Veigl, Sophie Juliane (2018) A Use / Disuse Paradigm for CRISPR-Cas Systems. [Preprint]

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Abstract

In his insightful review, Eugene V. Koonin discusses various aspects of CRISPR-Cas systems with a strong focus on their qualities as "adaptive (acquired) immune systems"(Koonin 2018, 3). The CRISPR-Cas system is most famous for its application as a gene-editing tool. Koonin provides a deeper insight into its biological function in bacteria, which is to immunize the cell against parasite DNA. I shall comment on one issue discussed in the text, in two steps. First, I shall elaborate on CRISPR-Cas systems and their supposed Lamarckian character. Criteria for calling biological
phenomena genuinely Lamarckian will be narrowed down and then applied to the CRISPR-Cas system, considering interference-driven spacer acquisition (IDSA) as an
instantiation of a truly Lamarckian paradigm. Second, I shall consider whether Lamarckian and "canonical" instances of inheritance are a case of theoretical pluralism, being two non-reducible, yet interconnected paradigms.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Veigl, Sophie Juliane sophie.juliane.veigl@univie.ac.at 0000-0002-9475-1088
Additional Information:	This is a comment on Eugene Koonin's paper on CRISPR-Cas Systems in Biology & Philosophy
Keywords:	CRISPR-Cas, Inheritance of Acquired Traits, Use/disuse paradigm, Scientific Pluralism
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science Specific Sciences > Sociology
Depositing User:	Ms Sophie Juliane Veigl
Date Deposited:	27 Nov 2018 16:29
Last Modified:	27 Nov 2018 16:29
Item ID:	15374
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology > Evolutionary Theory General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science Specific Sciences > Sociology
Date:	December 2018
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/15374

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