Biologists From England

"These are beneficial creatures, and should be celebrated, not persecuted and poisoned in some misguided psychotic urge to kill anything that dares to thrive."

"One theory as to why metamorphosis is such a successful strategy is that it enables the immature stages and the adults to each specialise in different tasks, and to have a body designed for the purpose.‡ ‡Please note that I am not suggesting intelligent design by a supreme being. ‘Design’ is shorthand for the blind tinkering of evolution over millennia."

"[L]ike the Bellman in The Hunting of the Snark... 'what I tell you three times is true'. I have deliberately included a certain amount of repetition... usually by expressing the same concept from a different angle or in a different context."

"[T]here is no privileged level of causation, which is the central statement of the theory of Biological Relativity."

"[I]f genes dance, they have been doing so for... most of the period of the Earth's existence... about 4.5 billion years."

"[E]ven in the most mathematical areas of science, and biology is rapidly becoming one of those, it is usually possible to explain the concepts in common language, once they have been distilled down from the abstract world of equations."

"[T]here is no complete programme in our DNA. Programmes... are distributed across scales in the organism."

"[W]e are far from certain what a gene is... many of the confusions and misrepresentations of biology arise from mixing up different definitions of genes and genetics."

"[T]he book begins with the fundamentals of physics and cosmology, yet ends with the fundamentals of biology and the limits to our knowledge. ...[T]here are many links between these various threads."

"DNA does nothing outside the context of a cell containing these protein systems, just as a CD can do nothing without a CD reader. So we have the paradox that proteins are required for the machinery to read the code to produce the proteins."

"[T]he music of life has no conductor."

"In higher animals, the bits of DNA code that we lump together and call... a 'gene' are... broken up into segments... called 's'... separated by non-coding stretches of DNA, called 's'. The exon codes can be combined in various orders to produce a full protein code."

"The Principle of Biological Relativity... simply states that there is no privileged level of causation in biological systems."

"A living cell is a continuous action-packed drama. ...Complex chains of molecular interaction happen again and again. We call them 'pathways'... And proteins form the backbone of all these biochemical pathways."

"[I]f a gene consists of three exons, a, b, and c, it could be read as a, b, c, ab, bc, ac, abc, and perhaps... as cba, ca, ba, each... code for a different protein. At present we do not know the rules..."

"[T]here is no one-to-one correspondence between genes and biological functions. Strictly... to speak of a 'gene for x' is always incorrect."

"Every time a is needed, the appropriate chemical 'code' is 'read off' the ; this gives the pattern of chemical elements that will make that what it is. Our genes encode the sequences of 100 000 or so proteins that make up the human body."

"[T]he book of life is life itself. It cannot be reduced to just one of its databases. ...[T]he genome is only one of its databases. Function... depends also on... properties... not specified by genes."

"If you already know a lot of science, you may need to relearn what you thought you knew. Because... the twentieth-century biology went up the wrong street in the interpretation and presentation of its many impressive discoveries."

"[L]iving organisms are open systems. ...All the molecules, organs and systems dance to the tune of the organism and its social context. Those molecules include the sequences of DNA we now call s."

"He did his first degree at the , then his PhD on ionic currents of the heart with . It was there he produced the first computer simulation of the , an area in which he's made massive contributions to ever since. ...[T]his work really makes him one of the founders and the fathers of the discipline of systems biology. Having done that he moved to Oxford where he's worked ever since. In a landmark series of papers he characterized the repolarizing currents in the heart, and with this work established a framework for analysis of such data... still used to this day. ...[H]e's produced a series of models in the of the heart, and in this played a major role in the establishment of the Physiome Project with the eventual goal of modeling the whole of human . ...Denis' interests ...aren't limited solely to physiology ...He's contributed greatly to the understading of genetics and evolutionary biology. He also is interested in philosophy, and all these combined with a talent for languages makes him a real renaissance man. ...Denis and colleagues founded the organization Save British Science, which this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary under its new name, the"

"[T]here are no genes 'for' anything. ...Genes are used. They are not active causes."

"[T]he general principle of relativity informs the whole book."

"Proteins are produced in tiny factories inside the cells... Biologists call them ribosomes. ...A DNA sequence that corresponds to the relevant protein sequence is copied onto another molecule... called a 'messenger', which transmits a form of the sequence to the ribosomes. The messenger molecules, called ... are another kind of sequence. The DNA sequences are... a kind of template... sequence of s... transcribed to produce the message... translated into an amino-acid sequence when the protein is made. (s are the units of which protein is made, just as nucleotides are the units of which DNA is composed)."

"The DNA causes the proteins, the proteins cause the cells, and so on. ...[T]he inside story, is that the information coded in the genes is being expressed. In biologist-speak, the is 'created by' the . The story is seductive."

"[W]hat does DNA do? As biological molecules go, not very much."

"The real players in the action of life are the proteins. ...DNA is in comparison rather passive."

"In the Anglo-Saxon world the debate has been dominated by arguments between the gene-centered views of people like Richard Dawkins... and the multi-level selection views of people like Stephen Jay Gould... The gene-centered view... is a metaphorical polemic: the invention of a colourful metaphor to interpret scientific discovery. It is not a straightforward empirical scientific hypothesis."

"[S]ome very influential twentieth-century biologists presented a simplistic gene-centered view..."

"Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake changed the way I look at fungi."

