Abstract
Because the basic unit of biology is the cell, biological knowledge is rooted in the epistemology of the cell, and because life is the salient characteristic of the cell, its epistemology must be centered on its livingness, not its constituent components. The organization and regulation of these components in the pursuit of life constitute the fundamental nature of the cell. Thus, regulation sits at the heart of biological knowledge of the cell and the extraordinary complexity of this regulation conditions the kind of knowledge that can be obtained, in particular, the representation and intelligibility of that knowledge. This paper is essentially split into two parts. The first part discusses the inadequacy of everyday intelligibility and intuition in science and the consequent need for scientific theories to be expressed mathematically without appeal to commonsense categories of understanding, such as causality. Having set the backdrop, the second part addresses biological knowledge. It briefly reviews modern scientific epistemology from a general perspective and then turns to the epistemology of the cell. In analogy with a multi-faceted factory, the cell utilizes a highly parallel distributed control system to maintain its organization and regulate its dynamical operation in the face of both internal and external changes. Hence, scientific knowledge is constituted by the mathematics of stochastic dynamical systems, which model the overall relational structure of the cell and how these structures evolve over time, stochasticity being a consequence of the need to ignore a large number of factors while modeling relatively few in an extremely complex environment.
Keywords: Biology, causality, computational biology, epistemology, genomics, systems biology
Current Genomics
Title: Causality, Randomness, Intelligibility, and the Epistemology of the Cell
Volume: 11 Issue: 4
Author(s): Edward R. Dougherty and Michael L. Bittner
Affiliation:
Keywords: Biology, causality, computational biology, epistemology, genomics, systems biology
Abstract: Because the basic unit of biology is the cell, biological knowledge is rooted in the epistemology of the cell, and because life is the salient characteristic of the cell, its epistemology must be centered on its livingness, not its constituent components. The organization and regulation of these components in the pursuit of life constitute the fundamental nature of the cell. Thus, regulation sits at the heart of biological knowledge of the cell and the extraordinary complexity of this regulation conditions the kind of knowledge that can be obtained, in particular, the representation and intelligibility of that knowledge. This paper is essentially split into two parts. The first part discusses the inadequacy of everyday intelligibility and intuition in science and the consequent need for scientific theories to be expressed mathematically without appeal to commonsense categories of understanding, such as causality. Having set the backdrop, the second part addresses biological knowledge. It briefly reviews modern scientific epistemology from a general perspective and then turns to the epistemology of the cell. In analogy with a multi-faceted factory, the cell utilizes a highly parallel distributed control system to maintain its organization and regulate its dynamical operation in the face of both internal and external changes. Hence, scientific knowledge is constituted by the mathematics of stochastic dynamical systems, which model the overall relational structure of the cell and how these structures evolve over time, stochasticity being a consequence of the need to ignore a large number of factors while modeling relatively few in an extremely complex environment.
Export Options
About this article
Cite this article as:
R. Dougherty Edward and L. Bittner Michael, Causality, Randomness, Intelligibility, and the Epistemology of the Cell, Current Genomics 2010; 11 (4) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138920210791233072
DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138920210791233072 |
Print ISSN 1389-2029 |
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher |
Online ISSN 1875-5488 |
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Current Genomics in Cardiovascular Research
Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death in the world, in recent years we have had important advances in the interaction between cardiovascular disease and genomics. In this Research Topic, we intend for researchers to present their results with a focus on basic, translational and clinical investigations associated with ...read more
Deep learning in Single Cell Analysis
The field of biology is undergoing a revolution in our ability to study individual cells at the molecular level, and to integrate data from multiple sources and modalities. This has been made possible by advances in technologies for single-cell sequencing, multi-omics profiling, spatial transcriptomics, and high-throughput imaging, as well as ...read more
New insights on Pediatric Tumors and Associated Cancer Predisposition Syndromes
Because of the broad spectrum of children cancer susceptibility, the diagnosis of cancer risk syndromes in children is rarely used in direct cancer treatment. The field of pediatric cancer genetics and genomics will only continue to expand as a result of increasing use of genetic testing tools. It's possible that ...read more

- Author Guidelines
- Bentham Author Support Services (BASS)
- Graphical Abstracts
- Fabricating and Stating False Information
- Research Misconduct
- Post Publication Discussions and Corrections
- Publishing Ethics and Rectitude
- Increase Visibility of Your Article
- Archiving Policies
- Peer Review Workflow
- Order Your Article Before Print
- Promote Your Article
- Manuscript Transfer Facility
- Editorial Policies
- Allegations from Whistleblowers
- Announcements
Related Articles
-
The Role of Retinoids in the Adult Nervous System and their Therapeutic Potential
Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry Composition and Potential Health Benefits of Pomegranate: A Review
Current Pharmaceutical Design Personalized Medicine, Bioethics and Social Responsibilities: Re-thinking the Pharmaceutical Industry to Remedy Inequities in Patient Care and International Health
Current Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine Regulation of Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Signaling by Plant Flavonoids
Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry The Role of Xanthine Oxidase Inhibitors in Patients with History of Stroke: A Systematic Review
Current Vascular Pharmacology MCI Patients Declining and Not-Declining at Mid-Term Follow-Up: FDG-PET Findings
Current Alzheimer Research Improving Health Care for Children with Chronic Conditions: Toward a “Wholistic” Approach
Current Pediatric Reviews Quantitative Proteomics Profiling of RKO and HT29 Cell Lines by iTRAQ Coupled LC-MS/MS
Current Proteomics Marine Peptides for Preventing Metabolic Syndrome
Current Protein & Peptide Science Single Nucleotide Polymorphism and Serum Levels of VEGFR2 are Associated With Age Related Macular Degeneration
Current Neurovascular Research Endocrine Disruptor Agent Nonyl Phenol Exerts An Estrogen-like Transcriptional Activity on Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer Cells
Current Medicinal Chemistry Controversies in Anticoagulant Therapy in Vitreo-Retinal Surgery
Current Pharmaceutical Design Apis mellifera Proteomics: Where Will the Future Bee?
Current Proteomics Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Abstinent MDMA Users: A Review
Current Drug Abuse Reviews Phosphonic Esters and their Application of Protease Control
Current Pharmaceutical Design Flavonoids in Neurodegeneration: Limitations and Strategies to Cross CNS Barriers
Current Medicinal Chemistry Near Infrared Fluorescence Imaging to Determine Injection Success in Small Animals
Current Molecular Imaging (Discontinued) Plant Derived Inhibitor Sulforaphane in Combinatorial Therapy Against Therapeutically Challenging Pancreatic Cancer
Anti-Cancer Agents in Medicinal Chemistry Could Additional Inhibitors of the Renin -Angiotensin System be Clinically Useful?
Current Hypertension Reviews Probing the Phosphopeptide Specificities of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases, SH2 and PTB Domains with Combinatorial Library Methods
Current Protein & Peptide Science