Human genetic technologies,European governance and the politics of bioethics

With human genetic technologies now an important area of European research and development, bioethics is becoming increasingly important in its regulation and future. As regulatory decisions are also statements about who should get what, bioethics cannot avoid political controversy. Can bioethics sustain its claimed role as authoritative adviser to decision makers, or will its attempts to reach a consensus on human genetic technologies be perceived as the actions of an ambitious interest group? What, in short, is its political future in Europe and elsewhere?     

Individual and social discounting in a viscous population

Social discounting in economics involves applying a diminishing weight to community-wide benefits or costs into the future. It impacts on public policy decisions involving future positive or negative effects, but there is no consensus on the correct basis for determining the social discount rate. This study presents an evolutionary biological framework for social discounting. How an organism should value future benefits to its local community is governed by the extent to which members of the community in the future are likely to be its kin. Trade-offs between immediate and delayed benefits to an individual or to its community are analysed for a modelled patch-structured iteroparous population with limited dispersal. It is shown that the social discount rate is generally lower than the individual (private) discount rate. The difference in the two rates is most pronounced, in ratio terms, when the dispersal level is low and the hazard rate for patch destruction is much smaller than the individual mortality rate. When decisions involve enforced collective action rather than individuals acting independently, social investment increases but the social discount rate remains the same.     

Abandonment and accumulation: embryonic futures in the United States and Ecuador

When frozen embryos are publically debated in the United States, they are most often positioned as having two possible future trajectories: (1) as individual humans and (2) as contributors to stem cell research. Long-term embryo accumulation threatens both of these futures. An accumulated embryo is stuck in a clinic, held back from having an individual future or from contributing to science. There are other kinds of futures, though. For some patients in the United States and Ecuador, where I conducted ethnographic research, future reckoning involves a vision of responsibility toward embryos embedded within a specific family. For these patients, frozen embryo donation to another family or to science constitutes abandonment. The future at stake is not that of an individual embryo's life, but a group's future who would abandon one of its own. These patients would rather destroy embryos than freeze them for a future away from their relations. [Ecuador, United States, in     

HOW WILL THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AFFECT ACADEMIC BIOETHICS?

An educated guess about the future of academic bioethics can only be made on the basis of the historical conditions of its success. According to its official history, which attributes its success primarily to the service it has done for the patient, it should be safe at least as long as the patient still needs its service. Like many other academic disciplines, it might suffer under the present economic downturn. However, in the plausible assumption that its social role has not been exhausted yet, it should recover as soon as the economy does. But if, as this paper tries to argue, the success of academic bioethics should be attributed first and foremost to the service it has done for the neoliberal agenda, then its future would have to depend on the fate of the latter. The exact implications of the downturn for the neoliberal agenda are obviously impossible to predict. Among the various options, however, the one of going back to ‘normal’ seems to be the least likely. The other options suggest that the future of academic bioethics, as we have known it, is bleak.     

Lessons from a kill

During their colonization by Polynesians and later by Europeans, the Hawaiian islands suffered a massive loss of species. All the extinctions are indirectly attributable to human impact. Nonetheless, it has proved extremely difficult to specify which of several possible mechanisms caused each particular extinction. This seems to admit defeat in the battle to understand past extinctions. Such understanding could guide our efforts to protect species that are now threatened with extinction. Will it be easier to understand the causes of future extinctions? Surveys of future extinctions stress habitat destruction as the simple and dominant mechanism. This contrasts to its secondary (and generally confused) role in past extinctions. I argue that this contrast between the complexity of the past and the apparent simplicity of the future arises because extinction mechanisms are inherently synergistic. Once extensive species losses begin, it may be impossible to separate the mechanisms and thus manage an individual species as if its decline had a single cause.     

The joint evolution of seed dormancy and flowering time in annual plants living in variable environments

In annual plants, both seed germination (as opposed to dormancy) and delayed flowering are assumed to confer both greater and more variable reproduction. With this assumption, a simple model of these two characters, together with a reparameterization of survival and reproductive rates and a general approximation, leads to several predictions based on maximizing geometric growth rates. Each character optimum is a ratio of mean to variance of future reproduction, and the two optimums are interdependent, with compensation by one favored if the other changes. Optimal character variances, possible with prediction of future reproduction, are roughly squared correlations of characters with future reproduction, divided by variances of future reproduction. The optimal mean of each character is more sensitive to the other character's variance than to its own variance, and the optimal variance of each character is more sensitive to the other character's mean than to its own mean. Optimal germination is increased with better correlation between flowering time and future reproduction. A diffusion approximation for the single locus, single character genetic analog of the phenotypic model showed fluctuating natural selection to favor, in expectation and under suitable conditions, the allele frequency maximizing the geometric population growth rate. Conditions for a protected polymorphism at a second locus, controlling the other character, show genetic variation at the first locus favors alleles at the second locus adapted to greater environmental variability. Computer simulations check some results, and the general predictions should be relevant for studies of correlated life history characters.     

