Epigenetic metaphors: an interdisciplinary translation of encoding and decoding

Looking at the new and often disputed science of epigenetics, we examined the challenges faced by scientists when they communicate scientific research to the public. We focused on the use of metaphors to illustrate notions of epigenetics and genetics. We studied the “encoding” by epigeneticists and “decoding” in focus groups with diverse backgrounds. We observed considerable overlap in the dominant metaphors favored by both researchers and the lay public. However, the groups differed markedly in their interpretations of which metaphors aided understanding or not. We conclude by discussing the role of metaphors and their interpretations in the context of a shift from pre-deterministic genomic metaphors to more active, dynamic and nuanced epigenetic metaphors. These reflections on the choice of metaphors and differences in encoding/decoding are important for science communication and scientific boundary-maintenance.     

Animal Metaphors and Metaphorizing Animals: An Integrated Literary, Cognitive, and Evolutionary Analysis of Making and Partaking of Stories

Humans use metaphors to explore their relationship with nature. Our ability to make and understand metaphors appears to be an automatic cognitive process, one that likely evolved along with our ability to create and understand language. Because metaphors are processed automatically, without conscious appraisal, they can be used to rapidly communicate, or manipulate. Applying theories of evolutionary psychology and cognitive science to literary texts, we explored the role of animal metaphors in the making and partaking of stories in the context of a course in environmental studies. We investigated how humans are animals and yet use culture to shield themselves from this reality. We read and analyzed literature in which animal metaphors are central, such as Honoré de Balzac’s short story Passion in the Desert and Langdon Smith’s poem “Evolution.” Throughout the course, the overarching theme is that animal metaphors are powerful tools for framing our relationship with the environment and that they can be best understood in the context of humans as evolved animals.     

Genomics: shifts in metaphorical landscape between 2000 and 2003

This article examines the shifts and changes in the metaphors used to describe the human genome and the human genome project (HGP) between 2000 and 2003, with the year 2001 as a trigger for genomic and metaphorical reflection. We want to answer questions, such as: Did the findings announced in 2001 shake the metaphorical foundations on which the HGP had been built or not? Did novel metaphors capture the imagination of scientists and the public or did old metaphors survive throughout this period? What influence does the continuity or discontinuity in metaphorical framing of the HGP have on the public perception of the HGP as well as on its scientific understanding? To answer these questions we have systematically compared the metaphors used in one major scientific journal, Nature, and in one major UK newspaper, the online edition of the Guardian/The Observer during a period of two months around June 2000, February 2001 and April 2003.     

Metaphors in search of a target: the curious case of epigenetics

Carrying out research in genetics and genomics and communicating about them would not be possible without metaphors such as “information,” “code,” “letter” or “book.” Genetic and genomic metaphors have remained relatively stable for a long time but are now beginning to shift in the context of synthetic biology and epigenetics. This article charts the emergence of metaphors in the context of epigenetics, first through collecting some examples of metaphors in scientific and popular writing and second through a systematic analysis of metaphors used in two UK broadsheets. Findings show that while source domains for metaphors can be identified, such as our knowledge of electrical switches or of bookmarks, it is difficult to pinpoint target domains for such metaphors. This may be indicative both of struggles over what epigenetics means for scientists (natural and social) and of difficulties associated with talking about this, as yet, young field in the popular press.     

Maps, books and other metaphors for systems biology

We briefly review the use of metaphors in science and progressively focus on fields from biology and molecular biology to genomics and bioinformatics. We discuss how metaphors are both a tool for scientific exploration and a medium for public communication of complex subjects, by various short examples. Finally, we propose a metaphor for systems biology that provides an illuminating perspective for the ambitious goals of this field and delimits its current agenda.     

