Philip Dawid, William Twining, and Mimi Vasilaki (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197264843
- eISBN:
- 9780191754050
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264843.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Methodology and Statistics
Evidence — its nature and interpretation — is the key to many topical debates and concerns such as global warming, evolution, the search for weapons of mass destruction, DNA profiling, and ...
More
Evidence — its nature and interpretation — is the key to many topical debates and concerns such as global warming, evolution, the search for weapons of mass destruction, DNA profiling, and evidence-based medicine. In 2004, University College London launched a cross-disciplinary research programme ‘Evidence, Inference and Enquiry’ to explore the question: ‘Can there be an integrated multidisciplinary science of evidence?’ While this question was hotly contested and no clear final consensus emerged, much was learned on the journey. This book, based on the closing conference of the programme held at the British Academy in December 2007, illustrates the complexity of the subject, with seventeen chapters written from a diversity of perspectives including Archaeology, Computer Science, Economics, Education, Health, History, Law, Psychology, Philosophy, and Statistics. General issues covered include principles and systems for handling complex evidence, evidence for policy-making, and human evidence-processing, as well as the very possibility of systematising the study of evidence.Less
Evidence — its nature and interpretation — is the key to many topical debates and concerns such as global warming, evolution, the search for weapons of mass destruction, DNA profiling, and evidence-based medicine. In 2004, University College London launched a cross-disciplinary research programme ‘Evidence, Inference and Enquiry’ to explore the question: ‘Can there be an integrated multidisciplinary science of evidence?’ While this question was hotly contested and no clear final consensus emerged, much was learned on the journey. This book, based on the closing conference of the programme held at the British Academy in December 2007, illustrates the complexity of the subject, with seventeen chapters written from a diversity of perspectives including Archaeology, Computer Science, Economics, Education, Health, History, Law, Psychology, Philosophy, and Statistics. General issues covered include principles and systems for handling complex evidence, evidence for policy-making, and human evidence-processing, as well as the very possibility of systematising the study of evidence.
Jacob Höglund
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199214211
- eISBN:
- 9780191706660
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214211.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Biodiversity / Conservation Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Conservation genetics focuses on understanding the role and requirement of genetic variation for population persistence. However, considerable debate now surrounds the role of genetic factors (as ...
More
Conservation genetics focuses on understanding the role and requirement of genetic variation for population persistence. However, considerable debate now surrounds the role of genetic factors (as opposed to non-genetic factors such as habitat destruction, etc.) in population extinction, and a synthesis is now timely. Can extinction be explained by habitat destruction alone or is lack of genetic variation a part of the explanation? The book reviews the arguments for a role of genetics in the present biodiversity crisis. It describes the methods used to study genetic variation in endangered species and examines the influence of genetic variation in the extinction of species. To date, conservation genetics has predominantly utilized neutral genetic markers, e.g., microsatellites. However, with the recent advances in molecular genetics and genomics it will soon be possible to study ‘direct gene action’, following the fate of genetic variation at the level of DNA, through expression, to proteins in order to determine how such phenotypes fare in populations of free living organisms. This book explores these exciting avenues of future research potential, integrating ecological quantitative genetics with the new genome science. It is now more important than ever that we ask relevant questions about the evolutionary fate of endangered populations throughout the globe and incorporate our knowledge of evolutionary processes and the distribution of genetic diversity into effective conservation planning and action.Less
Conservation genetics focuses on understanding the role and requirement of genetic variation for population persistence. However, considerable debate now surrounds the role of genetic factors (as opposed to non-genetic factors such as habitat destruction, etc.) in population extinction, and a synthesis is now timely. Can extinction be explained by habitat destruction alone or is lack of genetic variation a part of the explanation? The book reviews the arguments for a role of genetics in the present biodiversity crisis. It describes the methods used to study genetic variation in endangered species and examines the influence of genetic variation in the extinction of species. To date, conservation genetics has predominantly utilized neutral genetic markers, e.g., microsatellites. However, with the recent advances in molecular genetics and genomics it will soon be possible to study ‘direct gene action’, following the fate of genetic variation at the level of DNA, through expression, to proteins in order to determine how such phenotypes fare in populations of free living organisms. This book explores these exciting avenues of future research potential, integrating ecological quantitative genetics with the new genome science. It is now more important than ever that we ask relevant questions about the evolutionary fate of endangered populations throughout the globe and incorporate our knowledge of evolutionary processes and the distribution of genetic diversity into effective conservation planning and action.
