Biogenesis is a biological theory according to which living organisms are produced only from similar living organisms. The term was coined by English biologist T.H. Huxley in 1870, from Greek bios “life” and genesis “birth, origin, creation.” It meant “theory that living organisms arise only from the agency of pre-existing living organisms” (as opposed to spontaneous generation). In 1960 there was a somewhat different meaning ascribed to the word: “the theoretical evolution of living matter from complex inanimate chemicals”. (Online dictionary etymonline.com, 23/7/2024.) Reich uses the specific term with the literal meaning of the Greek words, as meaning “the creation of life”.
The discovery of the function of the orgasm and the recognition of its pivotal role in establishing and maintaining a person’s health; his investigation of the Central Nervous System’s function; the bioelectrical experiments of sexuality and anxiety, along with the discovery and study of bions and their functioning, as well as Experiment XX, mark Reich’s definitive and irreversible “leap” from the abstract realm of psychology and the theoretical premises of Freudian psychology into the applied realm of experimental medicine and biology. In this section we will briefly note the reasons for which the “Bions” and “Experiment XX” constitute a turning point in the development of Reich’s functional thought.
