Developments in stem cell research and therapeutic cloning: Islamic ethical positions, a review

Stem cell research is very promising. The use of human embryos has been confronted with objections based on ethical and religious positions. The recent production of reprogrammed adult (induced pluripotent) cells does not - in the opinion of scientists - reduce the need to continue human embryonic stem cell research. So the debate continues. Islam always encouraged scientific research, particularly research directed toward finding cures for human disease. Based on the expectation of potential benefits, Islamic teachings permit and support human embryonic stem cell research. The majority of Muslim scholars also support therapeutic cloning. This permissibility is conditional on the use of supernumerary early pre-embryos which are obtained during infertility treatment in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics. The early pre-embryos are considered in Islamic jurisprudence as worthy of respect but do not have the full sanctity offered to the embryo after implantation in the uterus and especially after ensoulment. In this paper the Islamic positions regarding human embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning are reviewed in some detail, whereas positions in other religious traditions are mentioned only briefly. The status of human embryonic stem cell research and therapeutic cloning in different countries, including the USA and especially in Muslim countries, is discussed.     

强化学术研究和创新能力的代谢工程课程教学模式研究和实践

针对培养研究生科学研究能力与创新能力,探讨了研究生课程"代谢工程"教学模式的改革和实践。从建设"在线更新和主动展现"课件形式实现对课程教学内容及时更新,创设对课程核心内容进行主题讲授和模拟国际学术会议模式进行课堂研讨会(Seminar)的教学模式,以及实施以笔试加综合能力考核的考核方法等,以强化研究生科学研究和创新能力的培养。     

Revised h index for biomedical research

Proposed by Hirsch as a quantitative measure of the total output of a researcher, the h index does not work well in the field of life sciences, where an author’s position on a paper typically depends on the author’s contribution. We revise the h index by weighing first and last authorship papers four times heavier than middle authorship papers. The revised index (r) signifies a shift in how we evaluate the research output in biology and medicine: it places more value on conducting and directing original, independent investigations as compared with contributing to projects conducted and directed by others.     

25 Jahre Mykotoxin-Workshop

Mycotoxin research has a long tradition in Germany and is documented by a series of annual meetings which started 25 years ago. This paper gives an historical review on these Mycotoxin-Workshops. The first mycotoxin workshop in 1979 at the Federal Centre for Meat Research in Kulmbach was initiated by the former Federal Ministry of Agriculture and mainly thought to bring together scientists from the Federal research facilities. Main topics at that early time of mycotoxin research were food and feed safety, the mycology of toxin producers, the analysis and toxicology of mycotoxins. In the following years the Mycotoxin Workshop was influenced not only by working groups from the Federal research facilities but also from universities, state laboratories, other organisations and research scientists from outside Germany and with different disciplines. The number of participants increased from 19 at the beginning to more than 150 up to now and in order to organise these annual meetings at varying locations, in 1997 the society for mycotoxin research was founded. Since that time the Society for Mycotoxin Research (www.mykotoxin.de) is responsible for the organisation of the Mycotoxin Workshops. In addition the Society for Mycotoxin Research organizes the Brigitte Gedek science award, endowed with ￠ 10,000, and the Münchner Mycotoxin fellowship program, both intented to promote scientific research in mycotoxinology.

Presented at the 25^th Mykotoxin Workshop in Giessen, Germany, May 19–21, 2003     

Reducing the primate pet trade: Actions for primatologists

This commentary emerged from a panel presentation at the International Primatological Society Congress in Nairobi, Kenya, 2018. The goal was to provide regional updates on the status of primate removal from habitat countries, especially for the pet trade, and develop guidelines that could help primatologists address this critical problem. The trade in live primates includes those used as pets, in entertainment, and as subjects of biomedical experimentation, but here we focus on those primates destined for the pet trade. Such transactions are a hugely lucrative business, impacting hundreds of thousands of individuals annually and affecting the survival of wild populations. Being intimately familiar with primate social behavior, life history and biology, primatologists, whether they work with captive or wild primates, are in a unique position to understand the nature of the trade and attempt to counter its effects. In addition to updating the status of the primate pet trade, we provide recommendations that may help primatologists formulate a plan to deal, locally and regionally, with illegal trafficking in live primates. General guidelines include increasing awareness of local customs, policies and laws; developing collaborative research opportunities for local people; engaging in training/informational opportunities; and instructing on how to take action when encountering illegally-trafficked primates.     

The Concept of Human Dignity in the Ethics of Genetic Research

Despite criticism that dignity is a vague and slippery concept, a number of international guidelines on bioethics have cautioned against research that is contrary to human dignity, with reference specifically to genetic technology. What is the connection between genetic research and human dignity? In this article, I investigate the concept of human dignity in its various historical forms, and examine its status as a moral concept. Unlike Kant's ideal concept of human dignity, the empirical or relational concept takes human dignity as something that is affected by one's circumstances and what others do. I argue that the dignity objection to some forms of genetic research rests on a view of human nature that gives humans a special status in nature – one that is threatened by the potential of genetic research to reduce individuals to their genetic endowment. I distinguish two main philosophical accounts of human nature. One of these, the Aristotelian view, is compatible with the use of genetic technology to help humans realize their inherent potential to a fuller extent.     

The importance of the “Gegenbaur school” for German morphology

Summary The school Carl Gegenbaur cultivated at Heidelberg (1873–1901) was critical to the history of German morphology in multiple ways. During and after his lifetime, the school carried out detailed comparative anatomical and embryological investigations in an evolutionary framework, thereby contributing substantially to the project of vertebrate evolutionary morphology. Its members also defended their mentor when his ideas came under attack. After his death, they labored to perpetuate his program and his memory in the increasingly unwelcoming environment of medical education and research. While the senior members of the school did this largely through institutional means-seeking to place Gegenbaur sympathizers in academic and editorial positions-its junior members absorbed some of the criticisms of the school to develop a modified, more functional approach to evolutionary morphology. The school thus kept the Gegenbaur program alive and active in the German-speaking lands for over fifty years. This paper is drawn largely from Nyhart (1995), esp. chapter 7 (supported by NSF award no. 8910873). Information not otherwise documented derives from this book.