Biological robustness: design, organization and mechanisms

Maria Serban, Sara Green

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter (peer-reviewed)peer-review

Abstract

Recent engineering-based modelling efforts in systems biology suggest that some forms of biological robustness depend on structural features of the internal organization of living systems. To explain such features, abstract representations of patterns of organization or design principles within the framework of control theory have been proposed. We characterize such model-based explanations as structural-causal explanations and situate our account in the broader philosophical debate about explanation in biology.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationLiving Machines
Subtitle of host publicationPhilosophical and Biological Perspectives
EditorsMaria Serban, Sune Holm
PublisherRoutledge
Publication statusPublished - 2020

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