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Wikipedia

Mario Christian Meyer

Mario-Christian Meyer is a Swiss-Brazilian doctor and advocate for the sustainable development of the Amazonia and preservation of its indigenous cultural heritage.

Mario-Christian Meyer
Born(1953-06-04)4 June 1953
Salta, Argentina
NationalitySwitzerland
Brazil
Argentina
Known forWorks on "Alliance between modern technology and ancestral knowledge", Valorization of Amazonian biodiversity, Amazonian forest, Amazonian indian
AwardsGiant of Ecology (2008)
Scientific career
FieldsNeuropsychiatry, neuropsychology, neurolinguistics, cross-cultural psychiatry, epistemology, life sciences, biotechnology, medicinal plants, mythology, ecology, Sustainable development
InstitutionsSorbonne

Early life edit

Meyer was born in Salta, Argentina. His father, Hermann Meyer, a Swiss polytechnics engineer specializing in agronomy, became a fazendeiro (large plantation farmer), first in Argentina, in the early 1930s, then in Brazil in 1954. His mother, Anne Camille Blanc de Corbières Meyer, was a Swiss structural engineer. The young Meyer spent his first months in Salta, where his father had established a Hacienda and an olive oil production plant. Because of Peronism, with its nationalism and isolationism, his family lost everything and, in 1954, consequently moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In the book Embracing Amazonia, published in Brazil, 2008, Eliana Spengler (Giant of Ecology Award coordinator) talks about Meyer's childhood and youth:[1]

In his early years, he elected his father's library as his shelter; there he nourished his young mind and imagination reading books by classical Brazilian writers about Amazonian rainforest and Índios. Later, through encyclopaedias, he developed personal approaches to his numerous questions about the meaning of life.

The stories of Brazilian authors Jose de Alencar, Castro Alves and Machado de Assis fueled Meyer's love of the Amazon, while reading Montaigne's" Bon sauvage", Rousseau's "État de Nature" and Locke's concepts of empiricism and "tabula rasa" directed his thoughts on the nature of human development.

Later in life, Meyer experienced an Índios initiation rite, an experience that sealed his commitment to the Amazonian cause.

Career edit

Early career edit

Meyer studied medicine, specializing in Developmental Neuropsychology and Child Psychiatry. He went on to teach at the Sorbonne in Paris. His thesis Apprentissage de la langue maternelle écrite: étude sur des populations autochtones dites socio-culturellement défavorisées dans une approche interdisciplinaire,[2] prefaced by Prof. Dr. Julian de Ajuriaguerra of the Collège de France, published by UNESCO, examined the problems of underprivileged indigenous populations in learning written language.

This work for UNESCO has induced Meyer to study the contribution of western sciences (neuro-psychiatry, neuro-linguistics, neuro-psychology, psycho-motricity, etc.) to the approach of learning disabilities occurring with illiteracy in the developing countries. This official mission led him into the heart of the Amazonian rain-forest for the first time,[3] where he undertook an exhaustive case study about the different forms of graphic representations of the written language used by the Amerindians in their pictographs, ideograms, petroglyphs and body paintings (e.g. Genipapo – Genipa americana, Urucu – Bixa orellana), obtained using plant pigments,[4] where he discovered the power of their active ingredients. Meyer evolved from this work to a general effort to promote the value of indigenous ancestral knowledge and to preserve their natural environment (the Amazon).

Focusing then on the cross-cultural psychiatry's field, he developed through the 1980s his researches for a better understanding of the interactions between Culture and Psyche.[5]

In 1989, Meyer was made a Fellow of the Paris Society of Medicine (in French Société de Médecine de Paris),[6] founded on the "2 Germinal year IV" (French Revolutionary calendar, i.e. 22 March 1796), originating from the Société Royale de Médecine[7] founded in 1730. There, he presented his works on Amazonia, which were to give birth to new medicines.

Ancestral knowledge and New pharmacology edit

 
Click on image to enlarge

His missions in the Amazonian rain-forest (see map at right) in close contact with the "People of Nature", the Índios[8] gave him a new conception of Man-Nature interaction.[9] They lead him to combine his expertise in neuro-psychology in the field of linguistic and cultural diversity with his experience in biological diversity and its preservation by bio-technologies.

This association allowed him to fight for the transformation of the Amazonian biodiversity and medicinal plants into a truly genuine pharmacology benefiting both Amazonia and the Western world.[10]

Thus, from 1992 Prof. Dr. Meyer participated as an official member of the State of Amazonas delegation in the UN Earth Summit Rio 92. It is in this context that, in 1994, he coordinated on Brazilian territory – after a due hand-over by the French Ambassador in Brasília – the first Ministerial "mission for biotechnology to valorize biodiversity" ever to be organized between France and the State of Amazonas.[11]

This mission, which had been initiated in 1993 by the French Minister of Research and Space Hubert Curien (via the National Program of Bio-technologies, directed by Prof. Dr. Daniel Thomas), was carried out under the auspices of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the active involvement of the Governor of the State of Amazonas.

 
The Chief of the Tribe Marubo, Darcy Duarth Comapa, with Prof. Dr. Meyer at the Alto Javari in the Central Amazônia, discussing Amazonian plants' variety expressed in pictographs

In 1994, Meyer appeared as a special delegate from Brazil to the UNESCO's World Symposium on Literacy[12] in order to present his new approach merging linguistic abilities and biodiversity know how.

