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The relativity of biological function

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Abstract

Function is a central concept in biological theories and explanations. Yet discussions about function are often based on a narrow understanding of biological systems and processes, such as idealized molecular systems or simple evolutionary, i.e., selective, dynamics. Conflicting conceptions of function continue to be used in the scientific literature to support certain claims, for instance about the fraction of “functional DNA” in the human genome. Here we argue that all biologically meaningful interpretations of function are necessarily context dependent. This implies that they derive their meaning as well as their range of applicability only within a specific theoretical and measurement context. We use this framework to shed light on the current debate about functional DNA and argue that without considering explicitly the theoretical and measurement contexts all attempts to integrate biological theories are prone to fail.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Jan Aerts and Steve Hoffmann for critical reading of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peter F. Stadler.

Additional information

K.N. is supported by the Volkswagen Foundation within the initiative “Evolutionary Biology”. This work has also been supported by the Templeton Foundation (grant # 24332) and NSF SES Grant No. 1243575.

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Laubichler, M.D., Stadler, P.F., Prohaska, S.J. et al. The relativity of biological function. Theory Biosci. 134, 143–147 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12064-015-0215-5

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