1985: I joined the faculty of the University of Southern California (USC) as a tenured Professor of Pathology. I was also appointed Head of the Immunology and Immunopathology Unit at the Los Angeles County Hospital . This position was supported by my having boards in anatomic and clinical pathology with sub-specialty certification in both immunopathology and medical microbiology.

1985-1990: I explored the diagnostic uses of a newly developed molecular technique that became known as the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). This technique was potentially capable of identifying various types of viruses in clinical samples. I was among the first to publish on the use of this procedure to detect i) human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) in blood samples of AIDS patients and those undergoing kidney transplantation, and ii) human papillomaviruses (HPV) in paraffin embedded tissues of patients with cervical cancers.  The hCMV PCR studies were validated by virus cultures that were routinely being performed on transplant patients. I established the USC Infectious Disease Laboratory within the Pathology Department and renamed the Unit within the County Hospital as the Immunology and Molecular Pathology Unit. 

I initiated studies with Dr. Jay Goldstein on the possible role of human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) infections in patients with CFS. I was kindly provided some DNA sequence data of HHV-6 by Zaki Salahuddin, who had discovered this virus while working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While excluding authentic HHV-6 in all but a few CFS patients, low level positive PCR assays were regularly observed with blood samples from many CFS patients. The assays were modified to broadly detect all herpesviruses and many retroviruses. The results provided supportive evidence for virus involvement in CFS patients.

1990: A positive PCR assay was detected on a brain biopsy sample from a school teacher referred to the USC Neurology Department. Her illness began as CFS but had rapidly deteriorated with signs of brain damage on magnetic imaging. A stereotactic brain biopsy was provided to my laboratory for PCR analysis. Pathologically, the brain tissue showed no inflammation, yet a positive PCR result was clearly obtained. This finding suggested possible infection with a virus that was unable to provoke an inflammatory reaction and, by inference, an immune response. I introduced the term “stealth virus.”  

1991: Repeated positive viral cultures were obtained from a CFS patient initially identified on the basis of a positive PCR assay on a specimen of her blood. The cultures showed a distinctive cytopathic effect (CPE) that was clearly distinguishable from that of known human viruses. The damaged cells showed a foamy appearance and individual cells tended to fuse into clusters. PCR was uniformly negative using assays that were specific for hCMV or HHV-6. Electron microscopy of the cultures confirmed the presence of viruses. A second, somewhat similar positive culture was next obtained from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of a comatose psychiatric patient admitted to the Los Angeles County Hospital .

1992-1994: This period provided ample confirmation of positive cultures in patients with various psychiatric illnesses, as well as CFS. Controls, including all second year medical students, were only occasionally positive.  PCR assays clearly differentiated among various stealth-adapted viruses with only a minority yielding strong positive responses using different PCR assay conditions.

I was able to sequence two PCR products obtained from the initial CFS patient. One PCR product was related to but differed from hCMV. The other was not identified as a known virus sequence. The results were published in August 1994 in the American Journal of Pathology.  Many other patients were identified as being culture and/or PCR positive leading to the realization of a wide spectrum of illnesses. The culture technique was improved especially by frequently changing of medium. This simple adjustment lowered levels of an inhibitor that accumulated in unfed cultures. I termed this inhibitor “Epione.”  The positive patients included children with autism and many patients with severe psychiatric illnesses. 

1995: With Dr. Tom Glass of the University of Oklahoma , cats were inoculated with cultures of the prototype stealth virus. The animals rapidly developed a severe acute illness with marked cellular damage seen in many tissues including brain. No inflammatory reaction occurred, yet the cats showed clinical recovery after 2-3 months. No illness developed in a cat inoculated with heat inactivated virus and indeed protection occurred from subsequent inoculation with same stealth virus. The animal became ill when inoculated with a different stealth virus.

            Cloning and further sequencing of prototype stealth virus identified a close homology to African green monkey simian cytomegalovirus (SCMV). Unequivocal homology to SCMV indicated an almost certain origin from live poliovirus vaccine which were being produced in cultures of kidney tissues obtained from African green monkeys. 

1996-2002: I continued with the sequencing of the prototype and second stealth virus isolate. This second virus also had an unequivocal origin from SCMV, although there were differences from the prototype virus. DNA evidence was found for apparent incorporation of various cellular genes into the genomes of stealth viruses including a presumed oncogene with potential cancer causing capacity. There was also evidence for the incorporation of various bacterial sequences into the stealth virus along with supportive evidence of stealth virus infected bacteria. With some cultures, the data suggested a probable RNA component in virus replication. Five copies of a gene coding G proteins comparable to the single US28 coded protein of hCMV was found in the prototype stealth virus. The relevance of this finding is that the US28 protein is known to facilitate the entry of HIV into cells.

            Numerous patients with otherwise unexplained severe neurological illnesses were identified by culture as being stealth virus infected. These included patients being told they had chronic Lyme disease, Gulf war syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. I was able to follow numerous patients involved in a community wide outbreak of complex fatiguing illnesses that occurred in the Mohave Valley region of Western Arizona, near Needles, California .

