DiscoverScience on Player FMCould Biological Robots Heal Us from the Inside? | Michael Levin - Into the Impossible With Brian Keating
Could Biological Robots Heal Us from the Inside? | Michael Levin - Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Could Biological Robots Heal Us from the Inside? | Michael Levin - Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Update: 2025-10-28
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What if cells from your own trachea sitting in a petri dish right now, could spontaneously organize into swimming robots that heal brain tissue? What if frog skin cells with no genetic modification whatsoever, could build copies of themselves from spare parts lying around?



This isn't science fiction. This is the work of Michael Levin at Tufts University and is completely rewriting the rules of biology.



Michael Levin's research challenges our fundamental understanding of what life is and where biological properties emerge from. Michael Levin is a distinguished biologist at Tufts University and director of the Allen Discovery Center, whose groundbreaking research on bio electricity and regenerative biology is reshaping our understanding of how biological systems process information and pursue goals.



His Xenobots, living robots built from frog cells, swim around, work together, and reproduce in ways that have never existed on Earth.


What does this tell us about consciousness, intelligence, and the nature of life itself?



KEY TAKEAWAYS



    00:00 "Bioelectricity: Nature’s Cognitive Glue"

    04:57 Neuronal Voltage Gradients Enable Computation

    08:17 Magnetic Fields and Living Systems

    11:43 "Voltage, Membranes, and Injury Signals"

    14:51 "Bioelectric Properties in Cells"

    15:59 Cell Circuits and Networks

    19:31 "Ion Drugs Overcome Electrode Limits"

    22:53 Asymmetric Features in Living Creatures

    26:00 Embryo Symmetry Breaking Mechanism

    30:11 "Space-Time Effort and Goal Scope"

    33:19 "Origins: Universe and Life"

    36:29 Causal Integration and Emergence Insights

    42:02 Cell Liberation Enables Autonomous Behavior

    43:53 "Xenobots: Self-Replicating Robots"

    47:04 "Consciousness, Life, and Intelligence"


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Additional resources:
Levin Lab https://www.drmichaellevin.org/



Follow Michael on X https://x.com/drmichaellevin?s=21



Michael Levin’s book: https://a.co/d/dzl9wPQ



Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/yt to win a meteorite 💥



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Think Like a Nobel Prize Winner, with life changing interviews with 9 Nobel Prizewinners: https://a.co/d/03ezQFu




My tell-all cosmic memoir Losing the Nobel Prize: http://amzn.to/2sa5UpA




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Could Biological Robots Heal Us from the Inside? | Michael Levin - Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Could Biological Robots Heal Us from the Inside? | Michael Levin - Into the Impossible With Brian Keating