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Sci. Signal., 28 April 2009
Vol. 2, Issue 68, p. eg6
[DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.268eg6]

EDITORIAL GUIDES

Omic Empiricism

David B. Searls*

Former Senior Vice President of Bioinformatics at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals.

Abstract: The rise of omics signals a shift from hypothesis-driven to data-driven, "bottom-up" research, whereas systems biology stresses modeling and claims to move beyond reductionism. These trends are at opposite poles of a long-standing duality between empiricism and rationalism. Twenty-first-century biology might benefit from a consideration of how philosophers have approached and attempted to reconcile this duality.

* Corresponding author. E-mail: david.b.searls{at}gmail.com

Citation: D. B. Searls, Omic Empiricism. Sci. Signal. 2, eg6 (2009).

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