#14 Michael Levin – Our body is a collection of intelligent organisms
How does our body know what it will become?
Our genes do not contain instructions that would code the exact 3D shape of our body. Our DNA does not contain a tiny human. What powers the transformation from the first cell of an embryo into a fully-fledged organism?
In the process of solving this problem, Dr Michael Levin’s lab has discovered a new way to look at biology.
We talk about:
0:04 — Introduction.
You were a software developer. How did you become interested in biology
6:50 — Can bacteria exhibit intelligent behavior?
7:46 — How does an organism take its final form?
22:51 — What is the mechanism by which cells in our bodies know when to stop reproducing?
27:49 — Analogs in software and hardware for developmental biology.
34:20 — How are body plans stored by complex organisms such as ourselves?
What post-DNA paradigms matter in biology?
What is regenerative Medicine?
50:20 — What progress have we made in regenerative medicines?
52:52 – Xenobots, the world’s first artificial organisms.
How to program Xenobots.
How do you deal with the ethical dilemma when you work with conscious organisms
1:10:22 – How do you encourage scientific creativity among your students and in your laboratory? Is it something that can be taught?
The Guest ==
Michael Levin, Distinguished Professor at Tufts University’s Biology Department and Director of the Allen Discovery Center. He has a PhD from Harvard University in biology. His research group at Tufts is interested in finding out how our bodies decide what to become.
He believes the bio-electrical communication between units is what drives our body plan. The way our bodies look is because of the collective decision made by each subunit — cells, tissue, and organs.
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