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The Use of Chemostats in Microbial Systems Biology

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Sergio Balari¹, Guillermo Lorenzo²

¹Departament de Filologia Catalana and Centre de Lingüística Teòrica, Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres, Edifici B, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. Sergi.Balari@uab.cat.

History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences

|February 27, 2019

Summary

Functional and dispositional properties are not identical to their physical base. Traditional realization frameworks fail to capture the dynamic perspective needed for modern biology

Keywords:

Cognition Disposition Eco-evo-devo biology Functions Organic activity Realization

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Area of Science:

Philosophy of Science
Developmental Biology
Metaphysics

Background:

Functional and dispositional properties are commonly assumed to depend asymmetrically on their physical base.
Realization is often conceptualized as a non-causal, constitutive relation under the non-identity assumption.

Purpose of the Study:

To examine the 'flat view' and 'dimensioned view' of realization.
To analyze the explanatory relevance of these views using examples from life sciences, particularly developmental phenomena.

Main Methods:

Conceptual analysis of realization frameworks.
Case studies from developmental biology.

Main Results:

Traditional realization frameworks may not adequately capture the dynamic nature of biological properties.
Emphasis on variability, evolvability, modularity, robustness, and developmental bias in modern biology necessitates a more dynamic perspective.

Conclusions:

Existing realization frameworks are insufficient for understanding complex biological phenomena.
A dynamic perspective is required to account for properties like evolvability and developmental constraint in biology.