Systems Biology: A Paradigm Shift?

John Bothwell [4] examines skeptically the recent claims made about systems biology in terms such as “a revolution” and “paradigm shift”. Indeed in a recent book [17] , the noted physiologist Denis Noble even goes off the edge, calling for fundamental shifts in our philosophical and even linguistic processes to incorporate oriental . Bothwell on the other hand, argues that Systems Biology “should neither be called a paradigm shift nor a revolution”, and cautions against jumping onto the bandwagon. Bothwell’s main point is that the the idea that function is an emergent property of a system has long been part of the standard tenets of reductionism, and as such, systems biology is just a step in the same programme, albeit an important one. I agree with Bothwell that it may be too soon to describe systems biology as a “revolution” or a “paradigm shift”, but I fear he, in turn, has been too hasty to dismiss at least the potential for both.