No genetic adaptation to environmental insults

There i s no danger that we will be de- stroyed by the elemental insults of our environment, according to Rene Dubos, PhD, who presented the annual Martin Memorial lecture at the clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons in Miami Beach.

"The danger,'' he stated, "is that we will adjust at the sacrifice of the finer mental and physical attributes of human life."

Speaking at a press conference, the micro- biologist and environmentalist pointed out that we adjust to air pollution a t the cost of loss of respiratory functions. We adjust to noise with the loss of finer qualities of hearing which interferes with our enjoyment of music. We adapt to crowding by isolation, but Dr Dubos predicted a rebirth of the neighborhood. "This i s the great movement to watch for and entourage," he com- mented.

In his lecture, Dubos pointed out that today's environmental insults are often difficult to detect because they are not perceived by the senses. He cited such modern health hazards as carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, nitrates and nitrites, DDT and related pesticides.

Dr Dubos also explained that substances and situations that exert no apparent ill effects under normal conditions may become dangerous under physiological or even emotional stress. "Under modern conditions," he added, "environmental insults of psycho- logical character are becoming more im- portant." Although change and overstimula- tion have a traumatic effect, deprivation of

stimuli seems to be a more common cause of pathology under modern work conditions, Dr Dubos concluded. "Diversity," he said, "is not only the salt of life, but is an essen- tial element of physical and mental health."

There i s no "wisdom of the body" for new insults created by modern technology. And there i s no chance of genetic adapta- tion because the effects only appear after long exposure and do not interfere with re- productive function. "Even if it were true,'' Dr Dubos said, "that we can become adapted to industrial fumes, to the noises of iackhammers, or to the traumatic experience of the rat race and competitive life, it would take more than ten generations be- fore the genes making for adaptation to these insults become established in society as a whole."

Among medical utopias, Dr Dubos com- mented none has blossomed so constantly as the belief that disease can be entirely eliminated from human life. "The general public has been brainwashed into the faith that the responsibilities of medicine cover practically al l aspects of life-from the relief of suffering, to the eradication of disease and to the teaching of the quality of life, including the art of loving," he said.

"It is unwise," Dr Dubos asserted, "and indeed dangerous to create such expecta- tions because they cannot b e fulfilled." It i s within the power of the health professions, however, to help individuals and societies to deal more effectively with the conditions that inevitably interfere with the enjoyment and pursuit of happiness.

178 AORN Journal, January 1975, Vol 21, N o 1