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PubMed1998

Biology as technology.

In this paper we have emphasised the technological dimension of the biosciences, especially the biosciences of our time. As a straight forward fact this dimension is less controversial than the question of its relevance is. We have argued that the existence of this dimension is a consequence of the empirical character of the biosciences (as well as of the sciences in general). Knowledge of nature can be achieved only if the subject of knowledge is able to gain access to natural phenomena, and technological means have become increasingly necessary for achieving this. The more that is already known, the greater the technological investment required to produce new knowledge. Therefore there is an interrelationship between the advancement of knowledge and the amount and complexity of the research technology required. It would be short sighted to conclude from this observation that human imagination and inventiveness have become superfluous. Nevertheless the growing preponderance of technological means for progress in science is undeniable. A particularly important insight is that this process not only involves a quantitative increase in technology within science. Our main hypothesis is that there is a close relationship between the type of means used, the type of subject required for performing research, the kinds of objects investigated in science, and the nature of the results that are generated. We have tried to illustrate this by distinguishing between three different types of bioscience: (a) a descriptive type, (b) an experimental type, and (c) and an industrial type. Without pretending this provides a universal key to the history of the biosciences and to understanding of the way science works today, we hope that such a distinction may open up new avenues of thought. We hope that this approach will provide us with a more realistic picture of science. The propositional view reduces science to its theoretical results, in particular to the theories emanating from basic research. Science is seen as a special kind of philosophy; its central aim is to provide us with a 'true' view of the world. Thus the social problems which result from scientific inquiry and from the application of its results seem to be something external to the very essence of science and thus only of secondary importance. We believe, therefore, that this picture of science is both theoretically unsatisfactory and socially misleading. An appropriate account of science cannot ignore the fact that basic research represents only a very small part of the science system of our time. It cannot neglect the fact that science today is steeped with technology and to a great extent also industrialised. And it cannot treat the social problems of science as something merely 'external'. To view science as an activity in the sense outlined in this paper permits one to integrate these different aspects into one coherent and realistic picture. 1. It is obvious that technology plays a crucial role in determining the social reality of science. This is mainly because of the high costs of contemporary research technology that science can no longer be performed by gentleman scientists like Alexander von Humboldt or Charles Darwin, who not only financed their own living but the cost of their own research too. Science today is a profession, and in many cases it can be performed only in large groups or institutions financed by the state or by private companies. At the same time this means that it is more and more dependent upon decisions made outside science. Scientific activities have assumed the economic form of wage labour. The internal structure of science is characterised by a division of labour and hierarchical forms of decision making. 2. From a more traditional point this may seem to be a development 'external' to science, without any relevance for its 'essence'. The aim of science, it may be said, is to discover the truth about the external world, and the ways of reaching it a

Biological Science Disciplines↗
PubMed1998

Life sciences up-date. Do we need to rethink our ideas on the mechanisms of inducible processes in bacteria?

It is confirmed that for a large number of inducible stress tolerance and sensitization responses in Escherichia coli, induction is associated with the secretion of components, often proteins, which can induce related responses in other organisms under normally non-inducing conditions. For most responses, the original induction is also dependent on the functioning of the extracellular agent. It is proposed that the extracellular induction components (EICs) not only induce appropriate responses in organisms in the vicinity of those challenged by the stress, but also act as extracellular alarmones. It is predicted that the switching-on of all other inducible stress tolerances and stress cross-protection and cross-sensitization responses will be found to require similar EICs produced on exposure to appropriate stresses. It is also suggested that cultures will respond to many inhibitory chemicals such as antibiotics, chlorine, other biocides and NO (and possibly to inhibitory biological agents) by producing appropriate EICs i.e. that organisms have evolved so that on exposure to any lethal challenge or a challenge that might be expected to become lethal, they produce diffusible secreted components (EIC alarmones) which both act as a warning to other potentially vulnerable organisms and prepare those organisms to resist the expected challenge. One major stress involves transfer to higher oxygen levels and it is suggested that EIC alarmones will be involved in the rapid habituation to such conditions; such EICs may function not only to induce protection against oxidative components formed as the O2 level rises, but may also be involved in induction/repression of metabolic pathways needed to accomodate to the conditions by giving the most favourable growth at high O2. It is also predicted that envelope alterations induced by environmental changes will prove to be dependent on secreted EICs. The possibility that other inducible processes, including those involving induction or repression of enzymes or pathways by changes in nutrient level, might need EICs has also been discussed. It is concluded that the evolution of EICs now allows organisms to make a meaningful response to almost all inhibitory chemical, physical and, possibly, biological agents and agencies. Also, however, it can be argued that it would be beneficial if nutrient-regulated inducible and repressible processes involving changes in enzyme levels also depended on EICs and, accordingly, in view of such advantages, evolution may have ensured that enzyme inductions and repressions commonly involve such extracellular induction components. It is essential that this be tested. Even those responses unlikely to be associated with EIC secretion (e.g., rapid and reversible processes such as chemotactic responses) may be indirectly influenced by EICs.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1999

