C. elegans

Eric has spoken publicly many times about Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a Portal into biology. This otherwise unremarkable nematode is an especially significant organism because of the extensive research scientists have undertaken to understand its biology as completely as possible. This is in large part due to the interest and contributions of biologist and Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner, beginning in the 1960s.

C. elegans was the first multicellular organism to have its entire genome sequenced, and is so far the only organism whose entire neurological network is known. Eric repeatedly mentions C. elegans to raise public awareness of the under-appreciated biological resources available to us through the study of this organism.

The worm and model organism, C. elegans, deserves your attention, no matter who you are, or what you do for a living.

-Eric Weinstein in his essay, The Importance of Taste

So it's this worm that was chosen by this guy, Sydney Brenner, who just died. And it's a shame because he would have been a great podcast guest, just, like, one of the most brilliant biologists that we didn't focus on. And he said, "You know what, we're missing a species that we can completely describe. Soup to Nuts. Here's the one that's about the simplest thing with a brain. It's only got 1000 cells. And 300 of those cells make up a very primitive neural system. And we're going to track where every goddamn cell—", like, bring up—Jamie, if I could ask you, sir, to bring up the cell lineage diagram for C. elegans. This will be the first of two images. Well, that is a complete map of how one fertilized egg becomes a tiny microscopic worm for every possible division.

Right now, here's the thing. Everyone in biology knows how cool this thing is. And very few people, not enough people outside of biology, know that we have completely mapped how one cell—like if you're 30 trillion cells around. It's too big to write a diagram. It's only possible because they're only 1000 cells. And this thing has locomotion. It has sexual reproduction. You know, it eats. So, you're looking at the architectural plans for an actual organism.

-Eric Weinstein on JRE #1320 @ 1 hr 29 min

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

1st: Fly over C.Elegans (!!) http://bit.ly/ElegFO
2nd: Think about 1000 cell lineage.
3rd: Buy mug http://bit.ly/WormMG
4th: Merry Xmas!

11:38 PM · Dec 23, 2009

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

Tweet explanation request for @yaserhelmy. Everyone needs to know C Elegans, not just biologists. About 1000 cells / 300 neurons.

11:52 PM · Dec 23, 2009

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

The worm leaves no room for a benevolent diety working in mysterious ways. This nematode is complex life, mapped & completely open source.

11:57 PM · Dec 23, 2009

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

For any G-d talking to us, this may be the most reliable thing ever said or sent to man. An open source invitation to knowing. A Bible.

12:07 AM · Dec 24, 2009

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

We not only know the cell lineages but the adjacency matrix of the worm's brain. We can't possibly "teach a controversy" that we don't have.

12:12 AM · Dec 24, 2009

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

So be gracious to all G-d's children. Gift Xmas worm mugs. Marvel at selection, thank Sydney Brenner & be of good cheer. It's a nontroversy.

12:40 AM · Dec 24, 2009

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

So long and thanks for all the worms.

RIP to the towering figure of Sydney Brenner. If you don’t believe in the great man theory of science it’s no biggfie. But for the rest of us, he was VAL in the RNA tie club. One of the only living scientists I was determined to meet.

Damn.

1:14 AM · Apr 6, 2019

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

@DavidDeutschOxf @rickygervais Fascinating point. Just to riff... if you add a potential term I’m not sure Ricky is wrong. In essence, we aren’t taking into account the potential for a sudden gain of ability in chimps. If our minds are distant while our brains are proximate, a potential term solves this, no?

4:51 PM · Feb 26, 2021

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

@DavidDeutschOxf @rickygervais Exactly. But even small changes in primary sequences can have *enormous* changes in realized physiology, morphology and behavior (e.g. homeotic mutations, telomeres, rhodopsin) so we don’t know how such a term would impact the meaningful inter-species distance.

5:23 PM · Feb 26, 2021

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

@DavidDeutschOxf @rickygervais Further, while our cell counts may be in the 10s of trillions, our number of distinct adult cell types is on the same order of magnitude as C Elegans. Suggesting scale and layout as the main issues within the “Lego” of our cellular building blocks. I think @rickygervais is right.

5:26 PM · Feb 26, 2021

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

@DavidDeutschOxf @rickygervais And your point about evolutionary time vs time scales of human civilization is spot on. But I am suggesting that if we tried to accelerate natural selection with chimps as we did canines, we might find the potential term terrifying to our sense of ourselves.

Love your points.

5:28 PM · Feb 26, 2021

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

Wow. Challenge accepted:

Detection of gravity waves.
Kervaire invariant 1 problem.
Topological Quantum FieldTheory.
Genome Sequencing
Adjacency matrix of drosophila.
Neutrino telescopes
Cell lineage diagram of c elegans
Topological modular forms
Geometric Langlands progress

Etc, etc.

I could go on and on and on. We kick ass.

Our scientists are amazing.

I don’t mean to be harsh, but I am guessing you don’t go to a lot of seminars at research universities. Let’s change that! Tell us which areas interest you and your nearest research university. I’ll help.

They are free. Held in the afternoons. Open to anyone. Just go and listen. It’s amazing what we have accomplished.

This MAGA bashing of all government functioning is beneath MAGA. This leads to people thinking MAGA is simplistic. I don’t think that. Let’s find out if I am wrong.

American science is an ENORMOUS part of what made the U.S. safe, strong and rich. Even after we abandoned our agreement with our own scientists.

You want to kill the golden goose: try it at your own peril. Good luck to you.

Take my advice: go to seminars instead. You will be blown away. Even in this wretched state of scientific abandonment and neglect.

Hope that helps.

And next time: spare the insult. 🙏

2:14 PM · Feb 17, 2025

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

@benarsoncarson Feed it to an AI

2:33 PM · Feb 17, 2025

Eric Weinstein

@ericweinstein

Ok. Here is that ChatGPT Pro model said when it audited my list. Hope this helps:

Here’s a single “long tweet” explainer:

“Ever wonder what these big science feats mean? Quick rundown:

• Gravity Waves: Directly ‘heard’ ripples in spacetime (LIGO), confirming Einstein’s theory.
• Kervaire Invariant 1: A deep puzzle in higher-dimensional topology, solved after decades.
• Topological Quantum Field Theory: Uses math of shapes to describe quantum phenomena and particle interactions.
• Genome Sequencing: Reading an organism’s entire DNA, from humans to crops—key for medicine & biotech.
• Fruit Fly ‘Adjacency Matrix’: A neural connectome map of Drosophila’s brain cells, revealing how neurons link up.
• Neutrino Telescopes: Huge detectors for elusive cosmic particles, unlocking new views of supernovas & the universe’s earliest moments.
• C. elegans Cell Lineage: Tracing every cell from embryo to adult in a tiny worm—vital for developmental biology.
• Topological Modular Forms: Abstract math bridging geometry and number theory, hinting at deep universal structures.
• Geometric Langlands: A unifying theory in advanced math linking algebra, geometry, and representations, with implications across physics.

All powered by public funding! They might sound esoteric, but each expands our understanding of life, the universe & everything—and often sparks real-world innovations down the road.”

2:52 PM · Feb 17, 2025

Eric on Lex Fridman's Podcast mentioning C. elegans in the context of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)

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Related Pages

• Eric’s Nightmare Species
• Sydney Brenner
• Artificial Outelligence
• Twin Nuclei Problem