In 1999, Dr. Meyer was appointed by UNESCO to write a report on the means to consider in order to establish a "bridge of equitable communication and cooperation" between the Amazonian Amerindians and their traditional knowledge, on the one hand, and the Western world and its modern Culture, on the other hand. The bottom line was to set up the appropriate tools and create the necessary procedures for such a cooperation to be made possible, taking into account the specificity of cultural diversity, the way both these cultures function, and the pragmatic instruments of cooperation.[13]

Since then, he has gone on to found PISAD:[14] Programme International de Sauvegarde de l'Amazônia, Mata Atlântica et des Amérindiens pour le Développement Durable [International Program to Safeguard Amazonia, the Mata Atlântica and the Amerindians for Sustainable Development], a humanist and non-profit organization. To implement it, he has created a "platform of fair and equitable dialogue – a bridge – between preserved Índios and western scientists"[15] to valorize the ancestral knowledge of the Índios and the Amazonian biodiversity. Originally, Meyer set up an operational concept and methodology regarding the psycho-cultural revitalization of endangered Amerindian knowledge which he had pioneered as Cogni'Índios.[15]

Recent work edit

Meyer is currently adapting a process for the bio-production of active ingredients contained in medicinal plants to the needs and abilities of the Índios, enabling them to manage the production of these pharmaceuticals and ensuring them economic autonomy and self-sustainable development. This bio-production is based upon the alliance between the Índios' know-how and a green biotechnology (Plant Milking Technology) developed by INPL – Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine (National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine), France.[16] UNESCO's Participation Programme entitled "Amerindian Communication and Sustainable Economic Development Programme for a Culture of Peace in Brazilian Amazonia" (00 BRA 603), which Meyer managed from 1999 to 2003, has been a central element of his work and a starting point for his further action.[17]

In the last years, Meyer has been concentrating his activities on the first transfer[18] of the "plant milking technology" to an Índioscommunity in the virgin rain-forest: this is a unique example in recent history of an actual biotechnology transfer to Amerindians.[18] He is now focusing his work on the goal-achievement methodology of his original research and development program to ensure a functional and active link between theÍndios ancestral knowledge and Scientist's advanced biotechnology.[19]

Health, environmental, social and media impacts edit

For more than three decades, Meyer's work has been published by leading international scientific journals, magazines and books, as well as progressively in the mainstream press, as can be seen in "Selected Publications", up to recent articles.

In this sense, see " Médicaments de demain:l'avenir est sous les tropiques " (Amazonia: Medicines of the Future)[20] cf. his interview in the scientific section "MatchDocument" of the magazine Paris Match (France), 2018, nº 3586, pages 107–108. In the article "Amazonie: Médicaments du Futur" [Amazônia: Medicines of the Future] (Full Web version)[21],chap. "Quel rôle joue l’industrie pharmaceutique dans ces alchimies?" ,it is written :

"Nearly two-thirds of modern medicines come from nature: 35% are directly or indirectly derived from natural molecules, 25% are inspired. We know that nature has a much more elaborate chemistry than synthetic molecules: the natural active principles - fruit of millions of years of trial and error in order to identify their biological utility - have a structure that is much more complex than those of chemical synthesis; today, biotechnologies manage to imitate them via Bio-mimicry. In this sense, the Amazonia is the largest laboratory in the world"

See also "Amazonia, the knowledge class" published in the Franco-Swiss Standard magazine, 2012, nb 37 about the "Financial crisis: a new green bio-economy vs the Knowledge class": Mario Christian Meyer : interview Standard[22]. In the § 6 p. 159 we can read:

"The urgency of safeguarding the primary forests of Amazonia and the preservation of biodiversity leads to inventing other ways for the valorization of this heritage. The project Herb'Içana, that we are trying to implement in agreement with the Chiefs of the Amazonian territories (...) will create green jobs of the future. The big challenge is the transfer of green biotechnology "plant milking technology" (...) to enable Índios to train in bio-production activities."

Meyer has treated other subjects such as pesticides, because of their relevance to health, specially related to cancers, leukaemia, hormonal perturbations… see the article "Du mythe du Timbó à la biotechnologie empirico-naturelle: les biopesticides en question"[23] published in the magazine Hortis,[24] nº 61, pages 55–57.[25]

About Meyer's work edit

In September 2017, the Herb'Içana project was awarded and received special homage from the Giants of Ecology Institute (Brazil) for its relevance, and was appointed as a solution for the wound no 7, "loss of biological diversity which affects the lives of all living things", described in the book "12 Feridas Ambientais do Planeta" ["12 Environmental Wounds of the Planet"], coordinated by Gustavo Siqueira and Prof. Dr. Joel Dias da Silva, Brazil, 2017. See the article entitled "Um novo modelo de valorização da biodiversidade: eco-etno-biotecnologia na Amazonia"[26] by Eliana Spengler, Coordinator of the Honorary Committee of the Giants of Ecology Award 2017–2018. See § 3 p. 128 (reference Nb. 25).[27]

Awards and recognition edit

For his efforts, Meyer was awarded the Brazilian prize Gigante da Ecologia 2008[28] (Giant of Ecology),[29] an honour tribute by the Instituto Gigantes da Ecologia (Giants of Ecology Institute), in Blumenau, Brazil.

On 21 September 2017, Meyer was again awarded the prize Giant of Ecology 2017[30] for "Scientific Excellence", as the founder and President of PISAD, thanks to the project Herb'Içana.

On 25 September 2017, Meyer received a high distinction from the French Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, which appointed him Knight of the Order of Merit.[31][32]

Meyer was made an honorary citizen of the city of Manaus, capital of the State of Amazonas, and was granted a gold medal by its legislative chamber, in recognition of the 30 years of services he provided for the defense of the rich biodiversity of Amazonia and the development of the Herb'Içana project.[33][34]

