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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

BioMEMS and Cellular Biology: Perspectives and Applications
Published on: October 1, 2007
Implications of 'postmodern biology' for pathology: the Cell Doctrine
1Department of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, NY 10003, USA. ntheise@chpnet.org
Abstract:
Recent insights regarding stem cells, repression and de-repression of gene expression, and the application of Complexity Theory to cell and molecular biology require a re-evaluation of many long-held dogmas regarding the nature of the human body in health and disease. Greater than expected cell plasticity, trafficking of cells between organs, 'cellular uncertainty', stochasticity of cell origins and fates, and a reconsideration of Cell Doctrine itself all logically follow from these observations and conceptual approaches. In this paper, these themes will be considered and some implications for the investigative pathologist will be explored.
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