Regulation of cell size in growth, development and human disease: PI3K, PKB and S6K.

It has generally been observed that cells grow to a certain size before they divide. In the last few years, the PI3K signal transduction pathway has emerged as one of the main signaling routes utilized by cells to control their increase in size. Here we focus on two components of this pathway, PKB and S6K, and briefly review the experiments that initially uncovered their roles in cell size control. In addition, we discuss a number of recent observations suggesting that the generic models used to describe this pathway to date may have been oversimplified. Indeed, recent observations in Drosophila and mouse support a more complex interaction between these signaling components in development. Finally, we have utilized two contemporary studies involving PKB- and S6K-deficient mice as a paradigm to underscore the importance of cell size and to accurately delineate the connections between signaling pathways for human disease, such as diabetes mellitus.     

Race,self-interest and privilege amongst students at elite U.S. and U.K. universities

Warikoo’s The Diversity Bargain describes the findings of research which explores how students at elite universities in the U.S. and the U.K. conceptualize race in relation to the admissions process and their experiences on campus. This is an important study, which reveals differences in the degree of comfort and caution displayed by white students in their framing of race. There are three areas worthy of further exploration: the subjective positioning of the author herself as she engages and responds to the research findings; the advantages of affording a richer theoretical framework to the analysis and, finally, the similarities between Warikoo’s notion of a diversity bargain and Derrick Bell’s concept of interest convergence. These are explored in turn.