Michael Kohn wrote:
> On Aug 31, 4:54pm, Petr Kuzmic wrote:
> > Please help me understand what the problem is in "moving from the ideal"
> > case: I think it has been done.
> David Garfinkel and I worked closely for over 10 years in developing highly
> detailed models of intermediary metabolism in heart and liver (...)
After reading Michael's description of their fantastic work on systems
including 60 to 70 enzymes and whole metabolic cycles, and especially
the conclusion that...
> those reactions which regulated
> the ATP/ADP ratio were by far the most important regulators of flux regardless
> of whether the pathway was operating under aerobic or anaerobic conditions.
...I am begininig to see what MCA is "about". I don't quite know what
further implications can be drawn from the statement above (I suppose
every obervation should lead to the formulation of a hypothesis, leading
in turn to more observations in the next cycle). However, reading
dozens of prior messages in which the focus was on the summation theorem
alone reminded my of my favored passage from an article by George Box:
---------
"We have seen some examples of the extraordinary progress in our science
over a brief ten-year period as a result of feedback between theory and
practice. Feedback requires a closed loop. By contrast, when for any
reason the loop is open, progress stops. Such stagnation can occur with
the (normally iterative) cycle stuck either in the practice mode or in
the theory mode."
"The maladies which result may be called COOKBOKERY and MATHEMATISTRY.
The symptoms of the former are a tendency fo force all problems into the
molds of one or two routine techniques, insufficient thought being given
to the real objective of the investigation or to the relevance of the
assumptions implied by the imposed methods. (...) MATHEMATISTRY is
characterized by the development of the theory for theory's sake, which
since it seldom touches down with practice, has a tendency to redefine
the problem rather than solve it. Typically there has one been a
statistical problem with scientific relevance but this has long since
been lost sight of."
G.E.P. Box (1976) "Science and Statistics" J. Amer. Stat. Assoc. 71,
791-799.
also "The Collected Works of George E.P. Box" v. I, p. 191, Wadsworth,
Belmont 1984.
--------
You may replace the phrase "statistical problem" with a scientific
discipline of your choice. ;)
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Petr Kuzmic, Ph.D. | (608) 256-4790
BioKin Consulting | fax (708) 256-1269
P.O. Box 8336 | pkuzmic at biokin.com
Madison WI 53708 | http://www.biokin.com
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