Words Are Essential, but Underexamined, Research Tools for Microbes and Microbiomes

Abstract

Language constitutes an essential set of scientific construction tools, not only for communicating knowledge, but for conceptualizing the world. Metaphors in particular, as conventions that guide and reproduce analogical reasoning, merit attention that they largely do not receive.

Soil as a transdisciplinary research catalyst: from bioprospecting to biorespecting

“…Often, a 'bioprospecting' metaphor motivates metagenomic studies with the idea that the researcher is searching the biodiversity of the soil for new genetic parts [13]. Language used during research can influence forms of inquiry across disciplines [18]. For example, 'feedback metaphors' contain cultural assumptions and therefore affect the values of scholarly work and how research proceeds-the metaphors drive the scholarship [19].…”