PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

C B Cohen

Publications and source records attributed to C B Cohen.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

A microchip-based enzyme assay for protein kinase A.

A microchip-based enzyme assay for protein kinase A is described. The microchips were prepared by standard photolithographic techniques. The assay reagents were placed in wells on the microchips, and electroosmosis was used to transport aliquots of these reagents into the network of etched channels, where the enzymatic reaction takes place. Protein kinase A catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to the serine residue of the heptapeptide LeuArgArgAlaSerLeuGly (Kemptide). The outcome of the enzymatic reaction was assessed by performing an on-chip electrophoretic separation of the fluorescently labeled peptide substrate and product. All liquid-handling steps were performed by controlling the electroosmotically driven flow from reagent and buffer wells using electrical current. On-chip dilutions of the peptide substrate, ATP and H-89, a known protein kinase A inhibitor, were performed and the kinetic constants (K(m), K(i)) of these compounds were determined. This prototype assay demonstrates the usefulness of the microchips for performing enzymatic assays for which fluorogenic substrates cannot easily be designed.

Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases↗
PubMed1999

Selling bits and pieces of humans to make babies: The gift of the magi revisited.

Reproductive medicine, a sector of a health care system increasingly captured by the demands of the marketplace, is enmeshed in a drive to sell certain human bits and pieces, such as gametes, cells, fetal eggs, and fetal ovaries, for reproductive purposes. The ethical objection raised by Kant and Radin to the sale of human organs - that this is incompatible with human dignity and worth - also applies to these sales. Moreover, such sales nullify the reproductive paradigm, irretrievably replacing it with a manufacturing paradigm. This represents a change in kind, not just of degree, in the way that we view our capacity to generate children and destroys our concept of reproduction as an essentially human activity. In the face of a struggle to retain those common ethical values at the foundation of reproductive medicine, this form of commodification of the human body should be viewed as ethically unacceptable.

Aborted Fetus↗
PubMed1983

'Quality of life' and the analogy with the Nazis.

The introduction of 'quality of life' judgments into treatment decisions is viewed as pernicious by some who claim that these presuppose the Nazi position that those who are 'devoid of value' must be exterminated. 'Quality of life' judgments are said to deny the equal value of human beings and to assume that some lives are not 'worthy to be lived'. It is argued that the analogy misconstrues the senses of 'value' and 'quality' employed by Naziism and a 'quality of life' position. This leads the analogizers incorrectly to claim that both views assimilate the value of human beings to the value of their condition. A 'quality of life' position is grounded in recognition of the logical priority of the value of human beings as self-reflective evaluators and agents, which is a matter of kind, not degree. The 'quality of life' is explicated in terms of the standards of well-being of individuals, which are derived from their basic human needs and their individual priorities and goals. The use of 'quality of life' judgments is morally required to ensure that considerations of justice and individual autonomy govern treatment decisions. The purported analogy misconstrues the views of both the Nazi position and a 'quality of life' position and so is seriously misdirected.

Ethics, Medical↗
PubMed1982

Interdisciplinary consultation on the care of the critically ill and dying: the role of one hospital ethics committee.

Little is known about the structure and objectives of various hospital ethics committees due to their need to preserve confidentiality, their reluctance to reveal internal hospital problems, and their concern about becoming involved in the developing debate about the appropriate role and value of such committees. The evolution, functions, and goals of one distinctive hospital committee concerned with the care of the critically ill and dying are explained. Its membership and proceedings are described, and the medico-moral issues with which it has grappled are presented and discussed. An assessment is provided of the positive and negative impact of this committee within the Medical Center with which it is affiliated. The experience of this particular group illustrates that hospital ethics committees can play advisory and educational roles within a large medical center. They can provide support for patients, medical professionals, and families who face difficult dilemmas about terminal illness. They can function as forces to sensitize medical personnel to the challenges presented by medicine's growing power over death. They can serve as catalysts for interdisciplinary communication. Finally, they can promote the development of new programs for informed and humane care of the terminally ill.

Aged↗