Big data biology-bioinformatics, computational biology, systems biology (including 'omics'), and synthetic biology-raises a number of issues for the philosophy of science. This article deals with several such: Is data-intensive biology a new kind of science, presumably post-reductionistic? To what extent is big data biology data-driven? Can data 'speak for themselves?' I discuss these issues by way of a reflection on Carl Woese's worry that "a society that permits biology to become an engineering discipline, that allows that science to slip into the role of changing the living world without trying to understand it, is a danger to itself." And I argue that scientific perspectivism, a philosophical stance represented prominently by Giere, Van Fraassen, and Wimsatt, according to which science cannot as a matter of principle transcend our human perspective, provides the best resources currently at our disposal to tackle many of the philosophical issues implied in the modeling of complex, multilevel/multiscale phenomena.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2011.10.007 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
The commercial roots of the genomic commons.
Soc Stud Sci
January 2025
Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Accounts of the origins of the genomic commons typically focus on the development of public repositories and data-sharing agreements. This article tells a different story. During the 1990s in the United States, efforts of private companies to prevent the patenting of certain kinds of DNA sequences were essentially a conservative response to shifts in the sociotechnical constitution of the pharmaceutical innovation system, and to the operation of intellectual property as one of the key knowledge control regimes that regulate that system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLong-term use of low-dose aspirin for cancer prevention: A 20-year longitudinal cohort study of 1,506,525 Hong Kong residents.
Int J Cancer
January 2025
Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR.
Long-term use of low-dose aspirin has been demonstrated to reduce cancer risk, but the duration of necessary medication use remains uncertain. This study aimed to investigate the long-term chemoprotective effect of aspirin among the Chinese population. This population-based study included all aspirin users between 2000 and 2019.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAre psychological attitudes towards vaccination an expression of personality? A cross-sectional study on COVID-19 vaccination in France.
BMC Public Health
January 2025
Emerging Diseases Epidemiology Unit, Institut Pasteur, 25-28 Rue du Docteur Roux, Bâtiment Laveran, Paris, 75015, France.
Background: The capacity of the 7C model's psychological antecedents, which include confidence in vaccines, complacency, convenience, calculation, collective responsibility, confidence in the wider system, and social conformism, to explain variance in COVID-19 vaccine intentions and behaviours has been documented. However, it remains unclear whether the attitudes represented by the 7C psychological antecedents are specific to vaccination or if they are, in fact, an expression of underlying personality traits.
Methods: From February to June 2022, French adults completed self-administered questionnaires assessing COVID-19 vaccination history, the 7C antecedents, and personality traits ("ComCor" and "Cognitiv" studies).
Time delay effects on collective resonant behaviors in two coupled fractional oscillators with mass fluctuations.
Sci Rep
January 2025
College of Mathematics and Statistics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, China.
In this study, we introduce a coupled fractional system consisting of two fluctuating-mass oscillators with time delay and investigate their collective resonant behaviors. First, we achieve complete synchronization between the average behaviors of these oscillators. We then derive the exact analytical expression for the output amplitude gain, and based on this, we observe generalized stochastic resonance (GSR) in the system.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA unified framework for cell-type-specific eQTL prioritization by integrating bulk and scRNA-seq data.
Am J Hum Genet
January 2025
Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data, Shenzhen 518172, China. Electronic address:
Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified numerous genetic variants associated with complex traits, yet the biological interpretation remains challenging, especially for variants in non-coding regions. Expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) studies have linked these variations to gene expression, aiding in identifying genes involved in disease mechanisms. Traditional eQTL analyses using bulk RNA sequencing (bulk RNA-seq) provide tissue-level insights but suffer from signal loss and distortion due to unaddressed cellular heterogeneity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!