Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to find anyone in the academic community--of which, as a "science journalist," I'm not a full member--to help me to develop my "heterotoxin" theory.
Many biochemists have, however, been given repeated opportunities to look at my ideas via the Internet; my correspondence with that group of people has had good acceptance to the extent that there have been few complaints about spam; and one Oxford professor sent back an opinion.
No academic has yet pointed out any fatal flaw.
I'm also happy to say that no one has tried to plagiarize my work in that area. So my ideas remain in limbo--even though they proved a factor in the political downfall of Vice President Dan Quayle and also in three large-scale corporate meltdowns. The corporations were Baxter International (AIDS), Dow (silicone), and SureBeam (irradiated food).
SureBeam even paid me the considerable compliment of going bankrupt.
Although I don't want to appear immodest, I do think I've managed to hit on a cental isssue which is basic to biochemistry and has practical applications. I think the issue will return again and again and I invite more comment and criticism from biochemists. As I say, I don't want to appear immodest, and I'm sure that this material and my position regarding "heterotoxicity" could benefit from criticism.
There've been positive as well as negative results, however, from my efforts. For example, it seemed that, as a result of the publicity from Dan Quayle, the CDC changed the definition of AIDS to make it more realistic. (Some would say that the fact that Quayle's reelection effort was damaged should also be classified as positive. I'll leave that to the reader.
But, in May 2006, I suggested to my friends at Merck that they should take sensible precautions regarding their new vaccine and that I was prepared either: (1) to offer my services prior to the launch of the product; or (2) if necessary, to document afterward that they'd been advised by me of potential problems beforehand.
CONTINUE