Year: 2016
Type: review
Abstract: Modern biotechnology is emerging at the intersection of engineering, biology, physics, and computer science. As such it carries with it history from several disparate fields of research including a strong tradition in deductive reasoning primarily derived from discovery focused molecular biology and physics. Engineering biological systems is a complex undertaking requiring a broader set of epistemic tools and methods than what is usually applied in today's discovery based research. Inductive reasoning as commonly used in computer science has proven to be a very efficient approach to build knowledge about complex megadimensional datasets, including synthetic biology applications. The authors conclude that the multi-heuristic nature of modern biotechnology makes it an engineering field primed for inductive reasoning to complement the dominating deductive tradition.
Source: Trends in biotechnology
Authors: Claes Gustafsson, Jordi Vallverdú
Institutions: ATUM (United States), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $7,030
OpenAlex ID: W2234868548