scholarly journals The Epistemic Revolution Induced by Microbiome Studies: An Interdisciplinary View

Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 651
Author(s):  
Eric Bapteste ◽  
Philippe Gérard ◽  
Catherine Larose ◽  
Manuel Blouin ◽  
Fabrice Not ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Interaction Networks ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Scalar Interaction ◽  
Strong Trend ◽  
The World ◽  
Intent To Use ◽  
Ecosystem Studies ◽  
Emerging Themes

Many separate fields and practices nowadays consider microbes as part of their legitimate focus. Therefore, microbiome studies may act as unexpected unifying forces across very different disciplines. Here, we summarize how microbiomes appear as novel major biological players, offer new artistic frontiers, new uses from medicine to laws, and inspire novel ontologies. We identify several convergent emerging themes across ecosystem studies, microbial and evolutionary ecology, arts, medicine, forensic analyses, law and philosophy of science, as well as some outstanding issues raised by microbiome studies across these disciplines and practices. An ‘epistemic revolution induced by microbiome studies’ seems to be ongoing, characterized by four features: (i) an ecologization of pre-existing concepts within disciplines, (ii) a growing interest in systemic analyses of the investigated or represented phenomena and a greater focus on interactions as their root causes, (iii) the intent to use openly multi-scalar interaction networks as an explanatory framework to investigate phenomena to acknowledge the causal effects of microbiomes, (iv) a reconceptualization of the usual definitions of which individuals are worth considering as an explanans or as an explanandum by a given field, which result in a fifth strong trend, namely (v) a de-anthropocentrification of our perception of the world.

scholarly journals A journey from reductionist to systemic cell biology aboard the schooner Tara

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (13) ◽  
pp. 2403-2406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Karsenti
Keyword(s):  
Complex Systems ◽  
Molecular Interactions ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Statistical Physics ◽  
Interaction Networks ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Personal Journey ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
The World ◽  
The Way

In this essay I describe my personal journey from reductionist to systems cell biology and describe how this in turn led to a 3-year sea voyage to explore complex ocean communities. In describing this journey, I hope to convey some important principles that I gleaned along the way. I realized that cellular functions emerge from multiple molecular interactions and that new approaches borrowed from statistical physics are required to understand the emergence of such complex systems. Then I wondered how such interaction networks developed during evolution. Because life first evolved in the oceans, it became a natural thing to start looking at the small organisms that compose the plankton in the world's oceans, of which 98% are … individual cells—hence the Tara Oceans voyage, which finished on 31 March 2012 in Lorient, France, after a 60,000-mile around-the-world journey that collected more than 30,000 samples from 153 sampling stations.

scholarly journals Trends in the evolution of ecology: “Spain is different”

Web Ecology ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cordero Rivera
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Scientific Discipline ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Temporal Development ◽  
Physical Systems ◽  
Historical Factors ◽  
The World ◽  
University Department ◽  
Evolutionary Concepts ◽  
Special Case

Abstract. During the last fifty years ecology has matured as a scientific discipline. In this paper I analyse the temporal development of the paradigm based on physical systems (the ecosystem paradigm), and the evolutionary ecology paradigm. I first analyse the contents of 61 textbooks to calculate the relative importance of ecosystem and evolutionary ecology in the training of new generations of ecologists. Results indicate that the evolutionary approach is becoming more important since 1980, and now most textbooks dedicate 10–20% of their pages to evolutionary concepts. In a second analysis I searched the names of ecology departments in universities around the world, and found out conspicuous differences between USA, where 43% of addresses associate ecology and evolution or behaviour on the same department, and Europe, where only 10% of ecology departments also include a reference to evolution or behaviour in their name. In both analyses Spain seems to follow only the ecosystem paradigm, because Spanish textbooks dedicate almost no pages to evolutionary concepts, and there is not a single university department that includes ecology and evolution. A further bibliometric study confirmed that Spanish ecologists prefer to publish their research in general ecology journals, and are under-represented in evolutionary ecology journals. I discuss the importance of historical factors on the development of paradigms of ecology, and the special case of Spain, likely due to the influence of pioneers working in oceanography, limnology and geography.

Critical Realism

2021 ◽  
pp. 69-72
Author(s):  
Dominik Giese ◽  
Jonathan Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Realism ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Science And Society ◽  
The Real ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Ontological Question ◽  
The World

This chapter evaluates critical realism, a term which refers to a philosophy of science connected to the broader approach of scientific realism. In contrast to other philosophies of science, such as positivism and post-positivism, critical realism presents an alternative view on the questions of what is ‘real’ and how one can generate scientific knowledge of the ‘real’. How one answers these questions has implications for how one studies science and society. The critical realist answer starts by prioritizing the ontological question over the epistemological one, by asking: What must the world be like for science to be possible? Critical realism holds the key ontological belief of scientific realism that there is a reality which exists independent of our knowledge and experience of it. Critical realists posit that reality is more complex, and made up of more than the directly observable. More specifically, critical realism understands reality as ‘stratified’ and composed of three ontological domains: the empirical, the actual, and the real. Here lies the basis for causation.

Epilogue

2021 ◽  
pp. 239-241
Author(s):  
Wayne C. Myrvold
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Epistemic Access ◽  
The World

This chapter reflects on the contents of earlier chapters and ties them in with other currents in the philosophy of science. These involve concepts that go beyond the familiar dichotomy of subjective and objective. A complete description of the world need not invoke concepts of this sort. They are, however, significant for agents such as ourselves, situated in a world to which we have limited epistemic access.

