The Power of Bioelectricity in Development
Michael Levin’s work focuses on the importance of bioelectric networks in development and regeneration. In particular, Levin highlights the role of direct currents carried by ion channels in the body’s cellular communication. He emphasizes that these endogenous, low-level electrical signals form an essential part of how cells coordinate growth, form structures, and heal.
His experiments with planaria—especially the surprising double-headed outcomes when environmental conditions were changed—speak powerfully to the notion that seemingly small electrical or environmental shifts can trigger large-scale morphological differences.
Where Our Views Diverge: External EMFs
Where I diverge from Levin is not on the foundational importance of bioelectric signals, but on how external electromagnetic fields (EMFs) might interact with these sensitive systems. While Levin has sometimes downplayed the health or safety risks of EMFs, I suggest that these artificially generated alternating currents are largely foreign to our evolutionary history.
Life developed in environments that did not have constant exposures to strong alternating current fields in the kilohertz, megahertz, and gigahertz ranges. In fact, early life largely evolved underwater, shielded from high-intensity or high-frequency EMFs, and later organisms remained adapted to a relatively narrow band of natural electromagnetic phenomena.
Frequencies We’ve Evolved With vs. Those We Haven’t
A key distinction is that while we did evolve with certain higher-frequency electromagnetic waves—particularly in the terahertz range and the visible light spectrum—we did not evolve with continuous exposures to lower-frequency man-made signals, such as:
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Radio frequencies
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Microwave bands
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Lower gigahertz ranges
These are, from an evolutionary standpoint, novel and non-native to the Earth’s natural EMF environment.
They are not part of the Earth’s intrinsic background, unlike phenomena such as the Schumann Resonance, which is intimately tied to the planet’s own rhythms.
Because of this, biological processes that rely on ultra-low-voltage direct-current signals may be vulnerable to interference from these foreign oscillations, potentially undermining the precision of our bioelectric architecture.
Understanding the Schumann Resonance
The Schumann Resonance, centered around 7.83 Hz, is a natural atmospheric oscillation that became possible only after the Great Oxygenation Event and the formation of the ozone layer. It represents the Earth’s natural “heartbeat.”
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Some aquatic species, like catfish, use extremely low frequencies to navigate murky waters.
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Human alpha brainwaves (8–12 Hz) mirror this same frequency range.
This correlation likely isn’t coincidence. It suggests that our calm and relaxed brain state evolved in resonance with Earth’s own electromagnetic calm.
And just as animals may respond to disruptions in the Schumann pattern with heightened awareness, early humans may have relied on these same disturbances as a form of precognitive environmental alert, pushing them into more alert, survival-oriented brain states.
Extending Levin’s Lens to the EMF Landscape
Bringing this back to Levin’s work: if changes in external environments—such as microgravity—can result in major bioelectrical shifts (like the double-headed planaria), then surely electromagnetic variations could also exert strong influences on these networks.
It would be beneficial for Levin to broaden his lens to include how EMF exposures—particularly non-native, man-made fields—could be disrupting the very ion-channel-based systems he studies.
Because bioelectric signals are subtle and finely tuned, they may also be fragile, especially when faced with chronic interference from alternating fields that never existed in the ancestral environments in which these systems evolved.
In Conclusion: Supporting and Expanding the Work
To this regard, it’s important to express strong support for Michael Levin’s current research path and the direction of his work. Even though we’d like to see his scope expanded to include a deeper consideration of environmental and electromagnetic influences, his contributions are absolutely essential.
That’s exactly why we say:
We need a thousand more Michael Levins.
Scientists willing to explore the frontiers of biology with open minds and rigorous inquiry—each observing the same mountain of bioelectricity from a different face.
