On MicroRNA and the Need for Exploratory Experimentation in Post-Genomic Molecular Biology
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 29 (3):285 - 311 (2007)
Abstract
This paper is devoted to an examination of the discovery, characterization, and analysis of the functions of microRNAs, which also serves as a vehicle for demonstrating the importance of exploratory experimentation in current (post-genomic) molecular biology. The material on microRNAs is important in its own right: it provides important insight into the extreme complexity of regulatory networks involving components made of DNA, RNA, and protein. These networks play a central role in regulating development of multicellular organisms and illustrate the importance of epigenetic as well as genetic systems in evolution and development. The examination of these matters yields principled arguments for the historicity of the functions of key biological molecules and for the indispensability of exploratory experimentation in contemporary molecular biology as well as some insight into the complex interplay between exploratory experimentation and hypothesis-driven science. This latter result is not only important for philosophy of science, but also of practical importance for the evaluation of grant proposals, although the elaboration of this latter claim must be left for another occasionReprint years
2008
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Citations of this work
A case study in experimental exploration: exploratory data selection at the Large Hadron Collider.Koray Karaca - 2017 - Synthese 194 (2):333-354.
Rethinking the role of theory in exploratory experimentation.David Colaço - 2018 - Biology and Philosophy 33 (5-6):38.
The Strong and Weak Senses of Theory-Ladenness of Experimentation: Theory-Driven versus Exploratory Experiments in the History of High-Energy Particle Physics.Koray Karaca - 2013 - Science in Context 26 (1):93-136.
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Small RNA research and the scientific repertoire: a tale about biochemistry and genetics, crops and worms, development and disease.Sophie Juliane Veigl - 2021 - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43 (1):1-25.
References found in this work
Entering new fields: Exploratory uses of experimentation.Friedrich Steinle - 1997 - Philosophy of Science 64 (4):74.
Experiments in history and philosophy of science.Friedrich Steinle - 2002 - Perspectives on Science 10 (4):408-432.
What was classical genetics?C. Kenneth Waters - 2004 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 35 (4):783-809.
Varieties of Exploratory Experimentation in Nanotoxicology.Kevin Elliott - 2007 - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 29 (3):313 - 336.