The concepts of Ludwik Fleck and their application to the eukaryotic cell cycle

Bibliographic Data

ID23037726
AuthorsStephen Cooper (0000-0002-4397-736X, University of Michigan, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume16
Pages335-364
Publication date2017-12-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudia Historiae Scientiarum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2451-3202 • E-ISSN: 2543-702X
PublisherUniwersytet Jagiellonski - Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.4467/2543702xshs.17.013.7714
OpenAlexW2904041192
LanguageEN
References cited66

The concepts of Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961), a microbiologist, historian, and philosopher of medicine, can be used to analyze the conservative nature of scientific ideas. This is discussed and applied to ideas dominant in the understanding of the eukaryotic cell cycle. These are (a) the G1-phase restriction point as a regulatory element of the mammalian cell cycle, (b) the Rate Change Point proposed to exist in fission yeast, and (c) the proposal that a large number of genes are expressed in a cell-cycle-dependent manner.Fleck proposed that scientific ideas become fixed and difficult to change because criticisms of current and dominant models are either ignored or turned to support of the current model. The idea of a thought-collective leading to the stability of scientific ideas is a central theme of the theory of Ludwik Fleck.

Biology · Cell · Cell cycle · Element (criminal law) · Epistemology · Physics · Point (geometry) · Political science · Theme (computing) · Theoretical physics · Bioinformatics and Genomic Networks · Computer Science · Gene expression and cancer classification · Gene Regulatory Network Analysis · Genetics · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy

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