Love letters and embryogenesis
Please can we do lunch to talk about worms and a 3000-year old medical system?
I am finding myself obsessed with Michael Levin. Not his dreamy eyes or sexy-nerd vibe, however. It’s his research on planaria or flatworms. A computer science dude turned Harvard PhD biologist, Dr. Levin’s lab is now at Tufts University and has been uncovering more and more about the bioelectric language by which cells coordinate their activity.
The short explanation is his discovery of an instructive communication system, beyond genetics. He refers to the fact that these tiny flatworms, and all oocytes, have “collective intelligences” and a “purpose". If the genome is the hardware, the cellular communication is the software.
In some of the first experiments, Levin’s team cut off a worm’s tail and persuaded the organism to grow an extra head in its place, simply by changing electrical signals. The genome was untouched and yet each time the experiment was conducted, the flatworm would grow an extra head. So by altering the electric signalling, Levin had revised the organism’s “memory” creating a two-headed worm that he could just as easily turn back into a normal worm with a head and tail.
Dr. Levin and his team observed remarkable changes once thought to be genetic and incapable of influence. In an experiment in 2016, the team injected cancer-causing mRNA into frog embryos. The first thing to happen was the injected areas lost their polarity, the second was the development of tumor-like growths. When the team counteracted the depolarization of the bioelectrical signals, some of the tumors disappeared.
“Cancer cells disassociate from the purpose, disconnect from the electrical network. Treatment is reconnecting the cells back to the network.”
He speaks of cancer cells having lost the thread of a wider conversation and how they reproduce aimlessly without cooperating with their neighbours. Once the communication system was restored, cells were able to “make good decisions again”.
What I love most about listening to Dr. Levin speak is how he can zoom out from the tiny planaria and see a much larger picture of the implications of learning how to work with the bioelectrical network.
I also hear clear connections with Chinese Medicine and the elusive “Qi”.
In 2008, after 7 years in acupuncture practice, I came to a description of what I was doing with acupuncture needles and wrote this in my notes: “Acupuncture is accessing a vestigial electrical system within fascia that helps to restore homeostasis.”
Of course, I had no proof of this hypothesis but when I found Dr. Levin’s work last year, it was like hearing a symphony of the most beautiful church bells. Was I on the right track? Are we tapping into an electrical system that is active during the development of the embryo? Are we reminding the body, via gap junctions, of who it is and how its cells should work in the grand scheme of the workings of physiology as a whole? Does depth of needling (ie fascial or muscle level) and the manipulation of the acupuncture needle create different frequencies of electrical communication? And if so, how did the ancient physicians in Asia figure this out?
So many questions.
I find myself wanting to write hand-written letters to Dr. Levin to talk about Qi, Jing and Shen and see if we can come to some understanding of each other’s language and build bridges. I want to have long lunches with him and listen to his latest findings in the world of two-headed worms. I want to design studies with him to discover what is happening at the cellular level when we “sedate Liver 2” as opposed to “tonifying Kidney 3”. I want to see if the points that open the “extraordinary meridians” are functioning at different frequencies because they carry Jing.
One can dream. In the meantime, I may just put pen to paper and start writing this very different kind of love letter.
Thanks for reading,
Erin
What an amazing read Erin. Just fascinating ! I love the way you write. Thank you for sharing. ♥️💙🫶
Wow!! Love this! Fascinating!! Be sure to share his reply!! 💙🥰