A Philosopher's Insight on the World of Biology and Communication—Günther Witzany—Biocommunication and Natural Genome Editing
Finding Genius Podcast
Richard Jacobs
4.4 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 22 February 2019
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Gunther Witzany's original area of expertise was the philosophy of language, which brought him into the world where philosophy and the sciences meet. After reading many biological papers and noticing that they used many of the same terms to describe the behavior of organisms, such as cell-cell communication, genetic code, translation, and encryption, he realized that biologists were trying to use communication and language in a mechanistic way. According to Witzany—and the general conclusion of a 60-year-long discussion in the philosophy of science—this is an error simply because language and communication cannot be explained by mechanistic terms. Why?
Witzany offers his answer to this question, and in doing so, gives his account of his concept of life as a communicative structure, meaning that organisms and their components communicate through processes and sign-mediated interactions, much like one might describe parts of human communication. He discusses the three levels that exist in every language, the role of epigenetic markings in the expression and transcription of DNA, how viruses edit code and why more of them are our friends than enemies, and whether viruses or cellular life emerged first.
Tune in and learn more by visiting biocommunication.at.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to the Future Tech Podcast with Richard Jacobs. |
| 0:09.0 | Future Technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, |
| 0:12.0 | Stem Cells, 3D printing, gene editing, |
| 0:14.7 | Bitcoin, blockchain, the microbiome, quantum computing, virtual reality, and exploring space |
| 0:21.0 | are much closer than you might think. |
| 0:23.0 | In fact, many early versions of these technologies are in play right now |
| 0:27.0 | and the companies that are using these technologies for the focus of this podcast. |
| 0:31.0 | My goal for you, the listener, is to learn from these |
| 0:34.4 | podcasts. You may very well learn something that may change the course of your life |
| 0:38.3 | for the better, steer you towards a new career, or give you insight into |
| 0:42.4 | addressing a thorny medical problem. |
| 0:44.6 | Remember, this podcast and its content is informational and nature only. |
| 0:48.7 | No medical, tax, legal, financial, or psychological advice is being given. |
| 0:53.0 | If you've enjoyed the podcast, please listen, subscribe, like, and tell your friends about it. |
| 0:58.0 | Thank you. |
| 0:59.0 | Hello, this is Richard Jacobs with the Future Tech Podcast, and I have Gunther Wittsenie. |
| 1:08.8 | He's a philosopher specialized in the philosophy of science, philosophy of language, |
| 1:13.5 | communication, philosophy of biology. |
| 1:15.9 | In the late 1980s, he proposed |
| 1:17.8 | the concept of life as a communicative structure, |
| 1:21.8 | cells, tissues, organs, and organisms organize and communicate to processes and |
| 1:28.5 | you know, sign-mediated interactions. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Richard Jacobs, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Richard Jacobs and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.