Selected publications edit

Scientific publications edit

  • Apprentissage de la langue maternelle écrite : étude sur des populations "les moins favorisées" dans une approche interdisciplinaire [Acquisition of written mother tongue in an interdisciplinary approach] (PDF). Preface by Collège de France, Paris: UNESCO. 1985. p. 150.
  • "Psychomotricité, mémoire corporelle et éducation" [Psychomotricity, Body Memory and Education.] (PDF). Le corps et sa mémoire: Actes du VIe Congrès international de psychomotricité. Paris: Doin: 85–92. 1985. ISBN 978-2-7040-0493-5.
  • "Cultural shock, neuropsychological and cognitive functions of symbolization and psychiatric risk" (PDF). Journal de Psychiatrie Biologique et Thérapeutique. 24: 6. January 1987.
  • Dictionnaire des drogues, des toxicomanies et des dépendances, Amérindiens d'Amazonie [Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Drugs, Drug-addiction and Dependences, Amerindians from Amazonia] (PDF). Éditions Larousse. 1999. p. 435. ISBN 978-2-03-720324-1.
  • "Como o resgate cultural pode ajudar o Índio aculturado e a nossa sociedade?" [How can the cultural rescue help the acculturated Indians and our society?] (PDF). FGV. São Paulo, BR. 31 August 2009.
  • "Du mythe du Timbó à la biotechnologie empirico-naturelle: les biopesticides en question" [From the myth of Timbó to the empirico-natural biotechnology: the biopesticides in question] published in the magazine Hortis - Publishing House: De Ville en Ville – Le magazine des responsables d'espaces nature, 2016, nº 61, pp. 55–58.
  • L’Énaction : un cas d’école en Amazonie brésilienne, la Plateforme Éco-Ethno-Biotechnologique, fruit de l’alliance entre savoirs ancestraux amérindiens et biotechnologies vertes occidentales Neurosciences Department – University Montaigne Bordeaux, TV Montaigne. France, September 2014.
  • Modèle de valorisation durable de la biodiversité par la diversité culturelle : alliance entre savoirs ancestraux amérindiens et biotechonologies occidentales – A scholarly contribution to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs, International Workshop on "A critique of sustainable development", IEA Nantes – Institute for Advanced Study (associated to Princeton IAS). Nantes, France, June 2017

General publications edit

  • Future of the Forest: a Healing Pharmacy – Sacred and Secret new molecules (PDF). New York: In Pamela Bloom ed. The Amazon, Fielding Worldwide Publishing. 1997. pp. 56–62. ISBN 978-1-56952-000-0.
  • "Aliança entre Conhecimento tradicional e Biotecnologia" [Alliance between Traditional Knowledge and Biotechnology] (PDF). Amazonas Em Tempo. Year 18. 5 (723). Amazonas, BR: 6–8. 8–15 October 2006.
  • "Príncipe das Florestas" [The Prince of the Forests] (PDF). EcoFenix (1). São Paulo, BR: 28–31. 2007.
  • "The Secrets of Water: from Universe to Cell [Os Segredos da Água: do Universo às Células]". Water, the Soul of Landscapes [Água, Alma das Paisagens.] (PDF). Ipsis Gráfica e Editora. 2009. pp. 12–37.
  • "Amazonie, the knowledge class" , interview published in the Franco-Swiss magazine Standard, Publishing House: Faites le Zéro, 2012, nº 37. pp. 158-159 (printed version: 18 p.); and "Mario Christian Meyer : interview standard" (full web version)
  • Médicaments de demain : l'avenir est sous les tropiques [Tomorrow's medicines: the future is in the tropics], interview to the magazine Paris Match (France), Publishing House: Hachette Filipacchi Médias, in the edition of 1 February 2018, nº 3586, pp. 105-108 (printed version); and Amazonie, Médicaments du Futur [Amazônia: Medicines of the Future] (full web version: 17p.) .