Baltazar Aguda, Avner Friedman, and Visiting Associate Professor, The Ohio State University
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198570912
- eISBN:
- 9780191718717
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570912.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Soft Matter / Biological Physics
The human genome of three billion letters has been sequenced. So have the genomes of thousands of other organisms. With unprecedented resolution, modern technologies are allowing us to peek into the ...
More
The human genome of three billion letters has been sequenced. So have the genomes of thousands of other organisms. With unprecedented resolution, modern technologies are allowing us to peek into the world of genes, biomolecules, and cells, and flooding us with data of immense complexity that we are just barely beginning to understand. A huge gap separates our knowledge of the components of a cell and what is known from our observations of its physiology. This book explores what has been done to close this gap of understanding between the realms of molecules and biological processes. It contains illustrative mechanisms and models of gene regulatory networks, DNA replication, the cell cycle, cell death, differentiation, cell senescence, and the abnormal state of cancer cells. The mechanisms are biomolecular in detail, and the models are mathematical in nature.Less
The human genome of three billion letters has been sequenced. So have the genomes of thousands of other organisms. With unprecedented resolution, modern technologies are allowing us to peek into the world of genes, biomolecules, and cells, and flooding us with data of immense complexity that we are just barely beginning to understand. A huge gap separates our knowledge of the components of a cell and what is known from our observations of its physiology. This book explores what has been done to close this gap of understanding between the realms of molecules and biological processes. It contains illustrative mechanisms and models of gene regulatory networks, DNA replication, the cell cycle, cell death, differentiation, cell senescence, and the abnormal state of cancer cells. The mechanisms are biomolecular in detail, and the models are mathematical in nature.
Duana Fullwiley
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691123165
- eISBN:
- 9781400840410
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691123165.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
In the 1980s, a research team led by Parisian scientists identified several unique DNA sequences, or haplotypes, linked to sickle cell anemia in African populations. After casual observations of how ...
More
In the 1980s, a research team led by Parisian scientists identified several unique DNA sequences, or haplotypes, linked to sickle cell anemia in African populations. After casual observations of how patients managed this painful blood disorder, the researchers in question postulated that the Senegalese type was less severe. This book traces how this genetic discourse has blotted from view the roles that Senegalese patients and doctors have played in making sickle cell “mild” in a social setting where public health priorities and economic austerity programs have forced people to improvise informal strategies of care. The book shows how geneticists, who were fixated on population differences, never investigated the various modalities of self-care that people developed in this context of biomedical scarcity, and how local doctors, confronted with dire cuts in Senegal's health sector, wittingly accepted the genetic prognosis of better-than-expected health outcomes. Unlike most genetic determinisms that highlight the absoluteness of disease, DNA haplotypes for sickle cell in Senegal did the opposite. As the book demonstrates, they allowed the condition to remain officially invisible, never to materialize as a health priority. At the same time, scientists' attribution of a less severe form of Senegalese sickle cell to isolated DNA sequences closed off other explanations of this population's measured biological success. This book reveals how the notion of an advantageous form of sickle cell in this part of West Africa has defined—and obscured—the nature of this illness in Senegal today.Less
In the 1980s, a research team led by Parisian scientists identified several unique DNA sequences, or haplotypes, linked to sickle cell anemia in African populations. After casual observations of how patients managed this painful blood disorder, the researchers in question postulated that the Senegalese type was less severe. This book traces how this genetic discourse has blotted from view the roles that Senegalese patients and doctors have played in making sickle cell “mild” in a social setting where public health priorities and economic austerity programs have forced people to improvise informal strategies of care. The book shows how geneticists, who were fixated on population differences, never investigated the various modalities of self-care that people developed in this context of biomedical scarcity, and how local doctors, confronted with dire cuts in Senegal's health sector, wittingly accepted the genetic prognosis of better-than-expected health outcomes. Unlike most genetic determinisms that highlight the absoluteness of disease, DNA haplotypes for sickle cell in Senegal did the opposite. As the book demonstrates, they allowed the condition to remain officially invisible, never to materialize as a health priority. At the same time, scientists' attribution of a less severe form of Senegalese sickle cell to isolated DNA sequences closed off other explanations of this population's measured biological success. This book reveals how the notion of an advantageous form of sickle cell in this part of West Africa has defined—and obscured—the nature of this illness in Senegal today.
Paul F. Lurquin and Linda Stone
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195315387
- eISBN:
- 9780199785674
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195315387.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The notions of natural selection and drift also apply to humans and their biological and cultural evolution. The science of paleoanthropology explains human evolution through the study of ...
