North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kieran &/or Donna" <holycow@frontiernet.net>]

You know how enzymatic detergents are supposed to work?  One end sticks to 
oil, the other to water?  The physiology prof said that the proteolytic 
enzymes in snake venom had opposite charges on opposite ends to do their 
dirty work.  But let me throw in a possible alternative explanation.  We own 
a couple of "quack" devices that work by putting a static charge on the 
body.  they are typically used for treating infection, whether it be 
parasites, bacteria or viruses.  Besides whatever chemical approaches these 
organisms use to attack their host, they have to actually do some electrical 
docking to cells.  The people who designed these two devices were Bob Beck 
and Hulda Clark.  They made their discoveries completely separately via two 
totally different routes.  Bob Beck read an article about how a wire lying 
across a petri dish inhibited growth of the colonies below it.  Hulda Clark 
did radionics and her son decided to design and build a small portable 
battery operated device for her.  These two people both published the plans 
for their devices so that no one would ever be able to patent them and thus 
deny them to the public.  The FDA has shut down many a small business that 
made and sold these devices.  My Hulda Clark "Zapper" was locally made by an 
amateur and sold to me.  Our "Bioelectrifier" is a Bob Beck device just like 
the "Plant Growth Stimulator" that my DC friend ordered.  It's hard for the 
FDA to do much about people who buy a "Plant Growth Stimulator" and 
voluntarily attach it to their own wrist or ankle.  Oh, I guess you could 
use one to grow fruit, so this is on topic after all.
   But back to electricity and molecules, a friend who worked in a 
radiation lab in the 1960's said that the strongest protectant from 
radiation was a strong electric charge on the cells.  I suspect that such a 
charge could keep away charged particles and prevent free radical damage. 
In fact, there is a strong ionic difference between the inside and the 
outside of cells, which makes a cell a battery.  If snake venom electrically 
attaches to human cells, perhaps fungus, bacteria and bugs also do something 
similar to plant cells.  Maybe our most susceptible plants just need some 
kind of electrical protection from the critters.    Donna