BOOK REVIEWS

Book reviews in this Article:
AIDS and the Good Society , by Patricia Illingworth
Genethics: The moral issues in the creation of people , by David Heyd
AIDS: Diritti & Doveri del Personale delle Instituzioni di Assistenza Sanitaria , Milano.
AIDS, Women and the Next Generation: Towards a Morally Acceptable Public Policy for HIV Testing of Pregnant Women and Newborns edited by Ruth R. Faden
Rights to Health Care (Philosophy and Medicine 38 ), edited by Thomas J. Bole III and William B. Bondeson, Dordrecht
Theological Developments in Bioethics: 1988–1990 edited by Baruch A. Brody, B. Andrew Lustig, H. Tristram Engelhardt Jr. and Laurence B. McCullough
Organ Replacement Therapy: Ethics, Justice, Commerce , edited by W. Land and J.B. Dossetor
Regelungen der Fortpflanzungsmedizin und Humangenetik. Eine Internationale Dokumentation gesetzlicher und berufsständischer Rechtsquellen (Regulations of Procreative Medicine and Genetic Research on Humans.
Practical Medical Ethics by Alistair Campbell, Grant Gillett and Gareth Jones
Balancing Act: The New Medical Ethics of Medicine's New Economics by E. Haavi Morreim.
Bioethics and Secular Humanism by H. Tristram Engelhardt, Jr. London: SCM Press     

Early mouse embryos produce and release factors with transforming growth factor activity

Summary Previous studies have shown that extracts from mouse embryos at mid and late stages of development contain factors that exhibit transforming growth factor activity. The work reported here demonstrates that cultured mouse embryos at significantly earlier stages of development produce and release factors that exhibit the characteristic property of transforming growth factors. Specifically, the data demonstrate that embryos cultured from the blastocyst stage in serum-containing medium or in serum-free medium release factors that promote the anchorage-independent growth of normal rat kidney fibroblasts. It is shown that these factors are produced and released by cells derived from the inner cell mass and by trophoblasts. The precise developmental stage when production of these factors first begins has not been determined but our findings suggest that these factors are produced by cell types associated with early postimplatation embryos. This work was supported by the Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute and by grants from the National Cancer Institute (CA-36727) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (22-271-732). Editor's Statement This paper presents evidence that, in an in vitro assay system, early embryonic cells are capable of both synthesizing and secreting TGF-like growth factors, implicating the production of these factors in the events of early development. David W. Barnes     

Proceedings of the Barrels II Workshop: sensorimotor loops

Rodents use their whiskers to explore their environment and to make very fine discriminations in textures and sizes of objects. Exploratory “whisking” movements consist of large amplitude, rhythmic whisker protractions that occur at characteristic frequencies of 5–10?Hz. Rodents likely whisk to move their receptor surface over the object they are touching. A fundamental understanding of this important motor behavior and the sensorimotor loops that control it were the focus of the final session of the Barrels Workshop. This session began with talks from David Kleinfeld (University of California San Diego), Miguel Nicolelis (Duke University), and Jonathan Rubin (University of Pittsburgh). These talks were followed by short presentations from Steven Leiser (Drexel University), Marcin Szwed (Weitzman Institute), Ford Ebner (Vanderbilt University), Charles Pluto (Medical College of Ohio), and Elisabeth Foeller (Washington University).     

Proceedings of the Barrels II Workshop: sensorimotor loops

Rodents use their whiskers to explore their environment and to make very fine discriminations in textures and sizes of objects. Exploratory "whisking" movements consist of large amplitude, rhythmic whisker protractions that occur at characteristic frequencies of 5-10 Hz. Rodents likely whisk to move their receptor surface over the object they are touching. A fundamental understanding of this important motor behavior and the sensorimotor loops that control it were the focus of the final session of the Barrels Workshop. This session began with talks from David Kleinfeld (University of California San Diego), Miguel Nicolelis (Duke University), and Jonathan Rubin (University of Pittsburgh). These talks were followed by short presentations from Steven Leiser (Drexel University), Marcin Szwed (Weitzman Institute), Ford Ebner (Vanderbilt University), Charles Pluto (Medical College of Ohio), and Elisabeth Foeller (Washington University).     

The human Y chromosome: rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated

Recent papers by David Page and his collaborators present an intriguing new face to the human Y chromosome, including eight massive palindromic arrays, most of which contain multi-copy pairs of testis-specific genes. Sequence pairs within the arms of these palindromic sequences retain a high degree of similarity, suggesting that intrachromosomal gene conversion is frequent, perhaps providing a means of maintaining the integrity of individual members of the array.     

Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective. Third Edition

Medical Anthropology in Ecological Perspective. Third Edition. Ann McElroy and Patricia K. Townsend. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996. xxiv. 434 pp.     

