The Cosmic Serpent

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge is a 1995 non-fiction book by Jeremy Narby. Narby performed two years of field work in the Pichis Valley of thePeruvian Amazon researching the ecology of the Asháninka, an indigenous peoples in Peru.Investigating the connections between shamanism and molecular biology, Narby hypothesizes that shamans may be able to access information at the molecular level through the ingestion of entheogens, specifically ayahuasca. Biophysicist Jacques Dubochet criticized Narby for not testing his hypothesis. Narby and three molecular biologists revisited the Peruvian Amazon to try to test the hypothesis, and their work is featured in the documentary film, Night of the Liana.