Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
8
All models are wrong
some more than others
Olaf Wolkenhauer and Mukhtar Ullah
SUMMARY
Can systems biology be a 'holistic' approach as suggested by some authors?
The fact that we are dealing with complex systems means that we must 'reduce'
biological reality. The whole purpose of (mathematical) modelling is abstraction,
i.e, a reduction of complexity. The success of differential equation modelling in
the physical and engineering sciences might give a misleading impression that
models in systems biology can provide accurate or replica representations of the
physicochemical reality in question. Although most models of cellular processes
cannot be accurate, they are useful because understanding arises from reducing
one type of reality into another. It is therefore the complexity of intra- and
intercellular processes that motivates modelling as a means to reduce complexity.
The present text is to discuss Robert Rosen's critique of mathematical modelling
of complex (biological) systems. The aim is to provide a concise summary
of his distinction between analytical and synthetic models and to renew the
interest in Rosen's work. He taught us to carefully (re)consider the modelling
process. With an appreciation of the uncertainty involved in modelling complex
natural systems, he demonstrated that not all models are equally good - for our
understanding of living systems.
“As the complexity of a system increases, our ability to make precise and yet
significant statements about its behavior diminishes until a threshold is reached
beyond which precision and significance (or relevance) become almost exclusive
characteristics.”
(Lotfi Zadeh)
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