EconTech

The linking of data in genomic and bibliomic (spelling?) studies and what it apparently allows (see article below) and what Hans Rosling is trying to do, in a slightly different way, for the social sciences could be possible with clinical data. Probably it cannot replace clinical experiments, but it can add to our ability to aggregate knowledge. But the records have to be kept and shared. And of course, so many physicians don’t want to do that, apparently because documenting their practice in an open way is too much hassle.

Going by the book

. . .And then there is the bibliome—all the mentions in research papers of known biomolecules. There are now so many of these papers, and the databases linking them are so good, that it is possible to use scientific methods to investigate the bibliome in its own right, just as any of the other, wetter “omes” may be investigated. Which is exactly what a group of researchers from Peking University, led by Wei Liping, have done to get at the biochemical heart of drug addiction. . . .

She found 18 [pathways] that were involved in addiction to at least one type of drug. Five, however, were common to all four types, and these five pathways therefore look as though they are at the core of the process of addiction. Three of the five were already under suspicion. Dr Wei’s result provided strong statistical evidence to back up what had just been hunches. Two other pathways, however, had not previously been considered as being involved in addiction. . . .