Is Biology Complex or Simple

There are known knowns there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns that is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns— 

each biological property that is studied turns out to be surprisingly simple. Whether it is the attachment of the gecko s feet to vertical surfaces or the height to which water rises in the xylan tubes of the giant Sequoia, that which was once not understood and so thought to be very complex turns out to be based on very simple principles. And because the principles are simple, the effects are robust. 

Could it be that biology is not so complex, but instead is an accumulation of a vast number of very simple outcomes based upon simple modes of action It is indeed possible, because, at least in many instances thus far, mechanisms of biological action that have been discovered and consequently understood have not required that any new principles or modes of action be postulated. The study of biology has not revolutionized the fields of physics and chemistry. Rather, it has reaffirmed them. 

Engineering predictions about biological phenomena are usually based upon (mostly empirical) mathematical equations. The usefulness of these equations depends upon the accuracy of their predictions. Sometimes, however, biological behavior is too complex to be described in simple mathematical form. 

Whether it becomes useful to identify these simple rules, the robustness of biological activity must depend almost solely on simple processes. The simplest, we know, is the gene. 

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