What makes something an "individual" in biology? It's easy to think of an organism or a single cell as an individual, we can even consider a gene as an individual. What about a virus? A bacterial colony? A symbiotic system? An ecosystem? Christian and Akshata discuss how a recent study uses information theory and mathematics to define individuality in a more fundamental way, and the problems and implications of a new definition like this. For example, are hurricanes and political movements individuals? Join us as we expand our brains to think about a new, more dynamic way of answering the question, "What is an Individual?"
Sources
Follow The Expanding Brain Podcast on twitter: https://twitter.com/brain_expanding
Akshata's Twitter is https://twitter.com/artbyakshata
Christian's is https://twitter.com/blkWittgenstein
Shownotes can be found at: https://workbyakshata.wordpress.com/2021/10/01/5-how-do-we-define-an-individual-show-notes/