Biologically Speaking – Denis Noble, CBE, PhD, FRS, Renowned British Biologist – The Complex Biology of Cells and Extracellular Vesicles

Finding Genius Podcast

Denis Noble, CBE, PhD, FRS, the famed British biologist, delivers an interesting overview of his life’s work studying the intricate details of biology and what new developments can mean for the treatment of disease.

As a celebrated British biologist, Noble held the Burdon Sanderson Chair of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford for two decades and was later bestowed the honor of Professor Emeritus and appointed Co-Director of Computational Physiology. Noble’s work has been groundbreaking and he is one of the earliest pioneers of systems biology who developed the very first useful mathematical model of the heart, back in 1960.

Noble talks in detail about extracellular vesicles (EVs), which are lipid bilayer-delimited particles—naturally released from a cell but, unlike a cell, they cannot replicate. He discusses the interior of cells, and explains how extracellular vesicles occur, touching on DNA and RNA, and the processes utilized by cells. As he explains, we “used to think that the cells were more or less cut off from each other,” but Noble states that this is just not true. Cells are actually exchanging information all the time, and the extracellular vesicles are little packets that contain information for exchange.

The celebrated biology expert goes on to discuss how Darwin saw the potential significance of transgenerational information being passed on. Noble explains that we can use the expanding information to develop tools to diagnose and treat diseases earlier on, which will be incredibly beneficial of course to patients. Noble continues, and talks about how digital intelligence and AI can help to organize information and opportunities. He explains how intelligence is created, and discusses his theories on the topic.

As one of the world’s preeminent biologists and evolution scientists, Noble continues to lead some of the most pertinent discussions in the scientific community regarding life, genetics, and cellular processes.