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What and How Do Cancer Systems Biologists Explain?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Anya Plutynski  and
Marta Bertolaso
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Abstract

In this article, we argue, first, that there are very different research projects that fall under the heading of “systems biology of cancer.” While they share some general features, they differ in their aims and theoretical commitments. Second, we argue that some explanations in systems biology of cancer are concerned with properties of signaling networks (such as robustness or fragility) and how they may play an important causal role in patterns of vulnerability to cancer. Further, some systems biological explanations are compelling illustrations of how “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches to the same phenomena may be integrated.

Type
Biology
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 85 , Issue 5 , December 2018 , pp. 942 - 954
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

The article was jointly developed by both authors and the thesis commonly shared. Anya Plutynski was mainly responsible for writing sec. 2, and Marta Bertolaso, for writing secs. 1 and 4.

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