I don't know - but I'd like to see us all try:D
Ask my kids, they came after the psychedelics.
I don't think that something as simple as psychedelics would make any DNA changes in humans. All psychedelics affect neurotransmitters by either performing as analogues of those chemicals or by stimulating production or uptake of those chemicals. Now there is quite a bit of information out there that supports the idea that psychedelics can break the mind control matrix and brainwashing, but these are only variances in the levels of chemicals already present in out brains. It would take physical changes to our DNA to "undo" any genetic manipulation that may or may not have occurred to our species 10,000 years ago. Research has shown these drugs to not have an effect on genetic reproduction in a physiological aspect. Any effect of these chemical is limited to the user of these chems and does not carry through to offspring.
Erowid FAQ's
Quote:The Permanent Effects of Psychedelics
For the purposes of this FAQ, the term psychedelic is used to denote the classic serotonin agonists (ie. LSD, Psilocybin, Mescaline, etc)
What Psychedelics Don't Do
* Psychedelics don't make your spine bleed, or your brain.
* They don't cause chromosome damage
* You won't get stuck in a trip forever
* They aren't (strictly speaking) neurotoxic
* You won't spend the rest of your life believing youre a glass of orange juice
* They will not make you retarded, or cause birth defects in your children
* You will not find instant enlightenment or the solutions to all of your problems
Psychedelics can; however, cause some permanent changes in you. I'm going to attempt to lay these out.
* Realizations- The most common after effect of using a psychedelic is a change in personality or personal actions brought about due to realizations or inspirations that come about during the course of a trip. Generally these are positive things, like a new appreciation for life, or that one needs to change careers or seek spirituality. Occasionally psychedelics will bring you to unworkable or unlivable realizations, ie. Ideas that sounds great while your tripping but don't work so well in the morning. Most people can sort these out from the valuable ideas, in the same way we sort ideas out from what we read or hear on television. Again, generally this is a positive thing, and what the majority of psychedelic users are seeking beyond recreation.
It is perhaps these changes in some people that have led a misguided few to believe that psychedelics can provide some sort of permanent enlightenment. This is not so; or course, only when one puts in the hard work of following up on the realizations does any positive changes result.
* Long Term Use Resulting in Permanent Personality Changes- Most of us know somebody who has tripped a few too many times. This person isn't usually dangerous, or altered in any way that is easy to put your finger on. They tend to be just a little bit eccentric, or a little out there.
There are a lot of plausible explanations for this. The most likely seems to be that every time we put our mind through an experience, it burns a memory of that experience into its cells. Do it enough times and there will be noticeable changes. Its the same theory behind how meditation can lead to enlightenment, or how habitual behaviors are developed.
The mechanism of action behind how this works is complex, and I won't attempt to explain it in detail here. What you need to know is that any excitatory experience (in other words any experience that causes stimulation in the brain, or any experience period) releases neurochemicals which kill some brain cells, at the same time new pathways in the brain are being formed (or strengthened after repeated use). These two mechanisms work to cause changes in our personality based on our experiences. But I digress
The answer? Moderate your usage.
* Pre-existing Conditions- A very small percentage of psychedelic experiences (less than one in one thousand doses) result in latent psychological disorders becoming notable
( http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_effects1.shtml ).
The best advice is to avoid psychedelics if you have a family history of mental illness, have ever been diagnosed with one, have been particularly emotional or irrational recently, or have any other indication that you may suffer from a psychological disorder.
* Flashbacks- About one percent of psychedelic users experience flashbacks. Flashbacks are the experience of a change in your thoughts, feelings or perceptions that resemble a previous experience. Any extremely intense experience can cause flashbacks to occur, they are considered a general symptom of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The best way to avoid flashbacks is to be aware of set and setting when tripping, as they are more likely to result from negative experiences than from positive ones. For more information on set and setting, read The Good Trip Guide.
* Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder- HPPD is the experience of long term visual problems caused by taking psychedelics. There is no accurate percentage of users who experience HPPD after using hallucinogens, but Erowid believes it to be less than 5%. HPPD can occur after a single use of a psychedelic drug and often does, which leads some people to believe that there is a genetic predisposition for it.
We all occasionally experience visual garbage, weird blobs of color, grainy or pixellated vision, dust and other debris on the eyes, and other weird experiences. For some of us, the use of psychedelics makes us a little bit more aware of this visual "noise". This is not the same thing as HPPD.
HPPD is thought to be when the visual cortex of the brain no longer has the ability to sort the garbage out. It is only considered HPPD when normal life is hindered by the perceptual changes.
There isn't much you can do to protect yourself from HPPD. Beyond watching for the early symptoms, and using infrequently; it is mostly a game of Russian Roulette. Fortunately, most people eventually recover from it within six months to a year and a half. Sadly, some never do.
Erowid has put up an excellent HPPD FAQ which I highly recommend reading.
Generally, psychedelics are some of the safest drugs that you can use. They can be extremely rewarding experiences, but they are powerful ones. Psychedelic Drugs are not toys and should be treated with respect and care. Know yourself, your substance and your source and hopefully all of your experiences will be wonderful ones.
apropos the topic:
Saw a german documentary the other day on magic mushrooms, where
the scientist who isolated Psilocybin as the psycho-active ingredient in mushrooms (he just happened to also be the "inventor" of LSD -albert hofmann) stated that the sole difference between brain-produced serotonin and psilocybin was a single oxygen molecule. Coupled with the cannabonoid receptors in the brain and the fact that they both are "banned".. go for it.;)
The shroom season will be on us again soon too;)
There's nothing simple about psychoactives, so I'm agnostic on this subject. At the same time, if there is somethign on earth with the potential to bring about such things as genetic reversal (besides earth changes) I believe psychoactives are it.
