The Cosmic Serpent (28 page)

23
Calladine and Drew (1992, p. 14). Wills (1991, p. 94) estimates that there are between 30,000 and 50,000 “ACACACACACAC . . .” passages in the human genome. Nowak (1994, p. 609) estimates that the “Alu” sequence (which is 300 bases long) is repeated half a million times in the human genome. According to Watson et al. (1987, p. 668), there are several sorts of “Alu” sequences amounting to a total of a million. Jones (1993, p. 69) considers that approximately a third of the human genome is made up of repeat sequences.

24
Among the 64 words of the genetic code, only “UGG” has no synonym; it is the only word signifying the amino acid tryptophan. (The words of the genetic code are written in RNA, rather than DNA, withaUinstead of a T.) The 63 other words all have at least one synonym. For instance, there are no fewer than six words for arginine: “CGU,” “CGC,” “CGA,” “CGG,” “AGA,” “AGG.” Moreover, two words have a double meaning: “AUG” and “GUG,” which correspond respectively to amino acids methionine and valine, can also signify to the transcription enzyme where to start transcribing the text (“start”). Lewontin (1992) writes about this ambiguity: “Unfortunately, we do not know how the cell decides among the possible interpretations” (p. 67). Moreover, Watson et al. (1987) write: “Many amino acids are specified by more than one codon, a phenomenon called
degeneracy
” (p. 437, original italics). Trémolières (1994) writes: “The code is considered to be degenerate. The word is perhaps badly chosen; let us say that we are dealing with a language that has many synonyms” (p. 97).

25
Editing enzymes are called “snurps” (small nuclear ribonucleoproteins). Regarding the editing of the genetic message, Frank-Kamenetskii (1993) writes: “But what tells the enzyme how to cleave the molecule correctly and how to splice together the resulting RNA fragments? And how do in-between spaces get dropped out in the process? The inner workings of such cutting and assembling are far from simple, for if an enzyme just cuts RNA into pieces, Brownian motion will scatter them around, with no hope for Humpty-Dumpty being put back together again” (p. 79). Blocker and Salem (1994) write: “The role of introns is extremely mysterious. Strangely, they are copied during the first stage of transcription only to end up not being transformed into ‘messages.' Indeed, ‘pre'-messenger RNA contains the entire gene, introns and exons. Then, still within the nucleus, a complicated mechanism takes out, or edits out, the introns. . . . Furthermore, the editing of a gene can occur in several different ways, from one time to another, often to respond to the particular demands of a given cell type. This means that this ‘choice in editing' is probably strictly regulated inside each type of cell, but the way in which this regulation is realized remains almost entirely unknown” (p. 128). The alternation of exons and introns within genes is the province of “higher” organisms—in chickens, for instance, the gene corresponding to the instructions to build collagen contains fifty exons (see Watson et al. 1987, p. 629); in comparison, bacterial DNA contains practically no introns. For genes that contain up to 98 percent introns, see Wills (1991, p. 112).

26
Most estimates consider that the human genome contains 100 thousand genes. But Pollack (1994) writes: “If larger human chromosomes carry as many surprises [as yeast's], we can expect to find we are carrying, not the current estimate of one hundred thousand genes, but at least four hundred thousand genes, the majority of them unexpected and unknown” (p. 92). Meanwhile, Wade (1995b) reports on the rapid gains on the sequencing of the human genome (“which may be 99% done by 2002”).

27
For the translation of these signs, see Gardiner (1950, pp. 33, 122, 457, 490, 525) and Jacq (1994, pp. 45, 204).

1
Jones (1993) writes: “A useless but amusing fact is that if all the DNA in all the cells in a single human being were stretched out it would reach to the moon and back eight thousand times” (p. 5). This calculation is based on an estimate of 3 × 10
¹²
cells in a human body, which is 33 times smaller than the usual estimate of 10
¹⁴
(which I use to obtain 125 billion miles of DNA in a human body). As I explained in a note to Chapter 7, this estimate varies considerably from one specialist to another.

2
Margulis and Sagan (1986) write: “In their first two billion years on Earth, prokaryotes continuously transformed the Earth's surface and atmosphere. They invented all of life's essential, miniaturized chemical systems—achievements that so far humanity has not approached. This ancient high
bio
technology led to the development of fermentation, photosynthesis, oxygen breathing, and the removal of nitrogen gas from the air” (original italics, p. 17). Wills (1991) writes: “So the DNA molecules themselves pack over a hundred trillion times as much information by volume as our most sophisticated information storage devices” (p. 103). Pollack (1994) writes: “The second strand [of the DNA molecule] is the minimum imaginable amount of extra-molecular baggage necessary to make either strand's information self-replicating” (p. 28).

