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What Biology needs to Advance Longevity

Denis Noble & Michael Levin
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Hi, I’m Aastha, and welcome to Live Longer World, where I interview scientists on longevity and the frontiers of biology.


Today’s interview is a special one, with two great minds in biology coming together - Denis Noble and Michael Levin.

Denis Noble is a renowned biologist and pioneer in systems biology, known for his groundbreaking work on the electrical activity of the heart and his influential contributions to the understanding of biological systems.

Denis is an advocate for taking a systems integrative approach to biology, as opposed to the reductionist gene-centric view that has dominated the field due to Neo-Darwinism. The gene-centric view has failed us in advancing progress on many diseases, and we need to now take a systems based approach focused on functional networks within biological systems.

I’m sure most of you are familiar with Michael Levin already, given my ongoing podcast series with him. He is an American developmental and synthetic biologist at Tufts University, where he is the Vannevar Bush Distinguished Professor. His research is focused on bioelectricity and he is my co-host for this podcast.

We discuss:

  • DNA is not the blueprint of life

  • Why biology’s reductionist approach is flawed

  • Everything that is wrong with Neo-Darwinism

  • Epigenetic inheritance

  • How to advance longevity and the cure of diseases


Watch on YouTube. Listen on Spotify, or any other podcast platform. Timestamps below.

Follow me on X @aasthajs for more on longevity. Hope you enjoy the conversation!


All other platforms: here


Timestamps:

0:00 Denis as Mike Levin’s hero

0:10 Denis’s journey to systems biology; cell voltage is a global property of the cell

3:45 Advice to young researchers pursuing systems biology

7:00 “Absolutely everything is wrong with Neo-Darwinism”

14:10 Epigenetic inheritance

19:12 Genetic vs. other information used by organisms

23:48 Biology textbooks have to expand beyond DNA in 50 years

25:03 Epigenetic processes are ubiquitous

28:58 If not DNA, what is the blueprint of life?

36:15 Rewriting biology textbooks is fundamental

39:57 “A lot of time has been wasted” (in biology)

46:52 Darwin on the “Origin of Species”

55:38 “Unfortunate that Philosophy and science have diverged”

1:00:31 Importance of Functional networks; DNA does not predict disease


If you’re enjoying the podcast, please leave a rating on Apple podcasts, Spotify or elsewhere, and share with family and friends!

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Interviews with scientists on longevity and the frontiers of biology.