References edit

  1. ^ Siqueira, Gustavo (2008). Embracing Amazônia (PDF). Brazil.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ http://unesdoc.UNESCO.org/images/0006/000678/067843F.pdf Thesis 1985
  3. ^ in § 3, p. 85, Meyer, Mario Christian (1997). "Out of the Forest and into the Labs" (PDF). Amazon up Close. "Out of the Forest and into the Labs: Amerindian initiation into sacred science", "Amazon Up Close", New Jersey (USA), Hunter Publishing, 1997, Meyer tells the irrevocable attraction that he felt towards the Rainforest and its inhabitants on his first contact with them: "The immense profusion of vegetal, animal and human life – as represented by Amazônia's vast biological diversity – exerts an irresistible fascination over everyone who has had the privilege to know it and to live with its indigenous population."; and in § 5:
  4. ^ Id. ibid. Note 4, in § 1, p. 86, Meyer, Mario Christian (1997). "New languages of healing" (PDF). Amazon up Close. "New languages of healing": "… I had the privilege of being able to document the immense richness of Amerindian graphic systems which, in their own way, constitute a type of natural though highly unconventional alphabet", says Meyer about his first study of the written language transmission in Amazônia; and in § 4:
  5. ^ Meyer, Mario Christian (January–March 1987). "Cultural shock, Neuropsychological and Cognitive functions of Symbolization and Psychiatric risk" (PDF). Journal de Psychiatrie Biologique et Thérapeutique. M.P.H. Editions – J.P.B.T. n° 24, JanuaryMarch 1987, pp. 6.
  6. ^ The "Paris Society of Medicine" is the most ancient Society of Medicine still existing: http://www.socmedparis.org
  7. ^ The "Société Royale de Médecine" was reformed in 1778 and abolished by the French Revolution by way of the law of "20 Thermidor year I" (French Revolutionary calendar, i.e. 8 August 1793)
  8. ^ Name given to Preserved Amazonian Amerindian people in opposition to Indians, who lost their culture by being in contact with the Westerners' dominant civilization.
  9. ^ In § 5, p. 6, article "Alliance between Traditional Knowledge and Biotechnology" (Aliança entre Conhecimento tradicional e Biotecnologia) published in the Brazilian newspaper "Amazonas em Tempo", 8 October 2006, Dr. Meyer recalls: (...) "... it is fundamental to remember that before the arrival of the Conquistadors, the Índios had lived in the forest for at least 11.000 years (since the Upper Palaeolithic). And they had survived for thousands of years, without any outside support, in one of the most risky and hostile environments, thanks mainly to their deep knowledge of medicinal plants: this enabled them to cure the countless aggression they were submitted to in this habitat.", and: in § 6: (...) The indigenous communities that keep a high level of psycho-cultural preservation have the vocation to be the 'Guardians of Biodiversity' in the context of the Brazilian biodiversity national policy (PNB) and will deserve the title of 'Doctors of Nature'...": http://www.pisad.bio.br/artigos/aliancaentreconhecimento.pdf
  10. ^ Meyer makes a detailed review of pharmacological active principles arising from Amazonian biodiversity, and the means to preserve and add value to this precious knowledge and its depositary guardians. For more detailed review, see Note 12 (UNESCO, 2000): http://www.pisad.bio.br/artigos/the_amazon.pdf
  11. ^ Coordination of the First mission of cooperation between France and Amazonia on biotechnology and medicinal plants under the aegis of French Ministry of Foreign affairs and Ministry of Research and Space. (Video), 1994.
  12. ^ UNESCO (1994). World Symposium on Literacy (PDF) (Report). UNESCO.
  13. ^ "Amerindian Communication and Sustainable Economic Development Programme for a Culture of Peace in Brazilian Amazônia", Tome I, Report of Activities and Evaluation, Paris, UNESCO Programme of Participation, 2000–2003, 250 p.
  14. ^ Meyer, Mario-Christian. "PISAD".
  15. ^ a b Meyer, Mario Christian (9 November 2006). "Valorização dos Recursos Genéticos e novo olhar para a Indústria: Biotecnologia inédita para a saúde do Homem e da Natureza". Ambiente Brasil.
  16. ^ in § 15, Meyer, Mario Christian (13 November 2006). "Valorization of the Genetic Resources and New Perspectives for the Industry: Unprecedented Biotechnology for Man and Nature Health" (PDF). Ambiente Em Foco., published in Ambiente en Foco, 13 November 2006, Meyer asserts that the proof comes through their innovative biotechnology, which "… is called PAT (Plantes à Traire = Plant Milking Technology). Thus, for the first time in the history, we created a 'practical procedure', which allows the Industrialists and the Forest Communities to speak the same language, and to have the same objectives: to produce economic and social results, while preserving Nature…"
  17. ^ "ECOLOGIA: Mario Christian Meyer, um "Gigante da Ecologia"". Noolhar.
  18. ^ a b In §§ 2–3, p. 18, "The products of the Forest (Os Produtos da Floresta)" (PDF). Revista do Comerci. 119. May 2008., published in the Trade Magazine of the Trading and Industrial Association of Paraná State (Associação Comercial e Industrial do Paraná), Year 12, n° 119, May 2008, the Editor writes: (...) "Professor Meyer … was the creator of the first case in human history of a biotechnology transfer to the indigenous population (...), in Amazônia, the largest biological reserve on Earth, and the remaining 12% of the Atlantic Rainforest. (…) He underlines that about 10% of the 350,000 Índios in the Country still live with no contact with white men, in perfect harmony with Nature, and are capable of already using (in an empiric way) an advanced technology similar to the one that is being proposed to create the bio-products. According to an inventory that Dr. Meyer has prepared for UNESCO, beyond these 10% of preserved Índios, there are 100,000 more Indians having occasional contacts with the whites, who keep a preserved knowledge of Nature resources, and who could cooperate equitably with modern technologies."
  19. ^ In § 1, p. 29, Meyer, Mario Christian (2007). "Princes of the Forests" (PDF). E.Fênix., published in 2007 in the magazine E.Fênix, Year One, N° 1, Dr. Meyer says: ''(...) We concluded more than 20 years ago that creating an innovating and revolutionary alliance between traditional knowledge and biotechnologies would be the most sustainable way to preserve these unique assets of the Planet, while offering the native populations of the Forest a dignifying way of life. The former encompasses the ancestral knowledge of the forest's genetic resources initially acquired via empirical methods in situ. The latter is the ideal instrument available to our modern world in order to valorize biodiversity. A new model for concluding such an alliance exists today; it is our responsibility to take full advantage of it." : http://www.pisad.bio.br/artigos/principe-das-florestas.pdf
  20. ^ "Amazonie, Médicaments du Futur" (Amazônia: Medicines of the Future)
  21. ^ "Médicaments de demain : l'avenir est sous les tropiques".
  22. ^ . Archived from the original on 13 July 2018.
  23. ^ "From the myth of Timbó to the empirico-natural biotechnology: the biopesticides in question" (PDF).
  24. ^ Hortis, founded more than 80 years ago, is made up of more than 660 members spread over 390 collectivités territoriales (territorial governing bodies), including engineers, technicians and supervisors who are in charge of managing and preserving nature…
  25. ^ "Chemical pesticides, which are among the main contributors to the slow but inexorable destruction of biodiversity, have been the subject of debate during the recent COP21: the "zero pesticide" objective has been talked about and brought to the fore those bio-pesticides, that allow to cultivate in another way, in a perspective of sustainable development, contributing to bio-climatic equilibrium and to the well-being of man.(…)The current legislation, national and European, turns rather towards the prohibition of the dangerous molecules, based on scientific authorities' opinions. (ANSES); in the framework of the law project for the "Reconquest of Biodiversity, Nature and Landscapes", it is planned to ban the use of neonicotinoids in 2018 (law voted on 20.07.2016)."
  26. ^ "A new model for valorising biodiversity: eco-ethno-biotechnology in the Amazon" (PDF).
  27. ^ "Many projects have been developed over the years to minimize these impacts and protect the forest as a whole and the population living in it. However, there is one project in particular that draws attention by its innovative and fair way to deal with this problem: the Herb'Içana© project, created by PISAD – International Program for the Safeguarding of the Amazonian and Atlantic Rain forests and the Amerindians for Sustainable Development (…) under the direction of the renowned Swiss-Brazilian scientist, Dr. Mario Christian Meyer."
  28. ^ "Prize from Giants of Ecology Institute".
  29. ^ "Entrevista: Mario Christian Meyer, um "Gigante da Ecologia"". Ambiente Brasil. 23 April 2008.
  30. ^ http://www.pisad.bio.br/artigos/prize-giants-of-ecology_to-pisad-pr-meyer_sept%202017_brazil.jpg 2017 Prize
  31. ^ Knight of the Order of Merit Diploma
  32. ^ Dr Meyer Chevalier du Merite Agricole sept-2017:Minister's letter
  33. ^ http://www2.cmm.am.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/DIARIO-234-INTERNET.pdf Gold Medal
  34. ^ http://www.cmm.am.gov.br/pesquisador-suico-brasileiro-sera-homenageado-pela-camara-com-a-medalha-cidade-de-manaus/comment-page-1/#comments Comments

