A critical aspect of evolution is the layer of developmental physiology that operates between
the genotype and the anatomical phenotype. While much work has addressed the evolution …

The remarkable anatomical homeostasis exhibited by complex living organisms suggests
that they are inherently reprogrammable information-processing systems that offer …

Synthetic biology and bioengineering provide the opportunity to create novel embodied
cognitive systems (otherwise known as minds) in a very wide variety of chimeric …

All epistemic agents physically consist of parts that must somehow comprise an integrated
cognitive self. Biological individuals consist of subunits (organs, cells, and molecular …

Bioengineering can address many important needs, from transformative biomedicine to
environmental remediation. In addition to practical applications, the construction of new …

It is well known that electrical signals are deeply associated with living entities. Much of our
understanding of excitable tissues is derived from studies of specialized cells of neurons or …

Each of us made the remarkable journey from mere matter to mind: starting life as a
quiescent oocyte (“just chemistry and physics”), and slowly, gradually, becoming an adult …

“Neural coding” is a popular metaphor in neuroscience, where objective properties of the
world are communicated to the brain in the form of spikes. Here I argue that this metaphor is …

One of the most useful metaphors for driving scientific and engineering progress has been
that of the “machine”. Much controversy exists about the applicability of this concept in the …

Central to the study of cognition is being able to specify the Subject that is making decisions
and owning memories and preferences. However, all real cognitive agents are made of …