Philosophy of Science 76 (5):838-850 (2009)
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Abstract |
Comparative genomicists seem to be convinced that the unit of measurement employed in their studies is a gene that drives the function of cells and ultimately organisms. As a result, they have come to some substantive conclusions about how similar humans are to other organisms based on the percentage of genetic makeup they share. I argue that the actual unit of measurement employed in the studies corresponds to a structural rather than a functional gene concept, thus rendering many of the implications drawn from comparative genomic studies largely unwarranted, if not completely mistaken. †To contact the author, please write to: Department of Philosophy, University of Utah, 215 South Central Campus Drive, Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building, 4th Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84112; e‐mail: [email protected]
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Keywords | Human Genome DNA Comparative Genomics Reduction Similarity Gene |
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DOI | 10.1086/605813 |
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References found in this work BETA
The Century of the Gene.Evelyn Fox Keller - 2001 - Journal of the History of Biology 34 (3):613-615.
With ‘Genes’ Like That, Who Needs an Environment? Postgenomics’s Argument for the ‘Ontogeny of Information’.Karola Stotz - 2006 - Philosophy of Science 73 (5):905-917.
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Citations of this work BETA
Sequence Matters: Genomic Research and the Gene Concept.Laura Perini - 2011 - Philosophy of Science 78 (5):752-762.
Microbiopolitics: Security Mechanisms, the Hela Cell, and The Human Strain.Sean Erwin - 2014 - Humanities and Technology Review 33.
Genetics and Philosophy: An Introduction.Monika Piotrowska - 2014 - International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 28 (2):223-226.
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