Homoeopathy and a lunar settlement project may not seem the likeliest of combinations. Until, one meets Dr Pratip Banerjee.

Dr Banerjee, his father Dr Prashanta Banerjee and Dr S Das, an associate researcher with the P Banerjee Homoeopathy Research Foundation (PBHRM), were the only Indians invited at a symposium on Lunar Settlements organised by the Rutgers University at New Brunswick in USA recently.

The symposium brought together experts from different disciplines who focussed on issues related to “Return to the Moon”, a vision of the US President George W Bush and endorsed by NASA.

The PBHRM team was asked to make a presentation on the “possible use of ultra-diluted medicines for health problems during lunar missions.”

The symposium, organised by the Center for Structures in Extreme Environment at Rutgers had drawn speakers like Harrison Schmitt, who was a part of the Apollo 17 mission and the last scientist to have stepped on the moon. James S Logan, a medical practitioner associated with NASA was also a participant at the symposium, held from June 3 to 8.

“Main line treatments like allopathy have not been effective on lunar missions. This is because of problems related to absorption and solubility of such medicines in extreme environments, where there is no gravity,” explained Dr Banerjee.

“Moreover, when we talk of a lunar settlement, one should remember there is a problem of recycling wastes. Conventional medicines release toxic byproducts, which is not desirable. This is where our ultra-diluted medicines could come up as a possible substitute as they are easily absorbed by the body,” he added.

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