[Need to establish academic research organization for cancer clinical trial and clinical research system having clinical investigators and study coordinators, with special reference to promotion of medical and life science research policy].

There are two types of cancer clinical trials in Japan. One is the therapeutic trial sponsored by a pharmaceutical company for approval of clinical use of new anticancer agent, and another is the clinical trial sponsored by an investigator for establishment of standard state-of-the-art therapy. Advances in cancer chemotherapy can not be achieved without active use of both types of cancer clinical trial. However, the infrastructure, such as academic research organization for cancer clinical trials and clinical research systems having clinical investigators and study coordinators, has not been sufficiently established. New GCP and the Drugs, Cosmetics and Medical Instruments Act are applied only to the therapeutic trials sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, but not to clinical trials sponsored by investigators. There is no National Research Act to cover both types of clinical trial. In this paper, the problems mentioned above are summarized, and a proposal to solve these problems is presented. The Medical and Life Science Research Policy of the Japanese Government should be improved to promote both basic and clinical research. The promotion of clinical research is essential for improvement in the quality of medical practice, appropriate changes in the medical security system, and activation of pharmaceutical science.

Biological Science Disciplines↗
PubMed2004

Pragmatism, patronage and politics in English biology: the rise and fall of economic biology 1904-1920.

The rise of applied biology was one of the most striking feature of the biological sciences in the early 20th century. Strongly oriented toward agriculture, this was closely associated with the growth of a number of disciplines, notably, entomology and mycology. This period also saw a market expansion of the English University system, and biology departments in the newly inaugurated civic universities took an early and leading role in the development of applied biology through their support of Economic Biology. This sought explicitly to promote the application of biological knowledge to economically important problems and especially to agriculture. The impact of Economic Biology was felt most strongly within Zoology, where it became synonymous with entomology. The transience of Economic Biology belies its significance, for example, in providing a means for the expansion of biology at the civic universities. More broadly, it opened up new research and employment opportunities within the life sciences. In late Edwardian Britain, newly available state funds for agriculturally relevant biological disciplines transformed the life sciences. This paper examines the impact of these funds - mobilized either under the 1909 Development Act, or under the auspices of colonial interests - on Economic Biology and the institutionalization of applied biology. The rise and fall of Economic Biology casts new light on the way in which institutional and political alignments profoundly shaped the development of British biology.

Agriculture↗
PubMed2002

Shallow genomics, phylogenetics, and evolution in the family Drosophilidae.

The effects of the genomic revolution are beginning to be felt in all disciplines of the biological sciences. Evolutionary biology in general, and phylogenetic systematics in particular, are being revolutionized by these advances. The advent of rapid nucleotide sequencing techniques have provided phylogenetic biologists with the tools required to quickly and efficiently generate large amounts of character information. We use family Drosophilidae as a model system to study phylogenetics and genome evolution by combining high throughput sequencing methods from the field genomics and standard phylogenetic methodology. This paper presents preliminary results from this work. Separate data partitions, based on either gene function or linkage group, are compared to a combined analysis of all the data to assess support on phylogenetic trees.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Human placental immunoglobulins show unique re-association patterns with isologous and third party acid treated trophoblast microvesicles in vitro.

