Michael Levin and Bioelectricity

After watching this video, I became fascinated with the research and the ideas that he proposes, as well as some of the findings he and his co-researchers have found.

Biology is changing, and it simply isnt what it used to be!

632nm - Bioelectricity, Morphogenesis, and Two-Headed Worms

First of all, disclaimer, I have a limited understanding of the science involved here. Most of the information I will provide about these amazing discussions will be from Michael Levin and from associates working on similar topics.

TLDR

For those wanting a basic summary I will try to give a recount of the core principles Michael is pointing our and why the bioelectric idea is so powerful.

Example 1: The Deer Antlers

He described a problem he found in nature that didnt seem to make sense.

A Deer cuts its antler on a tree or fence, and it grows a new nub there the cut was made on the antler. Deers drop their antlers every year, so when the new antlers grew, it was surprising to find that the exact same numb regrows in the exact same position.

Think about that for a little bit. As Michael states - where is the information that was kept about the cuts position and how do the antlers cells know, when growing, how to apply that to the growing cells. How?

Example 2: The Cut Worms

Many experiments show that if you cut worms into piece they grow back the parts needed to become a worm again. Most experiments focus on two cuts, however Michael looked at a single cut and asked “where is the information to tell the tail to make a head, and a head to make a tail?”. As far as the worm cells know (locally) they have no idea if they are tail or head.

The experiments Michael did with worms applied a drug to block electric control through cells, and when they did a cut, they got a 50% chance of making a head or tail. The clear outcome is that there is something going on electrically that controls all the cells collaboratively.

Astonishing and Bewildering

I love science like this. Something that pokes questions and ideas at current thinking and askes why our current science cant answer these problems.

There are deeper discussions and papers published by Michael and his collaborators.

A series of Micheal Levin videos:

Michael Levins Academic Content

All Micheal Levin Videos

Dr Michael Levin - Reprogramming Bioelectricity

Nothing in biology makes sense without teleology

This is great science, and could usher in a whole new world of human understanding. Love it!