Bolinska, Agnes (2018) Synthetic versus Analytic Approaches to Protein and DNA Structure Determination. [Preprint]
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Abstract
The structures of protein and DNA were discovered primarily by means of synthesizing component-level information about bond types, lengths, and angles, rather than analyzing X-ray diffraction photographs of these molecules. In this paper, I consider the synthetic and analytic approaches to exemplify alternative heuristics for approaching mid-twentieth-century macromolecular structure determination. I argue that the former was, all else being equal, likeliest to generate the correct structure in the shortest period of time. I begin by characterizing problem solving in these cases as proceeding via the elimination of candidate structures through the successive application of component-level information and interpretations of X-ray diffraction photographs, each of which serves as a kind of constraint on structure. Then, I argue that although each kind of constraint enables the elimination of a considerable proportion of candidate structures, component-level constraints are significantly more likely to do so correctly. Thus, considering them before X-ray diffraction photographs is a better heuristic than one that reverses this order. Because the synthetic approach that resulted in the determination of the protein and DNA structures exemplifies such a heuristic, its use can help account for these discoveries.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | Forthcoming in Biology and Philosophy | ||||||
| Keywords: | heuristics; X ray diffraction crystallography; evidence; protein structure; DNA structure; alpha helix; information; constraint; discovery | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Agnes Bolinska | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2018 15:53 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2018 15:53 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 14812 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Biology > Molecular Biology/Genetics General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies |
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| Date: | 2018 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/14812 |
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