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You'll find these posters hanging at just about every research lab in the world -- they're not so much a useful tool (e.g. like the giant periodic table in ever
by timr 6y ago
You'll find these posters hanging at just about every research lab in the world -- they're not so much a useful tool (e.g. like the giant periodic table in every chemistry classroom), but they're really impressive, and good advertising for Roche.
I spent a lot of time staring at these in grad school (usually while waiting for other things to happen).
- feanaro 6y agoHow are they not a useful tool, though? I'd imagine that being able to glance at an overview diagram while you're learning and thinking about biochemical pathways is a boon. It seems as useful as any reference tool is. At least it helps me think about it.
- COGlory 6y agoBecause they're usually hanging somewhere you can't use them (like on a freezer). Or they're just too complicated (overwhelming amount of noise), and without enough detail (lacking regulation aspects that are extremely important if you're actually doing anything with metabolism/omics). If you need to know something about a pathway, opening a text book is easier and a much more complete source. The posters pretty much just artwork/an attempt to impress non-biochemists.
- timr 6y agoDefinitely the latter, IMO. Posters like this don't have enough detail to matter if you're actually interested in the system. The volume of information is cool and fun to look at, but it's not really that useful, other than as a 10,000-foot reference. And the number of times you need a 10,000-foot reference is low enough that a big poster isn't really that helpful. Giant periodic tables are actually a lot more useful, now that I think about it.