More
The notions of natural selection and drift also apply to humans and their biological and cultural evolution. The science of paleoanthropology explains human evolution through the study of intermediate fossil forms. In addition, geneticists have been able to retrace, through the study of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA, the origin and migrations of prehistoric humans. The understanding of human cultural evolution has greatly benefited from the application of evolutionary thinking.Less
The notions of natural selection and drift also apply to humans and their biological and cultural evolution. The science of paleoanthropology explains human evolution through the study of intermediate fossil forms. In addition, geneticists have been able to retrace, through the study of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome DNA, the origin and migrations of prehistoric humans. The understanding of human cultural evolution has greatly benefited from the application of evolutionary thinking.
Peter A. Gloor
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195304121
- eISBN:
- 9780199789771
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304121.003.0004
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Innovation
This chapter uses examples from history to show how creativity, collaboration, and communication — in networks of people — have advanced civilization through to some of the greatest innovations of ...
More
This chapter uses examples from history to show how creativity, collaboration, and communication — in networks of people — have advanced civilization through to some of the greatest innovations of all time. Each example from history illustrates one of the key elements of COIN DNA. The chapter begins with how Homo sapiens eclipsed Neanderthals, and what this tells us about collaboration. Other examples from history include the Fugger banking empire of the German Renaissance period, Marco Polo, and the Rothschilds. The traits that make collaboration on the Internet so powerful, Linux, software patents, and Intel Research are discussed. Three additional examples — a campaign for the Kenyan parliament, Microsoft (both positive and negative aspects), and a “consul” that links entrepreneurs in the United States and Switzerland — expand the discussion of DNA and provide real-world, contemporary examples of how creativity, collaboration, and communication lead to innovation.Less
This chapter uses examples from history to show how creativity, collaboration, and communication — in networks of people — have advanced civilization through to some of the greatest innovations of all time. Each example from history illustrates one of the key elements of COIN DNA. The chapter begins with how Homo sapiens eclipsed Neanderthals, and what this tells us about collaboration. Other examples from history include the Fugger banking empire of the German Renaissance period, Marco Polo, and the Rothschilds. The traits that make collaboration on the Internet so powerful, Linux, software patents, and Intel Research are discussed. Three additional examples — a campaign for the Kenyan parliament, Microsoft (both positive and negative aspects), and a “consul” that links entrepreneurs in the United States and Switzerland — expand the discussion of DNA and provide real-world, contemporary examples of how creativity, collaboration, and communication lead to innovation.
Julian C. Knight
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199227693
- eISBN:
- 9780191711015
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227693.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology
Study of genetic variation at the globin genes has provided a series of fundamental insights the nature and extent of genetic diversity and its functional consequences. This chapter provides a primer ...
More
Study of genetic variation at the globin genes has provided a series of fundamental insights the nature and extent of genetic diversity and its functional consequences. This chapter provides a primer in human molecular genetics through a systematic review of the elucidation of the genetic basis of haemoglobin S, responsible for sickle cell disease and trait. A review of genetic diversity at or near the globin genes responsible for other structural variants of haemoglobin and the haemoglobinopathies is described. This allows the major classes of genetic variation found in man to be introduced, ranging from fine scale nucleotide diversity to larger scale structural variation. The functional consequences of such diversity are discussed with a number of different examples given. The chapter concludes with a review of the remarkable successes achieved through completion of sequencing the human genome including insights into genetic variation.Less
Study of genetic variation at the globin genes has provided a series of fundamental insights the nature and extent of genetic diversity and its functional consequences. This chapter provides a primer in human molecular genetics through a systematic review of the elucidation of the genetic basis of haemoglobin S, responsible for sickle cell disease and trait. A review of genetic diversity at or near the globin genes responsible for other structural variants of haemoglobin and the haemoglobinopathies is described. This allows the major classes of genetic variation found in man to be introduced, ranging from fine scale nucleotide diversity to larger scale structural variation. The functional consequences of such diversity are discussed with a number of different examples given. The chapter concludes with a review of the remarkable successes achieved through completion of sequencing the human genome including insights into genetic variation.
Julian C. Knight
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199227693
- eISBN:
- 9780191711015
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227693.003.0007
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology
The discovery and characterisation of tandem repeat DNA has been of fundamental importance in the analysis of human genetic variation. The nature and origins of satellite, minisatellite, and ...