3
Luna and Amaringo (1991, pp. 33-34).

4
For the details regarding the visual system, see Ho and Popp (1993, p. 185) and Wesson (1991, p. 61).

5
See Weiss (1969), pp. 108, 202 (Avíreri, “the Great Transformer”), p. 212 (“Avíreri creates the seasons), and more generally pp. 199-226. Regarding the universality of the trickster-transformer in creation myths, Radin writes: “In the entire world there is no myth as widespread as the ‘Trickster myth' that we will deal with here. There are few myths about which we can so confidently say that they belong to humanity's most ancient modes of expression; few other myths have kept their original content in such an unchanged way. The Trickster myth exists in a clearly recognizable form among the most primitive peoples as well as more evolved ones; we find it among the Ancient Greeks, the Chinese, the Japanese and in the Semitic world.... Though it is always linked to other myths and though it is markedly reconstructed and retold in a new form, the fundamental action seems always to have prevailed over the others” (in Jung, Kerényi, and Radin 1958, p. 7).

6
Stocco (1994, p. 38).

7
Harner (1973) writes: “Both Jívaro and Conibo-Shipibo Indians who had seen motion pictures told me that the ayahuasca experiences were comparable to the viewing of films, and my own experience was corroboratory” (p. 173).

8
In an article entitled “Evidence of photon emission from DNA in living systems,” Rattemeyer et al. (1981) write: “Probably, DNA is the most important source of ‘ultra-weak' photon emission (or electromagnetic radiation) from living cells” (p. 572). On DNA's trapping and transfer of electrons, see, for example, Murphy et al. (1993), Beach et al. (1994), Clery (1995), and Hall et al. (1996); Hall et al. write: “Although the reaction we have described involves long-range photoinduced electron transfer, the precise mechanism for this DNA-mediated charge transfer is not yet known” (p. 735).

9
Wilson (1992) writes: “The black earth is alive with a riot of algae, fungi, nematodes, mites, springtails, enchytraeid worms, thousands of species of bacteria. The handful may be only a tiny fragment of one ecosystem, but because of the genetic codes of its residents it holds more order than can be found on the surfaces of all the planets combined” (p. 345). See also Wilson (1984, p. 16).

10
Margulis and Sagan (1986) write: “As soon as there were significant quantities of oxygen in the air an ozone shield built up. It formed in the stratosphere, floating on top of the rest of the air. This layer of three-atom oxygen molecules put a final stop to the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds by screening out the high-energy ultra-violet rays” (p. 112). Meanwhile, the depth of the layer of microbial life on the planet is only beginning to be investigated—see Broad (1994). Frederickson and Onstott (1996) write in their article “Microbes deep inside the earth” that they have found bacteria “from depths extending to 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) below the surface” (p. 45). Regarding the presence of cell-based life in the air we breathe, Krajick (1997) writes: “A cubic yard of the atmosphere can contain hundreds of thousands of bacteria, viruses, fungal spores, pollen grains, lichens, algae, and protozoa” (p. 67).

11
Quoted in Gebhard-Sayer (1987, p. 25).

12
Harner (1973) writes: “The shamans under the influence of ayahuasca see snakes apparently at least as often as any other single class of beings” (p. 161). Harner cites visions of snakes among the Jívaro, Amahuaca, Tukano, Siona, Piro, and Ixiamas Chama. According to Schultes and Hofmann (1979): “Ingestion of Ayahuasca usually induces nausea, dizziness, vomiting, and leads to either an euphoric or an aggressive state. Frequently the Indian sees overpowering attacks of huge snakes or jaguars. These animals often humiliate him because he is a mere man” (p. 121).

