A Contemporary Message from Mendel's Logical Empiricism. (9th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Huminiecki, Łukasz
• Is Part Of: BioEssays. Volume 42:Number 9(2020:Sep.)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-08-09
• Subjects: experimentalism -- gene concept -- laboratory technology -- Mendel -- scientific method; Molecular biology -- Periodicals; Cytology -- Periodicals; Developmental biology -- Periodicals; 572.8
• DOI: 10.1002/bies.202000120
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0265-9247

Abstract

Abstract: The gene is one of the most fundamental concepts in life sciences, having been developed in the mold of the Mendelian paradigm of heredity, which shaped genetics across 150 years. How could Mendel possibly be so prophetic in the middle of 19 th century, using only the small garden of the monastery as his experimental breeding field? I believe that we are indebted to Mendel's mastery of the scientific method, which was far ahead of his time. Although his experimental technology was literally garden‐variety, Mendel's excellence in the method of science, algebra, and logical analysis helped him in designing the right experiment and in interpreting the results insightfully. This may be valuable to recall in today's technology‐focused culture, where the center of interest tends to be on the generation and description of high‐throughput datasets from specialized genomics screens. As Mendel's story suggests, progress in 21 st century genetics may also depend on the development of robust concepts and generalizations. Abstract : Mendel was a master of the scientific method, and a pioneering practitioner of logical empiricism. He formulated a set of innovative assumptions about heredity, confirmed them through well‐designed experiments followed by mathematical analyses, and logically analyzed their implications. In polemics with today's technology‐focused culture, we need to follow in Mendel's footsteps in defining new abstractions, generalizations, and laws for complex integrative analyses of genomics datasets.