Are all functions of a human cell known?

Question

Please bear with me as I'm intruding into your world from a computer science background. In programming, once you have created a program, you know all functions of that program. Thus, 100% knowledge is achieved. My question is, in the field of Biology, how much do we think we currently know about the human cell? Are all functions known (eg. 100%)? Are most functions known (60%)? Or do we know a miniscule proportion (1%~5%) of functions of a cell.The reason I ask is I'm interested in the concept of simulating cells via computer. If we know about a given biological function of a cell, we could convert it into a mathematical function for use within a simulation. With simulations, you could simulate the cell's reactions to drugs, viruses, cell garbage cleanup, etc, based on it's defined functions. And the more functions we know about human cells, the better the simulation.Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

We do not know 100% what occurs within cells. While it would be amazing if we could use a simulation of a cell, however, at this time, we do not even know what we don't know about the workings of a cell. To put a percentage on how much we know, I would guess less than 10 %, and even the majority of it is up for debate. I would encourage you to continue exploring this initiative. Maybe you could be the one who finds this out!

Answer 2

Hi Zachary: Good question and great thinking moving forward. When you say cell, it depends what cell you are talking about. e.g. RBCs, WBCs etc we do know a lot and more is being reported in research. What your simulations would be helpful are in Brain, we do not know much about the functioning of brain, neurons etc. With simulations, we might be able to help patients with Parkinsons, Alzheimers i mean all neurodegenerative disorders. I would be happy to talk to you further on this topic and maybe help you develop a simulation project along the same lines.