13
In a groundbreaking and fascinating work, Reichel-Dolmatoff (1978) gave color crayons to Desana-Tukano shamans and asked them to draw their visions; there are a good number of serpents in these drawings—see drawings, I, IV, V, VI, VII, XVIII, XXI, XXIII, XXVI, XXVII, XXIX, XXXI, and XXXII; the latter shows two pairs of serpents wrapping around each other in spirals and, to their right, a yellow double helix; according to the caption: “This design represents four ‘yagé snakes' (
gahpí piró
) that are seen after one or two cups of yagé and are in the act of climbing up the house-posts and winding around the rafters. The other, irregular, lines represent luminous sensations in the form of yellow flashes” (p. 112). Dobkin de Rios (1974) writes about the inhabitants of Iquitos who consult ayahuasqueros: “Informants repeatedly told of the boa appearing before them while under the effects of ayahuasca. However, despite the negative implications of a large, fearsome creature, this shared vision was believed to be an omen of future healing” (p. 16). See also Dobkin de Rios (1972, pp. 118-120). William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg (1963) were among the first to write about ayahuasca; Ginsberg describes his visions: “And then the whole fucking Cosmos broke loose around me, I think the strongest and worst I've ever had it nearly . . .—First I began to realize my worry about the mosquitoes or vomiting was silly as there was the great stake of life and Death—I felt faced by Death, my skull in my beard on pallet on porch rolling back and forth and settling finally as if in reproduction of the last physical move I make before settling into real death—got nauseous, rushed out and began vomiting, all covered with snakes, like a Snake Seraph, colored serpents in aureole around my body, I felt like a snake vomiting out the universe—or a Jivaro in headdress with fangs vomiting up in realization of the Murder of the Universe—my death to come—everyone's death to come—all unready—I unready . . .” (pp. 51-52). The Cashinahua talk also of brightly colored and large snakes (see Kensinger 1973, p. 9), as does ayahuasquero Manuel Córdoba-Rios (see Lamb 1971, p. 38). Anthropologist Michael Taussig (1987) writes about his personal experience with ayahuasca: “My body is distorting and I'm very frightened, limbs stretch and become detached, my body no longer belongs to me, then it does. I am an octopus, I condense into smallness. The candlelight creates shapes of a new world, animal forms and menacing.... Self-hate and paranoia is stimulated by horrible animals—pigs with queer snouts, slithering snakes gliding across one another, rodents with fish-fin wings. I am outside trying to vomit; the stars and the wind above, and the corral for support. It's full of animals; moving” (p. 141). Some anthropologists drink ayahuasca without seeing snakes; Philippe Descola (1996) writes about his experience with the Achuar Jivaros: “It seems likely that the strange beings, monstrous spirits and animals in a perpetual state of metamorphosis that throng their visions—but have not yet visited me—appear to them like a succession of temporarily coagulated forms against a moving background composed of the geometric patterns whose strange beauty I am now experiencing” (p. 208)—though barely a page previous to this he also writes: “Animal forms of unrecognized species display their metamorphoses and transformations before my eyes: the water-marked skin of the anaconda merges into tortoise-shell scales that elongate into the stripes of an armadillo, then reshape into the crest of an iguana against the intense blue of the wings of a
Morpho
butterfly, then stretch into black stripes which immediately fragment into a constellation of haloes standing out against the silky fur of some large cat” (p. 207). Some people hallucinate with greater difficulty than others; the dose of the hallucinogen also plays a role; this may have influenced Descola's experiences based on “half a coffee-cupful” of ayahuasca (p. 206). According to Reichel-Dolmatoff (1975), the Desana-Tukano people can glance at a drawing of hallucinations and estimate almost exactly how many cups of ayahuasca the artist had consumed: “‘This is what one sees after two cups,' they would say; or ‘This one can see after six cups'” (p. 173).

14
Of the 48 paintings by Pablo Amaringo in
Ayahuasca visions
(Luna and Amaringo 1991), only three do not have serpents (nos. 1, 6, and 28). The 45 other pictures are filled with fluorescent snakes, often exceptionally large, and rather frightening. Amaringo comments on painting no. 3, called
Ayahuasca and chacruna:
“This painting represents the two plants necessary in preparing the ayahuasca brew. Out of the ayahuasca vine comes a black snake with yellow, orange and blue spots, surrounded by a yellow aura. There is also another snake, the
chacruna
snake, of bright and luminous colors. From its mouth comes a violet radiation surrounded by blue rays. The
chacruna
snake penetrates the ayahuasca snake, producing the visionary effect of these two magic plants” (p. 52). Luna writes: “By far the most conspicuous motif in Pablo's visions is the snake, which, together with the jaguar, is in turn the most commonly reported vision under the effects of ayahuasca by all tribes” (pp. 41-42). Finally, the snakes shaped like hammocks shown in painting no. 19 correspond exactly to the use of the word “hammock” to signify “anaconda” in the twisted language of Yaminahua ayahuasqueros (see Townsley 1993, p. 459); the Yaminahua live hundreds of miles from Pucallpa, where Pablo Amaringo lives.