External links edit

  • PISAD, International Program to Safeguard Amazônia, the Mata Atlântica and the Amerindians for Sustainable Development
  • www.pisad.bio.br  : brazilian data-base created by the Instituto Gigantes da Ecologia (Giants of Ecology Institute), in Blumenau, Brazil ; See https://www.facebook.com/gigantesdaecologia/
Interview
  • Mario Christian Meyer, a Giant of Ecology, interview in Ambiente Brasil (23 April 2008) – in Portuguese
Video
  • Interview with Meyer on TV Planète (part1) / (part2) (concerning the unique use of active principles from the Amazon forest, mainly psychotropic drugs, oriented to the valorization and safeguard of biodiversity and cultural diversity) - in French
  • Interview with Meyer on a Brazilian channel (part1) / (part2) (describing a programme of pragmatic alliance between Ancestral Knowledge (including Amerindian Mythology) and Modern Biotechnology aiming at Nature conservation and Self sustainable development) - in Portuguese
  • Intervention de Pr. Meyer à la conférence RECIF – TV France 3  : Interview of Prof. Dr. Mario Christian Meyer on the valorization of Cultural diversity: Psychoanalysis' instruments against Racism - in French
  • TV Globo - Amazonas Interview of Prof. Dr. Mario Christian Meyer: Biotechnology & Industry :TV Interview of Prof. Dr. Mario Christian Meyer coordinating the First mission of cooperation between France and Amazonia on biotechnology and medicinal plants under the aegis of French Ministry of Foreign affairs and Ministry of Research and Space and Self sustainable development, on a Brazilian channel TV. - in Portuguese