Cedrus libani (A. Rich) distribution in Lebanon: Past,present and future

Long-term vegetation studies are needed to better predict the impact of future climate change on vegetation structure and distribution. According to the IPCC scenario, the Mediterranean region is expected to undergo significant climatic variability over the course of this century. Cedrus libani (A. Rich), in particular, is currently distributed in limited areas in the Eastern Mediterranean region, which are expected to be affected by such climate change. In order to predict the impact of future global warming, we have used fossil pollen data and model simulations. Palaeobotanical data show that C. libani has been affected by both climate change and human activities. Populations of C. libani survived in refugial zones when climatic conditions were less favourable and its range extended during periods of more suitable climate conditions. Simulations of its future geographical distribution for the year 2100 using a dynamic vegetation model show that only three areas from Mount Lebanon may allow its survival. These results extrapolated for cedar forests for the entire Eastern Mediterranean region show that forests in Syria are also threatened by future global warming. In southern Turkey, cedar forests seem to be less threatened. These results are expected to help in the long-term conservation of cedar forests in the Near East.     

The Theoretical Potential for Selection on Determinants of Fertility to Cause Aggregate Fertility Increases in Human Populations

While prior literature on the genetics of human fertility outcomes and attitudes has generally yielded significantly positive results in developed-country contexts, the implications of this dynamic for the potential for intergenerational increases in fertility are rarely raised. Here the prior literature on the subject is discussed in light of its implications for future changes due to selection, equations traditionally used in human demography are integrated into an evolutionary biological framework, and speculative calculations on the change in future fertility assuming already published numbers for parities and heritability are conducted. Limitations and overall conclusions are discussed.     

Structure--activity relations of antagonists of the renin--angiotensin system.

In this review, inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system, both naturally occurring and synthetic, are considered. Inhibition of renin itself, of converting enzyme (dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase), and of interaction with the receptor is characterized from the point of view of mechanism, structure-activity relations, and future developments. The concept of transition state analog and its relevance to the inhibition of renin by pepstatin is discussed. Questions concerning selectivity, increased affinity, and longer duration of action are raised with regard to future design of inhibitors of the renin-angiotensin system.     

Ants as a Major Food Source of the Chough

Few birds are more captivating in their behaviour, more exciting in their aerial manoeuvres, than the Chough, a species now restricted to the wilder parts of our western coasts. This field study of its specialised feeding habits shows how closely its future welfare may depend upon the continuance of a grazing regime on islands and headlands within its range.     

Dimensions of global population projections: what do we know about future population trends and structures?

The total size of the world population is likely to increase from its current 7 billion to 8–10 billion by 2050. This uncertainty is because of unknown future fertility and mortality trends in different parts of the world. But the young age structure of the population and the fact that in much of Africa and Western Asia, fertility is still very high makes an increase by at least one more billion almost certain. Virtually, all the increase will happen in the developing world. For the second half of the century, population stabilization and the onset of a decline are likely. In addition to the future size of the population, its distribution by age, sex, level of educational attainment and place of residence are of specific importance for studying future food security. The paper provides a detailed discussion of different relevant dimensions in population projections and an evaluation of the methods and assumptions used in current global population projections and in particular those produced by the United Nations and by IIASA.     

The twenty-fifth anniversary of the Limnological Institute,The Netherlands (1957–1982)

This paper marks the silver jubilee in 1982 of the Limnological Institute, The Netherlands. It describes the history, present research programme and organisation of the Institute, as well as its cooperative studies with other institutes and its training facilities.Some remarks about its future plans of work are made.     

IPBES工作效率和科学职能的有效性分析

IPBES第一轮工作方案受到国际社会的广泛关注,奠定了其作为第一个生物多样性领域政府间机制的重要地位.IPBES自成立以来相继发布了系列评估报告和决策者摘要,引起了国际社会广泛关注,因此,其公平性、公正性、科学性和透明性始终为各界关注的焦点,直接决定着IPBES评估报告的可信度和未来的发展.为有效提升工作效率,提高其成...     