2002-2005: Research focused on the healing process that was occurring in viral cultures and on interesting cellular inclusions noted on brain biopsies from the initial patient seen in 1990, cats inoculated with stealth viruses, and several additional patients included in various publications. A role for these inclusions as a source of cellular energy was suggested by the marked disruption of mitochondria in cells from the brain biopsies. (Mitochondria are the major source of cellular energy in normal cells). Pigmented particles, including long fibers and threads, were commonly seen in stealth virus cultures and their appearance coincided with a cellular repair process. Consistent with the concept of these materials providing an alternative (non-mitochondria) source of cellular energy was the findings of electrostatic attraction, ultraviolet light induced fluorescence, occasional magnetism and electron donating activity. They were termed alternative cellular energy pigments (ACE pigments).

            Various natural products with ACE pigment-like activity were identified based on overlapping properties, including enhanced repair of stealth virus cultures. Several of these products had known growth enhancing activities on plants. Others had apparent clinical benefits in cancer patients.

            ACE pigment-like fibers were also being reported from patients shown previously to be stealth virus infected. Mineral analyses indicated that both patient and culture derived ACE pigments contained select combinations of various minerals.

2006-present:  A major interest has been supporting studies on the role of a dye plus light in expediting the healing of skin lesions caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV), herpes zoster virus (HZV) and human papillomavirus (HPV). The findings are consistent with the ACE pathway also being involved, along with the immune system, in the repair of cells infected with these conventional (non-stealth) viruses. Efforts to obtain FDA approval for such studies have met with limited success. Additional studies have provided a better understanding of ACE pigments with strong support that they can have mediate lipid biosynthesis. Collaborative interactions with various researchers have expanded these concepts to address very basic aspects of physics and biology.

            ACE pigment related products are available for clinical trials. The term “enerceutical” has been introduced to distinguish these products from pharmaceuticals. They hold considerable promise for treating a variety of diseases for which one could argue the value of supplying additional cellular energy. Clinical studies have been monitored for conditions such as childhood diarrhea, drug addition, diabetes and cancer wasting syndrome.

References

Martin, W.J. Detection of viral related sequences in CFS patients using the polymerase chain reaction.in "The Clinical and Scientific Basis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Chronic Fatigue Syndrome." Byron M. Hyde Editor. Nightingdale  Research Foundation Press. Ottawa Canada pp 278-283, 1992.

Martin W.J. Viral infection in CFS patients. in "The Clinical  and Scientific Basis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Chronic Fatigue Syndrome." Byron M. Hyde Editor. Nightingdale Research Foundation Press. Ottawa Canada pp 325-327, 1992.

Martin W.J. Chronic fatigue syndrome (letter). Science 255: 663, 1992.

Martin W.J. Stealth viruses as neuropathogens. CAP Today 8 67-70, 1994

Martin WJ. Viteria: Bacterial Sequences in Animal and Human Viruses. J Degenerative Dis. 1:1999

Martin WJ Brain damage in stealth virus infected children. The Mind of a Child Conf. Proc. 1; 17-24, 1999.

Martin WJ. Stealth viruses. Explore 10: 17-21, 2001

Martin, WJ. Chemokines and Stealth Viruses: A Blueprint for Therapy in Infected Humans and Animals . Explore 10: ____ 2001

Martin WJ. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Among Physicians: A Potential Result of Occupational Exposure to Stealth Viruses. Explore 10:    2001

Shibata, D.K., Arnheim, N. and Martin, W.J.: Detection of human papilloma virus in paraffin-embedded tissue using the polymerase chain reaction. J. Exp. Med. 167:225-230,  1988.

Almoguera, C., Shibata, D., Forrester, K., Martin, W.J.,  Arnheim, N. and Perucho, M.: Most human carcinomas of the exocrine pancreas contain mutant c-K-ras genes. Cell. 53:549-    554, 1988

Shibata, D., Yao , S.F., Gupta, J.W., Shah, K.V., Arnheim, N. and Martin, W.J.: The detection of human papillomavirus in normal and dysplastic tissue by the polymerase chain  reaction. Lab. Invest. Vol.59:555-559 ,1988

Shibata, D., Martin, W.J. and Arnheim, N.: Molecular "archaeology"; the presence of human papilloma virus in the late 1940's. Can. Res. 48:4564-4566, 1988

Shibata D, Martin WJ, Appleman MD, et al. Detection of  cytomegaloviral DNA in peripheral blood of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus. J Infect Dis 158: 1185-1192, 1988.

Shibata, D., Cosgrove, M. Arnheim! N., Martin, W.J., and  Martln, S.E. Detection of human papilomavirus in fine needle aspirates of metastatic cervical carcinomas using the polymerase chain reaction. Diag. Cytopathol. :540-43, 1989.

