NEW ZEALAND MEDICAL JOURNAL

Vol 116 No 1177 ISSN 1175 8716
NZMJ 11 July 2003, Vol 116 No 1177
http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/116-1177/507
© NZMA

The Rise and Fall of a Scientific Genius: The Forgotten Story of Royal Raymond Rife
Part One: Rife's Rise (video)
Written, Produced and Directed by Shawn Montgomery. VHS NTSC or PAL formats

Shawn Montgomery has produced a fascinating video documentary woven from restored audio tapes, records,
photographs and current interviews. The production quality is high given the technical problems he undoubtedly
overcame and the story that unfolds is intriguing. There are a few repetitions of information, but these are minor
distractions. He raises the twisting, turning questions that surround all those associated with heresy, quackery or
unrecognised genius, from Galileo and Semmelweiss to Issels and Milan Brich.

Royal Raymond Rife, "genius scientist", trained for six years at the Carl Zeiss Optical Company in Germany and
became the inventor of powerful microscopes, leading to the discovery of a revolutionary therapy for viral diseases.
Rife reasoned that if he was going to find a cure for diseases such as cancer it was important to be able to see the
live virus that caused the disease. The first of several highly advanced microscopes was built in 1920. Noting that
certain microorganisms absorbed different frequencies of light, he invented a system of rotating prisms to stain the
specimen with light. Extrapolating from this resonant effect of light, he experimented with electromagnetic radio
waves and discovered that for each type of virus there was a particular frequency that would cause its disruption.

He subjected test animals in his laboratory to lethal doses of pathogenic germs and reported that he could invariably
save their lives by subjecting their bodies for a few minutes to the electrical energy of the properly chosen frequency.
These experiments and subsequent clinical therapies were heralded by his supporters to demonstrate the medical
technology for the next century!

Montgomery presents a good mystery without a clear answer. At least not for me, since I've seen only the first video
volume, Rife's Rise. I presume the sequel, Rife's Fall, may well cast a critical light on Rife's discoveries within the
context of modern biomedical understanding or orthodoxy. One gets the impression, however, that is not the way this
story eventually plays out. In the absence of the video sequel, one can go to Google and search for Royal Raymond Rife.
There you will find a rich assortment of conspiracy theorists and their various attempts to explain how Rife's ingenious
discoveries (including optical microscopic identification (magnification x 31 000) of living viruses and "silver bullet",
EMR-frequency therapy for polio, most tumours and viral infections, protozoan, bacterial and fungal diseases, stiff
muscles, headaches, motion sickness and "prostrate") have been suppressed by the medical/pharmaceutical
establishment. What is missing is a logical and objective analysis of why.

Of course most of this is not scientifically assessed in the first volume. That is not intended to imply that the last chapter
in the long-recognised relationship between viruses and malignancy has been written. Although we have an ability to
define the linear and sequential relationships between oncogenes and abberant DNA, our contemporary view of the
temporal and spatial controls determining functional gene behaviour in the natural history of malignancy is at best myopic.
Nevertheless, in the absence of bona fide substantiation, the FDA currently forbids any medical claims regarding Rife's therapies.

This is a good story and I hope I get to see the sequel if the counter-arguments are included.

Randall Allardyce
Senior Lecturer, Department of Surgery
Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences