The word, peptide, originates from ‘peptein,’ the Greek word for ‘pepsis,’ or ‘to digest.’ It was first coined by Hermann Emil Louis Fischer, a German chemist and Nobel laureate, at the beginning of the last century, evidencing that peptides are typically generated by our gut. The fact is peptides, or neuropeptides, in reality, are more than representative of our digestive process, or natural biological bustle — they are, in essence, our ‘molecules of emotions,’ the emblematic icons of our feelings. They are found in all living organisms; they perform a pivotal role in every form of biological activity.
The fact also is our bodies are studded with peptide receptors. For neuroscientist and pharmacologist Candace B Pert, PhD, a pioneer in peptide research, who passed into the sunset, a few years ago, peptides relate to consciousness operating at a cellular level, typifying the ‘wedding dance’ of each receptor and the exact peptide that binds to it. In her words, “your subconscious mind is really your body. Peptides are the biochemical correlate of emotion.” Her landmark work evidences that our white blood cells (WBCs), which swank loads of the same receptors and chemicals as the brain, are nothing but “bits of the brain floating around the body.” This draws a parallel too for a particular type of molecular psychology, or the true biology of our emotions.
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