Kiyabu, M. Shibata, D., Arnheim, N., Martin, W.J., Fitzgibbons, P.: Detection of human papillomavirus in formalin fixed invasive squamous carcinomas using the polymerase chain reaction. Am. J. Clin. Path. 13: 221-224, 1989.

McDonnel J.M., Mayr A. and Martin, W.J.: Detection of human paplllomavlrus type 16 in dysplasias and squamous carcinomas of the conjunctive. N. Eng. J. Med 320; 1442-1446, 1989.

Mc Donnel J., Mc Donnel P., Martin W.J.: Detection of Human Papilloma virus type 16 in a recurrent squamous carcinoma of  the eye lid. Arch. Ophthalmol. 107; 1631-1634, 1989.

Biswas J. Mayr AJ, Martin WJ, Rao NA. Detection of human cytomegalovirus in ocular tissue by polymerase chain reaction and in situ hybridization. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Opthal  231: 66-70 (1993)

Martin WJ, Zeng LC, Ahmed K, Roy M. Cytomegalovirus-related sequences in an atypical cytopathic virus repeatedly isolated from a patient with the chronic fatigue syndrome. Am. J. Path. 145: 441-452, 1994.

Martin WJ. Stealth virus isolated from an autistic child. J. Aut. Dev. Dis. 25:223-224,1995

Martin WJ, Ahmed KN, Zeng LC, Olsen J-C, Seward JG, Seehrai  JS. African green monkey origin of the atypical cytopathic 'stealth virus' isolated from a patient with chronic fatigue    syndrome. Clin. Diag. Virol. 4: 93-103, 1995.

Martin WJ, Glass RT. Acute encephalopathy induced in cats  with a stealth virus isolated from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome. Pathobiology 63: 115-118, 1995.

Gollard RP, Mayr A, Rice DA, Martin WJ. Herpesvirus-related sequences in salivary gland tumors. J. Exp.  Clin. Can. Res. 15: 1-4, 1996.

Martin WJ. Genetic instability and fragmentation of a stealth viral genome. Pathobiology 64:9-17, 1996.

Martin WJ. Severe stealth virus encephalopathy following chronic fatigue syndrome-like illness: Clinical and histopathological features. Pathobiology 64:1-8, 1996.

Martin WJ. Stealth viral encephalopathy: Report of a fatal case complicated by cerebral vasculitis. Pathobiology 64:59-63, 1996.

Martin WJ. Simian cytomegalovirus-related stealth virus  isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of a patient with bipolar psychosis and acute encephalopathy. Pathobiology    64:64-66, 1996.

Martin WJ, Anderson D:  Stealth virus epidemic in the Mohave Valley . Initial report of viral isolation. Pathobiology  65:51-56, 1997.

Martin WJ. Cellular sequences in stealth viruses. Patobiology 66:53-58, 1998.

Martin WJ. Bacteria related sequences in a simian cytomegalovirus-derived stealth virus culture.  Exp Mol Path. 66: 8-14, 1999.

Martin WJ. Stealth adaptation of an African green monkey simian cytomegalovirus. Exp Mol Path. 66:3-7, 1999.

Martin WJ. Melanoma Growth stimulatory activity (MGSA/GRO-alpha) chemokine genes incorporated into an African green monkey simian cytomegalovirus (SCMV)-derived stealth virus. Exp Mol Path. 66: 15-18,1999.

Martin WJ, Anderson D. Stealth Virus Epidemic in the Mohave Valley : Severe vacuolating encephalopathy in a child presenting with a behavioral disorder. Exp Mol Pathol. 66:19-30 1999. 

Martin WJ. Chemokine receptor-related sequences in an African green monkey simian cytomegalovirus (SCMV)-derived stealth virus. Exp Mol Path. 69: 10-16, 2000.

Martin WJ. Complex intracellular inclusions in the brain of a child with a stealth virus encephalopathy. Exp Mol Path 74: 179-209, 2003..

Martin WJ. Stealth virus culture pigments: A potential source of cellular energy. Exp. Mol. Path. 74: 210-223, 2003.

Martin WJ. The rationale for vaccines and the potential inadvertent consequences including autism, AIDS and other epidemics. Med. Veritas 1: 81-85, 2004.

Martin WJ, Stoneburner J. Symptomatic relief of herpetic skin lesions utilizing an energy based approach to healing. Exp. Mol. Path 78: 131-4, 2005.

Martin WJ. Alternative cellular energy pigments mistaken for parasitic skin infestations. Exp. Mol. Path 78: 212-214, 2005.

Martin WJ. Alternative cellular energy pigments from bacteria of stealth virus infected individuals. Exp. Mol. Path 78: 217-217, 2005.

Martin WJ. Progressive Medicine. Exp Mol Path 78: 218-220, 2005.

Martin WJ. Etheric Biology. Exp Mol Path 78: 221-227, 2005.

                                                                                                                     Thanks, John.