back to people
|
|
The current volume of biological data surpasses our present capacity to integrate and understand it, at least in part because we have not produced a theoretical framework that supports the generation of important hypotheses in light of such data. The naturalist dream that highly values an extensive catalogue of biological diversity has reached molecular resolution and yet, aside from heuristics associated to evolutionary theory, we lack a fundamental theory in which to understand and interpret the relationships living systems exhibit that transcend levels of the biological hierarchy. Moreover, there is no proper language tailored to apprehend, communicate or abstractly settle an ensemble of biological problems that share a common structure.
As the current paradigm, apparently organized around data gathering continues, its limitations have become increasingly manifest. If we continue to characterize our biosphere at the molecular level without a promising theoretical framework, we will remain lost in its vastness. What is worse, we could end up in biological Babel with no integrative perspective and thus no means of communication. Hence, from a purely pragmatic perspective, the scientific community in the domain of biology requires more investment in the project of unification of knowledge. It is the purpose of my research to contribute to some extent to this gigantic endeavor that transcends all biological disciplines. At the dusk of the post-genomic era, we can no longer avoid investigating the theoretical structure that underlies biological phenomena.
As the current paradigm, apparently organized around data gathering continues, its limitations have become increasingly manifest. If we continue to characterize our biosphere at the molecular level without a promising theoretical framework, we will remain lost in its vastness. What is worse, we could end up in biological Babel with no integrative perspective and thus no means of communication. Hence, from a purely pragmatic perspective, the scientific community in the domain of biology requires more investment in the project of unification of knowledge. It is the purpose of my research to contribute to some extent to this gigantic endeavor that transcends all biological disciplines. At the dusk of the post-genomic era, we can no longer avoid investigating the theoretical structure that underlies biological phenomena.