1. The methods and fruits of science

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-22
Author(s):  
David Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Scientific Realism ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Scientific Theories ◽  
Real Science ◽  
The World ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
Theory Test

This chapter briefly discusses central key topics in the philosophy of science that the remainder of the book draws upon. It begins by considering the scientific method. ‘Induction’—the idea that we construct scientific theories just by generalizing from observations—is a very poor match to real science. ‘Falsification’—Popper’s idea that we create a theory, test against observation, and discard it if it fails the test—is much more realistic, but still too simple: data only falsifies data given auxiliary assumptions that can themselves be doubted. The issues are illustrated through an example from modern astrophysics: dark matter. The chapter then explores how we can resolve issues of underdetermination, where two theories give the same predictions. Finally, it introduces ‘scientific realism’, the view that our best theories tell us things about the world that go beyond what is directly observable.

scholarly journals Avian malaria: a new lease of life for an old experimental model to study the evolutionary ecology of Plasmodium

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1675) ◽  
pp. 20140300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Romain Pigeault ◽  
Julien Vézilier ◽  
Stéphane Cornet ◽  
Flore Zélé ◽  
Antoine Nicot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Culex Pipiens ◽  
Avian Malaria ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Laboratory Research ◽  
Plasmodium Relictum ◽  
Natural Vector ◽  
The World ◽  
Experimental Laboratory ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Statistical Relationships

Avian malaria has historically played an important role as a model in the study of human malaria, being a stimulus for the development of medical parasitology. Avian malaria has recently come back to the research scene as a unique animal model to understand the ecology and evolution of the disease, both in the field and in the laboratory. Avian malaria is highly prevalent in birds and mosquitoes around the world and is amenable to laboratory experimentation at each stage of the parasite's life cycle. Here, we take stock of 5 years of experimental laboratory research carried out using Plasmodium relictum SGS1, the most prevalent avian malaria lineage in Europe, and its natural vector, the mosquito Culex pipiens . For this purpose, we compile and analyse data obtained in our laboratory in 14 different experiments. We provide statistical relationships between different infection-related parameters, including parasitaemia, gametocytaemia, host morbidity (anaemia) and transmission rates to mosquitoes. This analysis provides a wide-ranging picture of the within-host and between-host parameters that may bear on malaria transmission and epidemiology.

Acarology

2001 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
World Literature ◽  
Evolutionary Ecology ◽  
Population Studies ◽  
Food Plants ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Biological Control Agents ◽  
The World ◽  
Important Addition ◽  
Parasitic Mites ◽  
Livestock Diseases

Acarology: Proceedings of the 10th International Congress is a timely overview of the current international research mites and ticks. The outcome of a conference of leading acarologists, it presents major reviews of all current areas of research including: advances in acarine biodiversity and systematics human and livestock diseases transmitted by ticks and other parasitic mites interactions between mites and their food plants mites as biological control agents use of genetic markers in mite population studies mites as bioindicators ecology and biology of soil mites mite evolutionary ecology and reproduction advances in acarine diversity and systematics The 90 papers in the book represent some of the best research from leading international researchers from over 50 countries, and helps to establish priorities for future research. All papers have been peer reviewed and edited. Acarology is a comprehensive and important addition to the world literature on mites, and is an essential addition to all acarological and entomological reference collections.

The Parliament of Things and the Anthropocene

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Simons ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Michel Serres ◽  
The World ◽  
Thing In Itself ◽  
Isabelle Stengers ◽  
Own Name ◽  
Common Understanding ◽  
The Way

Among the contemporary philosophers using the concept of the Anthropocene, Bruno Latour and Isabelle Stengers are prominent examples. The way they use this concept, however, diverts from the most common understanding of the Anthropocene. In fact, their use of this notion is a continuation of their earlier work around the concept of a ‘parliament of things.’ Although mainly seen as a sociology or philosophy of science, their work can be read as philosophy of technology as well. Similar to Latour’s claim that science is Janus-headed, technology has two faces. Faced with the Anthropocene, we need to shift from technologies of control to technologies of negotiations, i.e., a parliament of things. What, however, does a ‘parliament of things’ mean? This paper wants to clarify what is conceptually at stake by framing Latour’s work within the philosophy of Michel Serres and Isabelle Stengers. Their philosophy implies a ‘postlinguistic turn,’ where one can ‘let things speak in their own name,’ without claiming knowledge of the thing in itself. The distinction between object and subject is abolished to go back to the world of ‘quasi-objects’ (Serres). Based on the philosophy of science of Latour and Stengers the possibility for a politics of quasi-objects or a ‘cosmopolitics’ (Stengers) is opened. It is in this framework that their use of the notion of the Anthropocene must be understood and a different view of technology can be conceptualized.

scholarly journals How many could have been saved? Effects of social distancing on COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matheus Cunha ◽  
Amanda Domingos ◽  
Virginia Rocha ◽  
Marcus Torres
Keyword(s):  
Causal Effect ◽  
Cumulative Effects ◽  
Causal Effects ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
Available Information

Abstract What is the effect of social distancing policies on the spread of the new coronavirus? Social distancing policies rose to prominence as most capable of containing contagion and saving lives. Our purpose in this paper is to identify the causal effect of social distancing policies on the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 and on contagion velocity. We align our main argument with the existing scientific consensus: social distancing policies negatively affect the number of cases. To test this hypothesis, we construct a dataset with daily information on 78 affected countries in the world. We compute several relevant measures from publicly available information on the number of cases and deaths to estimate causal effects for short-term and cumulative effects of social distancing policies. We use a time-series cross-sectional matching approach to match countries’ observable histories. Causal effects (ATTs and ATEs) can be extracted via a dif-in-dif estimator. Results show that social distancing policies reduce the aggregated number of cases by 4,832 on average (or 17.5/100 thousand), but only when strict measures are adopted. This effect seems to manifest from the third week onwards.

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