Discovering Life, Manufacturing Life: How the experimental method shaped life sciences / Edition 1

by Pierre V. Vignais, Paulette M. Vignais

Overview

Francis BACON, in his Novum Organum, Robert BOYLE, in his Skeptical Chemist and René DESCARTES, in his Discourse on Method; all of these men were witnesses to the th scientific revolution, which, in the 17 century, began to awaken the western world from a long sleep. In each of these works, the author emphasizes the role of the experimental method in exploring the laws of Nature, that is to say, the way in which an experiment is designed, implemented according to tried and tested te- niques, and used as a basis for drawing conclusions that are based only on results, with their margins of error, taking into account contemporary traditions and prejudices. Two centuries later, Claude BERNARD, in his Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine, made a passionate plea for the application of the experimental method when studying the functions of living beings. Twenty-first century Biology, which has been fertilized by highly sophisticated techniques inherited from Physics and Chemistry, blessed with a constantly increasing expertise in the manipulation of the genome, initiated into the mysteries of information techn- ogy, and enriched with the ever-growing fund of basic knowledge, at times appears to have forgotten its roots.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789048137664
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
Publication date:	06/30/2010
Edition description:	2010
Pages:	418
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.04(d)

About the Author

Pierre VIGNAIS, was a science doctor, doctor of medicine, was treasurer of the Fondation Roux at the Pasteur Institute of Paris. Professor emeritus of Biochemistry of the medical college of the University Joseph Fourier and director of a URA-CNRS at the ECA. He died in September 2006 at the age of 80.

Both he and his wife Paulette published extensively and their contributions are highly regarded in the fields of biochemistry, molecular biology and bioenergetics.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter I The roots of experimental science from Ancient Greece to the Renaissance 7

1 Scientific rationality in Ancient Greece 7

1.1 From Thales to Socrates towards a new conception of Nature 8

1.2 Emergence of the principles of logic in philosophy and of rationality in the sciences 16

1.3 The Alexandrine period of greek science 23

1.4 The post-hellenistic period - Hiatus or transition with the Middle Ages? 28

2 The philosophical and technological heritage of the Middle Ages 31

2.1 The politico-economic context of the Middle Ages 31

2.2 Philosophical-theological controversies in the 12 ^th and 13^th centuries, a critical look back over the Ancient World 34

2.3 Alchemy and the technological revolution of the Middle Ages 39

3 Conclusion-At the dawn of the scientific method 45

Chapter II The birth of the experimental method in the 17^th and 18^th centuries 49

1 The discovery of the circulation of the blood W. Harvey 50

2 How were the movements of the heart and the blood explained before Harvey? 58

3 The first, faltering steps of experimental science applied to living beings 63

3.1 From human anatomy to comparative anatomy systematics 63

3.2 From microscopic tissular anatomy to the morphological description of animalcules 68

3.3 The birth of physiology: seeking the experimental method 73

3.4 First conceptual controversies concerning the use of the experimental method in living beings 82

3.4.1 Refuting the theory of spontaneous generation 82

3.4.2 The enigma of the regeneration of the hydra 84

3.4.3 Refuting the idea of the pneuma as the agent of muscle contraction Birth of the idea of the reflex 86

4 The experimental method and its impact on the physical sciences in the 17^th century 88

4.1 A new theory of the cosmos 89

4.2 A new theory of movement 91

4.3 Proof of the existence of the vacuum 93

4.4 Towards other revelations concerning the inanimate world 97

5 Opening up chemistry to quantitative experimentation in the 18^th century 100

5.1 The birth of pneumatic chemistry and the study of the exchange of gases in living beings 102

5.2 Gaseous exchanges in living beings 103

5.3 Measurement of animal heat and the birth of bioenergetics 111

6 Experimental science as seen by the philosophers of the 17^th and 18^th Centuries 112

6.1 Francis Bacon and induction in scientific reasoning 113

6.2 Robert Boyle and requirements of experimental practice 116

6.3 René Descartes and the cardinal principles of scientific research 118

6.4 Contradictory currents in the philosophy of the sciences in the 18^th century 120

7 Is there an explanatory logic for the birth of the experimental method? 124

7.1 Sociopolitical crises 124

7.2 A knowledgeable society 127

7.3 A scientific quorum 129

7.4 Instrumentation, an integral part of the experimental method 131

7.5 The enigma of the discovery of the experimental method and of its development in the West 132

8 Conclusion - The mariage of techniques and ideas 134

Chapter III The impact of determinism in the life sciences of the 19^th and 20^th centuries 139

