🧬 📊 NON-CORE IDIL: Why are numbers key in modern biology?

𝘓𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘢̀ 𝘭'𝘦́𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴 : 𝘔𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘳, 𝘗𝘳𝘦́𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘵 𝘋𝘦́𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘳 by Pr. Cherine Bechara & Dr. Luca Ciandrini

At first glance, biology might appear to be a qualitative science, rich in observations, descriptions and complex living systems that seem difficult to quantify.

Yet over the last few decades, it has increasingly turned to quantitative approaches, revealing that numbers are not just tools for measurement, but are essential for understanding, predicting and designing biological systems.

📊 𝗗𝗲 𝗹'𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮̀ 𝗹𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

This evolution is driven by technological advances and the culture of data. The spectacular drop in the cost of DNA sequencing and synthesis has made biology not only measurable, but also programmable. We can now read, write and even design biological systems based on digital models - an idea unimaginable just a generation ago.

But with this capability comes a new challenge: a veritable deluge of data. Today, biologists are producing huge quantities of information, from genomes to imaging data, faster than we can intelligently analyze it. The question is no longer "How do we get data?", but rather "What do we do with all this data?"

🔢 𝗗𝗲 𝗹𝗮 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲́𝗲 𝗮̀ 𝗹𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲́𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 : 𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗼̂𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀

This is where numbers, in the form of statistics, estimates and modeling, become the mainstay of modern biology. According to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles, scientific data must not only be produced, but also reused to generate new knowledge.

To make sense of this flood of data, we explored "Fermi questions", estimation exercises that teach quantitative reasoning, even when information is limited. This approach helps develop intuition about the scales and dynamics of biological systems: how many cells does a human body contain? How quickly can a bacterium develop resistance? Etc.

𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗿 (𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿) 𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀 🔀

Numbers help reveal hidden patterns in the data, while showing how easy it is to miss the point. In class, we discussed selective attention and inattentional blindness, cognitive biases that influence researchers' interpretation of results. Recognizing them is essential to designing fair, unbiased experiments and surveys.

✅ 𝗣𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗾𝘂𝗼𝗶 𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝘀𝘁-𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲?

𝘓𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦 𝘢̀ 𝘭'𝘦́𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘶𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴 invites students to see living systems differently, no longer as disordered, unpredictable phenomena, but as measurable, modelable and conceivable systems governed by quantitative principles.

Learning to measure, predict and design means equipping yourself for the next frontier of biological discovery.