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Binding Specificity and Causal Selection in Drug Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Oliver M. Lean
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Abstract

Binding specificity is a centrally important concept in molecular biology, yet it has received little philosophical attention. Here I aim to remedy this by analyzing binding specificity as a causal property. I focus on the concept’s role in drug design, where it is highly prized and hence directly studied. From a causal perspective, understanding why binding specificity is a valuable property of drugs contributes to an understanding of causal selection—of how and why scientists distinguish between causes, not just causes from noncauses. In particular, the specificity of drugs is precisely what underwrites their value as experimental interventions on biological processes.

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Articles
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 87 , Issue 1 , January 2020 , pp. 70 - 90
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

This article was vastly improved thanks to feedback from Lindley Darden, Catherine Kendig, Lauren Ross, Ken Waters, James Woodward, two anonymous referees, and audiences at the 2018 SPSP conference in Ghent and the 2018 PSA in Seattle. This work was completed with the support of the John Templeton Foundation, under the research grant From Biological Practice to Scientific Metaphysics.

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