Closing the scientific loop: bridging correlation and causality in the petaflop age.
Advances in computing capability offer the biomedical research community the prospect of creating simulations at a previously unimaginable scale. A diagnostic analysis of the underpinnings of the translational dilemma suggests that the current high-throughput, data-rich research environment has led to an imbalance in the relationship between determinations of correlation and the evaluation of causality. Here I describe the use of high-performance computing technologies to facilitate high-throughput hypothesis evaluation combined with an evolutionary paradigm for the advancement of scientific knowledge. This combination provides a roadmap for closing the scientific loop between correlation and causality, a necessary step if translational endeavors are to succeed.
An
Gary
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Section of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. docgca@gmail.com
D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D019295:Computational Biology / Q000379:methods*