Historically, biomedicine and pharmacology have followed the Newtonian paradigm (a worldview built around reductionism, determinism, and predictability).
⚙️The “clockwork universe” approach treats living systems as linear, predictable machines, best understood by dissecting them into parts.
While this approach delivered great breakthroughs (like antibiotics and vaccines), it has profound limitations in the world of botanicals.
🌿Plants are not chemical factories producing one magic bullet but dynamic ecosystems of molecules, producing complex, emergent effects that cannot be explained by a single compound.
➡️Enter complexity theory (a scientific revolution that embraces nonlinearity, emergence, and holism).
Complexity science recognizes that biological systems display properties arising from the interaction of many parts, not reducible to the sum of those parts.
As the science of complexity matures, so too will our ability to appreciate, navigate, and apply the full potential of botanicals for the health of people, animals, and the planet.
I am excited to follow how Nutreco will push this science forward, and look forward to seeing how this information will inspire advancements in natural products globally.
Beyond the “Clockwork Universe”, and towards Complexity Science for Botanicals-
