Episode: 3 Xenogenesis - Dawn: I: Womb Chapters 4 & 5

Show Notes

In Episode 3, Richard and Michael discuss Chapters 4 and 5, which leads to a nearly two-hour discussion on culture and regenerative medicine.

Timestamps

00:00:32 – Episode start
00:01:02 – Predictions
00:01:52 – Chapter 4 introduction
00:04:29 – Concentration of oxygen vs size of organisms [1]
00:06:57 – End of Chapter 4 introduction
00:07:10 – Chapter 5 predictions
00:08:20 – Chapter 5 introduction
00:11:10 – Carcinogens [2, 3]
00:13:55 – Botulinum toxin [4]
00:14:45 – Foods that prevent cancer [5]
00:18:30 – Manuka honey – a mind-blowing healing item [6]
00:20:55 – Continuation on Chapter 5 introduction
00:25:25 – Discussion on trans-generational memory of Oankali
00:27:36 – Discussion on data storage using DNA [7, 8]
00:31:28 – Continuation on Chapter 5 introduction…
00:39:10 – End of Chapter 5 introduction
00:39:40 – Discussion on the ship
00:41:30 – Richard tells us what is needed for life to begin [9, 10] and discussion on energy storage
00:44:11 – Radiation-eating bacteria [11 – 14]
00:47:00 – Discussion on radiation [15 – 16]
00:49:55 – Discussion on the culture of Oankali and their reproduction modes
00:55:10 – Intelligence vs Hierarchy
00:58:06 – Collective consciousness (singularity) [17]
00:59:20 – Individual autonomy and discussion on Lilith’s feeling on the cross-breeding
01:00:05 – The big reveal – what is the Trade of Oankali and discussion on hierarchy, power and slavery [18, 19]
01:08:20 – Michael’s gaming nerdiness leaks out – references to StarCraft and Warhammer 40k
01:09:14 – Colonialism [20]
01:10:14 – Discussion on collaborationism
01:14:14 – Is Michael on a way to spoil himself the whole book?
01:15:50 – Discussion on the Oankali – the Trade and their need to do it
01:20:00 – Problems with inbreeding [21, 22]
01:24:50 – Ooloi and the cancer – is cancer a good example of regeneration? [23 – 29]
01:27:45 – Teratomas [30]
01:29:22 – Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells [31] and further discussion on regeneration
01:37:13 – Why Ph.D. is hard… (or research in general)
01:43:17 – PREDICTIONS
01:44:33 – Outro \

References

Size of organisms:

• [1] https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2010.0001 - paper discussing the atmospheric oxygen level and size of organisms

Cancer:

• [2] https://www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/ultra-processed-foods-linked-cancer/ - Carcinogens in processed food

• [3] https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/general-info/known-and-probable-human-carcinogens.html - More carcinogens Botulinum toxin:

• [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3028942/ - Article discussing the danger of botulinum toxin

Preventing cancer:

• [5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3533886/ - Curcumin and its gigantic list of anti-cancer effects Manuka honey:

• [6] https://www.healthline.com/health/manuka-honey#benefits – the article discusses the positive effects of Manuka honey – the references within the articles site scientific research DNA data storage:

• [7] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dna-data-storage-is-closer-than-you-think/ - A brief article about DNA data storage

• [8] https://physicsworld.com/a/data-storage-in-dna-gains-from-a-larger-alphabet/ - the capabilities of DNA to store data

Requirements for life to begin:

• [9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4156692/ - article discussing requirements and limits for life in exoplanets
• [10] https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/eight-ingredients-life-in-space.html - brief article describing 8 ingredients necessary for life in space

Radiation-eating bacteria:

• [11] https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23431211-300-radiation-eating-bacteria-could-make-nuclear-waste-safer/ - short article on the topic of radiation-eating bacteria.
• [12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6422879/ - Bacteria from intestines eating radioactive Caesium.
• [13] https://sci-hub.tw/10.1007/s00253-012-4642-7 - Link to PDF talking about radiation-resistant extremophiles
• [14] https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a30784690/chernobyl-fungus/ - Fungus eating radiation in Chernobyl

Radiation in a nutshell:

• [15] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation - Wikipedia has a great article on radiation types.

• [16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI2vRwFKnHQ – Video discussing on dangers of radiation Consciousness singularity:

• [17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity - A Wikipedia article about the technological singularity. It’s important to note that here are a number of websites discussing consciousness singularity, but these are hard to verify and still a controversial topic and thus we will provide only this link.

Cultural assimilation and colonialism:

• [18] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_assimilation_of_Native_Americans - example of cultural assimilation.
• [19] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_United_States - Slavery in U.S.A.
• [20] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonialism - Wikipedia list giving examples and explanation to colonialism

Inbreeding:

• [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemophilia_in_European_royalty - Haemophilia in the Royal Family
• [22] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding - Explanation to inbreeding and problems associated with it

Regeneration of tissue:

• [23] https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/1.htm - what are Stem Cells?
• [24] http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/regeneration-axolotl-can-teach-us-regrowing-human-limbs/ - Salamanders and regeneration
• [25] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5534018/pdf/nihms882177.pdf - Review on axolotl limb generation
• [26] https://elifesciences.org/articles/48511 - more information on salamanders
• [27] https://science.sciencemag.org/content/363/6432/eaau6173.long - Acoels - Flat worms capable of regenerating their bodies – very detailed and scientific article.
• [28] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortalised_cell_line - Immortalised cells
• [29] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa - HeLa immortalised cells
• [30] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratoma - What is a teratoma

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells:

• [31] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16904174 - The paper by Yamanaka et al. discussing induction of pluripotent stem cells (more than 23,000 citations!)

Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Hosts