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By the time he had finished his research, he had devised a list and his papers published by the French Academy of Sciences. of 250 criteria by which the history of sand might be diagnosed. There had been constant research into organic silica over the The field was later to become so specialised that it would take revious 50 years and some of this had raised questions about the three years to train a scientist in the technical knowledge to carry therapeutic use of this substance. In his early work as a geologist, out these tests.’ Le Ribault had not been following the research into silica and Le Ribault's approach to analysis and detection of sand had ealth. But in the early 1980s, while working on these organic some academic and commercial uses but was most clearly an silica deposits, he found that after immersing his hands in organic invaluable aid to policing. While still working at university, he silica solution his psoriasis was cured. From then on, Le Ribault was approached by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) focused his work on sili and became a forensic consultant for them. Despite this early discovery of a new use for the ESM, Le FROM POLLUTANT TO ESSENTIAL NUTRIENT s therapeutic properties. Ribault found it hard to get work in the universities after he'd Silica is an essential element of living matter. It is found in qualified. So in 1982, he set up his own national laboratory for ody tissue, the thymus gland, the vascular lining, the adrenal electron microscopy, called CARME, and quickly became glands, the liver, the spleen, the pancreas and in considerable France's most noted forensic scientist. CARME became the prin- quantity in hair. With ageing, the body loses its store of organic cipal laboratory used by the police service, the judiciary and the silica and is unable to replace it from sources outside the body French Home Office. which are predominantly mineral sili Le Ribault is the first to admit that he is not a diplomat, even It was originally thought that silica is at worst an environmental that he is anarchistic in his view of society. Constant struggles contaminant of the human body and at best an element which between himself and the French Home Office, seemingly about quickly passes through the body and is excreted. These ideas hegemony, did not endear him to ser- were based almost entirely upon vants of the State. At the height of observations of mineral silica, which CARME's work, Le Ribault was a in the form of dust and particles was nationally recognised figure with a responsible for a number of serious high public profile, working and While still working at sses such as silicosis. commenting on some of France's university, Le Ribault was Silica in mineral form had been most intriguing criminal, military and used therapeutically, but it was political cases. Always a populist, he approached by the US Federal absorbed inefficiently into the human was much sought after by television, Bureau of Investigation (FBI) body. It had traditionally gained a radio and the newspapers as well as . place in the pantheon of herbal reme- by the French political parties. and became a forensic dies, being present in horsetail fern "When I had CARME, every week consultant for them. and some vegetables. I had articles in the press and on TV, and every French party asked me to be involved with them. On TV and showed irrefutably that organic silica in newspapers, I made information could be described as an essential accessible. Very often I did lectures in primary and secondary nutrient for both humans and other animals.’ It is necessary for Work since the 1930s on absorbable mineral and organic silica schools as well as universities." early calcification of bones and animals' shells and its deficiency The French Home Office and the police service seemed to have has been found to produce alterations and abnormalities in bone been wary of Le Ribault's cavalier genius as well as his tacit con- growth. It has also been observed that silica plays a part in the trol of Home Office forensics, despite his brilliant record as an make-up of the cells which form blood vessel walls. Perhaps expert witness. He says that the French State frequently referred most importantly, silica has been found to directly affect and form to him as their scientist and to his laboratory as that of the Home a large part of the connective tissue and cartilage, which play an Office. important part in joints and the illnesses which affect them. Le Ribault's career as France's most eminent forensic scientist In studies during the 1970s, it was found that silica came to a sudden end in 1991 when the Home Office decided to supplementation aided bone and cartilage growth. In 1993, it was integrate its own regional forensic laboratories equipped with reported that treatment with silica could stimulate bone formation. electron microscopes. In the following debacle, Le Ribault lost By the 1990s, silica formulations were being used by some his laboratory, which had employed 30-odd people, and his home, — pharmaceutical companies on wound and burn dressings because which he had mortgaged as surety for the laboratory. it was recognised that silica healed wounds more quickly and A resilient character, Le Ribault adapted to his new life, lived in could stabilise burns.*** the family home and returned to his first love, silica. Back in 1972, while working with sand on the ESM, he had made an inter- | NORBERT DUFFAUT: A MAN "ON THE MOON" esting discovery: that a layer of water-soluble amorphous silica In 1982, Le Ribault began work with Professor Norbert which contained micro-organisms covered the surface of some Duffaut, a chemist and research engineer at the CNRS (the sand grains. He found that these micro-organisms and the secre- National Centre for Scientific Research) situated at the University tions which they left on the sand contained organic silica. of Bordeaux. In 1957, Duffaut had synthesised a molecule of Organic silica differs from mineral silica which makes up the organic silica which was capable of being absorbed by the human majority of the Earth's crust, in that it contains carbon and can be body. Unlike Le Ribault, Duffaut had been using his organic readily assimilated by animals. By 1975, Le Ribault had created a silica as a therapeutic agent, treating patients since his first process by which it was possible to recover these deposits from discoveries in the 1950s. Like Ribault, Duffaut had paid little the surface of the sand. attention to the academic papers on organic silica, convinced he All of this work was accepted by the scientific establishment was ahead of the field. and his papers published by the French Academy of Sciences. There had been constant research into organic silica over the previous 50 years and some of this had raised questions about the therapeutic use of this substance. In his early work as a geologist, Le Ribault had not been following the research into silica and health. But in the early 1980s, while working on these organic silica deposits, he found that after immersing his hands in organic silica solution his psoriasis was cured. From then on, Le Ribault focused his work on silica's therapeutic properties. While still working at university, Le Ribault was approached by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and became a forensic NORBERT DUFFAUT: A MAN "ON THE MOON" In 1982, Le Ribault began work with Professor Norbert Duffaut, a chemist and research engineer at the CNRS (the National Centre for Scientific Research) situated at the University of Bordeaux. In 1957, Duffaut had synthesised a molecule of organic silica which was capable of being absorbed by the human body. Unlike Le Ribault, Duffaut had been using his organic silica as a therapeutic agent, treating patients since his first discoveries in the 1950s. Like Ribault, Duffaut had paid little attention to the academic papers on organic silica, convinced he was ahead of the field. 20 = NEXUS APRIL — MAY 2005 consultant for them. www.nexusmagazine.com