The Body Electric
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{{Unreferenced|date=May 2008}}
{{Infobox Book
| name = The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life
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| author = [[Robert O. Becker]] and [[Gary Selden]]
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| language = English
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| publisher = Harper Paperbacks
| release_date = August 5, 1998 (paperback)
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| media_type = Paperback
| pages = 368
| isbn = ISBN 0-688-06971-1
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:''This article is about a science book. See [[Body Electric]] for alternative meanings.''
'''''The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life''''' is a book by [[Robert O. Becker]] and Gary Selden in which Dr. Becker, an orthopedic surgeon at the time working for the [[Veterans Administration]], describes his research into "our bioelectric selves".
He began by examining why normal bones heal, and then explored the reasons why bones fail to heal properly. In the process he observed several interesting properties of bones and bone growth, proposing that bones are [[semiconductor]]s and [[piezoelectric]] in nature. These tie into the healing process by electrically stimulating [[bone marrow cells]] to differentiate into a form of adult [[stem cells]] which regrew the bone from within by [[regeneration (biology)|regeneration]]. By applying external electrical stimulation in the proper form, he was able to induce bone healing in patients whose bones had failed to heal together.
Later in his research, observing from prior research that [[silver]] had been used as an antibacterial material in the past, he used a combination therapy of silver with electrical stimulation (used in this case primarily to drive silver ions further into tissue to enhance its antibacterial action) and observed the desired antibacterial effect. Also observed was that with proper stimulation [[fibroblasts]] would dedifferentiate and apparently became able to form new cell types, leading to the possibility of wider uses for [[regeneration (biology)|regenerative healing]] in humans and other animals.
From "The Body Electric": "the ('positive silver') technique makes it possible to produce large numbers of dedifferentiated cells, overcoming the main problem of mammalian [[regeneration (biology)|regeneration]] - the limited number of bone marrow cells that dedifferentiate in response to electrical current alone. Whatever its precise mode of action may be, the electrically generated silver ion can produce enough cells for human blastemas; it has restored my belief that full [[regeneration (biology)|regeneration]] of limbs, and perhaps other body parts, can be accomplished in humans."
Later in the book he explores his concerns with deleterious effects of [[electromagnetic fields]] on living organisms.
==See also==
* [[Regeneration (biology)]]
* [[Harold Saxton Burr]] and the [[L Field]]
[[Category:Biology books]]
[[de:Robert O. Becker]]