Mike Levin: Minds Before Biology

Michael Levin is a pioneering biologist exploring how cells communicate through bioelectric signals to shape and repair complex body structures. His research at Tufts University sheds light on how organisms—like flatworms and frogs—regenerate limbs, form organs, and even reprogram their anatomy. By decoding the “bioelectric language” of cells, Levin is transforming our understanding of development, regeneration, and the future of bioengineering.

In this conversation we discuss the fundamentals of Mike work but importantly what implications it might have for other areas i.e mental health.

Here are some papers I enjoyed reading:

Life, its origin, and its distribution: a perspective from the Conway-Kochen Theorem and the Free Energy Principle
Fields, C., & Levin, M. (2025). Communicative & Integrative Biology, 18(1), 2466017.

Offers insights into the origin and distribution of life, integrating concepts from the Conway-Kochen Theorem and the Free Energy Principle.
How Do Living Systems Create Meaning?
Fields, C., & Levin, M. (2020). Philosophies, 5(4), 36.
Discusses the mechanisms through which living systems generate meaning, bridging biology and philosophy.

Bioelectric signaling: Reprogrammable circuits underlying morphogenesis
Levin, M. (2021). Cell.
Provides a perspective on how bioelectric circuits integrate information to enable morphogenesis and pattern homeostasis.

The Free Energy Principle Drives Neuromorphic Development
Authors: Chris Fields, Karl Friston, James F. Glazebrook, Michael Levin, Antonino Marcianò
Published: July 2022
Summary: This paper explores how systems with morphological degrees of freedom evolve towards neuromorphic structures under the constraints of the Free Energy Principle. It discusses the emergence of hierarchical computations in biological systems and introduces a framework using topological quantum neural networks.

01:05 What is a mind
04:25 Wee only have models
06:25 Cells have minds
09:00 Bioelectricity
10:57 Evolution is not mechanistic
13:10 Planera
19:20 When the genetic code was cracked
20:57 Collective intelligence of cells and networks
24:05 worms of new species
25:20 Latent space and forms
27:25 Schopenhauer
30:20 Don Hoffman and Cognitive Lightcone
34:20 Scale of Bioelectricity
38:15 Mind and Self Organisation- Turing
42:20 Intelligence at scales
44:20 Evidence for higher order intelligence
46:00: Cancer as a Dissociative disorder
49:00 Psychopathology as equivalent