Conversation #1 with Diego Bohórquez and Mijail D. Serruya: How Information Moves Levels in Bodies
- Date published: 2026-09-03
- Speakers: Michael Levin, Diego Bohórquez, Mijail D. Serruya
- Format: Conversation
- Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvUn3G2lPxs
- Topics: Bioelectricity · Cognition in cells (basal and diverse intelligence) · AI and biology · Mind, body and brain
In one paragraph
A gut-brain neuroscientist and a neurologist-engineer talk with Levin about how information crosses levels — from gut sensor cells to the brain, and from neurons in a dish to clinical tools.
Main ideas (plain words)
- Bohórquez's lab found gut sensor cells wired to the vagus nerve that rapidly sense nutrients and signal the brain to guide decisions.
- Serruya grows rat and human neurons on 2D and 3D electrode arrays and asks how a clinician can 'talk' to cells in a language they respond to.
- Levin's frame: much information may be unavailable only because we lack the right interface; hypnosis and similar methods might soften the boundaries between levels.
- His lab is already trying to put a language layer on top of biology — talking to gene regulatory networks in English — with some success.
- Next step he proposes: each writes down minimal models that would answer one shared question.
Why it matters
This is the interface question in its most practical form, and the language-layer idea is where LLM agents and Levin's biology meet.
Key quotes (word for word from YouTube's auto-generated captions)
Quotes are copied exactly from the captions, including filler words and caption errors. Timestamps are to the nearest minute.
"we have a system that's very good at doing things and knowing things and not great at talking about it"
— 48 min"trying to talk to gene regulatory networks in English"
— 48 min"I think we should go off and each of us writes down one or more uh minimal minimal models"
— 54 min
Related
What's new · Companies tracker · transcript: raw/transcripts/2026-09-03-YvUn3G2lPxs.txt