Islands in a Sea of Viruses with Guenther Witzany
Finding Genius Podcast
Richard Jacobs
4.4 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 2 October 2020
⏱️ 47 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There are ten million viruses in one single drop of seawater, and many more viruses than stars in the universe. How does this understanding shape how we perceive them, us, and life in general?
Press play to discover:
- How multiple persistent, invading viruses contributed to the formation of the immune system of cellular organisms
- What happens when the counter-regulation between thousands of viruses in the genome gets out of control
- How the evolution of placental mammals is an example of how a persistent virus cares for the growth and development of its host
Viruses have affected every organism on the planet since the start of life. Most of them infect their host in a persistent way, which means they don't kill the host, but try to invade the genome of the host where they will remain. But are they alive? According to Guenther Witzany, they absolutely are. His reasoning is based on the fact that viruses depend on the genetic code. Furthermore, they cooperate, compete, and communicate with one another, which means they exhibit biotic behavior.
Witzany is an accomplished author and philosopher of science, language and communication, and biology. In the late 1980s, he proposed a concept of life as a communicative structure. His work revolves largely around understanding the association between language and communication and the genetic code, and how the cells of an organism and viruses coordinate their behavior and interactions to reach a common goal.
He discusses his view on the dividing line between living and nonliving entities, provides examples of specific forms of communication used by plants, the idea of communication as a prerequisite to coordination between cells, toxin-antitoxin systems in biology, what might dictate whether a virus is lytic, lysogenic, or endogenizing, and more.
Check out Witzany's authoritative books and research on the topics of communication and coordination in cellular organisms, and the abundance and significance of the role of viruses on the planet. Follow the link here: http://www.biocommunication.at/.
Available on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/2Os0myK
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Forget frequently asked questions common sense common knowledge or Google how about advice from a real genius |
| 0:06.8 | 95% of people in any profession are good enough to be qualified and licensed 5% go and beyond. They become very good at what they do. |
| 0:15.1 | But only 0.1% are real Jesus. |
| 0:18.3 | Richard Jacobs has made it his life's mission to find them for you. |
| 0:22.4 | He hunts down and interviews geniuses in every field, sleep science, cancer, stem cells, |
| 0:27.2 | ketogenic diets, and more. |
| 0:28.8 | Here come the geniuses. |
| 0:30.4 | This is the Finding Genius Podcast. |
| 0:33.0 | That is Richard Jacobs. |
| 0:35.0 | Hello, this is Richard Jacobs with the Finding Genius Podcast. |
| 0:41.0 | I have a returning guest, |
| 0:42.9 | Goodther Wittsenie. |
| 0:44.4 | He's an author amongst many things |
| 0:46.1 | of biocommutation and natural genome editing viruses |
| 0:50.1 | essential agents of life. |
| 0:51.4 | He's a philosopher who specializes in the philosophy of |
| 0:53.7 | science, philosophy of language and communication and philosophy of biology. And in the late 1980s |
| 0:59.4 | he proposed the concept of life as a communicative structure. |
| 1:02.6 | Salos, tissues, and organisms, |
| 1:05.1 | organize and coordinate themselves |
| 1:06.5 | through communication processes. |
| 1:08.0 | So definitely very avant-garde thinking. |
... |
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