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On the epistemological crisis in genomics
1Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, Computational Biology Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, USA.
Current Genomics
|May 15, 2009
Summary
Genomic science faces an epistemological crisis regarding the nature of scientific knowledge. This paper explores if genomics requires new perspectives or fits within existing experimental-mathematical frameworks to define knowledge.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Systems Biology
- Philosophy of Science
Background:
- Genomic science and systems biology are experiencing an epistemological crisis.
- The core issue is defining what constitutes scientific knowledge within these fields.
- This crisis prompts questions about whether new epistemological perspectives are needed or if existing frameworks suffice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To discuss the experimental method's role in scientific epistemology.
- To examine how an experimental-mathematical duality shapes scientific knowledge.
- To situate genomics within this established epistemological framework and analyze its current standing.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual analysis of the experimental method and its historical development.
- Examination of the relationship between experimental and mathematical approaches in science.
- Application of this epistemological framework to the field of genomics.
Main Results:
- The traditional experimental method naturally leads to an epistemology based on an experimental-mathematical duality.
- Genomics can be understood within this existing epistemological structure.
- The nature of the crisis in genomics is tied to how meaning and the constitution of scientific knowledge are interpreted.
Conclusions:
- The epistemological crisis in genomics may be resolved by interpreting new developments within the established experimental-mathematical framework.
- Understanding the constitution of scientific knowledge and meaning is crucial for addressing the crisis.
- Genomics' place in scientific knowledge is illuminated by its grounding in the experimental-mathematical duality.
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