mario, christian, meyer, mario, christian, meyer, swiss, brazilian, doctor, advocate, sustainable, development, amazonia, preservation, indigenous, cultural, heritage, mario, christian, meyerborn, 1953, june, 1953salta, argentinanationalityswitzerland, brazil,. Mario Christian Meyer is a Swiss Brazilian doctor and advocate for the sustainable development of the Amazonia and preservation of its indigenous cultural heritage Mario Christian MeyerBorn 1953 06 04 4 June 1953Salta ArgentinaNationalitySwitzerland Brazil ArgentinaKnown forWorks on Alliance between modern technology and ancestral knowledge Valorization of Amazonian biodiversity Amazonian forest Amazonian indianAwardsGiant of Ecology 2008 Scientific careerFieldsNeuropsychiatry neuropsychology neurolinguistics cross cultural psychiatry epistemology life sciences biotechnology medicinal plants mythology ecology Sustainable developmentInstitutionsSorbonne Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2 1 Early career 2 2 Ancestral knowledge and New pharmacology 2 3 Recent work 3 Health environmental social and media impacts 4 About Meyer s work 5 Awards and recognition 6 Selected publications 6 1 Scientific publications 6 2 General publications 7 References 8 External linksEarly life editMeyer was born in Salta Argentina His father Hermann Meyer a Swiss polytechnics engineer specializing in agronomy became a fazendeiro large plantation farmer first in Argentina in the early 1930s then in Brazil in 1954 His mother Anne Camille Blanc de Corbieres Meyer was a Swiss structural engineer The young Meyer spent his first months in Salta where his father had established a Hacienda and an olive oil production plant Because of Peronism with its nationalism and isolationism his family lost everything and in 1954 consequently moved to Rio de Janeiro Brazil In the book Embracing Amazonia published in Brazil 2008 Eliana Spengler Giant of Ecology Award coordinator talks about Meyer s childhood and youth 1 In his early years he elected his father s library as his shelter there he nourished his young mind and imagination reading books by classical Brazilian writers about Amazonian rainforest and Indios Later through encyclopaedias he developed personal approaches to his numerous questions about the meaning of life The stories of Brazilian authors Jose de Alencar Castro Alves and Machado de Assis fueled Meyer s love of the Amazon while reading Montaigne s Bon sauvage Rousseau s Etat de Nature and Locke s concepts of empiricism and tabula rasa directed his thoughts on the nature of human development Later in life Meyer experienced an Indios initiation rite an experience that sealed his commitment to the Amazonian cause Career editEarly career edit Meyer studied medicine specializing in Developmental Neuropsychology and Child Psychiatry He went on to teach at the Sorbonne in Paris His thesis Apprentissage de la langue maternelle ecrite etude sur des populations autochtones dites socio culturellement defavorisees dans une approche interdisciplinaire 2 prefaced by Prof Dr Julian de Ajuriaguerra of the College de France published by UNESCO examined the problems of underprivileged indigenous populations in learning written language This work for UNESCO has induced Meyer to study the contribution of western sciences neuro psychiatry neuro linguistics neuro psychology psycho motricity etc to the approach of learning disabilities occurring with illiteracy in the developing countries This official mission led him into the heart of the Amazonian rain forest for the first time 3 where he undertook an exhaustive case study about the different forms of graphic representations of the written language used by the Amerindians in their pictographs ideograms petroglyphs and body paintings e g Genipapo Genipa americana Urucu Bixa orellana obtained using plant pigments 4 where he discovered the power of their active ingredients Meyer evolved from this work to a general effort to promote the value of indigenous ancestral knowledge and to preserve their natural environment the Amazon Focusing then on the cross cultural psychiatry s field he developed through the 1980s his researches for a better understanding of the interactions between Culture and Psyche 5 In 1989 Meyer was made a Fellow of the Paris Society of Medicine in French Societe de Medecine de Paris 6 founded on the 2 Germinal year IV French Revolutionary calendar i e 22 March 1796 originating from the Societe Royale de Medecine 7 founded in 1730 There he presented his works on Amazonia which were to give birth to new medicines Ancestral knowledge and New pharmacology edit nbsp Click on image to enlargeHis missions in the Amazonian rain forest see map at right in close contact with the People of Nature the Indios 8 gave him a new conception of Man Nature interaction 9 They lead him to combine his expertise in neuro psychology in the field of linguistic and cultural diversity with his experience in biological diversity and its preservation by bio technologies This association allowed him to fight for the transformation of the Amazonian biodiversity and medicinal plants into a truly genuine pharmacology benefiting both Amazonia and the Western world 10 Thus from 1992 Prof Dr Meyer participated as an official member of the State of Amazonas delegation in the UN Earth Summit Rio 92 It is in this context that in 1994 he coordinated on Brazilian territory after a due hand over by the French Ambassador in Brasilia the first Ministerial mission for biotechnology to valorize biodiversity ever to be organized between France and the State of Amazonas 11 This mission which had been initiated in 1993 by the French Minister of Research and Space Hubert Curien via the National Program of Bio technologies directed by Prof Dr Daniel Thomas was carried out under the auspices of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the active involvement of the Governor of the State of Amazonas nbsp The Chief of the Tribe Marubo Darcy Duarth Comapa with Prof Dr Meyer at the Alto Javari in the Central Amazonia discussing Amazonian plants variety expressed in pictographsIn 1994 Meyer appeared as a special delegate from Brazil to the UNESCO s World Symposium on Literacy 12 in order to present his new approach merging linguistic abilities and biodiversity know how In 1999 Dr Meyer was appointed by UNESCO to write a report on the means to consider in order to establish a bridge of equitable communication and cooperation between the Amazonian Amerindians and their traditional knowledge on the one hand and the Western world and its modern Culture on the other hand The bottom line was to set up the appropriate tools and create the necessary procedures for such a cooperation to be made possible taking into account the specificity of cultural diversity the way both these cultures function and the pragmatic instruments of cooperation 13 Since then he has gone on to found PISAD 14 Programme International de Sauvegarde de l Amazonia Mata Atlantica et des Amerindiens pour le Developpement Durable International Program to Safeguard Amazonia the Mata Atlantica and the Amerindians for Sustainable Development a humanist and non profit organization To implement it he has created a platform of fair and equitable dialogue a bridge between preserved Indios and western scientists 15 to valorize the ancestral knowledge of the Indios and the Amazonian biodiversity Originally Meyer set up an operational concept and methodology regarding the psycho cultural revitalization of endangered Amerindian knowledge which he had pioneered as Cogni Indios 15 Recent work edit Meyer is currently adapting a process for the bio production of active ingredients contained in medicinal plants to the needs and abilities of the Indios enabling them to manage the production of these pharmaceuticals and ensuring them economic autonomy and self sustainable development This bio production is based upon the alliance between the Indios know how and a green biotechnology Plant Milking Technology developed by INPL Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine France 16 UNESCO s Participation Programme entitled Amerindian Communication and Sustainable Economic Development Programme for a Culture of Peace in Brazilian Amazonia 00 BRA 603 which Meyer managed from 1999 to 2003 has been a central element of his work and a starting point for his further action 17 In the last years Meyer has been concentrating his activities on the first transfer 18 of the plant milking technology to an Indioscommunity in the virgin rain forest this is a unique example in recent history of an actual biotechnology transfer to Amerindians 18 He is now focusing his work on the goal achievement methodology of his original research and development program to ensure a functional and active link between theIndios ancestral knowledge and Scientist s advanced