Nature and Consequences of Biological Reductionism for the Immunological Study of Infectious Diseases

Evolution has conserved ‘economic’ systems that perform many functions, faster or better, with less. For example, three to five leukocyte types protect from thousands of pathogens. To achieve so much with so little, biological systems combine their limited elements, creating complex structures. Yet, the prevalent research paradigm is reductionist. Focusing on infectious diseases, reductionist and non-reductionist views are here described. The...