"The success of this approach depends on the ecological fit. Poorly matched mycorrhizal species might do more harm to plants than good. Worse, introducing opportunistic fungal species to new environments might displace local fungal strains with unknown ecological consequences. It is a fact not always taken into account by the fast-growing industry of commercial mycorrhizal products, often marketed as one-size-fits-all quick fixes. As in the ballooning market for human probiotics, many of the microbial strains sold are selected not because they are particularly suitable but because they are easy to produce in manufacturing facilities."

"It is no longer possible to conceive of any organism—humans included—as distinct from the microbial communities they share a body with."

"It is in part these properties of a network—known as “scale-free” properties—that allow diseases, news, and fashions to cascade rapidly through populations. It is the same scale-free properties of a shared mycorrhizal network that might allow a young plant to survive in a heavily shaded understory, or infochemicals to ripple out across a stand of trees in a forest. “A young seedling will quickly become tied up within a complex, interwoven, and stable network,” Beiler explained. “You would expect this to increase its chances of survival and increase the resilience of the forest.” But only up to a point. It is the same scale-free properties that make a wood wide web vulnerable to targeted attacks. Eliminate Google and Amazon and Facebook overnight or shut down the three busiest airports in the world, and you’ll cause havoc. Selectively remove large hub trees—as many commercial logging operations do in an effort to extract the most valuable timber—and serious disruption will ensue."

"Tricked out of our expectations, we fall back on our senses. What’s astonishing is the gulf between what we expect to find and what we find when we actually look."

"The impact of fungal diseases is increasing across the world: Unsustainable agricultural practices reduce the ability of plants to form relationships with the beneficial fungi on which they depend. The widespread use of antifungal chemicals has led to an unprecedented rise in new fungal superbugs that threaten both human and plant health."

"Fermentation is domesticated decomposition—rot rehoused."

"The more of their surroundings that hyphae can touch, the more they can consume. The difference between animals and fungi is simple: Animals put food in their bodies, whereas fungi put their bodies in the food."

"... are a , which is as broad a category of animals or plants. But they are a kingdom of life which has not had a kingdom's worth of attention."

"If we are to bring about real regenerative therapies that will benefit not just future generations, but those of us who are alive today, we must encourage scientists to work on the problem of aging"

"When I was much younger I had a couple of relationships with women who were very smart but, being teenaged, had not had time to demonstrate it. It was important to them that I not compliment them too much on their (very considerable) physical attributes, and I respected that at the time and still do. But for those of us who have already achieved plenty in life, and who thus have nothing to prove, the same does not apply. I have a mission in life, and I have no compunction whatsoever in furthering it by means that have nothing to do with my intellect, whether that be my ability to feign a reasonably aristocratic accent or my own physical attributes. Similarly, I view it as not only acceptable but positively recommended that those of my colleagues who are similarly committed to this same mission should take whatever advantage may be available, of whatever attributes they may possess, to influence those who have major potential to further that mission - and, to the extent that they do so without even thinking about it, that they not be all coy and in denial they they do so. There’s a war on, my friend; there's no time to be all pompous about some hypothetical greater value of those enviable features that one has earned through hard work over those that one was born with. We need to work with what we have, however we obtained it."

"It is at the same level of women in World War II sleeping with Nazis to get information. It is a war against aging here. You have to persuade people to give money. That is honestly who I am. I am the general. .. It is just not possible I could have said anything like this to [Complainant #2] in 2018. […] I would not dream of saying anything remotely along those lines. I have not used any of my staff in terms of womanhood in that way. I put my scientists next to donors to talk science."

"I am at last in a position to apologise - which I gladly do publicly - to Laura Deming for my email to her in 2012, about which I had forgotten until the investigator reminded me of it. As STAT reported three weeks ago, I consider that that email would have been a mistake even if she had been five years older, because we were in a mentor-mentee relationship. I catgorically deny Laura's current (though, as she made clear on August 10th, not contemporaneous) view, shared by the investigator, that I sent that email with improper intent - but my email does not become OK just because improper intent is now being misread into it."

"I don't feel the need to subtweet that one - Aubrey is an absolutely terrible human being"

"I define aging as the set of accumulated side effects from metabolism that eventually kills us."

"I had one bad experience with him when I was 17 - he told me in writing that he had an ‘adventurous love life’ and that it had ‘always felt quite jarring’ not to let conversations with me stray in that direction given that ‘[he] could treat [me] as an equal on every other level’. He sent this from his work email, and I’d known him since I was 14."

"Aubrey de Grey is a sexual predator. For years he has used his position of power in the aging field to attract his victims. These victims include me, Laura Deming, and multiple other anonymous women. Laura was a minor when Aubrey came on to her; I was a SENS-funded student. Aubrey’s proclivities are a long held open secret in the aging field."

"we find Dr. de Grey purposefully and knowingly disregarded multiple directives (from the acting Executive Director, this investigator, and his own counsel) to retain the confidentiality of the investigation. In his interview, Dr. de Grey not only admitted to this conduct, he made unreasonable efforts to justify it ..Dr. de Grey’s unapologetic interference with the investigation by reaching out to a witness through a third party and repeatedly posting about the investigation has generated angry attacks on the accusers and perpetuated misinformation (i.e., that he has been exonerated)"

"Scientist Aubrey de Grey made inappropriate sexual comments to two female entrepreneurs, independent investigation finds"

"Aubrey is one of the kindest and most generous people I have ever known. He only ever treated me with respect and kindness. I never saw him intentionally disrespect anyone."

"The crucial notion that the world has not always been the way it is now."