The Use of Metaphors in the Field of Biology

1. The Use of Metaphors in the Field of Biology By Amber Dubin, Olga Kuznetsova, Stephanie Pubill, and AlizaRaza 2/23/2010

2. Biological Metaphors • Metaphors used in the Biological sciences are very hard to come by because most of the jargon used in the science is very specific and not known by most of society. • Metaphors that are used within the field often times are so subtle they seem indistinguishable from common language • Yet the subtly in these terms still reflects the mentality of the biologists that brought these terms into language

3. Cells as Machines • Using language such as ‘mechanisms’ and ‘devices’ to refer to the processes and parts of biological organs such as cells lends to the notion of cells having properties of machines • Connects to the concept of modification of cells as “engineering” as if cells were mechanical • Very modern concept because it demonstrates that modern technology has strengthened the link between organic and mechanical modification

4. “Weaving” Metaphor • Biological processes that function simultaneously or synergistically are said to be ‘weaved’ together • “fusion” is another way to describe the blending of structure and function that biological processes exhibit • Genetic engineering “weaves” Biology and Engineering together into a new science

5. http://www.biocheminfo.org/moirai/bioeng_blue/metaphor.html

6. Sun Metaphors • The fact that so many metaphors in the human language relate surroundings, aspects of society or human beings themselves to the sun demonstrate how important it is to biological life on planet earth • Some one can “Glow” like the sun • Models for biological components such as atoms have properties similar to the orbital structure of the sun: • Bohr Model of the Atom:

7. “She thinks the world revolves around her” • Here, a human being compares herself to the Sun. Because the world revolves around the Sun, the Sun evokes a natural sense of superiority to planet Earth. • This is literally an impossible thought because no one person can be important or powerful enough to withstand the gravitational force of an entire planet. • The phrase highlights the arrogance of the person with this attitude and draws attention to the tremendous egotism that humans must possess to even create this metaphor.

8. http://safnet.com/literae/html/solar.html

9. Conclusion • Like metaphors from other fields, biological metaphors reflect human nature and the society that coined them. • They also reflect trends in human consciousness and the influence that modernity has on human linguistic expression Any Questions?...

10. Sources • Kazic, Toni, Demetrius Taylor, Brian H. Dunford-Shore, Bryan Cannon, Sumit Sadekar, Gaurav Sanghi, Waheeda Sulaman, Brian Feng, William Wise, Jason Holcomb, and Francis Fabrizio. "Metaphors for Biology and Engineering." Welcome to Biocheminfo. Klotho: Biochemical Compounds Declarative Database, 5 Mar. 2002. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. <http://www.biocheminfo.org/moirai/bioeng_blue/metaphor.html>. • "The Solar Metaphor (safnet.com)." Stephen A. Fuqua - Baha'i, Blog, Interfaith (safnet.com). Web. 11 Feb. 2010. <http://safnet.com/literae/html/solar.html>.