More
The discovery and characterisation of tandem repeat DNA has been of fundamental importance in the analysis of human genetic variation. The nature and origins of satellite, minisatellite, and microsatellite DNA are reviewed. The diverse applications arising from study of highly polymorphic tandem repeats are described including application to mapping the human genome and disease genes, to forensic practice through techniques such as DNA fingerprinting, and to studies of human origins and evolutionary relationships. The consequences for gene expression are reviewed, including at the variable number tandem repeat upstream of the insulin gene associated with type 1 diabetes. The role of tandem repeats in human disease is discussed, including unstable trinucleotide repeat expansions seen in neurological diseases. Gain of function effects through polyglutamine expansions in Huntington disease and other conditions; loss of function mechanisms involving Fragile X and Friedrich ataxia; and RNA-mediated mechanisms seen in myotonic dystrophy are all reviewed.Less
The discovery and characterisation of tandem repeat DNA has been of fundamental importance in the analysis of human genetic variation. The nature and origins of satellite, minisatellite, and microsatellite DNA are reviewed. The diverse applications arising from study of highly polymorphic tandem repeats are described including application to mapping the human genome and disease genes, to forensic practice through techniques such as DNA fingerprinting, and to studies of human origins and evolutionary relationships. The consequences for gene expression are reviewed, including at the variable number tandem repeat upstream of the insulin gene associated with type 1 diabetes. The role of tandem repeats in human disease is discussed, including unstable trinucleotide repeat expansions seen in neurological diseases. Gain of function effects through polyglutamine expansions in Huntington disease and other conditions; loss of function mechanisms involving Fragile X and Friedrich ataxia; and RNA-mediated mechanisms seen in myotonic dystrophy are all reviewed.
Julian C. Knight
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199227693
- eISBN:
- 9780191711015
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199227693.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology
In this chapter the remarkable extent of mobile DNA elements within the human genome is reviewed. The concept of mobile DNA elements as genomic parasites is discussed including how such elements are ...
More
In this chapter the remarkable extent of mobile DNA elements within the human genome is reviewed. The concept of mobile DNA elements as genomic parasites is discussed including how such elements are now almost exclusively inactive. The analysis of how mobile DNA elements provide a 'fossil record' of past transposition events is reviewed together with the evolutionary insights this has provided. The dispersal and accumulation of mobile DNA elements in eukaryotes is described together including how this has contributed to the complexity and plasticity of our genome. DNA transposons, L1 retrotransposable elements, and Alu elements are all reviewed together with associations with genetic disease. Polymorphism seen among recent Alu and other mobile DNA elements is discussed including how this has contributed to our understanding of human population genetics and evolutionary history. Evidence to support a recent African origins hypothesis is reviewed.Less
In this chapter the remarkable extent of mobile DNA elements within the human genome is reviewed. The concept of mobile DNA elements as genomic parasites is discussed including how such elements are now almost exclusively inactive. The analysis of how mobile DNA elements provide a 'fossil record' of past transposition events is reviewed together with the evolutionary insights this has provided. The dispersal and accumulation of mobile DNA elements in eukaryotes is described together including how this has contributed to the complexity and plasticity of our genome. DNA transposons, L1 retrotransposable elements, and Alu elements are all reviewed together with associations with genetic disease. Polymorphism seen among recent Alu and other mobile DNA elements is discussed including how this has contributed to our understanding of human population genetics and evolutionary history. Evidence to support a recent African origins hypothesis is reviewed.
John C. Avise
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369670
- eISBN:
- 9780199871063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369670.003.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Although clonality is often discussed in reference to whole organisms, the phenomenon also applies to (and is underlain by) genetic processes operating within each individual. All forms of clonal ...
More
Although clonality is often discussed in reference to whole organisms, the phenomenon also applies to (and is underlain by) genetic processes operating within each individual. All forms of clonal reproduction begin with the faithful replication of genetic material. This chapter discusses the clonal propagation of nucleic acids (via DNA replication) and of entire nuclear genomes and chromosome sets (via mitosis) in populations of somatic cells. It also describes how mitochondrial genomes, as well as particular kinds of sex chromosomes, provide special examples of genetic systems that abstain from recombination. The net result of such micro-asexual processes is a multicellular individual, which can thus be viewed as a tightly knit colony of clonemate cells.Less
Although clonality is often discussed in reference to whole organisms, the phenomenon also applies to (and is underlain by) genetic processes operating within each individual. All forms of clonal reproduction begin with the faithful replication of genetic material. This chapter discusses the clonal propagation of nucleic acids (via DNA replication) and of entire nuclear genomes and chromosome sets (via mitosis) in populations of somatic cells. It also describes how mitochondrial genomes, as well as particular kinds of sex chromosomes, provide special examples of genetic systems that abstain from recombination. The net result of such micro-asexual processes is a multicellular individual, which can thus be viewed as a tightly knit colony of clonemate cells.
