The Genetics of Planaria

In humans, Doug Brash tells me that there are about 100,000 mutations per skin cell in normal skin. The genome is just a set of numbers and they're all they start off all mixed up. And the phenotype, what you select for is making sure the numbers are all in nice order from zero to 100.

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This episode is with Michael Levin and Nick Lane. Mike is a Professor in the Biology department at Tufts University. He studies the role of bioelectric signals in regulating development and regeneration in animals. Nick is a professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry at University College London. His work is focused on the fundamental processes that underlie the origin and evolution of life. In this conversation, we talk about major transitions and key innovations in biology, information in biological systems, bioelectricity, emergence of eukaryotes and importance of bioelectric signals to create artificial life.

Guests info:

Nick Lane-

Website: https://nick-lane.net/ Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nick-Lane/e/B001IXSEJ2/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1 Google scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&view_op=list_works&gmla=AJsN-F4olJCJHK40l0_0fVpJFgPP2JYynLUs5cpCsX0ADVj9y4VIo99TJ598Hr0_ItDJucJJGG4Tlxw9nr0zvdBMl8ow3iI3rA&user=eChselQAAAAJ

Michael Levin-

Website: https://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/levin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmichaellevin

Episode links: Website: https://www.reasonwithscience.com/home/powering-the-complexity-of-life-with-michael-levin-and-nick-lane Youtube: https://youtu.be/GBxVvLVzF68 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4P3znAFYC8JofY2dcAUVRz Apple podcast: https://podcastsconnect.apple.com/my-podcasts/show/reason-with-science/407cd478-4271-4319-8318-fc378d4e7ccb/episode/powering-the-complexiy-of-life-with-michael-levin-and-nick-lane-|-reason-with-science-|-biolectricity/0a003abf-4d67-48c2-aed8-e4dadcebe574 Google podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy9iMjMyNDZlOC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw/episode/ZDc3OTZlMDktYWZiMi00OGMyLTk0ZmYtNzY1MGI0ZDhjODIy?sa=X&ved=0CAUQkfYCahcKEwjAvoyG3-P-AhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA

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Timestamps:

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:58 Transition from chemistry to biology

00:06:53 Emergence of complexity

00:09:53 Key innovation of biology (Resting potential over genome)

00:13:53 Hardware-software in biology