Posted: Apr 17, 2010 5:35 am
JAJansenJr wrote:This kind of study is valuable but problematic in the sense that it is unclear whether or not a single protein study will clarify what happens to the protein in its natural environment. The work still seems valuable in that it can establish what the protein can do (may set some boundaries on its behavior) but we still need to know what it will do in the natural cellular environment.
Yes, well of course. But the artificiality of the experiments can be controlled for, to some extent, and reductionism in science has long be recognized as imperfect. All these are givens, I would think. What the cell will do when in an environment with it's peers is an interesting question, but even if it is impossible to find out all it's interactions in a natural setting, then there is still progress. Am I detecting the beginnings of an "argument from ignorance" here
Just asking.
