Re: blog: semantic dissonance in uniprot

Oliver wrote:
>  Some people involved in BioPAX think they are the same if and only
> if they have the same sequence.
>
>  I think more useful for Systems Biology is that they participate in
> the same reactions with the same kinetics.

But that is a very personal opinion, right? Without doubt, when two classes 
of proteins have the same dispositions and functions (to use BFO - lingo), 
this is a very important thing to know. Nonetheless, if their structures are 
completely different, most biologists would describe them as distinct 
classes of proteins. The notion that any molecule or molecular complex 
should be called "Insulin" just because it has the same effect on regulating 
blood sugar seems quite avantgarde to me.

 -- Matthias 

Received on Thursday, 26 March 2009 21:31:16 UTC