Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34636670›Full record

ArticlemSystems2021

Using Cartesian Doubt To Build a Sequencing-Based View of Microbiology.

Braden T Tierney, Erika Szymanski, James R Henriksen, Aleksandar D Kostic, Chirag J Patel

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in mSystems, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 46% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Braden T TierneyDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-7533-8802
Erika SzymanskiDepartment of English, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6321-8897
James R HenriksenMr. Fusion Inc., Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2485-0889
Aleksandar D KosticSection on Pathophysiology and Molecular Pharmacology, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0837-4360
Chirag J PatelDepartment of Biomedical Informatics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8756-8525
Joslin Diabetes Center · USColorado State University · USFusion (United States) · USHarvard University · US

Funding

SPECIAL ASSAY COREP30DK036836 · NIDDK · JOSLIN DIABETES CENTER · PI ROHIT N. KULKARNI · 1986 to 2026
$50.5M
Data science tools to identify robust exposure-phenotype associations for precision medicineR01ES032470 · NIEHS · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · PI MANRAI, ARJUN KUMAR, PATEL, CHIRAG J. · 2021 to 2025
$3.5M
NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK036836
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The technological leap of DNA sequencing generated a tension between modern metagenomics and historical microbiology. We are forcibly harmonizing the output of a modern tool with centuries of experimental knowledge derived from culture-based microbiology. As a thought experiment, we borrow the notion of Cartesian doubt from philosopher Rene Descartes, who used doubt to build a philosophical framework from his incorrigible statement that "I think therefore I am." We aim to cast away preconceived notions and conceptualize microorganisms through the lens of metagenomic sequencing alone. Specifically, we propose funding and building analysis and engineering methods that neither search for nor rely on the assumption of independent genomes bound by lipid barriers containing discrete functional roles and taxonomies. We propose that a view of microbial communities based in sequencing will engender novel insights into metagenomic structure and may capture functional biology not reflected within the current paradigm.

Indexed as

Cartesian doubtmicrobial geneticsmicrobial species conceptmicrobiome

Identifiers

PMID34636670
PMCPMC8510522
OpenAlexW3207076998

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.