John C. Avise
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195369670
- eISBN:
- 9780199871063
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195369670.003.0007
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Cloning by human hands can mean many things. It can refer to the intentional clonal propagation, via recombinant-DNA technologies, of small bits of a genome such as particular genes or regulatory DNA ...
More
Cloning by human hands can mean many things. It can refer to the intentional clonal propagation, via recombinant-DNA technologies, of small bits of a genome such as particular genes or regulatory DNA sequences. It can refer to the artificial stimulation of natural clonal processes, as for example by subjecting animals to treatments or research protocols that induce parthenogenesis, gynogenesis, hybridogenesis, or polyembryony, or that enforce intense inbreeding. Or, it can mean the purposeful manipulation of cells and whole genomes to generate genetically identical cell masses or even entire clonal individuals via mechanisms that may differ quite radically from those known in nature. This chapter reviews laboratory methods in biotechnology, and canvasses the resulting biological products that have emerged to date from each of these forms of human-mediated clonality.Less
Cloning by human hands can mean many things. It can refer to the intentional clonal propagation, via recombinant-DNA technologies, of small bits of a genome such as particular genes or regulatory DNA sequences. It can refer to the artificial stimulation of natural clonal processes, as for example by subjecting animals to treatments or research protocols that induce parthenogenesis, gynogenesis, hybridogenesis, or polyembryony, or that enforce intense inbreeding. Or, it can mean the purposeful manipulation of cells and whole genomes to generate genetically identical cell masses or even entire clonal individuals via mechanisms that may differ quite radically from those known in nature. This chapter reviews laboratory methods in biotechnology, and canvasses the resulting biological products that have emerged to date from each of these forms of human-mediated clonality.
William P. Brown
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199730797
- eISBN:
- 9780199777075
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199730797.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Biblical Studies, Theology
God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the ...
More
God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the diversity and vitality of animal life in the wilderness. What was considered marginal from Job’s perspective now takes center stage in God’s answer, which reflects God’s biophilia. While de-centered, Job is shown to be integrally related to the wild. He was made by God “with” Behemoth, suggesting Job is linked with all creatures, including monstrous Leviathan. Biology, too, discerns a link that connects all life on Earth, a genetic link (DNA). God’s answer, moreover, takes Job on a grand tour of taxonomy, not unlike Charles Darwin’s around-the-world voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle early in his career. Read in the light of evolution, Job presents a powerful testimony to biodiversity and affirms the intrinsic value of all life.Less
God’s answer to Job is the focus of this chapter. God presents a panoramic sweep of creation that comprises the cosmic, the meteorological, and the biological. Its primary focus, however, is on the diversity and vitality of animal life in the wilderness. What was considered marginal from Job’s perspective now takes center stage in God’s answer, which reflects God’s biophilia. While de-centered, Job is shown to be integrally related to the wild. He was made by God “with” Behemoth, suggesting Job is linked with all creatures, including monstrous Leviathan. Biology, too, discerns a link that connects all life on Earth, a genetic link (DNA). God’s answer, moreover, takes Job on a grand tour of taxonomy, not unlike Charles Darwin’s around-the-world voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle early in his career. Read in the light of evolution, Job presents a powerful testimony to biodiversity and affirms the intrinsic value of all life.
William R. Clark
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195336214
- eISBN:
- 9780199868537
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195336214.003.0004
- Subject:
- Biology, Ecology
It is likely that within not too many years, we will have effectively neutralized most if not all of the CDC A-list agents as potential bioterror weapons. But for some time now scientists have been ...
More
It is likely that within not too many years, we will have effectively neutralized most if not all of the CDC A-list agents as potential bioterror weapons. But for some time now scientists have been asking what the next generation of bioweapons might look like, and how we can prepare ourselves to defend against them. It is now possible, using molecular biology techniques, to genetically alter existing pathogens to make them more deadly, easier to weaponize, more resistant to drugs or vaccines, or even to create new pathogens that have not existed before. Chapter 4 looks at what has been done to date along these lines, and possibilities for the future. In addition to inserting extra toxic genes into pathogens, researchers have been able to rebuild in the laboratory copies of the extremely deadly 1918 flu virus. Such research is beginning to worry many people, and may be in violation of exisiting bioweapons treaties.Less
It is likely that within not too many years, we will have effectively neutralized most if not all of the CDC A-list agents as potential bioterror weapons. But for some time now scientists have been asking what the next generation of bioweapons might look like, and how we can prepare ourselves to defend against them. It is now possible, using molecular biology techniques, to genetically alter existing pathogens to make them more deadly, easier to weaponize, more resistant to drugs or vaccines, or even to create new pathogens that have not existed before. Chapter 4 looks at what has been done to date along these lines, and possibilities for the future. In addition to inserting extra toxic genes into pathogens, researchers have been able to rebuild in the laboratory copies of the extremely deadly 1918 flu virus. Such research is beginning to worry many people, and may be in violation of exisiting bioweapons treaties.
