A Time to Model and a Time to Experiment

Abstract

The nature and role of models have been amply discussed by philosophers of science. They have emphasized the diversity of models and their functions. Biological sciences in general, and molecular and cellular biology in particular, are no exceptions. The nature and role of models in molecular and cellular biology are also a legacy of the different disciplines that contributed to its formation. Models can be a step toward abstraction, or the opposite, a step toward a material representation of an - to date - abstract phenomenon. Models can also help to collect information and knowledge. I will consider different models that played a highly important role in molecular and cellular biology, up to the Gene Regulatory Network model. There is a right time to model, and a right way to do it. I will try to understand why a model is well received (or not), and what kind of relationship it may or must have with experiments and experimental data.