Duty or dream? Edwin G. Conklin's critique of eugenics and support for American individualism

This paper assesses ideas about moral andreproductive duty in American eugenics duringthe early twentieth century. While extremeeugenicists, including Charles Davenport andPaul Popenoe, argued that social leaders andbiologists must work to prevent individuals whowere ``unfit' from reproducing, moderates,especially Edwin G. Conklin, presented adifferent view. Although he was sympathetic toeugenic goals and participated in eugenicorganizations throughout his life, Conklinrealized that eugenic ideas rarely could meetstrict scientific standards of proof. Withthis in mind, he did not restrict his eugenicvision to hereditary measures. Relying onhis experience as an embryologist, Conklininstead attempted to balance more extremeeugenic claims – that emphasized the absolutelimits posed by heredity – with his own view of``the possibilities of development.' Throughhis critique he argued that most human beingsnever even begin to approach their hereditarypotential; he moderated his own eugenicrhetoric so that it preserved individualopportunity and responsibility, or what hasoften been labeled the American Dream.     

Low sequence variation among isolates of infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) originating from Hawaii and the Americas

A 2.9 kb fragment of the infectious hypodermal and hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) genome, which contains the coding sequence of putative non-structural and capsid proteins, was amplified and sequenced from each of 14 IHHNV isolates collected from cultured penaeid shrimp stocks in Hawaii and various sites in the Americas between 1982 and 1997. The sequence comparison indicates that the IHHNV genome is very stable, with 99.6 to 100% similarity among these 14 isolates. Only nucleotide substitutions were found. The percentage of substitution was higher in the putative capsid proteins region (1.3%) than in the putative non-structural proteins region (0.6%). Out of 25 substitutions found, 14 resulted in amino acid changes. There is no apparent association between clinical outcomes and particular amino acid substitutions. Based on genetic distances, the isolates were clustered into 3 groups that generally correspond with their geographic origins.     

Unusual deep intronic mutations in the COL4A5 gene cause X linked Alport syndrome

The X-linked form of Alport syndrome is caused by mutations in the COL4A5 gene in Xq22. This large multiexonic gene has, in the past, been difficult to screen, with several studies detecting only about 50% of mutations. We report three novel intronic mutations that may, in part, explain this poor success rate and demonstrate that single base changes deep within introns can, and do, cause disease: one mutation creates a new donor splice site within an intron resulting in the inclusion of a novel in-frame cryptic exon; a second mutation results in a new exon splice enhancer sequence (ESE) that promotes splicing of a cryptic exon containing a stop codon; a third patient exhibits exon skipping as a result of a base substitution within the polypyrimidine tract that precedes the acceptor splice site. All three cases would have been missed using an exon-by-exon DNA screening approach.     

Risk factors for elevated HIV incidence rates among female injection drug users in Vancouver

Background

In 1997, we found a higher prevalence of HIV among female than among male injection drug users in Vancouver. Factors associated with HIV incidence among women in this setting were unknown. In the present study, we sought to compare HIV incidence rates among male and female injection drug users in Vancouver and to compare factors associated with HIV seroconversion.

Methods

This analysis was based on 939 participants recruited between May 1996 and December 2000 who were seronegative at enrolment with at least one follow-up visit completed, and who were studied prospectively until March 2001. Incidence rates were calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify independent predictors of time to HIV seroconversion.

Results

As of March 2001, seroconversion had occurred in 110 of 939 participants (64 men, 46 women), yielding a cumulative incidence rate of HIV at 48 months of 13.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] 11.0%–15.8%). Incidence was higher among women than among men (16.6% v. 11.7%, p = 0.074). Multivariate analysis of the female participants'' practices revealed injecting cocaine once or more per day compared with injecting less than once per day (adjusted relative risk [RR] 2.6, 95% CI 1.4–4.8), requiring help injecting compared with not requiring such assistance (adjusted RR 2.1, 95% CI 1.1–3.8), having unsafe sex with a regular partner compared with not having unsafe sex with a regular partner (adjusted RR 2.9, 95% CI 0.9–9.5) and having an HIV-positive sex partner compared with not having an HIV-positive sex partner (adjusted RR 2.7, 95% CI 1.0–7.7) to be independent predictors of time to HIV seroconversion. Among male participants, injecting cocaine once or more per day compared with injecting less than once per day (adjusted RR 3.3, 95% CI 1.9–5.6), self-reporting identification as an Aboriginal compared with not self-reporting identification as an Aboriginal (adjusted RR 2.5, 95% CI 1.4–4.2) and borrowing needles compared with not borrowing needles (adjusted RR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1–3.4) were independent predictors of HIV infection.