Antigenic relationship of influenza-virus neuraminidases from Asian,Hong Kong,and Equi-2 strains

Two Asian influenza strains, the Hong Kong strain and an Equi-2 influenza strain have been investigated. Adsorption isotherms of purified neuraminidases from these strains with isolated antibodies from homologous antisera are given. Cross testing by neuraminidase inhibition and haemagglutination inhibition are reported. Hong Kong neuraminidase appears to be indistinguishable from the earlier Asian neuraminidases, and not related to Equi-2 influenza neuraminidase. The haemagglutinin from the Hong Kong strain is related to earlier Asian strains as well as to the equine strain.In collaboration with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Den Haag, The Netherlands.It is a pleasure to express our thanks to Mr. J. Jacobs, N. V. Philips Duphar, Weesp (The Netherlands) for his interesting discussions and suggestions; and to Mr. H. de Jonge, Department of Medical Statistics, University of Leiden (The Netherlands) for his advice.     

Suicide totals for MDs sad reminder of stresses facing medicine,conference told.

A recent conference on physician health cosponsored by the CMA and American Medical Association provided some sobering news. One physician reported on the suicides of physicians practising in the US. Another reported that inroads being made by managed health care is affecting physician morale. "Physicians'' lifetime calling of caring for the sick is being called into question," said Dr. Patricia Tighe. "They have become like factory workers who can''t take pride in their work and are denied a sense of belonging. They are part of a corporate enterprise, to be dispensed with when they are not profitable, and subjected to penalties if their work doesn''t measure up".     

Ethical boundaries in genetic testing.

The scarcity of resources that can be allocated to genetic testing will ultimately limit the number of diseases subjected to molecular analysis. Medical student David Allan, who claimed first prize in CMAJ''s 1995 Logie Medical Ethics Essay Contest, looks at the ethical principles that should guide decisions about genetic testing, and the importance of communicating these principles to patients and their families.     

Klaus Apel (1942–2017): a pioneer of photosynthesis research

We present here a Tribute to Klaus Apel (1942–2017), a photosynthesis pioneer—an authority on plant molecular genetics—in five parts. The first section is a prologue. The second section deals with a chronological discussion of Apel’s research life, prepared by the editor Govindjee; it is based on a website article at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) by Patricia Waldron (https://btiscience.org/explore-bti/news/post/bti-says-goodbye-klaus-apel/), as approved for use here by Keith C. Hannon and David Stern of BTI. The third section, which focuses on Apel’s pioneering work on singlet oxygen-mediated EXECUTER-dependent signaling in plants, is written by two of us (J-DR and CK). The fourth section includes three selected reminiscences, one from BTI and two from ETH (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule). This tribute ends with section five, which is a very brief presentation of Klaus Apel’s personal life, by Wiebke Apel.     

UCSD's Institute of Engineering in Medicine: fostering collaboration through research and education

The University of California, San Diego (UCSD) was established in 1961 as a new research university that emphasizes innovation, excellence, and interdisciplinary research and education. It has a School of Medicine (SOM) and the Jacobs School of Engineering (JSOE) in close proximity, and both schools have national rankings among the top 15. In 1991, with the support of the Whitaker Foundation, the Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering was formed to foster collaborations in research and education. In 2008, the university extended the collaboration further by establishing the Institute of Engineering in Medicine (IEM), with the mission of accelerating the discoveries of novel science and technology to enhance health care through teamwork between engineering and medicine, and facilitating the translation of innovative technologies for delivery to the public through clinical application and commercialization.     

Evidence for substantial effect modification by gender in a large-scale genetic association study of the metabolic syndrome among coronary heart disease patients

Major genetic determinants of the metabolic syndrome — a clustering of abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure and high fasting glucose — remain elusive. We surveyed 207 single-nucleotide polymorphisms in 110 candidate genes among coronary artery disease patients, a population enriched for metabolic abnormalities. The number of abnormalities (0–5) was determined in the 214 male and 91 female patients, and the association with each polymorphism evaluated by means of ordinal regression analysis. Polymorphisms in eight genes, including LDLR, GBE1, IL1R1, TGFB1, IL6, COL5A2, SELE and LIPC, were associated with metabolic syndrome in the whole population (P values ranged from 0.047 to 0.008). Variants in seven additional genes showed significant gene by gender interaction. Among these, separate analyses in men and women revealed a strong association with a silent polymorphism in the low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein gene, LRPAP1, among females (P=0.0003), but not males (P=0.292). Other genes associated only in females included THBS1, ACAT2, ITGB3, F2 and SELP (P values ranging from 0.032 to 0.002). Only one gene (PRCP) was significantly associated in men alone (P=0.039). Our results propose several new candidate genes for the metabolic syndrome and suggest that the genetic basis of this syndrome may be strongly modified by gender.This work has been reported on behalf of the GeneQuest multicenter study, which involves the following investigators and coordinators: Eric J. Topol (chairperson) (Cleveland Clinic Foundation); David J. Moliterno, Ruth Cannata, Patricia Welsh, Monique Rosenthal (Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio); Spencer B. King, III, William Anderson, Joe Jean Borowski, Kris Anderberg (Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia); David R. Holmes Jr, Charanjit Rihal, Sharon McIntire-Langworthy (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota); William Rogers, Ann Snider (University of Alabama Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama); L. Kristin Newby, Laura Drew (Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina); Dean Kereiakes, Eli Roth, Louise Wohlford (The Lindner Center for Clinical Cardiovascular Research, Cincinnati, Ohio); Anthony De Franco, Teresa Schrader (LeBauer Cardiovascular Research Foundation, Greensboro, North Carolina); Phillip Gainey, Sandra Arsenault (St. Joseph Hospital, Savannah, Georgia); Paul Casale, Joann Tuzi (Lancaster Heart Foundation, Lancaster, Pennsylvania); Jeffrey Anderson, Juli Jerman, Rob Pearson Ann Allen (Latter Day Saints Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah); Sherwyn Schwartz, Sue Beasie (Diabetes and Glandular Associates, San Antonio, Texas); Frank Aguirre, Sandra Aubuchon, Kristin Weisbrod (St Louis University Hospital, St. Louis, Missouri); Jeffrey Carney, Muriel Harris (The Heart Group, Saginaw, Michigan); Jim Bengtson, Mary Adolphson (Michigan Heart and Vascular Institute, Ypsilanti, Michigan); John Rudoff, Sue Williams (Oregon Cardiology Clinic, PC, Portland, Oregon); Jeanette McCarthy, Laura Carleu (Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts)     