biotechnology 19 Health environmental social and media impacts editFor more than three decades Meyer s work has been published by leading international scientific journals magazines and books as well as progressively in the mainstream press as can be seen in Selected Publications up to recent articles In this sense see Medicaments de demain l avenir est sous les tropiques Amazonia Medicines of the Future 20 cf his interview in the scientific section MatchDocument of the magazine Paris Match France 2018 nº 3586 pages 107 108 In the article Amazonie Medicaments du Futur Amazonia Medicines of the Future Full Web version 21 chap Quel role joue l industrie pharmaceutique dans ces alchimies it is written Nearly two thirds of modern medicines come from nature 35 are directly or indirectly derived from natural molecules 25 are inspired We know that nature has a much more elaborate chemistry than synthetic molecules the natural active principles fruit of millions of years of trial and error in order to identify their biological utility have a structure that is much more complex than those of chemical synthesis today biotechnologies manage to imitate them via Bio mimicry In this sense the Amazonia is the largest laboratory in the world See also Amazonia the knowledge class published in the Franco Swiss Standard magazine 2012 nb 37 about the Financial crisis a new green bio economy vs the Knowledge class Mario Christian Meyer interview Standard 22 In the 6 p 159 we can read The urgency of safeguarding the primary forests of Amazonia and the preservation of biodiversity leads to inventing other ways for the valorization of this heritage The project Herb Icana that we are trying to implement in agreement with the Chiefs of the Amazonian territories will create green jobs of the future The big challenge is the transfer of green biotechnology plant milking technology to enable Indios to train in bio production activities Meyer has treated other subjects such as pesticides because of their relevance to health specially related to cancers leukaemia hormonal perturbations see the article Du mythe du Timbo a la biotechnologie empirico naturelle les biopesticides en question 23 published in the magazine Hortis 24 nº 61 pages 55 57 25 About Meyer s work editIn September 2017 the Herb Icana project was awarded and received special homage from the Giants of Ecology Institute Brazil for its relevance and was appointed as a solution for the wound no 7 loss of biological diversity which affects the lives of all living things described in the book 12 Feridas Ambientais do Planeta 12 Environmental Wounds of the Planet coordinated by Gustavo Siqueira and Prof Dr Joel Dias da Silva Brazil 2017 See the article entitled Um novo modelo de valorizacao da biodiversidade eco etno biotecnologia na Amazonia 26 by Eliana Spengler Coordinator of the Honorary Committee of the Giants of Ecology Award 2017 2018 See 3 p 128 reference Nb 25 27 Awards and recognition editFor his efforts Meyer was awarded the Brazilian prize Gigante da Ecologia 2008 28 Giant of Ecology 29 an honour tribute by the Instituto Gigantes da Ecologia Giants of Ecology Institute in Blumenau Brazil On 21 September 2017 Meyer was again awarded the prize Giant of Ecology 2017 30 for Scientific Excellence as the founder and President of PISAD thanks to the project Herb Icana On 25 September 2017 Meyer received a high distinction from the French Government through the Ministry of Agriculture which appointed him Knight of the Order of Merit 31 32 Meyer was made an honorary citizen of the city of Manaus capital of the State of Amazonas and was granted a gold medal by its legislative chamber in recognition of the 30 years of services he provided for the defense of the rich biodiversity of Amazonia and the development of the Herb Icana project 33 34 Selected publications editScientific publications edit Apprentissage de la langue maternelle ecrite etude sur des populations les moins favorisees dans une approche interdisciplinaire Acquisition of written mother tongue in an interdisciplinary approach PDF Preface by College de France Paris UNESCO 1985 p 150 Psychomotricite memoire corporelle et education Psychomotricity Body Memory and Education PDF Le corps et sa memoire Actes du VIe Congres international de psychomotricite Paris Doin 85 92 1985 ISBN 978 2 7040 0493 5 Cultural shock neuropsychological and cognitive functions of symbolization and psychiatric risk PDF Journal de Psychiatrie Biologique et Therapeutique 24 6 January 1987 Dictionnaire des drogues des toxicomanies et des dependances Amerindiens d Amazonie Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Drugs Drug addiction and Dependences Amerindians from Amazonia PDF Editions Larousse 1999 p 435 ISBN 978 2 03 720324 1 Como o resgate cultural pode ajudar o Indio aculturado e a nossa sociedade How can the cultural rescue help the acculturated Indians and our society PDF FGV Sao Paulo BR 31 August 2009 Du mythe du Timbo a la biotechnologie empirico naturelle les biopesticides en question From the myth of Timbo to the empirico natural biotechnology the biopesticides in question published in the magazine Hortis Publishing House De Ville en Ville Le magazine des responsables d espaces nature 2016 nº 61 pp 55 58 L Enaction un cas d ecole en Amazonie bresilienne la Plateforme Eco Ethno Biotechnologique fruit de l alliance entre savoirs ancestraux amerindiens et biotechnologies vertes occidentales Neurosciences Department University Montaigne Bordeaux TV Montaigne France September 2014 Modele de valorisation durable de la biodiversite par la diversite culturelle alliance entre savoirs ancestraux amerindiens et biotechonologies occidentales A scholarly contribution to the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and SDGs International Workshop on A critique of sustainable development IEA Nantes Institute for Advanced Study associated to Princeton IAS Nantes France June 2017General publications edit Future of the Forest a Healing Pharmacy Sacred and Secret new molecules PDF New York In Pamela Bloom ed The Amazon Fielding Worldwide Publishing 1997 pp 56 62 ISBN 978 1 56952 000 0 Alianca entre Conhecimento tradicional e Biotecnologia Alliance between Traditional Knowledge and Biotechnology PDF Amazonas Em Tempo Year 18 5 723 Amazonas BR 6 8 8 15 October 2006 Principe das Florestas The Prince of the Forests PDF EcoFenix 1 Sao Paulo BR 28 31 2007 The Secrets of Water from Universe to Cell Os Segredos da Agua do Universo as Celulas Water the Soul of Landscapes Agua Alma das Paisagens PDF Ipsis Grafica e Editora 2009 pp 12 37 Amazonie the knowledge class interview published in the Franco Swiss magazine Standard Publishing House Faites le Zero 2012 nº 37 pp 158 159 printed version 18 p and Mario Christian Meyer interview standard full web version Medicaments de demain l avenir est sous les tropiques Tomorrow s medicines the future is in the tropics interview to the magazine Paris Match France Publishing House Hachette Filipacchi Medias in the edition of 1 February 2018 nº 3586 pp 105 108 printed version and Amazonie Medicaments du Futur Amazonia Medicines of the Future full web version 17p References edit Siqueira Gustavo 2008 Embracing Amazonia PDF Brazil a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link http unesdoc UNESCO org images 0006 000678 067843F pdf Thesis 1985 in 3 p 85 Meyer Mario Christian 1997 Out of the Forest and into the Labs PDF Amazon up Close Out of the Forest and into the Labs Amerindian initiation into sacred science Amazon Up Close New Jersey USA Hunter Publishing 1997 Meyer tells the irrevocable attraction that he felt towards the Rainforest and its inhabitants on his first contact with them The immense profusion of vegetal animal and human life as represented by Amazonia s vast biological diversity exerts an irresistible fascination over everyone who has had the privilege to know it and to live with its indigenous population and in 5 Id ibid Note 4 in 1 p 86 Meyer Mario Christian 1997 New languages of healing PDF Amazon up Close New languages of healing I had the privilege of being able to document the immense richness of Amerindian graphic systems which in their own way constitute a type of natural though highly unconventional alphabet says Meyer about his first study of the written language transmission in Amazonia and in 4 Meyer Mario Christian January March 1987 Cultural shock Neuropsychological and Cognitive functions of Symbolization and Psychiatric risk PDF Journal de Psychiatrie Biologique et Therapeutique M P H Editions J P B T n 24 January March 1987 pp 6 The Paris Society of Medicine is the most ancient Society of Medicine still existing http www socmedparis org The Societe Royale de Medecine was reformed in 1778 and abolished by the French Revolution by way of the law of 20 Thermidor year I French Revolutionary