The frequent mutations and birth defects traced to the use of artificial chemicals can be understood if we accept the idea that an energy field precedes the development of the fetus. This is a concept explored at length by a number of scientists. One researcher found that he was able to record on a voltmeter the electrical potential at different points of a salamander embryo. The one constant factor during the growth and development of the embryo, he discovered, was its electromagnetic field; not only did this field remain stable throughout the differentiation and multiplication of cells, but it also didn’ t short out in the liquid medium inhabited by the embryo( a battery would have!). 26 The morphogenetic field postulated by Sheldrake( which wouldn’ t short out because it’ s not electrical) is subject to deformation by mechanical collision and by electrical and magnetic fields. 27 As the morphogenetic field determines the specific growth pattern of an embryo, abnormal changes in that field, such as those created by inappropriate or noxious foods or chemicals, could conceivably create similar changes in the embryo. These changes would then translate into birth defects. All this may explain why rats fed that synthetic diet( see this page) seemed to do well themselves, but lost the power to reproduce in later generations and eventually died out: Their energy fields didn’ t get enough nourishment, and they were unable either to generate or to support new energy fields that would, in turn, develop into baby rats. Will such a fate be ours too— a slow dying out, rather than a big nuclear bang? Infertility or problems with conception occur in a growing number of people today. And we can’ t say that we haven’ t been warned: Over five thousand years ago it was written that“ the sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” If our“ sins” are the breaking of the laws of nature, it’ s unlikely that we’ ll escape the promised effects. IRRADIATION The latest technological invention to immortalize( read“ preserve”) our foodstuffs comes from the Department of Energy. It seems that cesium-137, a nuclear waste by-product of the manufacture of nuclear bombs, can be put to use in irradiating foods. The foods themselves will not become radioactive, even at the suggested levels of 100,000 rads. However, they could if they’ re overexposed. When foods are thus exposed to ionizing radiation, they will not ripen or sprout; some insects, viruses, and bacteria will also be killed, and therefore apparently the food will not spoil. However, according to Kathleen Tucker of the Health and Energy Institute in Washington, D. C., microorganisms can develop resistance to radiation over time; some of them could even mutate into dangerous new strains. Also, some bacteria( such as salmonella and those that cause meat to appear or smell spoiled) may be killed well before the more resistant botulism bacteria. In that