Bone scintigraphy for cardiac amyloidosis imaging: Past,present and future

The aim of the article was to review the history of the emergence of ^99mTc-labeled phosphate agents in the exploration of cardiac amyloidosis and the give an overview of the technique, its accuracy and its application in clinical practice. Potential future directions are mentioned.     

Restoration Ecology to the Future: A Call for New Paradigm

The discipline of restoration ecology has grown remarkably in the past decades, providing new ideas and opportunities for conserving biological diversity, managing ecosystems, and testing ecological theories. On the other side, its past‐oriented, static, and idealistic approach has been criticized for subjectivity in determining restoration goals, inapplicability to dynamic ecosystems, and inability for restoring certain irreversible losses. Moreover, unpredictable sustainability of the restored ecosystems, which were modeled after its historical fidelity, adds our skepticism under the changing environment. This paper calls for a new paradigm of ecological restoration to the future. A future‐oriented restoration should (1) establish the ecosystems that are able to sustain in the future, not the past, environment; (2) have multiple alternative goals and trajectories for unpredictable endpoints; (3) focus on rehabilitation of ecosystem functions rather than recomposition of species or cosmetics of landscape surface; and (4) acknowledge its identity as a “value‐laden” applied science within economically and socially acceptable framework. Applicability of ecological theories to restoration practice is also discussed in this paper.     

厌氧发酵法生物制氢的研究现状和发展前景

氢气是一种理想的能源,具有转化率高、可再生和无污染等优点。与传统制氢方法相比,生物制氢技术的能耗低,对环境无害,其中的厌氧发酵生物制氢已经越来越受到人们的重视。本文主要介绍了厌氧发酵生物制氢技术的方法和机理,分析了生物制氢的可行性,结合国内外研究现状提出了未来的发展方向。     

The physiology of lactoferrin.

This paper reviews our current knowledge of the structure and function of the iron-binding protein lactoferrin. In particular, it attempts to relate the various proposed physiological functions of lactoferrin to its most characteristic biochemical properties, i.e. its ability to bind iron and its highly basic nature. The extent to which various physiological functions can be considered as definitely established is critically reviewed, and suggestions for future research are proposed.     

Macro-scale assessment of demographic and environmental variation within genetically derived evolutionary lineages of eastern hemlock (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Tsuga canadensis</Emphasis>), an imperiled conifer of the eastern United States

Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) occupies a large swath of eastern North America and has historically undergone range expansion and contraction resulting in several genetically separate lineages. This conifer is currently experiencing mortality across most of its range following infestation of a non-native insect. With the goal of better understanding the current and future conservation potential of the species, we evaluate ecological differences among populations within these genetically defined clusters, which were previously inferred using nuclear microsatellite molecular markers from 58 eastern hemlock populations. We sub-divide these clusters into four genetic zones to differentiate putative north-central, north-east and southeast (SE) and southwest evolutionary lineages in eastern hemlock. We use demographic data (relative abundance, mortality, and seedling regeneration) from the Forest Inventory Analysis program in conjunction with environmental data to model how these lineages respond to current and future climatic gradients. Ecologically meaningful relationships are explored in the intraspecific context of hemlock abundance distribution and then related to genetic variation. We also assess hemlock’s colonization likelihood via a long distance dispersal model and explore its future genetic and ecological conservation potential by combining the future suitable habitats with colonization likelihoods. Results show that future habitats under climate change will markedly decline for eastern hemlock. The remaining areas with higher habitat quality and colonization potential are confined to the SE, the genetic zone nearest the species’ putative glacial refugia, pointing to the need to focus our conservation efforts on this ecologically and genetically important region.     

微卫星标记及其在动物遗传育种中的应用

微卫星标记技术一出现,就以其独特的优点引起了动物遗传育种学家的广泛关注,显示出较好的应用前景。本文就微卫星标记的特点及其在动物遗传育种中的应用作以综述。     

Toward molecular imaging using spectral photon-counting computed tomography?

Molecular imaging is a valuable tool in drug discovery and development, early screening and diagnosis of diseases, and therapy assessment among others. Although many different imaging modalities are in use today, molecular imaging with computed tomography (CT) is still challenging owing to its low sensitivity and soft tissue contrast compared with other modalities. Recent technical advances, particularly the introduction of spectral photon-counting detectors, might allow overcoming these challenges. Herein, the fundamentals and recent advances in CT relevant to molecular imaging are reviewed and potential future preclinical and clinical applications are highlighted. The review concludes with a discussion of potential future advancements of CT for molecular imaging.