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Levin believes this information is delivered to the cells via bioelectric signaling, which governs the maintenance of form in other organisms such as fish, frogs and humans.

Chemical biologist Adam Cohen of Harvard and his co-workers, meanwhile, have made an “engineered bioelectric tissue” that can generate electrical oscillations.

Levin thinks bioelectric signaling between cells creates particularly powerful information-processing capabilities that can influence morphology.

When he and his colleagues manipulated pieces of planarians to alter their bioelectric state, the regenerating cells produced unexpected anatomies—for example, worms with a head at each end.

In this bioelectric age, Adee argues, “we are electrical machines whose full dimensions” are ripe for discovery.