ABSTRACT
Systems biology seeks to build large-scale computational models of biological systems, particularly biochemical networks, which have been the traditional subject of molecular biology. In practical terms molecular biology is far bigger and far more established than systems biology and thus it is hard to imagine that systems biology could really ever have an authoritative position to dictate the roles molecular biology should have in research. This chapter aims to interpret certain attitudes and statements in systems biology as expressing or implying a form of scientific imperialism that would reduce another field, in this case molecular biology, to a less or non-independent role. The concept of subordination should help develop the notion of scientific imperialism, and the different forms it may take. The chapter shows how one might assess or evaluates such an attitude and weigh-up such moves against other interdisciplinary options.
