Hey Sadsack – I personally think Morgellons has become kind of an “umbrella” term for what could be a lot of different things (or a combination of different things) that present with similar symptoms – there are many different things that can cause many of the symptoms including lesions. Obviously, as is natural with anyone (as you pointed out), I am more certain of my own experience and condition than I could ever be of anyone else’s. My thoughts are based on my own condition and extensive research of established human biology along with the descriptions other people have provided. Based on my own experience and research I am certain the body contains trillions of protein fibers naturally and the body can produce some very strange structures based on any number of things that would be considered somewhat “natural” from a biological perspective.
I personally can’t rule out there being some kind of genetic component to what has become known as Morgellons and I do think it is possible that some of the GMOs and nanotechnology could be a component of it if not a direct cause. Some GM plants have been modified to produce plastics similar to High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) as I noted in the GM crop / organophosphate thread. With the agrobacterium connection I think it is conceivable that foreign DNA could potentially cause some very strange symptoms in people including Morgellons symptoms. Some viruses can also cause mutations in DNA of organisms and some chemicals can as well from what I’ve read. Thus, I don’t think it is impossible but I think it is less likely than a somewhat “natural” if undiscovered cause would be responsible for most cases of what has become known as Morgellons.
From what I’ve read some Morgellons fibers have been identified by some researchers as being keratin and / or polysaccharides (molecular “chains” of sugars) both of which are common to the human body (for instance glucosamine and chondroitin are polysaccharides that are found in the normal cellular skin “matrix”). The “keratin bridge” associated with a nematode referenced in my last post is a good example of “strange structures” that use ‘natural” materials from the body I think. I have also read that Dr. Staniger reported that MIT had identified some fibers as being HDPE. I realize that many people including yourself have a lot of faith in Dr. Staniger’s work so what I am about to say is not intended to be offensive to anyone – it is just my own personal opinion based on my own observations. I don’t dismiss the idea that some of the fibers sent to MIT could be HDPE. However, I personally don’t have a lot of confidence in Dr. Staniger’s work for a number of reasons (again, my own opinion).
One thing I noted from reading her reports is that she collected samples from many different people, apparently by having different people send her samples in the mail. My problem with this approach is that it doesn’t appear that any real scientific criteria was used to collect the samples – people could basically send in anything that they thought might be a sample of “Morgellons related” material. People could have sent in samples that were from lesions or not from lesions, samples they had stored for months or years, things they collected from their environment (which they may have perceived to be related to Morgellons whether it actually was or not), etc. Without some pretty strict protocols established on how to collect samples and validate that they were actually “true” Morgellons samples (like material removed from a fresh lesion using sterilized instruments and placed in a sterile container under medical supervision, etc.) it would really be impossible to truly validate if the samples sent in actually had anything to do with Morgellons or not. For instance, some people have pulled fibers from lesions and later the fibers were determined to be from textiles – the people really believed at the time that those particular fibers were coming from their body but after more experience and consideration, they realized the fibers had actually come from a piece of clothing they wore. To me this shows the difficulty in identifying things that are not collected using some very strict scientific protocols to eliminate contamination or simple errors in what is called a “sample”.
I have read that Dr. Staniger or someone else seemed to believe this HDPE came from fiber optic cables. I haven’t found anything to tell me why they believe this. I personally have my doubts about that because fiber optic cable is made from ultra pure glass – not plastic (although some cheap, very short-length connector cables are occasionally made from plastic for use to connect equipment together that is installed next to each other where signal strength is not a concern – these cables aren’t used as much in recent years based on my experience). Optical glass fiber does have a “jacket” to cover the glass and some types do use HDPE as the jacketing material but other types of materials are more prevalent. Thus, I’m not certain where the idea that the HDPE came from fiber optic cable came from.
One thing I noticed is that most “Ziploc” bags are made of HDPE and I would hazard a guess that many samples sent in the mail used these bags as the container for samples. Of course this is just speculation on my part, but I would think there is a pretty strong possibility that even if the samples sent in were directly from lesions, they could have been “contaminated” by other things like the “baggies” (sometimes if you look closely at a plastic bag you can find small plastic fibers on the edges left over from the manufacturing process). Thus, while I can’t completely dismiss the MIT testing, I do have my own doubts about the validity of the conclusions drawn from it.
Again, I’m not trying to offend you or anyone else here. My own personal belief is that most cases of what people to believe is Morgellons likely has a fairly “natural” cause – despite all the knowledge they currently have, there is far more that medical science and doctors really don’t have any idea about that can occur from nutrient deficiencies / imbalances, parasites and many other things. Again, I don’t have any way to know the specific things many people suffer with and I think they could vary greatly from person to person depending on many things including exposure to chemicals, genetics, etc. Thus, like all Morgellons theories at this point I have no proof that my theory is correct. However, I think that what I’ve presented could have application to most cases and I think it can plausibly explain the symptoms of Morgellons in most cases if not all cases. Hopefully for everyone’s sake there will be a breakthrough in the research soon that will eliminate the need for any theoretical conjecture.
On another note, trying to be an optimist, the news from the link you posted could be worse ………….at least Dr. Chu wasn’t appointed as the head of Health and Human Services (and the FDA)
