By that same logic, cells, by themselves, are incomplete explanations for organismal complexities. We need to factor in cell-cell interactions, and cell-environment interactions—ushering in holism in cell biology. We possess rudimentary terms for these interactions—ecologies, sociologies, “interactomes”—but still lack models, equations, and mechanisms to understand them. I return, often, to think of disease as a violation of the social compacts between cells.