From sequencing to annotating: extending the metaphor of the book of life from genetics to genomics

The article discusses how the metaphor of the Book of Life was extended over time to cover the life cycle of the Human Genome Project from genetics to genomics. In particular, the focus is on the role of extendable metaphors in the debate on the Human Genome Project in three European newspapers, popular scientific journals and scientific and scholarly articles from 1990 to 2002. In these different domains of use, various parts of the metaphor were highlighted. The metaphor of Book of Life was mainly used to justify the continuation of the gene research from gene sequencing to comparative genomics. Readily extendable metaphors, such as the Book of Life, function as useful communicative tools both over time and across domains of use.     

Towards a metaphorical biology

The metaphorical nature of biological language is examined and the use of metaphors for providing the linguistic context in which similarities and differences are made is described. Certain pervasive metaphors which are characterised by systemic properties are noted, and in order to provide some focus to the study, systemic metaphors associated with machine, text and organism are discussed. Other systemic metaphors such as society and circuit are also reported. Some details concerning interrelations between automaton and organism are presented in the light of the previous discussion.An approach towards the analysis of biosystem metaphors is outlined which relates part-whole, organisational level and systemic metaphors in a single model. Examples are provided throughout the discussion and mainly come from computing. The potential for metaphorical transfers between these domains is considered.     

Refractions through culture: the new genomics in Iceland

This paper explores the processes whereby complex scientific developments are rendered into locally intelligible idioms as part of strategies to incorporate a ‘public’ in decisions which may have profound implications in the longer term. We focus in particular on the recent developments in genetic technologies and take as our example the deCode biogenetic project in Iceland. We trace how the images and metaphors drawn upon by all sides of the debate created powerful resonances with Icelandic history and culture. We analyse these representations and the broader themes of ethnicity and nationalism which they invoke.     

Assessing evolutionary epistemology

There are two interrelated but distinct programs which go by the name evolutionary epistemology. One attempts to account for the characteristics of cognitive mechanisms in animals and humans by a straightforward extension of the biological theory of evolution to those aspects or traits of animals which are the biological substrates of cognitive activity, e.g., their brains, sensory systems, motor systems, etc. (EEM program). The other program attempts to account for the evaluation of ideas, scientific theories and culture in general by using models and metaphors drawn from evolutionary biology (EET program). The paper begins by distinguishing the two programs and discussing the relationship between them. The next section addresses the metaphorical and analogical relationship between evolutionary epistemology and evolutionary biology. Section IV treats the question of the locus of the epistemological problem in the light of an evolutionary analysis. The key questions here involve the relationship between evolutionary epistemology and traditional epistemology and the legitimacy of evolutionary epistemology as epistemology. Section V examines the underlying ontological presuppositions and implications of evolutionary epistemology. Finally, section VI, which is merely the sketch of a problem, addresses the parallel between evolutionary epistemology and evolutionary ethics.This research was supported, in part, by a grant from the National Science Foundation # SES—8308720. I want to thank Richard Lewontin and the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University for their hospitality and support during Spring 1984. I also want to thank David Hull, Charles Dyke and Michael Ruse for helpful comments on an earlier draft, and Andy Altman for pointing out to me the passage from Inherit the Wind.     

Invasional meltdown 6 years later: important phenomenon,unfortunate metaphor,or both?

Cases in which introduced species facilitate one another's establishment, spread, and impacts are increasingly noted, and several experimental studies have provided strong evidence of a population-level impact. However, a full 'invasional meltdown', in which interspecific facilitation leads to an accelerating increase in the number of introduced species and their impact, has yet to be conclusively demonstrated. The great majority of suggested instances of 'invasional meltdown' remain simply plausible scenarios of long-term consequences based on short-term observations of facilitatory interactions between individuals of two species. There is a particular dearth of proven instances in which two invasive species each enhance the impact and/or probability of establishment and spread of the other. By contrast, in many authenticated cases, at least one partner is aided. The metaphor of meltdown focused attention on facilitation in invasion and has probably helped inspire recent studies. As have other metaphors from invasion biology and other sciences, 'meltdown' has struck a responsive chord with writers for the lay public; some have stretched it well beyond its meaning as understood by invasion biologists. There is no evidence that this hyperbole has impeded scientific understanding or caused loss of scientific credibility.     

