Part 4/13:
One of Levin’s remarkable insights involves recognizing that the genetic code provides not just a single deterministic outcome but a vast, latent “option space”—a repertoire of morphological and functional possibilities that cells could potentially realize. For example, oak leaves are typically flat and green, yet under certain circumstances such as parasitism, they can morph into radically different structures like galls—large, spiky, red objects. These alternative outcomes are not dictated solely by the genes but are accessible within the cells’ latent possibilities, activated by signals that change perceptions and cellular memories.