History of phage research as viewed by a European

Abstract: The history of phage research as the origin of molecular biology is related as seen by a scientist located at that critical time in Geneva. The preponderant influence of Max Delbrück on these developments is traced as a consequence of his personal charisma. Jean Weigle, former professor of experimental physics in Geneva and later research fellow with Delbrück, acted as an important ambassador to the European groups.     

The golden age of Drosophila research at the Universidade de S?o Paulo (USP): A testimonial on the decades 1940–1950

This article is a testimonial written by the first author regarding the research work performed with Drosophila between 1943 and 1959, at the Departamento de Biologia Geral of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP), which permitted the building of a nucleus of excellence. This research work, focused on the systematics and population genetics of the Neotropical species, began during the first of Dobzhansky’s six visits to USP. Special attention was given to the multinational megaprojects conducted during his longer stays, from August 1948 to July 1949 and from June 1955 to July 1956. The role played by the Rockefeller Foundation is duly remembered, and so is the undeniable contribution brought by Dobzhansky, to the establishment of several laboratories dedicated to research in the field of natural population genetics and to the qualification of human resources. On the other hand, important “backstage” episodes are retrieved which were omitted in the official history and occurred from the planning to the execution of the project, carried out on the Angra dos Reis islands. Special attention was given to the relationship problems which resulted from Dobzhansky’s, the leader’s, difficult personality and contributed to the failure of the second and last multinational project.     

Edmund Beecher Wilson, Class of '81

Edmund Beecher Wilson was born in Geneva, Illinois in 1856.He attended Antioch College, the University of Chicago, Yale,and Johns Hopkins (Ph.D. 1881). Most of his professional lifewas spent in the Zoology Department of Columbia University togetherwith his close friend, Thomas Hunt Morgan. They were dominantfigures in developing the Chromosome Theory of Heredity. Wilsonbegan his professional life as a conventional 19th century biologiststudying problems of systematics, morphology, and phylogeny.Soon he became a key figure in the newer experimental disciplinesof embryology, cytology, and heredity. He is remembered todaylargely for his superb synthesis of these three fields in TheCell in Development and Heredity. He died in 1939.     

江西省及九连山地区维管植物新记录

报道了江西九连山地区植物分布新记录15种,其中江西省分布新记录6种,包括黄松盆距兰Gastrochilus japonicus (Makino) Schlechter、广东异型兰Chiloschista guangdongensis Z H Tsi、密花石斛Dendrobium densiflorum Wallich、多枝霉草Sciaphila ramosa Fukuyama & T Suzuki、宽翅水玉簪Burmannia nepalensis (Miers) J D Hooker、白肋翻唇兰Hetaeria cristata Blume。     

THE DESMID GENERA SPHAEROZOSMA,ONYCHONEMA AND TEILINGIA: AN HISTORICAL APPRAISAL1

The taxonomic history of the desmid genera Onychonema Wallich, Sphaerozosma Corda and Teilingia Bourrelly is reviewed. In addition, Teiling's studies on asymmetry applied to Onychonema and Sphaerozosma are considered. Observations based on SEM examination of one species each of Onychonema and of Sphaerozosma are presented to show morphological differences. Finally, an appraisal of the taxonomic proposals by Telling and Bourrelly is given.     

Paul Bert, scientist and politician

Paul Bert worked with Claude Bernard, one of the leading physiologists of the 19th century. In his laboratory at the Collège de France in Paris, Paul Bert carried out fascinating experiments in particular on respiratory processes, leading him to publish "La pression barométrique" in 1878. In this book are recalled his discovery of oxygen pressure decrease with altitude, divers diseases, the improved safety protocols in hyperbaric conditions, and the first development of gas anaesthetics for surgery. He was the third President of the Société de Biologie. Paul Bert was also a politician with strong convictions. Minister of Education under Gambetta's short term government, he initiated the fight for social equality and secular education and became one of the most prestigious figures of the developing socialist party. He received many distinctions and was given a state funeral.     

Spatial distribution and temporal variability of some aquatic insects in the Franco-Geneva River,Allondon

The Allodon River, a tributary of the Rhône, has suffered considerably from the recent expansion of human activities in the Geneva region. This study documents changes in its benthic fauna by comparing species richness before and after 1986 and by considering the possibilities of recolonization by drift.

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Résumé L'Allondon, affluent du Rhône, est une rivière qui a considérablemen t souffert d'une expansion récente des activités humaines dans la région genevoise. Cette étude met en lumière l'évolution de certains éléments de la faune benthique en comparant les richesses specifiques avant et après 1986, année critique pour la macrofaune benthique du bassin genevois. Elle met en évidence les possibilités de recolonisation par dérive de certains recours de l'Allondon à partir d'affluents moins perturbés.

     

Creencias de Nuestros Antepasados

Creencias de Nuestros Antepasados. Maruch Sántiz Gómez. Mexico: Centro de la Imagen, CIESAS, Casa de las Imágenes (distributed in the United Slates by The Latin American Book Store, Ltd., 204 North Geneva St., Ithaca, NY), 1998. 108 pp.     

