Hi, I’m Aastha, and welcome to Live Longer World, where I write about health & longevity, and interview scientists researching longevity science and the frontiers of biology.
“The 21st century is the century of the cell.”My guest today is Dr. Alfonso Martinez Arias, who is a development biologist and the author of the book The Master Builder: How the New Science of the Cell Is Rewriting the Story of Life.
Each of our cells has the same DNA. Yet they somehow differentiate into different body parts - eyes, ears, skin, and so on. There is no information in the DNA that tells our cells what to be. How then do they do it?
This is just one example of how contrary to what many might think, DNA does not explain every problem state in biology. Biology has placed too much emphasis on our genes, trying to explain every disease state using genes, when the answer might not reside with them. What if answers to these questions lies with cells?
Even though Dr. Martinez started off as a geneticist, he decided to pivot to understand the properties of cells better. By understanding our cells better, we can make further progress in understanding disease, longevity, and development.
This conversation is about the cell’s eye view of biology, and how the gene's eye view of biology might have mislead us. We also talk about why the popular selfish gene theory espoused by Richard Dawkins is incomplete. Looking beyond genes is instrumental to making progress in longevity.
Timestamps below.
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Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:15 DNA does not make us unique
5:28 Cells use our genes
10:42 “We have overstretched what genes can explain”
15:41 Relation between genes and cells
20:28 What about the role of epigenetics?
22:42 Cells use mechanical and chemical signals
27:34 Thoughts on bioelectricity and Michael Levin
32:28 Emergence of cells
38:10 Importance of biophysics; What is life?
42:32 Is cancer when cells lose control?
47:58 Richard Dawkins’ Selfish Gene is Incomplete
54:11 But what if genes control development?
57:29 How to complete the selfish gene view?
1:02:05 Cell’s eye view of biology
1:04:48 Understanding embryonic development; gastruloids
1:18:15 Questions Dr. Alfonso is pursuing
1:19:47 Thoughts from Feynman
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