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This article reminds me of all the things people talk about when they try and approach cell signaling from a systems approach. Modeling biological systems as an
by epmaybe 9y ago
This article reminds me of all the things people talk about when they try and approach cell signaling from a systems approach. Modeling biological systems as an actual system probably does make sense in the long run. The problem is that it's far, far harder to study and generate that model.
- randcraw 9y agoAnd it's extremely hard to sell biologists on the idea that your model just happens to capture sufficient signal to be useful or to accomplish more than a simple regression line on one or two known-to-be-causal factors. But I do think the importance of context has become inescapable and any therapeutic approach that overlooks it will fail to deliver needed efficacy. Personally, I believe the day of telling the patient, "Sorry, but since none of the existing drugs will work for you, we can't help further" -- that era of medicine is past. Using deep drills through the maze of each patient's relevant / causal / contextual data, it's nigh time for us to dig deeper and do better.