Antoni Gandia

Rupert Sheldrake

And the morphic fields

After obtaining his PhD, Sheldrake became a fellow of Clare College, working in biochemistry and cell biology with funding from the Royal Society Rosenheim Research Fellowship. He investigated auxin, a phytohormone which plays a role in plant vascular cell differentiation,and published a number of papers related to the topic. A 2012 profile in The Guardian described the Sheldrake of that era as "one of the brightest Darwinians of his generation". His development with Philip Rubery of the chemiosmotic model of polar auxin transport has been described as "astonishingly visionary". Their work in the 1970s was confirmed in the 21st century.

Sheldrake says he ended this line of research when he concluded,

"The system is circular, it does not explain how [differentiation is] established to start with. After nine years of intensive study, it became clear to me that biochemistry would not solve the problem of why things have the basic shape they do."

Vergroot

Ruper Sheldrake - Rupert Sheldrake is a biologist and author of more than 60 technical papers. He studied natural sciences at Cambridge and philosophy at Harvard, where he was a Frank Knox Fellow. He took a Ph.D. in biochemistry at Cambridge, and was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, where he was Director of Studies in biochemistry and cell biology. He was also a Research Fellow of the Royal Society. From 1974 to 1978 he was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the…

Met: Rupert Sheldrake

Alfred Rupert Sheldrake is an English author, public speaker, and researcher in the field of parapsychology, known for his "morphic resonance" concept. He worked as a biochemist and cell biologist at Cambridge University from 1967 to 1973 and as principal plant physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics until 1978.

Conceived during Sheldrake's time at Cambridge, morphic resonance posits that "memory is inherent in nature"and "natural systems, such as termite colonies, or pigeons, or orchid plants, or insulin molecules, inherit a collective memory from all previous things of their kind". Sheldrake proposes that it is also responsible for "telepathy-type interconnections between organisms". His advocacy of the idea encompasses paranormal subjects such as precognition, telepathy and the psychic staring effect as well as unconventional explanations of standard subjects in biology such as development, inheritance, and memory.

Morphic resonance is not accepted by the scientific community as a real phenomenon and Sheldrake's proposals relating to it have been characterized as pseudoscience. Critics cite a lack of evidence for morphic resonance and an inconsistency of the idea with data from genetics and embryology, and also express concern that popular attention from Sheldrake's books and public appearances undermines the public's understanding of science.

Despite the negative reception Sheldrake's ideas have received from the scientific community, they have found support in the New Age movement, such as from Deepak Chopra. Sheldrake argues that science should incorporate alternative medicine, psychic phenomena, and a greater focus on holistic thinking.