Functional biology in its natural context: A search for emergent simplicity
Joy Bergelson, Martin Kreitman, Dmitri A. Petrov, Álvaro Sánchez, Mikhail Tikhonov
Abstract
The immeasurable complexity at every level of biological organization creates a daunting task for understanding biological function. Here, we highlight the risks of stripping it away at the outset and discuss a possible path toward arriving at emergent simplicity of understanding while still embracing the ever-changing complexity of biotic interactions that we see in nature.
Topics & Concepts
SimplicityContext (archaeology)Function (biology)Natural (archaeology)Task (project management)Computer scienceBiologyData scienceCognitive scienceEvolutionary biologyPsychologyEpistemologyEngineeringPhilosophySystems engineeringPaleontologyBioinformatics and Genomic NetworksGene Regulatory Network AnalysisBiomedical Text Mining and Ontologies