Geneva量表在肺栓塞诊断中的意义

随着认识水平的提高,已发现肺栓塞是临床很常见的疾病。对于如何更好地进行肺栓塞危险性的评估和组织相对复杂的检查,Geneva量表将是临床非常实用的工具。Geneva量表更精确和稳定,较少受临床经验的影响。对于合并慢性阻塞性肺病的患者诊断也有意义。同时,对于预测肺栓塞后3月内不良事件也有价值,临床试验证实对CT检查阴性患者Geneva量表评分为低中度危险不进行抗凝治疗也是安全的。本文将对目前国际上对Geneva量表的应用进展做一综述。     

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.     

海南兰科植物新资料

报道了中国兰科Orchidaceae植物一新记录属和3个中国新记录种及5个海南新记录种。其中小囊兰属Micropera Lindl．、红花小囊兰Microperapoilanei（Guill.）Garay、疏花羊耳蒜Liparis sparsiflora Aver.和美丽云叶兰Nephelaphyllum pulchrum Bl.为中国新记录;平卧曲唇兰Panisea cavalerei Schltr．、云南曲唇兰Panisea yunnanensis S．C．Chen＆Z．H．Tsi、束花石斛Dendrobium chrysanthum Wallichex Lindl．、滇南翻唇兰Hetaeria rubens （Lindl．）Benth．ex J．D．Hook．f和毛叶芋兰Nervilia plicata（Andrews）Schltr．为海南新记录种。     

The Life and Work of Marquis Robert de Wavrin,an Early Visual Anthropologist

This article traces the life and work of Marquis Robert de Wavrin de Villers au Tertre (1888–1971), a Belgian explorer and ethnographer. While fragments of his oeuvre are familiar to scholars of South America, he is almost completely unknown in historical studies, and largely forgotten within anthropology too. Here we will explore his filmic work as well as its contribution to the history of visual anthropology. While de Wavrin’s work cannot be divorced from the discipline’s colonial and Eurocentric heritage, we show that his visual record provides notable historic insights and merits further scholarly attention.     

Boucher de Perthes (1788–1868). Des rêves métaphysiques à l’invention de la préhistoire

The director of customs in Abbeville (Somme), Jacques Boucher de Perthes (1788-1868) had the project of renewing Christianity with metempsychosis. He had no scientific training but, as president of the Société d’émulation d’Abbeville, he was aware of what was being debated in the sciences. He integrated the scientific problem of fossil man into his religious faith. He thus discovered the Palaeolithic. His flagship book, the three volumes of Celtic and Antediluvian Antiquities (1849, 1857, 1864), one of the founder works of Prehistory, succeeded in combining science and religion and this is what makes his study so interesting.     

The reactions on Hugo de Vries's Intracellular pangenesis: the discussion with August Weismann

In 1889 Hugo de Vries published Intracellular Pangenesis in which heformulated his ideas on heredity. The highexpectations of the impression these ideaswould make did not come true and publicationwas negated or reviewed critically. From thereactions of his Dutch colleagues and thediscussion with the famous German zoologistAugust Weismann we conclude that the assertionthat each cell contains all hereditary materialwas controversial and even more the claim thatcharacters are inherited independently of eachother. De Vries felt that he had to convincehis colleagues of the validity of his theory byproviding experimental evidence. He establishedan important research program which resulted inthe rediscovery of Mendel's laws and thepublication of The Mutation Theory.This article also illustrates somephenomena that go beyond an interesting episodein the development of theories of heredity. Itshows that criticism from colleagues can move aresearcher so deeply that he feels compelled toset up an extensive research program. Moreoverit illustrates that it is not unusual that acreative scientist is only partially willing totake criticism on his theories into account.Last but not least it demonstrates that commonopinion on the validity of specific argumentsmay change in the course of time.     

Lectotypification of Buxbaumia aphylla Hedw. and B. aphylla var. viridis DC. (Buxbaumiaceae)

Abstract

The two species of Buxbaumia Hedw. known to occur in Europe were both originally discovered on this continent and were the earliest in the genus (as presently delimited) to be described. Already widely known, Buxbaumia aphylla Hedw., was validated by Johannes Hedwig in 1801, whereas B. viridis (DC.) Moug. & Nestl. was initially described as a variety of B. aphylla by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1815. After two centuries in the bryological literature, these taxa are herein effectively typified. Lectotypes for the names B. aphylla and B. viridis are designated based on original herbarium sheets from the Hedwig-Schwägrichen and De Candolle collections in G.     

