Lex Fridman Podcast: #153 – Dmitry Korkin: Evolution of Proteins, Viruses, Life, and AI

Lex Fridman Lex Fridman 1/11/21 - Episode Page

Dmitry Korkin is a professor of bioinformatics and computational biology at WPI. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:

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EPISODE LINKS:

Dmitry’s Website: http://korkinlab.org/

Dmitry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/dmkorkin

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OUTLINE:

Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.

(00:00) – Introduction

(07:21) – Proteins and the building blocks of life

(14:23) – Spike protein

(21:11) – Coronavirus biological structure explained

(26:09) – Virus mutations

(32:39) – Evolution of proteins

(42:25) – Self-replicating computer programs

(50:02) – Origin of life

(57:34) – Extraterrestrial life in our solar system

(59:31) – Joshua Lederberg

(1:05:30) – Dendral

(1:08:24) – Why did expert systems fail?

(1:10:35) – AlphaFold 2

(1:32:13) – Will AI revolutionize art and music?

(1:39:12) – Multi-protein folding

(1:43:39) – Will AlphaFold 2 result in a Nobel Prize?

(1:46:10) – Will AI be used to engineer deadly viruses?

(2:01:17) – Book recommendations

(2:11:00) – Family

(2:13:38) – A poem in Russian