A call for a better understanding of causation in cell biology

What does it mean to say that event X caused outcome Y in biology? Explaining the causal structure underlying the dynamic function of living systems is a central goal of biology. Transformative advances in regenerative medicine and synthetic bioengineering will require efficient strategies to cause...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inNature reviews. Molecular cell biology Vol. 20; no. 5; pp. 261 - 262
Main Authors Bizzarri, Mariano, Brash, Douglas E., Briscoe, James, Grieneisen, Verônica A., Stern, Claudio D., Levin, Michael
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.05.2019
Nature Publishing Group
Subjects
631/1647
631/553
631/80
Animals
Biochemistry
Bioengineering
Biology
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Cancer Research
Causal inference
Causation
Cell Biology
Cell research
Comment
Developmental Biology
Humans
Life Sciences
Models, Biological
Regenerative Medicine
Stem Cells
Synthetic Biology
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:What does it mean to say that event X caused outcome Y in biology? Explaining the causal structure underlying the dynamic function of living systems is a central goal of biology. Transformative advances in regenerative medicine and synthetic bioengineering will require efficient strategies to cause desired system-level outcomes. We present a perspective on the need to move beyond the classical ‘necessary and sufficient’ approach to biological causality. Michael Levin and colleagues discuss the need to rethink how the causes of cell biological processes are being identified.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-3
content type line 23
ObjectType-Review-1
ISSN:1471-0072
1471-0080
DOI:10.1038/s41580-019-0127-1