Blood Test will be demonstrated. Basic methodology will be reviewed and volunteering students can make their own tests (fingertip pricking only). Problems in standardization will be covered, along with the similarities and differences between Reich's test and other "living blood tests".

* A survey will be made of Reich's findings on the origins of cancer and the cancer cell, and also on the discovery of similar bionous processes by scientists other than Reich (ie., Bechamp, Enderlein, Fox, Bahadur, Rife, Naessens, etc.). The modern concept of "gene-encoded apoptosis", for example, appears functionally identical to Reich's descriptions of bionous disintegration of cells.

The primary instrument used in the course is a Leitz Ortholux research microscope capable of high-resolution magnifications up to 5,000 power, and with plan-apochromatic lenses allowing for excellent resolution and magnification of specimines with true color reproduction. This latter aspect is most important in the field of bion research, as a means of demonstrating the blue-glowing characteristics of most bionous preparations. The Leitz microscope has both brightfield and darkfield capabilities, along with a video display allowing for classroom observation of preparations. Several other excellent, but lesser-quality student microscopes will be set up and operating, and course participants are encouraged to bring their own microscopes if possible and desired.

The seminar is geared for biological scientists and health professionals, but is also suitable for educated laypeople and students. Call or email if you have questions.

Background and brief summary of concepts:

In the 1930s, while investigating the bioenergetic aspects of human emotion and sexuality, Dr. Wilhelm Reich discovered a microscopic vesicle -- later named the bion -- which lay at the border between the worlds of living and non-living matter. Bions could form, as Reich discovered, from either living or non-living matter which had been subjected to the process of hydration and swelling. Bions then could, under specific conditions, develop into known micro-organisms, such as protozoa, thereby demonstrating a solution to the "origin of life" question.

While these vesicles were originally criticized as a "contaminant" by microbiologists, Reich developed various control procedures to rule out this explanation, including the heating of his solutions to very high temperatures and high-pressure autoclavation. Reich also demonstrated a parallel in the bionous development of protozoans in soil or pond water, and to the development of similar mobile, protozoa-like cancer cells in the biopathic organism.

The discovery of bions preceded and paralleled another discovery of Reich, that of the biological orgone energy, or life energy. Bions which developed from the disintegration of highly charged substances showed an intense blue color, and highly energetic in movement and function, while those which developed from energetically weak materials (or weakly-charged tissues) developed into much smaller, lancet-shaped dark forms of a more toxic nature, which he called t-bacilli . T-bacilli were found in abundance in cancer patients, but not in healthier people, and could lead to tumor formation when injected into mice.

In Reich's Experiment 20, earth and water are boiled together, and all particulates are filtered off to produce "bion water." The resultant golden-brownish water is frozen, and when thawed, flakes with an organic shape precipitate out. They are composed of small blue bions, which can grow and multiply with the addition of sterile bion water. This represents primary bion formation, the condensation of free orgone energy from the earth.

Reich developed a blood test to attempt to quantify the biologic charge of the organism, and is tendency toward health or illness due to decreased charge. When observed alive in physiologic saline solution through brightfield in a light microscope, healthy red blood corpuscles have an observable blue-glowing frame and a bright energy field, and the cells themselves appear taught and firm, like a donut-shaped balloon. This healthy bioenergetic condition, indicative of a strong charge of orgone (life) energy within the cells, was the observable basis of immune-function (called "resistance to disease" in Reich's time). Energetically weak blood appears like a balloon which is partially inflated, without sufficient internal pressure or turgor, and without a glowing field, and subject to a quick bionous disintegration. On the other hand, over-charged blood (associated with leukemia and radiation sickness) is fully swollen, showing a loss of the typical biconcave structure of the red cell. While all cells eventually deteriorate into bions, the rate of deterioration reflects the energetic charge of the organism, the basis for the Reich blood test.

Reich's discoveries on bions, biogenesis, and the cancer biopathy have been replicated and verified over the years, and predate similar findings by other researchers working in more orthodox and classical institutions. His emphasis upon emotions, sexuality, and the biophysical orgone (life energy) charging of tissues remains unique, however.