Open
Description
To obtain full mathematical understanding of the cell https://github.com/cirosantilli/awesome-whole-cell-simulation , wouldn't it make sense to first study prokaryotes instead of eukaryotes?
It seems that we barely understand prokaryotes, and they are already much simpler, so why not fill up our knowledge about them first?
I can see the following trade-offs, but I wonder how much they matter:
- prokaryotes look more like plants and humans, which might be economically and practically more important to humans on average
- how much of prokaryote insight can we convert into eukaryote? Are there prokaryote mechanisms which are complex to understand, and not present at all in eukaryotes, or are they mostly a subset?
- are there any experimental advantages of using eukaryotes, that make experiments cheaper / faster than on prokaryotes?
- are we somewhat equally blocked on data from new experimental techniques for both pro and eukariotes, that whenever a new experiment comes out, scientists just immediately use it for all species they have at hand?