calendar i e 8 August 1793 Name given to Preserved Amazonian Amerindian people in opposition to Indians who lost their culture by being in contact with the Westerners dominant civilization In 5 p 6 article Alliance between Traditional Knowledge and Biotechnology Alianca entre Conhecimento tradicional e Biotecnologia published in the Brazilian newspaper Amazonas em Tempo 8 October 2006 Dr Meyer recalls it is fundamental to remember that before the arrival of the Conquistadors the Indios had lived in the forest for at least 11 000 years since the Upper Palaeolithic And they had survived for thousands of years without any outside support in one of the most risky and hostile environments thanks mainly to their deep knowledge of medicinal plants this enabled them to cure the countless aggression they were submitted to in this habitat and in 6 The indigenous communities that keep a high level of psycho cultural preservation have the vocation to be the Guardians of Biodiversity in the context of the Brazilian biodiversity national policy PNB and will deserve the title of Doctors of Nature http www pisad bio br artigos aliancaentreconhecimento pdf Meyer makes a detailed review of pharmacological active principles arising from Amazonian biodiversity and the means to preserve and add value to this precious knowledge and its depositary guardians For more detailed review see Note 12 UNESCO 2000 http www pisad bio br artigos the amazon pdf Coordination of the First mission of cooperation between France and Amazonia on biotechnology and medicinal plants under the aegis of French Ministry of Foreign affairs and Ministry of Research and Space Video 1994 UNESCO 1994 World Symposium on Literacy PDF Report UNESCO Amerindian Communication and Sustainable Economic Development Programme for a Culture of Peace in Brazilian Amazonia Tome I Report of Activities and Evaluation Paris UNESCO Programme of Participation 2000 2003 250 p Meyer Mario Christian PISAD a b Meyer Mario Christian 9 November 2006 Valorizacao dos Recursos Geneticos e novo olhar para a Industria Biotecnologia inedita para a saude do Homem e da Natureza Ambiente Brasil in 15 Meyer Mario Christian 13 November 2006 Valorization of the Genetic Resources and New Perspectives for the Industry Unprecedented Biotechnology for Man and Nature Health PDF Ambiente Em Foco published in Ambiente en Foco 13 November 2006 Meyer asserts that the proof comes through their innovative biotechnology which is called PAT Plantes a Traire Plant Milking Technology Thus for the first time in the history we created a practical procedure which allows the Industrialists and the Forest Communities to speak the same language and to have the same objectives to produce economic and social results while preserving Nature ECOLOGIA Mario Christian Meyer um Gigante da Ecologia Noolhar a b In 2 3 p 18 The products of the Forest Os Produtos da Floresta PDF Revista do Comerci 119 May 2008 published in the Trade Magazine of the Trading and Industrial Association of Parana State Associacao Comercial e Industrial do Parana Year 12 n 119 May 2008 the Editor writes Professor Meyer was the creator of the first case in human history of a biotechnology transfer to the indigenous population in Amazonia the largest biological reserve on Earth and the remaining 12 of the Atlantic Rainforest He underlines that about 10 of the 350 000 Indios in the Country still live with no contact with white men in perfect harmony with Nature and are capable of already using in an empiric way an advanced technology similar to the one that is being proposed to create the bio products According to an inventory that Dr Meyer has prepared for UNESCO beyond these 10 of preserved Indios there are 100 000 more Indians having occasional contacts with the whites who keep a preserved knowledge of Nature resources and who could cooperate equitably with modern technologies In 1 p 29 Meyer Mario Christian 2007 Princes of the Forests PDF E Fenix published in 2007 in the magazine E Fenix Year One N 1 Dr Meyer says We concluded more than 20 years ago that creating an innovating and revolutionary alliance between traditional knowledge and biotechnologies would be the most sustainable way to preserve these unique assets of the Planet while offering the native populations of the Forest a dignifying way of life The former encompasses the ancestral knowledge of the forest s genetic resources initially acquired via empirical methods in situ The latter is the ideal instrument available to our modern world in order to valorize biodiversity A new model for concluding such an alliance exists today it is our responsibility to take full advantage of it http www pisad bio br artigos principe das florestas pdf Amazonie Medicaments du Futur Amazonia Medicines of the Future Medicaments de demain l avenir est sous les tropiques amazonie los indios Archived from the original on 13 July 2018 From the myth of Timbo to the empirico natural biotechnology the biopesticides in question PDF Hortis founded more than 80 years ago is made up of more than 660 members spread over 390 collectivites territoriales territorial governing bodies including engineers technicians and supervisors who are in charge of managing and preserving nature Chemical pesticides which are among the main contributors to the slow but inexorable destruction of biodiversity have been the subject of debate during the recent COP21 the zero pesticide objective has been talked about and brought to the fore those bio pesticides that allow to cultivate in another way in a perspective of sustainable development contributing to bio climatic equilibrium and to the well being of man The current legislation national and European turns rather towards the prohibition of the dangerous molecules based on scientific authorities opinions ANSES in the framework of the law project for the Reconquest of Biodiversity Nature and Landscapes it is planned to ban the use of neonicotinoids in 2018 law voted on 20 07 2016 A new model for valorising biodiversity eco ethno biotechnology in the Amazon PDF Many projects have been developed over the years to minimize these impacts and protect the forest as a whole and the population living in it However there is one project in particular that draws attention by its innovative and fair way to deal with this problem the Herb Icana c project created by PISAD International Program for the Safeguarding of the Amazonian and Atlantic Rain forests and the Amerindians for Sustainable Development under the direction of the renowned Swiss Brazilian scientist Dr Mario Christian Meyer Prize from Giants of Ecology Institute Entrevista Mario Christian Meyer um Gigante da Ecologia Ambiente Brasil 23 April 2008 http www pisad bio br artigos prize giants of ecology to pisad pr meyer sept 202017 brazil jpg 2017 Prize Knight of the Order of Merit Diploma Dr Meyer Chevalier du Merite Agricole sept 2017 Minister s letter http www2 cmm am gov br wp content uploads 2014 10 DIARIO 234 INTERNET pdf Gold Medal http www cmm am gov br pesquisador suico brasileiro sera homenageado pela camara com a medalha cidade de manaus comment page 1 comments CommentsExternal links editPISAD International Program to Safeguard Amazonia the Mata Atlantica and the Amerindians for Sustainable Development www pisad bio br brazilian data base created by the Instituto Gigantes da Ecologia Giants of Ecology Institute in Blumenau Brazil See https www facebook com gigantesdaecologia InterviewMario Christian Meyer a Giant of Ecology interview in Ambiente Brasil 23 April 2008 in PortugueseVideoInterview with Meyer on TV Planete part1 part2 concerning the unique use of active principles from the Amazon forest mainly psychotropic drugs oriented to the valorization and safeguard of biodiversity and cultural diversity in French Interview with Meyer on a Brazilian channel part1 part2 describing a programme of pragmatic alliance between Ancestral Knowledge including Amerindian Mythology and Modern Biotechnology aiming at Nature conservation and Self sustainable development in Portuguese Intervention de Pr Meyer a la conference RECIF TV France 3 Interview of Prof Dr Mario Christian Meyer on the valorization of Cultural diversity Psychoanalysis instruments against Racism in French TV Globo Amazonas Interview of Prof Dr Mario Christian Meyer Biotechnology amp Industry TV Interview of Prof Dr Mario Christian Meyer coordinating the First mission of cooperation between France and Amazonia on biotechnology and medicinal plants under the aegis of French Ministry of Foreign affairs and Ministry of Research and Space and Self sustainable development on a Brazilian channel TV in Portuguese Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mario Christian Meyer amp oldid 1190362495, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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