Evolution, language and analogy in functional genomics

Almost a century ago, Wittgenstein pointed out that theory in science is in tricately connected to language. This connection is not a frequent topic in the genomics literature. But a case can be made that functional genomics i s today hindered by the paradoxes that Wittgenstein identified. If this is true, until these paradoxes are recognized and addressed, functional genomi cs will continue to be limited in its ability to extrapolate information fr om genomic sequences.