Cells to civilizations

Biology. Philosophy. 23/09/03

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About the guest

This episode is with Enrico Coen. He is a plant biologist and geneticist at John Innes Centre. Enrico's work has focused on unraveling the intricate genetic and molecular mechanisms that govern the formation and growth of plants. He is the author of two books, namely, 'Cells to civilizations' and 'Art of genes'. In this conversation we talk about major transitions in biology, emergence of complexity, evolution of life, drivers of evolution, evolution of brains, Intelligence and science. 

  • 00:00:00 Introduction 
  • 00:01:04 Major transformations of life 
  • 00:14:12 What is science and how it works? 
  • 00:16:22 Can science help us to study fundamental nature of reality? 
  • 00:30:07 Do we need an absolutist view of science? 
  • 00:37:14 What are the commonalities between evolution, development, culture and learning? 
  • 00:44:32 Role of parasites in the evolution of life 
  • 00:47:49 Survival of the fittest 
  • 00:53:07 Natural selection at the level of replicators 
  • 00:58:46 Level at which evolution works (genes or cells) 
  • 01:09:47 Concept of memes 
  • 01:16:00 Why religion has been successful? 
  • 01:25:45 Crucial elements of scientific method 
  • 01:32:50 Importance of self-doubt 
  • 01:36:10 Covid-19 pandemic and science 
  • 01:40:00 Science and art 
  • 01:48:09 Future writing 
  • 01:50:12 Thank you!

Timestamps