Reductionism is the process of reducing complex things
to their smallest parts rather than looking at them as a whole.
Webster's dictionary suggests the synonym: oversimplification. In
biology, reductionism fosters the belief that our behavior can be
explained by studying the molecules and atoms that make up our DNA,
rather than examining the whole animal in its environment.
In the biological sciences, the status once enjoyed
by naturalists, who observe how animals live and what they do,
has shifted to molecular biologists. Biologists today tend to
believe that work at the molecular level will yield a more profound
understanding of nature than the study of entire organisms. The
work of naturalists tends to be dismissed as fuzzy science. The
result is that molecular biology has become the most prestigious
of the biological disciplines. While there is no doubt that we
have much to gain from molecular biology, the reductionists often
lose sight of the forest in their zeal to examine the molecules
in the twigs.
The Human Genome Project is reductionism at its
most extreme. Harvard molecular biologist and Nobel Laureate,
Walter Gilbert, has referred to the human genome as the "Holy
Grail" of genetics. James Watson, Director of the National
Center for Human Genome Research, has described the goal as the
understanding of "life itself." These scientists are
loosing sight of the fact that the human being is not simply a
collection of DNA molecules.
The Human Genome Project promises a greater understanding
of human genetics. It will not, however, tell us the meaning of
life. Nor will it supply answers to the social and political issues
that face America and the world. Dr. Hubbard contends that "the
myth of the all-powerful gene is based on flawed science that
discounts the environmental context in which we and our genes
exists. It has many dangers, as it can lead to genetic discrimination
and hazardous medical manipulations." (Hubbard p. 6).