Metaphors of Life: Reflections on Metaphors in the Debate on Synthetic Biology

Falkner, Daniel

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9_13

Cited by 7 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The physical structure of DNA does not demand that we understand it as something that can be read, written, and edited like a human language; on the contrary, knowledge about what DNA is and what it does has been constructed through the use of these metaphors. 31 They are apt but not all-encompassing. What DNA becomes is a function of the tools used to visualize and work with it, such that DNA is iteratively made increasingly in the image of the metaphors used to understand it.…”

Section: Acs Synthetic Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…■ CONCLUSION: RECONCEPTUALIZING "GOOD ENOUGH" DNA DESIGN Keeping DNA words but rethinking the genetic language might not resolve the logical issues raised by the historical and philosophical critique of the "genetic code". 28,31 However, whether doing so might improve the efficacy of DNA design tools is a different matter. Can a better "good enough" model be built through the same basic assumptions behind current tools?…”

Section: Acs Synthetic Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Metaphors are not merely poetic devices or tools for explaining scientific phenomena to nonexperts; they are intrinsic to everyday “ordinary language”, shaping fundamental cognitive patterns, and are part of the theoretical equipment for doing science. − Metaphors for what DNA and genes are thought to be like frame how scientists (and others) understand what DNA can and cannot do. Understanding DNA as text and units of DNA as words is so much the norm that it is easy to forget that they are not simply inevitable.…”

Section: Rationalizing the Distance Between Dna As Model And Dna As M...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Understanding DNA as text and units of DNA as words is so much the norm that it is easy to forget that they are not simply inevitable. The physical structure of DNA does not demand that we understand it as something that can be read, written, and edited like a human language; on the contrary, knowledge about what DNA is and what it does has been constructed through the use of these metaphors . They are apt but not all-encompassing.…”

Section: Rationalizing the Distance Between Dna As Model And Dna As M...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Models for DNA Design Tools: The Trouble with Metaphors Is That They Don’t Go Away

Szymanski

Scher

2019

ACS Synth. Biol.

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Synthetic biology relies heavily on DNA design tools to enable manipulation of DNA in silico. Existing tools, however, are falling short of enabling aspirations for the field that emphasize efficient, automated design pipelines. We review existing DNA design tools, identify underlying similarities in how they model correlations between DNA structure and function, and suggest that iterating the existing model is unlikely to overcome limitations in matching software applications to design aspirations. The current model is predicated on metaphors conceptualizing DNA as linear text, accounting for relatively little of the known complexity of DNA function. New models that can account for more of that complexity and thus enable more ambitious DNA design goals are likely to call for new underlying metaphorsa need that may be addressed by rethinking DNA in terms of human rather than computer languages.

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Section: Acs Synthetic Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Acs Synthetic Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rationalizing the Distance Between Dna As Model And Dna As M...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Rationalizing the Distance Between Dna As Model And Dna As M...mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Models for DNA Design Tools: The Trouble with Metaphors Is That They Don’t Go Away

Szymanski

Scher

2019

ACS Synth. Biol.

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“…In their efforts to implement the spirit of the "spandrels" critique, biologists and others set about examining the metaphor closely, only to find that, rather than "constraint," it is a perfect example of selection in action (Dennett, 1995;Houston, 1997;Pigliucci & Kaplan, 2006). Metaphors in biology are supremely useful tools, helping direct research into novel directions (Falkner, 2016). One of the ways metaphors do this is by highlighting otherwise unseen analogies in biological systems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spandrels and trait delimitation: No such thing as “architectural constraint”

Olson

2019

Evolution and Development

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Forty years ago, Gould and Lewontin used the metaphor of a building's "spandrels" to highlight that organismal traits could be the inevitable consequence of organismal construction, with no alternative configurations possible. Because adaptation by natural selection requires variation, regarding a trait incapable of variation as an adaptation could be a serious error. Gould and Lewontin's exhortation spurred biologists' efforts to investigate biases and limitations in development in their studies of adaptation, a major methodological advance. But in terms of the metaphor itself, over the past 40 years there are virtually no examples of "spandrels" in the primary literature. Moreover, multiple serious confusions in the metaphor have been identified and clarified, for example, that the "spandrels" of San Marco are pendentives, and pendentives are perfect examples of adaptation. I look back over the sparse empirical fruits of the "spandrels" metaphor, and ask what the clarifications of the past 40 years mean for biological theory and practice. I conclude that if there is anything to be rescued from the clarified spandrels metaphor, it is not "constraint" at all. Instead, it is the still-unresolved issue of trait delimitation, which is how to parse organisms into subsets that are tractable and biologically appropriate for study.

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Individuelle und kollektive Verantwortung

Funk

2022

Angewandte Ethik Und Technikbewertung

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Metaphors of Life: Reflections on Metaphors in the Debate on Synthetic Biology

Cited by 7 publications

References 13 publications

Models for DNA Design Tools: The Trouble with Metaphors Is That They Don’t Go Away

Models for DNA Design Tools: The Trouble with Metaphors Is That They Don’t Go Away

Spandrels and trait delimitation: No such thing as “architectural constraint”

Individuelle und kollektive Verantwortung

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