The Role of “Missile” and “Targeting” Metaphors in Nanomedicine
In this paper I suggest that the “missile” and the “targeting” metaphors in research on nanoparticle-based drug delivery play different roles. I argue that the “missile” plays a marginal scientific role and a more important role in communication, while “targeting” has become an organizing metaphor f...
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| Published in: | Philosophia scientiae Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 39 - 55 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Éditions Kimé
18-02-2019
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | In this paper I suggest that the “missile” and the “targeting” metaphors in research on nanoparticle-based drug delivery play different roles. I argue that the “missile” plays a marginal scientific role and a more important role in communication, while “targeting” has become an organizing metaphor for the research field. The reason, I suggest, is that targeting is the main explanandum of the field and that this metaphor continues to be relevant even as nanomedicine matures towards tackling more complex problems. Finally, I discuss recent suggestions of new complexity-oriented metaphors, and I suggest that the significant role of simplifying models and the genuine need for such models may explain why complexity metaphors have not caught on among researchers. |
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| ISSN: | 1281-2463 1775-4283 |
| DOI: | 10.4000/philosophiascientiae.1742 |