Summary of Manolis Kellis: Human Genome and Evolutionary Dynamics | Lex Fridman Podcast #113

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00:00:00 - 01:00:00

In this fascinating interview, Manolis Kellis discusses the human genome and how it can be used to understand evolution. He explains how the genome is incredibly diverse and unique, and how this diversity can be used to learn about individuality and similarity. He also discusses the importance of scientific inquiry and the need for people to be willing to be wrong in order to progress towards the greater good.

00:00:00 Manolis Kellis is a professor at MIT and head of the Mit computational biology group. He is interested in understanding the human genome from a variety of evolutionary biological and other cross-disciplinary perspectives. He has more big impactful papers and awards than I can list, but his most notable accomplishment is his ability to connect with people and make them feel comfortable discussing science. This interview was fascinating and I learned a lot about the human genome. I'm excited to see what he has in store for us next. Blinkist is my favorite app for learning new things, and Eight Sleep is a great sleep aid. I also highly recommend signing up for Masterclass, which offers a variety of courses on different subjects. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a review and subscribe on YouTube. Finally, if you'd like to support it, please consider donating to the podcast via Patreon or connecting with me on Twitter @lexfriedman. Thanks for listening!
00:05:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the beauty of the human genome, which includes variation that teaches us about individuality and similarity. He explains that, as a result, wars and anger would be reduced if people understood this aspect of humanity more.
00:10:00 The human genome is incredibly diverse and unique, with both vertical and horizontal inheritance. This allows for the spread of knowledge and culture rapidly among humans, compared to other primates.
00:15:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the democratization of knowledge and its potential effects on human evolution. He notes that while this has been a positive development, there is a danger of ignorance becoming as important as expertise. He encourages a basic educational foundation, based on knowledge and epistemology, which can be supplemented with domain-specific knowledge.
00:20:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the importance of scientific inquiry and the need for people to be willing to be wrong in order to progress towards the greater good. Kellis discusses the spread of knowledge in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, noting that although mistakes will be made, this is a necessary part of learning and knowledge growth. Kellis recommends starting with textbooks on virology, epidemiology, and growth of viruses under specific time periods, before delving into more in-depth knowledge about the virus itself, how it spreads, and how people are dying from it.
00:25:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the human genome and its unique aspects, including its importance in human genetics and the study of human variation. He notes that while the human genome has continued to elucidate many different processes that were once thought to be uniquely learned, it is still lagging behind in terms of the complexity of directed perturbation experiments.
00:30:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the potential for human free will and the challenges of understanding it. He believes that the concept is difficult to understand and that there is no empirical evidence to support it. He also points out that the probability of all of our experiences existing is nil.
00:35:00 Manolis Kellis discusses how the human genome and human cognition are related, and how computer science can be used to understand them. He also discusses how the human brain evolved to deal with the physical constraints of the world that humans live in. This is important as it shows how artificial intelligence systems will not work as well if they are not based on images that humans can understand.
00:40:00 Manolis Kellis discusses how understanding the tricks that our human brain has evolved to understand the physical world around us can help us create better artificial intelligence systems. He also talks about how new senses, such as gravitational waves and axions, are being discovered and how this is a sign of how far we've come as a species.
00:45:00 Manolis Kellis discusses some of the landmark papers that have shaped his scientific path. He says that one of the most important things he's done today is work on multiple projects that are all important to the field.
00:50:00 Manolis Kellis discusses how evolutionary signatures can be used to study the genome and evolution. He discusses how the dinosaurs ruled the earth for 175 million years, and how humans have only been around for a million years. He explains that humans are fundamentally mammals, and that after the extinction of the dinosaurs, many new evolutionary niches opened up.
00:55:00 Manolis Kellis discusses his research on human genome evolution, showing that there is a particular pattern of evolution dictated by the level of evolutionary selection acting. He also discusses a paper he and a colleague published on the evolution of the Sarsko-variant coronavirus.

01:00:00 - 02:00:00

Manolis Kellis discusses how evolution works in messy ways, and how this allows for new local maxima to be reached. He also points out that, by embracing robustness, engineers can learn from the biological systems that are resilient and messy. Finally, he discusses how deep learning systems are inspired by the brain, and how engineers would love to have the whole information transfer process take place in neurons.

01:00:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the importance of understanding the proteins and functions of the human genome, and how the comparison of different species reveals how fast things are evolving, and at what level the acceleration or deceleration pedal is set. He also discusses the possibility that viruses are intelligent, and how their evolution is a result of parallel search across thousands of infections.
01:05:00 The viruses that are successful in spreading throughout a population and surviving over time are the ones that hijack the machinery of the human cell to prevent the translation of human genes.
01:10:00 The video discusses how human cells lack the ability to produce most proteins due to a translational slip, resulting in the production of more viral RNAs. This process, known as "spike," leads to the destruction of human cells. Manolis Kellis explains that while human extinction is not imminent, the trend of human extinction is something that has happened throughout history.
01:15:00 Manolis Kellis shares his perspective on how evolution shapes the human genome, and how our immune system is diverse and resilient. He also discusses the potential for engineered pandemics, and how we should be worried about them, but not afraid of natural pandemics.
01:20:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the human genome and evolution, explaining how humans are much dumber than smart evolution would lead us to believe and how viruses recombine naturally, leading to difficulty in creating an effective vaccine. He also touches on how different countries have different vaccination rates and how this may contribute to the differences in coronavirus-related deaths.
01:25:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the importance of a healthy immune system and the role that exercise and diet play in maintaining it. He explains that the most personalized advice for nutrition doesn't have to do with a person's genome, but with their gut microbiome.
01:30:00 Manolis Kellis discusses how the brain responds to positive thinking and how the placebo effect can have a powerful impact on healing and physical health.
01:35:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the differences between how a computer represents information and how a human genome does. He suggests that we are, in fact, a digital computer, with a digital core and analog surrounding it. He then goes on to discuss how the code itself is digital, and how genes are represented as sequences of digital code. He discusses how the code is resilient and how biological systems work by first being resilient and then adapting to whatever else is happening. He finishes by discussing the elegance of life and how it is a clean design.
01:40:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the evolutionary dynamics of biological systems, explaining that they are often messy and that this is something computer scientists tend to shy away from. He goes on to explain that, in contrast, biologists rely on evolutionary exploration to create robust systems that specialize. After discussing the importance of fruit-bearing plants and the subsequent evolutionary niche they created, Manolis Kellis discusses the rapid loss of genes after genome duplication. He argues that biology is simply ruthless selection acting on random mutations, and that, as a result, evolution is often messy.
01:45:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the importance of gene duplication and gene duplication in general in terms of evolutionary dynamics. He discusses how this relates to the current pandemic, and how the d614g mutation is an example of a useful mutation.
01:50:00 Manolis Kellis discusses how evolution works in messy ways, and how this allows for new local maxima to be reached. He also points out that, by embracing robustness, engineers can learn from the biological systems that are resilient and messy. Finally, he discusses how deep learning systems are inspired by the brain, and how engineers would love to have the whole information transfer process take place in neurons.
01:55:00 Manolis Kellis discusses the importance of ambiguity and creativity in language, research, and deep learning. He also discusses the possibility of human-computer brain interfaces.

02:00:00 - 02:25:00

In this interview, Manolis Kellis discusses the importance of understanding the human genome and evolutionary dynamics. He believes that machines can be trained to read and understand neuronal connections, but that language will remain the primary means of communication. He also discusses the emotional baggage that words carry, and how translation can be a way of capturing emotional reactions in different cultures.