OBITUARIES

The following autobiographical sketch was written by the late R. E. Moreau at the invitation of Dr. David Lack and was deposited at the Edward Grey Institute, Oxford, in 1966. By printing it in full we dispense with the need for a formal obituary, and instead have invited four ornithologists who knew Reg Moreau especially well to contribute their personal appreciations. These follow on pp. 557–564. Ed.     

Chemical models of oxidative phosphorylation

Chemical models for coupling oxidation to phosphorylation are summarized and examined both from the standpoint of organic reaction mechanisms and with respect to their relevance to mitochondria and chloroplasts. In order to accelerate the progress of our research in bioenergetics, it is suggested to focus at least as much attention on structural biochemistry as on phenomenological observations of energy-transducing membranes.Supported in part by Public Health Service Research Grant No. GM 19990 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and by National Science Foundation Research Grant No. PCM 74-24083 A01     

Meeting Report: 1st International Functional Metagenomics Workshop May 7–8, 2012, St. Jacobs,Ontario, Canada.

This report summarizes the events of the 1^st International Functional Metagenomics Workshop. The workshop was held on May 7 and 8, 2012, in St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada and was focused on building an international functional metagenomics community, exploring strategic research areas, and identifying opportunities for future collaboration and funding. The workshop was initiated by researchers at the University of Waterloo with support from the Ontario Genomics Institute (OGI), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the University of Waterloo.     

Bacteriocin production by strains of Neisseria meningitidis

Kingsbury, David T. (Naval Medical Research Institute, Bethesda, Md.). Bacteriocin production by strains of Neisseria meningitidis. J. Bacteriol. 91:1696-1699. 1966.-Strains of Neisseria meningitidis produce substances inhibitory to other strains of meningococcus. These substances are nontransmissible and show a high degree of strain specificity. The properties of one of these substances resemble those of the class of bacterial inhibitors called bacteriocins. Synthesis of this "meningocin" can be increased as much as 200-fold by induction with mitomycin C. It shows a high degree of heat stability and is sensitive to proteolytic enzymes. Six bacteriocins from strains of N. meningitidis have been used to type meningococci. By use of this procedure, strains that were identical serologically were placed into distinct bacteriocin groups.     

Three-Dimensional Puzzles: Southern African and Upper Palaeolithic Rock Art

The history of anthropology is a growing field of study within the discipline itself. Our series 'Key Informants on the History of Anthropology' contributes to the discussion of how anthropology, as it is understood and practised today, evolved and took shape. In the following invited contribution, David Lewis-Williams reflects on the major reinterpretation of southern African rock art and Upper Palaeolithic art that took place in the 1970s and 1980s. An earlier interpretation of the rock art as representing hunters' impressions of their prey was replaced by sophisticated interpretations of the cosmology of the first inhabitants of South Africa. Lewis-Williams's work was crucial in bringing about this shift. David Lewis-Williams is Professor Emeritus of Archaeology and founder of the Rock Art Research Institute of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, which promotes studies of the more than 15,000 sites within the country.     

ERRATA

WARBURG, M. R., 1965. On the water economy of some Australianland snails. Proc. malac. Soc. Lond. 36, 297–305. Page 298: second line from bottom, should read ‘within± 1 µg for Themapupa’. Page 300: Fig. 2 legend, should read ‘Evaporative waterloss from Sinumelon remissum (a), Pleuroxia sp. (b) and Themapupaadelaidae (c)’. Page 300: section 4 heading, should read ‘Continuous curvesfor water loss’. Page 301: second line, for ‘Fig. 9’ read ‘Fig.3’. Page 301: Table 1, last line, for ‘0.120024’ read‘0.12024’. Present address: Israel Institute for Biological Research, Ness-Ziona,Israel.     

A life-long quest to understand and treat genetic blood disorders

This year's Lasker-Koshland Special Achievement Award in Medical Science is conferred on Sir David Weatherall for his 50 years of dedication to biomedical research, his groundbreaking discoveries about genetic blood diseases, and his life-long passion for bringing improved medical care to the developing world.