12 videos · 5 hr 39 minBiology for Programmers
HN commenters keep finding biology through computing: Sussman's talk on how we don't know how to compute, Levin's NeurIPS talk, a DEF CON talk on hacking the genome. This playlist starts with that framing, shows you the molecular machinery in animation, moves to Levin's idea that tissues compute shape, then to security, static analysis and DIY gene therapy, and ends with the Lisp hacker designing molecules.
Play all on YouTube- 11:04:19
"We Really Don't Know How to Compute!" - Gerald Sussman (2011)
Strange Loop Conference · Picked by 5 · 2022–2026The framing: Sussman sets biology's robustness against how brittle our programs are, and one commenter says it made them question what programming is.
- 29:09
Animations of unseeable biology | Drew Berry | TED
TED · Picked by 7 · 2017–2025Now look at the hardware: Drew Berry's accurate animations of DNA replication, which left one commenter in awe of the trillions of protein machines inside us.
- 37:20
DNA animation (2002-2014) by Drew Berry and Etsuko Uno wehi.tv #ScienceArt
WEHImovies · Picked by 9 · 2020–2026Seven minutes of the same molecular machinery with no narration, jostling and mechanical, and the clip HN posts most often to show it.
- 43:04
mRNA Translation (Advanced)
DNA Learning Center · Picked by 4 · 2014–2025Three minutes on the ribosome reading codons and assembling a protein, the clip HN posted widely in the mRNA-vaccine threads.
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7:45Electron transport chain
Harvard Online · Picked by 6 · 2020–2024The power supply: proton pumps and ATP synthase as an actual rotary motor, which commenters share as the clearest example of nanomachines in cells.
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1:55The Evolution of Bacteria on a “Mega-Plate” Petri Dish (Kishony Lab)
Harvard Medical School · Picked by 6 · 2016–2026Evolution as a search algorithm you can watch, as bacteria work their way across rising antibiotic doses in days.
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19:41Michael Levin: The electrical blueprints that orchestrate life | TED
TED · Picked by 7 · 2021–2026Up from molecules to tissues: Levin's 20-minute introduction to the bioelectric layer, with two-headed worms and xenobots.
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52:07What Bodies Think About: Bioelectric Computation Outside the Nervous System - NeurIPS 2018
The Artificial Intelligence Channel · Picked by 12 · 2018–2024The full version given to an ML audience, and the talk that introduced many HN readers to Levin's view of cell collectives as computers that store pattern memories.
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49:47DEF CON 25 - John Sotos - Genetic Diseases to Guide Digital Hacks of the Human Genome
DEFCONConference · Picked by 11 · 2017–2023The security engineer's view: genetic diseases as known exploits, a talk that convinced several commenters to keep their DNA out of databases.
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48:36Matt Might - Winning the War on Error Solving the Halting Problem and Curing Cancer
Curry On! · Picked by 3 · 2017–2019Static analysis and precision medicine in one talk, built on Might's search for his son's diagnosis, which commenters call a must-see.
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18:33I Genetically Engineered *MYSELF* to Fix Lactose Intolerance
The Thought Emporium · Picked by 8 · 2018–2026Biology as a garage hack: a home-made AAV gene therapy tested on the host himself, the example HN keeps citing in biohacking threads.
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57:38Clasp: Common Lisp using LLVM and C++ for Molecular Metaprogramming
Google TechTalks · Picked by 8 · 2015–2024The closer: a chemist writes his own Lisp compiler to design molecules, and commenters dare anyone to watch it and not be impressed.