Molecular Ecosystems
1 : Columbia University
Molecular biologists often employ a suggestive metaphor to describe the complexities of molecular interactions within cells and embryos: individual molecules are said to be part of ecosystems that integrate them in a complex network of relations with many other entities. The goal of this essay is to scrutinize the metaphor of the cellular ecosystem that, despite its longstanding history, has seldom been articulated. I begin by arguing that the cellular environment is analogous to the biosphere in important and surprising respects. Then, I discuss some applications of the concept of a cellular ecosystem to both molecular-developmental biology and ecology.