1 The recognition of physiology as an experimental science in the 19^th century 144

2 Determinism, the philosophical foundation stone of experimental physiology 146

2.1 Claude Bernard's determinist bible 148

2.2 The many conceptual approaches of experimental determinism in the study of living beings 149

2.2.1 The experiment to see what happens 150

2.2.2 The decisive experiment 153

2.2.3 Serendipity and the unexpected discovery 155

2.2.4 Advantages and traps involved in reasoning by analogy 157

2.2.5 The part played by luck in the experimental method 161

3 The impact of technology on the life sciences in the 19^th century 164

3.1 Rationalization of operational physiology 164

3.2 The emergence of instrumental engineering adapted to physiological experimentation 169

3.3 Application of analytical chemistry to physiological exploration 179

4 New disciplines in the life sciences in the 19^th century and their methodological support 180

5 The idea of quantification in the life sciences 186

6 A new experimental order for the life sciences in the 20^th century 188

6.1 A reasoned choice of model organisms 189

6.2 A breakthrough in techniques for exploring the functions of living beings 200

6.2.1 Imagery of the infinitely small 200

6.2.2 Enumerating and isolating macromolecular structures 209

6.2.3 Isotopic labeling 215

6.2.4 The instrument and the method The analysis of reality via the instrument 216

7 Opening up biological experimentation to reductionism 219

7.1 The firsts steps in experimental reductionism: from the organ to the cell 219

7.2 A cellular glycolysis: a prototype for a reductionist approach to exploring the metabolism 221

7.3 Deconstruction and reconstruction of macromolecular complexes 222

7.4 The birth of virtual biology - Modeling cell dynamics 225

8 The experimental method faced with contemporary trends in philosophy and in social life 229

8.1 Confrontation between vitalists and mechanists. the emergence of organicism 229

8.2 Novum Organum revisited and contested 233

8.3 Re-examining the process of the experimental procedure 235

9 Conclusion - Determinism and the expansion of the experimental method From the organ to the molecule 238

Chapter IV Challenges for experimentation on living beings at the dawn of the 21^th century 241

1 The accession of biotechnology Towards a new paradigm for the experimental method 242

1.1 The genome explored 243

1.1.1 From molecular biology to genetic engineering 243

1.1.2 DNA becomes a molecular tool 249

1.1.3 DNA chips and protein chips - From genomics to proteomics 253

1.1.4 From genomics to metagenomics 258

1.2 The manipulated genome 259

1.2.1 DNA used as a construction material 259

1.2.2 RNA interference: a new frontier in the manipulation of the expression of the genome 262

1.2.3 The experimental transgression of the genetic code 264

2 Towards a mastery of the functions of living beings for utilitarian purposes 265

2.1 Manipulations of plant DNA The challenge of genetically modified plants 266

2.2 Manipulations of human DNA and hopes for gene therapy 270

2.3 Stem cells and cloning 272

2.3.1 The hope of stem cells 272

2.3.2 The specter of cloning 277

2.3.3 The bias of parthenogenesis in cloning 280

2.4 The "humanization" of animal cells for purposes of xenotransplantation 281

3 The progress of medicine face to face with the experimental method 283

3.1 From empirical medicine to experimental medicine 284

3.2 Contemporary advances in biotechnology The example of medical imaging 290

3.3 From experimental medicine to predictive medicine 293

3.4 The drug library of the future 295

4 Towards a global understanding of the functions of living beings 298

4.1 Experimental demonstration of protein interactions 298

4.2 Mathematical modeling of the complexity of living beings 304

4.3 Biorobots and hybrid robots 312

5 The design and meaning of words in the experimental process 320

6 The experimental method, understanding of living beings and society 324

6.1 Human cloning censured by codes of bioethics 326

6.2 The patentability of living beings 329

6.3 Animal experimentation versus the fight for animal rights 331

7 The place of the scientific researcher in the changing role of biotechnology 332

7.1 Fundamental research faced with the metamorphosis in the experimental method 333

7.1.1 A new strategy in the organization of research 334

7.1.2 A new way of circulating knowledge 336

7.1.3 A new horizon for cross-disciplinarity 338

7.2 .The experimental method taught and discussed 340

8 Conclusion Looking at the present in the light of the past 343

Chapter V Epilogue 347

Bibliography 353

Index of personal names 371

Index of subjects 381

List of illustrations 395

Glossary 401

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

“A strikingly complete yet highly readable history of biomedical sciences, from BCE to the present, would be invaluable to scientists of all ages. In this well-written work translated from the original French version, accomplished biochemists Pierre Vignais … and Paulette Vignais (emer., CNRS, France) went one step further and painted a seamless picture of the evolution of the scientific method on a superb historical backdrop. … Summing Up: Highly recommended. Students of all levels, researchers/faculty, and professionals.” (B. D. Spiegelberg, Choice, Vol. 48 (5), January, 2011)

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