WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE 75% PUMPKIN? THE UNITS OF COMPARATIVE GENOMICS

Piotrowska, Monika (2008) WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE 75% PUMPKIN? THE UNITS OF COMPARATIVE GENOMICS. In [2008] Philosophy of Science Assoc. 21st Biennial Mtg (Pittsburgh, PA): PSA 2008 Contributed Papers.

Abstract

Comparative genomicists seem to be convinced that the unit of measurement employed in their studies is a gene which drives the function of cells, and ultimately organisms. As a result, they have come to some substantive conclusions about how similar humans are to other organisms, based on the percentage of genetic make-up they share. I argue that the actual unit of measurement employed in the studies corresponds to a structural, rather than a functional gene concept, thus rendering many of the implications drawn from comparative genomic studies largely unwarranted, if not completely mistaken.