Stefan Helmreich, Sophia Roosth, and Michele Friedner
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691164809
- eISBN:
- 9781400873869
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691164809.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter proposes a classification of today's whales according to three different formats: the analog whale, the digital whale, and the simulated whale. The analog whale would be a whale of the ...
More
This chapter proposes a classification of today's whales according to three different formats: the analog whale, the digital whale, and the simulated whale. The analog whale would be a whale of the waves, rising, though mostly falling. As the type of the ANALOG, think of the whale fall, the sunken carcass of a whale, which in its deep death can give rise to an ecology all its own. The cetacean understood as a linear sequence of DNA, of discrete nucleotide bases, fits into the category of the digital whale. Under the simulated whale, we can place the fiberglass whale made by the marine biologist Jenifer Hurley, of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in California, to train sea lions to film migrating whales. The chapter suggests that all of these representations of whales in their migrations toward death reach toward another format: the virtual.Less
This chapter proposes a classification of today's whales according to three different formats: the analog whale, the digital whale, and the simulated whale. The analog whale would be a whale of the waves, rising, though mostly falling. As the type of the ANALOG, think of the whale fall, the sunken carcass of a whale, which in its deep death can give rise to an ecology all its own. The cetacean understood as a linear sequence of DNA, of discrete nucleotide bases, fits into the category of the digital whale. Under the simulated whale, we can place the fiberglass whale made by the marine biologist Jenifer Hurley, of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in California, to train sea lions to film migrating whales. The chapter suggests that all of these representations of whales in their migrations toward death reach toward another format: the virtual.
Duana Fullwiley
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691123165
- eISBN:
- 9781400840410
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691123165.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter chronicles how, in the 1950s, sickle hemoglobin was tested in the blood of various Senegalese ethnic groups to determine the bounded nature of population-based race and ethnic groupings ...
More
This chapter chronicles how, in the 1950s, sickle hemoglobin was tested in the blood of various Senegalese ethnic groups to determine the bounded nature of population-based race and ethnic groupings within the geopolitical terrain of French West Africa (l'Afrique Occidentale Française, the “AOF”). These colonial uses of sickle cell DNA markers to scientifically define group belonging were later interrupted by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) technology starting in the late 1970s. RFLPs allowed researchers to pinpoint DNA variants around the sickle cell gene and thus provided new ways of measuring and lumping human physiological distinction in terms of unified “national” genetic difference, which were based thereafter on haplotype patterns. In addition, this chapter chronicles how discourses of ethnic population purity continue to drive Parisian scientists' interests in new sickle cell research for which they hope to enlist Senegalese collaborators in the here and now.Less
This chapter chronicles how, in the 1950s, sickle hemoglobin was tested in the blood of various Senegalese ethnic groups to determine the bounded nature of population-based race and ethnic groupings within the geopolitical terrain of French West Africa (l'Afrique Occidentale Française, the “AOF”). These colonial uses of sickle cell DNA markers to scientifically define group belonging were later interrupted by Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) technology starting in the late 1970s. RFLPs allowed researchers to pinpoint DNA variants around the sickle cell gene and thus provided new ways of measuring and lumping human physiological distinction in terms of unified “national” genetic difference, which were based thereafter on haplotype patterns. In addition, this chapter chronicles how discourses of ethnic population purity continue to drive Parisian scientists' interests in new sickle cell research for which they hope to enlist Senegalese collaborators in the here and now.
John C. Avise
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195393439
- eISBN:
- 9780199775415
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195393439.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent—we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance—but do the imperfections extend down to the molecular level of our genes? Inside ...
