Environmental Health and Toxicology  2016;31(1):e2016008-

doi:10.5620/eht.e2016008

Time to change from a simple linear model to a complex systems model.

Yun Chul HONG 1

Affiliations

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Keywords

Hypothesis; Relationship; Causative factor; Complex systems

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

A simple linear model to test the hypothesis based on one-on-one relationship has been used to find the causative factors of diseases. However, we now know that not just one, but many factors from different systems such as chemical exposure, genes, epigenetic changes, and proteins are involved in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus. So, with availability of modern technologies to understand the intricate nature of relations among complex systems, we need to move forward to the future by taking complex systems model.