Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
regulation pathways are interconnected and that the way the cell
functions cannot be explained just by the structure of the molecu-
lar networks, as supposed by the principle of order from order. The
networks must themselves be regulated to avoid generalised inter-
ference between all cell functions. To resolve this problem, molecu-
lar biologists hold that the structure of the cell sorts the
non-specific molecular interactions to avoid those which might be
harmful and only let those that are really specific occur. However,
this means reversing the causal explanation and reintroducing
holism. Seen in this light, it is no longer the molecules that deter-
mine the phenotype but the reverse: the phenotype of the cell deter-
mines the molecular interactions which take place in it. Molecular
biology research thus ends in the contradiction of genetic deter-
minism. It denies the theoretical principles which have motivated it
and calls for a new conceptual context that integrates these results.
Such developments are perfectly normal in modern scientific
practice. Biology needs a theory which grants cell structure a causal
role.
A priori
, it could be based on holism. However, the analysis
we have carried out has shown us that that reintroduces the idea of
animate matter, breaching the principle of the inertia and objec-
tivity of nature on which scientific method is based. Holism also
supposes that there are emergent properties implying irrational cre-
ation
ex nihilo
, and thus reintroduces a form of hidden mysticism.
In addition, despite their opposition on the surface, holism and
genetic determinism have a common basis. Both concepts believe
that order is real and underlies all phenomena. They believe in the
hierarchical organisation of the world supposedly created by super-
imposed and increasingly complex levels, from which the diversity of
things unfurls. The difference between the two stems from the ori-
gin of the order. For genetic determinism it comes from below (from
the molecules); for holism, order comes from above (from the whole).
In the second part of the 20th century, theories of self-organisation
tried to give more precise content to holism by suggesting models
for application to biology, but they all introduce a new contradic-
tion. In seeking to explain concrete phenomena, they reintroduce,
without acknowledging them, external constraints which are