However, I don't think that they can "change" our DNA, but they can allow us to "access" our DNA, our genetic memories and full potential. Just as they have allowed truama victims to reintegrate disperate parts of their identities, the same could be true of "truamatized humanity" with our innate genetic potential being realized as a matter of expanded awareness activated through psychoactive allies.
Of course this is simply analogous to how psychoactives effect memory and the brain, and not "hard proof" of anything until it actually happens. Still, the analogies are true, you can check out the work of scientists and transpersonal psychologists like Gary Fisher, Stanislov Grof and Bruce Lipton how true.
-Chris
I'm not so big on LSD though -- which DOES cause genetic changes (of course it's just been discovered that viruses and bacteria can transmit their whole genome into microorganisms through lateral gene transfer which radically changes any view of evolution):
Neuropsychopharmacology
Volume 26, Issue 5, May 2002, Pages 634-642
A Single Dose of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide Influences Gene Expression Patterns within the Mammalian Brain*1
Charles D. Nichols Ph.D. and Elaine Sanders-Bush Ph.D.Corresponding Author Contact Information, E-mail The Corresponding Author
Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232 USA
Received 29 June 2001; revised 11 October 2001; accepted 20 October 2001 Available online 23 March 2002.
Abstract
Hallucinogenic drugs such as lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) have profound effects on humans including hallucinations and detachment from reality. These remarkable behavioral effects have many similarities to the debilitating symptoms of neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. The effects of hallucinogens are thought to be mediated by serotonin receptor activation; however, how these drugs elicit the unusual behavioral effects remains largely a mystery, despite much research. We have undertaken the first comprehensive analysis of gene expression influenced by acute LSD administration in the mammalian brain. These studies represent a novel approach to elucidate the mechanism of action of this class of drugs. We have identified a number of genes that are predicted to be involved in the processes of synaptic plasticity, glutamatergic signaling and cytoskeletal architecture. Understanding these molecular events will lead to new insights into the etiology of disorders whose behavioral symptoms resemble the temporary effects of hallucinogenic drugs, and also may ultimately result in new therapies.
Author Keywords: Serotonin receptor, Hallucinogen, LSD, prefrontal cortex, mRNA, DNA microarray
Article Outline
Introduction
Materials and methods
Animals
Drug Treatment and Tissue Preparation
RNase Protection
DNA Microarray Screen
Results
Serotonin Receptor mRNA Levels Are Unchanged by Acute LSD
Acute LSD Induces Immediate Early Gene Expression
DNA Microarray-identified Candidates for Differential Expression
Discussion
Acknowledgements
References
Introduction
Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is an hallucinogenic drug that transiently but powerfully alters human perception, behavior, and mood at extremely low doses. Certain aspects of the behavior elicited by acute doses of LSD closely resemble symptoms of mental disorders such as schizophrenia (Breier 1995). Despite extensive research over the past four decades, the mechanism of action of hallucinogenic drugs still largely remains a mystery. The behavioral effects of LSD are believed to arise in part from agonist activity at the 5-HT2A, 5-HT2C, and 5-HT1A receptor subtypes (Burris; Krebs and Titeler), but if, and how, these interactions affect cognitive functions remains unknown. In addition to actions at serotonin receptors, LSD has high affinity for dopamine receptors and has been shown to act as an agonist at these receptors (Giacomelli and Watts). Because LSD is a unique ligand that can simultaneously bind to serotonin and dopamine receptor subtypes implicated in both normal and abnormal human behaviors, it is an excellent tool for probing the biochemical basis for behavior.
Simply increasing brain levels of serotonin, however, does not produce hallucinogenic effects. Recent work has demonstrated that while LSD binds to the same receptor sites as the endogenous ligand serotonin, it has the capacity to activate different intracellular signaling cascades (Backstrom et al. 1999). Because intracellular signaling cascades influence gene expression, LSD- induced signaling events within cells may inappropriately alter gene expression, which in turn may lead to changes in the physiological status of the neurons, ultimately altering the processes of cognition. Certain behavioral effects of LSD resemble paranoid schizophrenia in humans. This particular subset of mood alterations occurs within the second phase
of the LSD experience as defined by Freedman, and may be specific for LSD (Freedman 1984). These delayed second phase effects could result from transient changes in gene expression. Thus, identifying and characterizing these genes could prove to be important in understanding mechanisms underlying how hallucinogens such as LSD alter behavior. In addition, understanding these mechanisms may lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets for treatment of mental disorders.
We took a broad approach to investigating and identifying genes that are altered by an acute dose of LSD in the mammalian brain. First, we investigated the expression of the mRNAs of the 5-HT receptor subtypes thought to mediate hallucinogenic effects in animal models (5-HT1A,2A,2C), as well as, specific gene expression of immediate early genes predicted to be affected by LSD. Next, we performed a DNA microarray screen to identify gene expression influenced by LSD at a more global level. For each gene identified, expression levels were determined in three regions of the rat brain: prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and midbrain/thalamus.
I ink psychedellics hve the potential to help us advance as human beings.
Read Terrence Mckenna - Food of The Gods
I hope I have shaken off at least some of the gentic manipulation then..
Derren Brown is not a psychedellic but has been labelled Psychic. I am sure he doesnt have a lot of psychic power, rather persuasive power, a salesman that has trained his power of suggestion. I enjoyed wathcing that one...I have done that myself with the odd foreign coin :pfft: