After Fifty Years, Why Are Protein X-ray Crystallographers Still in Business
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8399115 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sandra D Mitchell (University of Pittsburgh, corresponding author), Angela M Gronenborn (0000-0001-9072-3525, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 703-723 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axv051 |
| OpenAlex | W2177055423 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 10 |
| References cited | 44 |
It has long been held that the structure of a protein is determined solely by the interactions of the atoms in the sequence of amino acids of which it is composed, and thus the stable, biologically functional conformation should be predictable by ab initio or de novo methods. However, except for small proteins, ab initio predictions have not been successful. We explain why this is the case and argue that the relationship among the different methods, models, and representations of protein structure is one of integrative pluralism. Our defence appeals to specific features of the complexity of the functional protein structure and to the partial character of representation in general. We present examples of integrative strategies in protein science. 1. Introduction2. Partiality of Representation3. Protein Functional Complexity4. Modelling Protein Structure4.1 Integrating ab initio and experimental models4.2 Integrating multiple experimental models5. Conclusion
Ab initio · Biology · Character (mathematics) · Computational biology · Epistemology · Physics · Pluralism (philosophy) · Political science · Protein structure · Protein structure prediction · Quantum mechanics · Representation (politics) · Sequence (biology) · Biochemistry · Chemistry · Computer Science · Enzyme Structure and Function · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Protein Structure and Dynamics
Pluralism and complexity without integration? A critical appraisal of Mitchell’s integrative pluralism
Four Kinds of Perspectival Truth
The Brain Abstracted
A relational-constructionist account of protein macrostructure and function
A Monist Proposal
Effective integration and models of information
Mixed-Effects Modeling and Nonreductive Explanation
Method-Driven Experiments and the Search for Dark Matter
Through the Fractured Looking Glass
A Complementary Account of Scientific Modelling
The disorder of things
Studies in the Methodology and Foundations of Science
Science in the Age of Computer Simulation
Simulation and Similarity
Inventing Temperature
Biological Complexity and Integrative Pluralism
Unsimple Truths
The Dappled World
An agent-based conception of models and scientific representation
How scientific models can explain
The perils of tweaking
Towards a typology of experimental errors
Saving the Phenomena” Today
How Models Are Used to Represent Reality
Saving the Phenomena
Aspects of Reductive Explanation in Biological Science
The scientific image
Old and New Problems in Philosophy of Measurement
| Unique citing works | 10 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2025 (10) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |