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kinetikit: a GENESIS-XODUS based utility and interface for modeling
chemical kinetics and signaling pathways.
Copyright (C) 1995-1997 Upinder S. Bhalla
Statement on Models and Experiments.
Animal experimentation is fundamental to research in biology. Certain
groups claim that computer models can replace animal experiments. This is
absurd. Computer models would be meaningless if it were not
for the enormous amount of careful research that the scientific
community has carried out on animal subjects over the years. All
aspects of realistic models, from the theory to the parameters to the
design of the interface, are based on experiments. While computer models
can help with understanding and relating existing data, they can, at best,
merely provide hints towards discovering hitherto unknown biological facts.
I am fully in support of the idea of using models as a supplement
to understanding biological function when combined with laboratory work
or a study course. I will be delighted if such a supplement can lead to more
effective and humane use of animal subjects. However, I flatly disagree
with the philosophy that this, or similar modeling tools, can replace
animal experimentation as a means for extending our knowledge of
biological systems. If these views are offensive to you, I urge you not to
use this program (kinetikit), both because it would be hypocrisy on your part
to use a product of animal experimentation, and because it would go
against my objectives in writing this software.
Upinder S. Bhalla.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
This copyright notice in its entirety, including the Statement on Models
and Experiments, must be present in every copy of the software, and must
be displayed on startup.
Upinder S. Bhalla may be contacted at bhalla@bbb.caltech.edu
GENESIS, the GEneral Neural SImulation System is copyrighted as follows:
Copyright 1988 - 1996, California Institute of Technology
Some components are copyright by the originating institution and are used
with the permission of the authors.
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