Transcript:

So, if you look at the DNA and all the information that it encodes, there is nothing in the DNA that tells the body how to orient itself. There is no spatial information encoded in the DNA that tells the body to make the eyes facing forward, the nose in front of the face, not at the back, the ears on the side, the feet are facing forward; there is no such spatial information in the DNA.

So then, how does the body know which directions to form the eyes? The cells have the information to make eyes, to make an ear, to make the feet, etc. But how do you know how to point it?

This is very interesting. It turns out that it's all driven by electricity. Electrical impulses when the fetus is in the womb and before all the parts are forming, there is a burst of electricity, and there's a field that sets up, and that orients everything, and it's amazing.

There was a fascinating NPR article; here's the link to it, that you can go and read. It's a brilliant piece, and it's just amazing how electricity and electrical fields are at the heart of how a body orients its parts. It's fascinating.