Paths of Relationship,Spirals of Exchange: Imag(in)ing North Pentecost Kinship

In Stone Men of Malekula: Vao (1942), a text that was published more than twenty‐five years after he carried out long‐term fieldwork in Vanuatu, John Layard introduced a new technique for rendering kinship data in diagrammatic form. Inspired in part by Gregory Bateson, his ‘circular technique’ was derived from diagrams drawn up according to the genealogical method, and was designed to overcome certain structural problems identified within these. One important implication of the ‘circular technique’ that is not made explicit in Layard's analysis is a resonance with many of the idioms and metaphors that ni‐Vanuatu evoke in talking about relationships of exchange and kinship. Where processes of birth, death, marriage and exchange are conceptualised in terms of a broad flow of departures and returns across discernible trajectories, images incorporating circles and spirals are utilised as key metaphors for understanding social relationships through space and time. Focusing on the Raga‐speaking district of North Pentecost, Vanuatu, this article explores such idioms while presenting a revision of Layard's circular technique.     

Anatomy of a media event: how arguments clashed in the 2001 human cloning debate

This paper studies the distinctive role that staged media events play in the public understanding of genetics: they can focus the attention of the media, scientists and the public on the risks and benefits of genetic advances, in our case, cloning; they can accelerate policy changes by exposing scientific, legal and ethical uncertainties; the use of images, metaphors, cliches, and cultural narratives by scientists and the media engaged in this event can reinforce stereotypical representations of cloning, but can also expose fundamental clashes in arguments about cloning. The media event staged by two fertility experts in 2001 is here analysed as a case study.     

A Dataset of Metaphors from the Italian Literature: Exploring Psycholinguistic Variables and the Role of Context

Defining the specific role of the factors that affect metaphor processing is a fundamental step for fully understanding figurative language comprehension, either in discourse and conversation or in reading poems and novels. This study extends the currently available materials on everyday metaphorical expressions by providing the first dataset of metaphors extracted from literary texts and scored for the major psycholinguistic variables, considering also the effect of context. A set of 115 Italian literary metaphors presented in isolation (Experiment 1) and a subset of 65 literary metaphors embedded in their original texts (Experiment 2) were rated on several dimensions (word and phrase frequency, readability, cloze probability, familiarity, concreteness, difficulty and meaningfulness). Overall, literary metaphors scored around medium-low values on all dimensions in both experiments. Collected data were subjected to correlation analysis, which showed the presence of a strong cluster of variables—mainly familiarity, difficulty, and meaningfulness—when literary metaphor were presented in isolation. A weaker cluster was observed when literary metaphors were presented in the original contexts, with familiarity no longer correlating with meaningfulness. Context manipulation influenced familiarity, concreteness and difficulty ratings, which were lower in context than out of context, while meaningfulness increased. Throughout the different dimensions, the literary context seems to promote a global interpretative activity that enhances the open-endedness of the metaphor as a semantic structure constantly open to all possible interpretations intended by the author and driven by the text. This dataset will be useful for the design of future experimental studies both on literary metaphor and on the role of context in figurative meaning, combining ecological validity and aesthetic aspects of language.     

The Dilemma of Dominance

The concept of dominance poses several dilemmas. First, while entrenched in genetics education, the metaphor of dominance promotes several misconceptions and misleading cultural perspectives. Second, the metaphors of power, prevalence and competition extend into science, shaping assumptions and default concepts. Third, because genetic causality is complex, the simplified concepts of dominance found in practice are highly contingent or inconsistent. The conceptual problems are illustrated in the history of studies on the evolution of dominance. Conceptual clarity may be fostered, I claim, by viewing diploid organisms as diphenic and by framing genetic causality modestly through individual alleles and their corresponding haplophenotypes.     

Is Yuan in China’s Three Gorges a Gibbon or a Langur?

