Beyond the gene
Looking beyond our genes, Intro to Bioelectricity
Genes are kings. Or are they?
I was recently at a longevity retreat where a professor gave a talk on creating artificial organs using stem cells. Stem cells are undifferentiated, which means they are not yet specialized for specific organs. One of the challenges in using stem cells for creating specific organs like the kidney is that we need to ensure the stem cells differentiate into kidney cells and not liver cells. The professor spoke of his approach to do so, which was to identify specific genes for kidney cells, ensure each of the kidney genes transcribe into the correct proteins, silence some the other genes, and so on.
As someone without a formal degree in biology, my head was spinning. The approach involved twisting every single gene-protein interaction to get the right combination. I couldn’t help but wonder: “What if we manage to get every single gene combination right and still not get the right organ?” And my question was optimistic to begin with, because getting every gene-protein combination right for specific organs in itself is a complex problem. Other questions flooded my mind: “What if we need to be looking beyond genes? What if genes don’t hold all the keys to organ function and shape? Are we being too narrow-minded by not broadening our thinking beyond genes?”
After Watson and Crick’s discovery of the structure of the DNA, the gene-view has occupied center stage in the realm of biology. By gene-level view, I mean biology’s inclination to herald our genes as the most important code to decipher and solve major questions. From the human genome project to scientists trying to understand every gene-protein interaction, the first thought that crosses our minds when we encounter most biological problems are questions like, “What genes are responsible for it? What genes are impacted by it? What genes can we silence? Was there a mutation in the genes?”
In fact, genes and DNA are held in such importance that the gene language has permeated life outside of biology too. It’s common parlance to speak of a “company’s DNA” or utter statements like “It’s in your genes” or “She must have a genetic gift for it.”
Looking beyond our genes
However, what if the answers don’t lie merely with the genes? What if there is significant code to crack outside the gene level code? What if we should be asking questions outside of genes? And what if there are other elements that might in fact be more important than genes and control our genes?
Let’s take a specific example to show that genes don’t contain all the answers. There is no information in our DNA that tells us how the shape of organs should develop and where in our bodies they should develop. How then do most of us end up with the same set of eyes, nose, ears, organs, and other body parts, and in the same place in proportion to our bodies? Why don’t some of us grow eyes on our hands or ears on our legs? How do our bodies know that where our eyes should be when the DNA contains no information about it? Surely, they must be receiving some other signal that lies outside of the DNA.
I’m not trying to discount the importance of understanding the genetic code. I think they are incredibly important. I also don’t want to suggest that biologists assume genes to be central to everything. They of course look at other factors. But it’s fair to say that genes have been the most dominant vantage point for a lot of biology research, and comparatively far fewer scientists question whether genes should be such a dominating paradigm. However, now a growing number of scientists are beginning to ask more questions outside of genes too.
Bioelectricity: A frontier beyond genes
Bioelectricity is one such realm of biology that dares to look beyond the gene-level view. It’s a fundamentally new view of biology that asks questions about our bioelectric code, i.e. the electricity in our bodies and its significance1.
When most of us familiar with pop-science articles think of electricity in our bodies, we tend to think of electric currents in our brains associated with the firing of neurons. A select few might extend the electric signals in our bodies to muscle cells as well.
However, why have we assumed that neurons and muscles are unique in their potential to pass electric signals? In fact, electric signals run through every cell of our bodies. Bioelectricity is about the study of electric signals in our cells and their significance. Research shows how bioelectricity has enormous significance in our anatomy (the shape our cells take), in wound healing, embryonic development, regeneration, and even in cancer.
I was first introduced to bioelectricity when I interviewed Dr. Michael Levin for Live Longer World. Mike Levin is one of the pioneers of bioelectricity and his lab has done some incredible research showing how bioelectric signals shape morphology (the shape our cells take), regeneration of limbs, and even cancer. Honestly, the first time I interviewed him, I recognized that his work was cool, but never took it seriously beyond that. Once I had more free time, I once again started delving into his research, and am now doing an interview series with him where we speak to significant people in developmental bioelectricity.
Most people I know who are familiar with his work have the same initial reaction as me - they seem fascinated by it, but that’s about it. I think the reason for this is that we don’t quite understand the biophysics that underpins his work. Electricity makes intuitive sense to us when we think of batteries. However, it stops making intuitive sense when we begin to think of our cells as batteries. It sounds more in the realm of woo-woo science. To fully appreciate bioelectricity, perhaps it’s important to grasp the basic fundamentals of the physics behind our electric cells. Once we understand this, it becomes easier to advance to the next stage of taking bioelectricity more seriously.
In my next essay, I’ll discuss the biophysics behind what makes our cells electric. Stay tuned!
I’m not suggesting that bioelectricity is the only other area exploring territory outside of genes, there are others too. There is an increasing group of scientists beginning to look beyond the gene-level view of biology and bioelectricity is one of those realms.