Interpretation

HIV incidence rates among female injection drug users in Vancouver are about 40% higher than those of male injection drug users. Different risk factors for seroconversion for women as opposed to men suggest that sex-specific prevention initiatives are urgently required.Recent reports in Canada and numerous other countries indicate that HIV is increasingly affecting women.¹ Before 1995, adult women in Canada had 9.6% of all positive HIV tests for which the age and sex of the person being tested were known. By 1995, this proportion had increased to 18.5% and reached 23.9% in 2000. In addition, 39% of all new HIV infections among women in 2000 were attributed to injection drug use.² These data are consistent with findings in the United States where, in 1999, women accounted for 23% of all reported AIDS cases in adults, of which 42% were attributed to injection drug use.³These data clearly indicate that the face of the epidemic is changing. Whereas some factors unique to the transmission of HIV to women are known, basic and behavioural research efforts addressing sex-related and drug-related vulnerabilities among female injection drug users (IDUs) are lacking.⁴ At a time when women''s vulnerability to HIV infection is becoming increasingly apparent worldwide,^5,6 a better understanding of the processes and factors that cause drug-related harm among women in industrialized countries is urgently required.Since the mid-1990s, the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, has experienced an explosive and ongoing HIV epidemic among IDUs with annual HIV incidence rates reaching as high as 19% in 1997.^7,8 When subjects were enrolled in the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study (VIDUS), it was found that the baseline HIV prevalence was higher among women than men (35.2% v. 25.8%).⁷ Follow-up of this cohort now allows an investigation aimed at identifying the predictors of HIV seroconversion among female and male IDUs. Therefore, we sought to compare HIV incidence rates among male and female IDUs in Vancouver and to compare risk factors associated with HIV seroconversion.     

Thermoacoustic molecular imaging of small animals

We have designed, constructed, and tested a thermoacoustic computed tomography (TCT) scanner for imaging optical absorption in small animals in three dimensions. The device utilizes pulsed laser irradiation (680-1064 nm) and a unique, 128-element transducer array. We quantified the isotropic spatial resolution of this scanner to be 0.35 mm. We describe a dual-wavelength subtraction technique for isolating optical dyes with TCT. Phantom experiments demonstrate that we can detect 5 fmol of a near-infrared dye (indocyanine green, ICG) in a 1-microL volume using dual-wavelength subtraction. Initial TCT imaging in phantoms and in two sacrificed mice suggests that three-dimensional, optical absorption patterns in small animals can be detected with an order of magnitude better spatial resolution and an order of magnitude better low-contrast detectability in small animals when compared to fluorescence imaging or diffusion optical tomography.     

Comparison of the Escherichia coli proteomes for recombinant human growth hormone producing and nonproducing fermentations

Two-dimensional electrophoretic analyses of Escherichia coli cells producing recombinant human growth hormone (Nutropin) in fermentations were conducted. The resulting two-dimensional protein profiles were compared with those of nonproducing (blank) cells. A qualitative comparison was performed to address regulatory issues in the biopharmaceutical industry, and a semiquantitative comparison was performed to reveal information about the physiological state of the cells. The protein spots unique to production fermentation profiles were all related to recombinant human growth hormone (hGH); these included intact hGH, charge variants of hGH, and a proteolytically cleaved form of hGH, as expected. There were no E. coli host cell proteins unique to either the production or blank fermentation profiles. Rather, all detectable differences in E. coli proteins were quantitative in nature. Specifically, the levels of IbpA (inclusion body binding protein A), Ivy (inhibitor of vertebrate lysozyme), and a cleaved form of GroEL (Hsp60 homolog) were higher in hGH production profiles, whereas the levels of GlmU protein and PspA (phage shock protein A) were higher in blank profiles. In general, the high degree of similarity between proteomes for hGH-producing and nonproducing cells suggests that E. coli proteins from a nonproducing (blank) fermentation are appropriate for eliciting antibodies that are then used in immunoassays to measure host cell proteins in samples from production fermentations.     

Detection of Naegleria sp. in a thermal, acidic stream in Yellowstone National Park

An initial survey of sequences of PCR-amplified portions of the 18S rRNA genes from a community DNA clone library, prepared from an algal mat in a thermal, acidic stream in Yellowstone National Park, WY, USA, revealed among other sequences, several that matched Vahlkampfia. This finding prompted further investigation using primers specific for Naegleria. Sequences from a subsequent DNA clone library, prepared from the 5.8S rRNA gene and the adjacent internal transcribed spacer (ITS) regions of the rRNA, closely matched Naegleria and formed an independent lineage within a clade containing Naegleria sturti and Naegleria niuginiensis. The sequences may represent a new Naegleria species.