Why Genes are the Center of Molecular Biologists' Attention

为什么基因是分子生物学家关注的中心

• 批准号: 0323591
• 负责人: C. Kenneth Waters
• 金额: $ 10.32万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Fixed Amount Award
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-09-01 至 2005-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0323591&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Why; Genes; Center; Molecular; Biologists

Genes are at the center of a broad range of biological research. But why? The goal of this project is to answer this question and in doing so (1) improve understanding of the power and limitations of gene-centered research and (2) enhance understanding of the nature of scientific knowledge. There are two opposing views about why genes are at the center of attention. Champions contend that genes (or genomes) are the fundamental causal agents that provide the instructions for development and for all subsequent functioning that goes on within the organism. Critics counter that there are no fundamental causal agents within the organism. Attention is focused on genes, they claim, because biologists have swayed by genetic determinism.The proposal is a philosophical investigation of molecular biology and genomics to develop the idea that genes are at the center of attention because they provide an entry point for investigating a broad range of biological processes, not necessarily because genes cause or explain these processes. Advancing this account will entail developing two epistemic themes. The first is that bodies of scientific knowledge, such as molecular biology, are often organized as approaches for investigation rather than theories for generating representations. The second is that scientific approaches, such as the gene-centered approach, yield inherently partial descriptions that represent some aspects of complicated phenomena at the cost of obscuring other aspects. The result will be to construct an account of what genes do in terms of causality, drawing upon abstract philosophical models of causality and causal explanations. It will clarify why genes can be utilized as a tool for investigating a broad variety of processes. It will also delineate limitations of gene-based explanations. These limitations, however, will not necessarily impugn the science since the success of gene-based research rests on its investigative utility regardless of whether the explanations ultimately yielded from this research will be directly based on the impact of genes.The intellectual merit of this research is that it will advance the philosophical understanding of biological knowledge. The research will provide a new explanation of why so much of today's scientific research of what goes on within organisms is gene-centered. This answer will be philosophically informative and scientifically defensible. The research will also provide strong motivation for two important epistemological ideas concerning the nature of scientific knowledge.The results of this research should provide the public with a better basis for assessing the merits of gene-centered research and understanding that despite the successes of gene-centered science, the causal role of genes is often exaggerated by those who publicly promote gene-based research. The two epistemological views concerning the structure of scientific knowledge and its partiality should also make a broad impact because they suggest that the nature of science is often misrepresented in popular accounts of scientific knowledge and in science education. The importance of genomic research is not that it will reveal the blueprint of life, but that it provides a basis for investigating a broad range of biological processes. This project should provide science educators the basic knowledge for presenting a much different and more accurate account of gene-centered biology to science students and the public.

基因是众多生物学研究的中心。但是为什么呢?这个项目的目标是回答这个问题，并在此过程中(1)提高对以基因为中心的研究的力量和局限性的理解，(2)增强对科学知识本质的理解。关于为什么基因是人们关注的焦点，有两种相反的观点。支持者认为，基因（或基因组）是基本的因果因子，为生物体内部的发育和所有后续功能提供指令。批评者反驳说，生物体内部没有根本的致病因子。他们声称，注意力集中在基因上，是因为生物学家受到基因决定论的影响。该提案是对分子生物学和基因组学的哲学研究，旨在发展这样一种观点：基因之所以成为关注的中心，是因为它们为研究广泛的生物过程提供了一个切入点，而不一定是因为基因导致或解释了这些过程。推进这一解释将需要发展两个认识主题。首先，科学知识的主体，如分子生物学，通常被组织为研究的方法，而不是用于生成表征的理论。其次，科学方法，如以基因为中心的方法，产生了固有的部分描述，以模糊其他方面为代价，代表了复杂现象的某些方面。其结果将是利用因果关系和因果解释的抽象哲学模型，构建一种基因在因果关系方面的作用。它将阐明为什么基因可以被用作研究各种过程的工具。它还将描述基于基因的解释的局限性。然而，这些限制并不一定会质疑这门科学，因为基于基因的研究的成功取决于它的调查效用，而不管这项研究最终得出的解释是否直接基于基因的影响。这项研究的学术价值在于它将促进对生物学知识的哲学理解。这项研究将提供一个新的解释，为什么今天如此多的关于生物内部发生的事情的科学研究是以基因为中心的。这个答案将在哲学上提供信息，在科学上站得住脚。这一研究也将为关于科学知识本质的两个重要认识论观点提供强有力的动力。这项研究的结果应该为公众提供更好的基础，以评估基因中心研究的优点，并了解尽管基因中心科学取得了成功，但基因的因果作用往往被公开宣传基因研究的人夸大了。关于科学知识的结构及其偏颇的两种认识论观点也应该产生广泛的影响，因为它们表明，科学的本质在科学知识的通俗叙述和科学教育中经常被歪曲。基因组研究的重要性不在于它将揭示生命的蓝图，而在于它为研究广泛的生物过程提供了基础。这个项目应该为科学教育者提供基本知识，以便向理科生和公众展示一个完全不同的、更准确的以基因为中心的生物学。