More
Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent—we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance—but do the imperfections extend down to the molecular level of our genes? Inside the Human Genome is the first comprehensive book to examine the philosophical question of why, from the perspectives of biochemistry and molecular genetics, flaws empirically exist in the biological world. This book offers a panoramic yet penetrating exploration of the many gross deficiencies in human DNA—ranging from new mutational defects to ancient design faults—while at the same time offering a comprehensive treatment of recent findings about the human genome. The author shows that overwhelming scientific evidence for genomic imperfection provides a compelling counterargument to Intelligent Design. He also develops a case that theologians should welcome rather than disavow these scientific discoveries. The evolutionary sciences can help mainstream religions escape the shackles of Intelligent Design, and thereby return religion to its rightful realm—not as the secular interpreter of the biological minutiae of our physical existence, but rather as a respectable philosophical counselor on grander matters of ultimate concern.Less
Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent—we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance—but do the imperfections extend down to the molecular level of our genes? Inside the Human Genome is the first comprehensive book to examine the philosophical question of why, from the perspectives of biochemistry and molecular genetics, flaws empirically exist in the biological world. This book offers a panoramic yet penetrating exploration of the many gross deficiencies in human DNA—ranging from new mutational defects to ancient design faults—while at the same time offering a comprehensive treatment of recent findings about the human genome. The author shows that overwhelming scientific evidence for genomic imperfection provides a compelling counterargument to Intelligent Design. He also develops a case that theologians should welcome rather than disavow these scientific discoveries. The evolutionary sciences can help mainstream religions escape the shackles of Intelligent Design, and thereby return religion to its rightful realm—not as the secular interpreter of the biological minutiae of our physical existence, but rather as a respectable philosophical counselor on grander matters of ultimate concern.
Gordon M. Shepherd MD, DPhil
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195391503
- eISBN:
- 9780199863464
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195391503.001.0001
- Subject:
- Neuroscience, History of Neuroscience
For modern scientists, history often starts with last week's journals and is regarded as largely a quaint interest compared with the advances of today. However, this book makes the case that, ...
More
For modern scientists, history often starts with last week's journals and is regarded as largely a quaint interest compared with the advances of today. However, this book makes the case that, measured by major advances, the greatest decade in the history of brain studies was mid-twentieth century, especially the 1950s. The first to focus on worldwide contributions in this period, this book ranges through dozens of astonishing discoveries at all levels of the brain, from DNA (Watson and Crick), through growth factors (Hamburger and Levi-Montalcini), excitability (Hodgkin and Huxley), synapses (Katz and Eccles), dopamine and Parkinson's (Carlsson), visual processing (Hartline and Kuffler), the cortical column (Mountcastle), reticular activating system (Morruzzi and Magoun) and REM sleep (Aserinsky), to stress (Selye), learning (Hebb) and memory (HM and Milner). The clinical fields are also covered — from Cushing and Penfield, psychosurgery, and brain energy metabolism (Kety), to most of the major psychoactive drugs in use today (beginning with Delay and Deniker) — and much more. There is a focus on the creative process itself; on understanding how the combination of unique personalities, innovative hypotheses, and new methods led to the advances. Insight is given into this process through describing the struggles between male and female, student and mentor, academic and private sector, and the roles of chance and persistence. The book thus provides a multidisciplinary understanding of the revolution that created the modern field of neuroscience, and which set the bar for judging current and future advances.Less
For modern scientists, history often starts with last week's journals and is regarded as largely a quaint interest compared with the advances of today. However, this book makes the case that, measured by major advances, the greatest decade in the history of brain studies was mid-twentieth century, especially the 1950s. The first to focus on worldwide contributions in this period, this book ranges through dozens of astonishing discoveries at all levels of the brain, from DNA (Watson and Crick), through growth factors (Hamburger and Levi-Montalcini), excitability (Hodgkin and Huxley), synapses (Katz and Eccles), dopamine and Parkinson's (Carlsson), visual processing (Hartline and Kuffler), the cortical column (Mountcastle), reticular activating system (Morruzzi and Magoun) and REM sleep (Aserinsky), to stress (Selye), learning (Hebb) and memory (HM and Milner). The clinical fields are also covered — from Cushing and Penfield, psychosurgery, and brain energy metabolism (Kety), to most of the major psychoactive drugs in use today (beginning with Delay and Deniker) — and much more. There is a focus on the creative process itself; on understanding how the combination of unique personalities, innovative hypotheses, and new methods led to the advances. Insight is given into this process through describing the struggles between male and female, student and mentor, academic and private sector, and the roles of chance and persistence. The book thus provides a multidisciplinary understanding of the revolution that created the modern field of neuroscience, and which set the bar for judging current and future advances.
C. Neal Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195157451
- eISBN:
- 9780199790388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157451.003.0003
- Subject:
- Biology, Biotechnology
Transgenic plant technology is possible because of the conservation of gene expression mechanisms among diverse organisms, in which the flow of information goes from DNA to RNA to protein. The ...
