[rfugger]

This is true, but everything is complex only up to the point when you begin to understand it. Scurvy was a complex disease until the discovery that it was cured and prevented by citrus fruit(1). Now we have the technology to skip right to the discovery of vitamin C, a miraculous 100% accurate test for scurvy.

I know I'm oversimplifying, but I think the point is valid. This is why discovery of a biomarker is so crucial -- it begins to "decomplexify" the disease so we can properly define it and start to find treatments for it.

(1) Ok, it's never really that simple: http://mentalfloss.com/article/24149/how-scurvy-was-cured-th...

[rjsw]

Maybe link to the original blog article [1], your link is just a summary.

[1] http://idlewords.com/2010/03/scott_and_scurvy.htm

[rfugger]

Thanks -- I just copied the first link I found in a search engine.