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How 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 pathwa
by feanaro 6y ago
How 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.