More
Transgenic plant technology is possible because of the conservation of gene expression mechanisms among diverse organisms, in which the flow of information goes from DNA to RNA to protein. The genetic code in DNA is recognized and processed similarly in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals, thus enabling the transfer of genes from any organism to plants. Plants are transformed with new genes, called transgenes, in the genetically engineered plant by two general methods. The first method uses a natural plant genetic engineer, a bacterium named Agrobacterium tumefaciens, to transfer DNA. This bacterium naturally causes crown gall disease in plants, but researchers have rendered it non-pathogenic so that it merely transfers the DNA of interest into the plant genome. The second method uses a “gene gun” to blast gold particles coated with DNA into plant cells, where the DNA comes off and gets integrated into the plant genome. Both these technologies were developed in the 1980s and has since improved.Less
Transgenic plant technology is possible because of the conservation of gene expression mechanisms among diverse organisms, in which the flow of information goes from DNA to RNA to protein. The genetic code in DNA is recognized and processed similarly in bacteria, fungi, plants, and animals, thus enabling the transfer of genes from any organism to plants. Plants are transformed with new genes, called transgenes, in the genetically engineered plant by two general methods. The first method uses a natural plant genetic engineer, a bacterium named Agrobacterium tumefaciens, to transfer DNA. This bacterium naturally causes crown gall disease in plants, but researchers have rendered it non-pathogenic so that it merely transfers the DNA of interest into the plant genome. The second method uses a “gene gun” to blast gold particles coated with DNA into plant cells, where the DNA comes off and gets integrated into the plant genome. Both these technologies were developed in the 1980s and has since improved.
C. Neal Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195157451
- eISBN:
- 9780199790388
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157451.003.0009
- Subject:
- Biology, Biotechnology
One success story in plant biotechnology is the production of virus-resistant papaya, which saved the papaya industry in Hawaii. The virus-resistant plants contain a piece of viral DNA that protects ...
More
One success story in plant biotechnology is the production of virus-resistant papaya, which saved the papaya industry in Hawaii. The virus-resistant plants contain a piece of viral DNA that protects against ring-spot virus. However, people have worried that wild virus sequence might interact and recombine with virus-derived transgenes, with the worst-case scenario being the creation of new and more virulent viruses. A forced exchange of sequence has been produced in lab settings under artificial selection conditions, but viral recombination with transgenes have never been observed in the field. In addition, several prevalent conditions do not favor viral recombination of this sort. The biggest reasons are that the transgenic sequence adds no novel information into the system, and the virus-resistant plants decrease viral load in the plant, which decreases opportunity for recombination.Less
One success story in plant biotechnology is the production of virus-resistant papaya, which saved the papaya industry in Hawaii. The virus-resistant plants contain a piece of viral DNA that protects against ring-spot virus. However, people have worried that wild virus sequence might interact and recombine with virus-derived transgenes, with the worst-case scenario being the creation of new and more virulent viruses. A forced exchange of sequence has been produced in lab settings under artificial selection conditions, but viral recombination with transgenes have never been observed in the field. In addition, several prevalent conditions do not favor viral recombination of this sort. The biggest reasons are that the transgenic sequence adds no novel information into the system, and the virus-resistant plants decrease viral load in the plant, which decreases opportunity for recombination.
Margaret Lock
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149783
- eISBN:
- 9781400848461
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149783.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines findings from the newly developed technology of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) being applied to the investigation of Alzheimer disease (AD), primarily in the United ...
More
This chapter examines findings from the newly developed technology of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) being applied to the investigation of Alzheimer disease (AD), primarily in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. These linked research projects make use of many thousands of DNA samples procured from individuals diagnosed with AD, which are then assessed using high-speed throughput technology and compared with control samples, in an attempt to find out what combinations of genes put individuals at increased risk. To date, these enormously expensive projects have provided few if any startling new insights, and many researchers are highly skeptical as to their value. However, others believe that GWAS is a first step toward a more sophisticated way of understanding the interrelated pathways of the numerous genes that appear to be implicated in AD.Less
This chapter examines findings from the newly developed technology of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) being applied to the investigation of Alzheimer disease (AD), primarily in the United States, United Kingdom, and France. These linked research projects make use of many thousands of DNA samples procured from individuals diagnosed with AD, which are then assessed using high-speed throughput technology and compared with control samples, in an attempt to find out what combinations of genes put individuals at increased risk. To date, these enormously expensive projects have provided few if any startling new insights, and many researchers are highly skeptical as to their value. However, others believe that GWAS is a first step toward a more sophisticated way of understanding the interrelated pathways of the numerous genes that appear to be implicated in AD.