Teilhard de Chardin,human evolution and “Piltdown Man”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was a French Jesuit paleontologist, priest, and philosopher. In the figures published in articles in 1943 and 1951, he attempted to draw a “plausible schematic reconstruction of the natural connections between fossil men” and a “phyletic composition of the human group”. I draw attention to Teilhard's reference to Eoanthropus (“Piltdown Man”) in small print in his figure that was first printed in 1943. Most suspiciously, there is no reference to this (supposedly important) genus in the associated text, nor is there any reference whatsoever to “Piltdown Man” in the article published in 1951. Even as early as January 1913, Teilhard may have been aware that “Piltdown Man” was a hoax or joke, artificially associating a human cranium with a modified orangutan mandible. A new suspect is Edgar Willett (rather than Charles Dawson). Teilhard may have been an advisory accomplice in a joke that went seriously wrong.     

Metric and morphological study of the upper cervical spine from the Sima de los Huesos site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain)

In this article, the upper cervical spine remains recovered from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) middle Pleistocene site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) are described and analyzed. To date, this site has yielded more than 5000 human fossils belonging to a minimum of 28 individuals of the species Homo heidelbergensis. At least eleven individuals are represented by the upper cervical (C1 and C2) specimens: six adults and five subadults, one of which could represent an adolescent individual. The most complete adult vertebrae (three atlases and three axes) are described, measured, and compared with other fossil hominins and modern humans. These six specimens are associated with one another and represent three individuals. In addition, one of these sets of cervical vertebrae is associated with Cranium 5 (Individual XXI) from the site. The metric analysis demonstrates that the Sima de los Huesos atlases and axes are metrically more similar to Neandertals than to our modern human comparative sample. The SH atlases share with Neandertals a sagittally elongated canal. The most remarkable feature of the SH (and Neandertal) axes is that they are craniocaudally low and mediolaterally wide compared to our modern male sample. Morphologically, the SH sample shares with Neandertals a higher frequency of caudally projected anterior atlas arch, which could reflect greater development of the longus colli muscle. In other features, such as the frequency of weakly developed tubercles for the attachment of the transverse ligament of the atlas, the Sima de los Huesos fossils show intermediate frequencies between our modern comparative samples and the Neandertals, which could represent the primitive condition. Our results are consistent with the previous phylogenetic interpretation of H. heidelbergensis as an exclusively European species, ancestral only to H. neanderthalensis.     

De Novo methylation of the proto-oncogene,c-fos,during development occurs step-wise and directionally in the laboratory mouse

We have analyzed the ontogenic initiation and maintenance of methylation of certain HpaII (m), HhaI (H), HincII (Hc), and SalI (SI)-specific CpG sites in the coding region of the proto-oncogene, c-fos, through testicular cells, sperm, and fetal, neonatal, and adult somatic tissues. The results show that 1) sperm-derived methylated sites get demethylated in early development. However, unlike other studied genes, they remain so at least up to day 13.5 post coitum (pc); 2) de novo methylation proceeds unidirectionally in a step-wise, site-specific manner between m5-m3 sites; 3) the mature, tissue-specific, adult methylation pattern is established between day 0 and day 20 of neonatal development; 4) the Hc and SI sites ( CG T CG AC), occurring at an interval of one nucleotide, are only partially methylated in all the tissues; and 5) m3 and H1 sites, which occur close to an Sp1 motif, escape methylation in most of the tissues. The present study on the embryonic gene, c-fos, thus provides a novel pattern of de novo methylation in development. Also, it suggests that close proximity of CpGs may prevent methylation. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 48:421–432, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Bupleurum candollei var. paucefulcrans comb. nov. (Apiaceae) from Guizhou,China: comparison of allied species based on morphology,anatomy and molecular data

The new combination, Bupleurum candollei Wallich ex de Candolle var. paucefulcrans (C. Y. Wu) X. J. He & C. B. Wang, is proposed. The status of this taxon, endemic to Guizhou, China, has been confused since it was first described in 1963. Morphological and anatomical evidence, based primarily on bractlet number and length, umbel number and length, fruit size and shape, and stem structure indicated that B. hamiltonii N. P. Balakrishnan var. paucefulcrans C. Y. Wu is more closely related to B. candollei than to B. hamiltonii. To evaluate the credibility of the morphological similarity, the phylogenetic relationship of B. candollei var. candollei, B. hamiltonii var. hamiltonii and B. candollei var. paucefulcrans were inferred by Bayesian analysis of nrDNA ITS sequences. The molecular analysis is fully congruent with the morphological data and supports the transfer of the variety to B. candollei.     

Anti-abortion strategizing and the afterlife of the Geneva Consensus Declaration

The Geneva Consensus Declaration, introduced by the Trump-Pence administration in 2020 and signed by thirty-two countries, claims that there is no international right to abortion. Although the Declaration was subsequently repudiated by the Biden administration, it did not die. This paper traces the afterlife of the Geneva Consensus Declaration as part of an ongoing antiabortion strategy to form a global coalition. Its supporters hope to mobilize signing nations to remove sexual and reproductive rights from the agendas of multilateral agencies including the United Nations and Organization of American States. The Geneva Consensus Declaration puts antiabortion politics above all other considerations, creating common cause among governments that oppose reproductive and sexual rights by undermining multilateral governance.