Clarifying the scientific identity of ancient biological names in historical archives is essential to understand traditional knowledge and literary metaphors of animals in human culture. Adopting a cross-disciplinary (Primatology, Linguistics, Historiography, Historical Sociology) analysis, we developed a theoretical framework for studies of the scientific identity of Chinese primate traditional names (e.g., Yuan _猿) throughout history, and interpret the historical evolution of the understanding of the Chinese word Yuan. Presently, the Chinese generally understand Yuan to be a gibbon (or “ape” in a broader sense), but this statement has many contradictions with the understanding of the word in relevant historical discourse. We review and comment on key evidence to support the traditional understanding of Yuan as a gibbon (Hylobatidae) and clarify the historical and current thought concerning Yuan. We find that the referent of the word Yuan has changed from “François’ langur (Trachypithecus francoisi) with long limbs” to the “long-armed ape or gibbon” known today through two major changes in the idea of Yuan. One transformation in the conceptualization of Yuan took place during the Tang-Song period, with the other beginning at the end of the nineteenth century and ending in the 1950s. An interaction between the conceptualization of animals and power (e.g., political opportunity; cultural movement toward learning western sciences in the semi-colonial era) played an important role in these two diachronic changes to the idea of Yuan. In contrast to the clear linear relation between a species and its Latin name, our study indicates that one traditional name can represent varying animal species in China. Our findings exemplify the implications of the sociocultural and linguistic basis for the species identification of primate names found in historical discourse for historical zoogeography, our understanding of the intricate cultural and religious connections between humans and primates, and efforts to decolonize primatology.

     

苦苣苔科植物学名种加词的问题

苦苣苔科植物是个研究活跃的类群,近年来随着新类群的报道和分类系统的变动,在该科的分类学研究中,出现了不少学名的种加词的性和属名不一致或出现拼写错误的情况,虽然这些错误不影响该名称的合格发表,但还是有必要根据《国际藻类、菌物和植物命名法规》进行改正。该文就苦苣苔科植物中属名以-stigma结尾的学名、属名以-cheilos结尾的学名、根据属名词尾不容易判断出性别的学名、拼写错误的名称等问题进行了分析,并对13个不符合法规的名称予以改正。此外,还就苦苣苔科植物学名的合格发表和规范使用进行了讨论。     

大型综合医院科研绩效评价指标体系的构建研究

目的 为大型综合医院构建较为科学合理的科研绩效评价指标体系。方法 采用德尔菲法获得大型综合医院科研绩效评价的指标体系,运用层次分析法对各级指标进行权重的确定。结果 建立了大型综合医院科研绩效评价指标体系,其中一级指标2个,二级指标12个,三级指标40个。结论 构建的医院科研评价指标体系具有科学性、可操作性,可以作为评估医院科研绩效的工具。     

When Do Natural Language Metaphors Influence Reasoning? A Follow-Up Study to Thibodeau and Boroditsky (2013)

In this article, we offer a critical view of Thibodeau and Boroditsky who report an effect of metaphorical framing on readers'' preference for political measures after exposure to a short text on the increase of crime in a fictitious town: when crime was metaphorically presented as a beast, readers became more enforcement-oriented than when crime was metaphorically framed as a virus. We argue that the design of the study has left room for alternative explanations. We report four experiments comprising a follow-up study, remedying several shortcomings in the original design while collecting more encompassing sets of data. Our experiments include three additions to the original studies: (1) a non-metaphorical control condition, which is contrasted to the two metaphorical framing conditions used by Thibodeau and Boroditsky, (2) text versions that do not have the other, potentially supporting metaphors of the original stimulus texts, (3) a pre-exposure measure of political preference (Experiments 1–2). We do not find a metaphorical framing effect but instead show that there is another process at play across the board which presumably has to do with simple exposure to textual information. Reading about crime increases people''s preference for enforcement irrespective of metaphorical frame or metaphorical support of the frame. These findings suggest the existence of boundary conditions under which metaphors can have differential effects on reasoning. Thus, our four experiments provide converging evidence raising questions about when metaphors do and do not influence reasoning.