Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Academic Research Paper Links



Reductionism and complexity in molecular biology.

This article is a great place for the mildly-scientifically inclined to get started in understanding the challenges with our current medical paradigm. It does a good job of defining reductionism, and why it has limitations in a clear manner with specific examples. It is also blissfully free of Greek letters, strange mathematical symbols, and generally incomprehensible jargon. The author does an excellent job of making the provocative assertion that effort spent on HIV vaccine development has been hindered by reductionism.


Van Regenmortel M.H.V. 2004. Reductionism and complexity in molecular biology. EMBO Reports 5, 1016-1020.