OBJECTIVE: To study re-association pattern of human placental eluate immunoglobulins with acid treated isologous and third party trophoblast derived placental microvesicles. DESIGN: Laboratory based experimentation. SETTING: Biological Sciences Department and Discipline for Reproductive Medicine University of Newcastle, Australia and the Department of Biochemistry, University of Nairobi, Kenya. RESULTS: Placental eluate immunoglobulins re-associated with isologous and third party acidified microvesicles in three distinct patterns. I: eluate immunoglobulins re-associated more strongly with isologous and third party acid treated placental microvesicles, II: eluate immunoglobulins re-associated strongly with isologous but weakly with third party acid treated placental microvesicles, III: eluate immunoglobulins did not show preferential re-association with isologous and third party acid treated placental microvesicles. CONCLUSION: Two types of antigenic epitopes I and II may be expressed on the human placentae. Type I antigens may be present on all human placentae while type II epitopes may be paternally derived hence unique to each pregnancy. Also, immunoglobulins produced to placental microvesicle antigens may be directed to some but not all antigenic epitopes expressed on the human placental trophoblast.

Acids↗
PubMed2002

The origin of modern plant virology.

Plant virology, born with Mayer's work, saw a first (embryonic) phase of development during two decades (1900-1920) with outstanding contributions from Dimitri Ivanovski, Martinus Beijerinck, Erwin Baur and Harry Allard. Between 1920 and 1930 a second phase saw the elaboration of surprising hypotheses concerning the enigmatic nature of viruses and experimental evidence of great stress was obtained. Revolutionary renewal began from the mid-1930s on the basis of a body of knowledge which was organically assembled into the first textbook of plant virology published by Kenneth Smith in 1933. In 1922, the geneticist Hermann Muller put forward the hypothesis that considered viruses as possible genes. The theory was resumed in an apparently independent way by Benjamin Duggar and Joanne Karrer Armstrong in 1923, who considered TMV a biocolloidal self-reproducing protein, like genes appeared to be. This hypothesis, even if neglected by virologists, anticipated by some decades the functional nature of viruses and represented the first conceptual response to virus enigma. Considerable experimental results were obtained by James Johnson, who showed that plants could be infected by different viruses and who introduced a first rational system of plant virus classification. Harold McKinney showed that TMV could mutate. Harold Storey, Kenneth Smith and Harry Severin demonstrated that several viruses could be transmitted by insects and supplied the first interpretation of the relationship between virus and insect. Mayme Dvorak and Helen Purdy obtained the first experimental evidence of the antigenic power of plant viruses. Virus purification, first tentatively accomplished with physical methods, was brilliantly performed by chemical means. Finally, Francis Holmes elaborated the first suitable test to estimate virus infectivity. The evolution of plant virology from an empirical discipline to a biological science took place thanks to the work of one group of American and English scientists who must be regarded as the fathers of modern plant virology.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMed1994

Construction of science for animal agriculture.

Current animal science research is dominated by disciplinary studies that are experimentally controlled and statistically analyzed. Research in animal science is also placed predominantly within a hierarchy of biological sciences ranging through molecular mechanisms, cells, organ systems, organisms, life systems, ecosystems, and human systems. In the main, disciplinary and applied animal investigations differ from each other only in that they are conducted within different biological work boundaries. Both are largely reductionist and often fragmentary. Animal science, however, has two sets of constituents, the scientific community and external interests, and both are legitimate. External interests will judge the research according to how well it contributes to a hierarchy of functional and practical knowledge instead of the biological. The functional hierarchy of inquiry ranges through validation of ideas; actions; tactics of management; strategies and systems of production; agrospheres including land and water resources, landscapes, human capital, and community; and the anthrosphere including consumers, food product chains, and global markets. More interconnection of the biological and biophysical research with functional knowledge is needed but may be limited by insufficient theoretical development of the new contributing disciplines such as molecular biology, system science, and those represented by the functional hierarchy, and recruitment of specialized scientists who often lack practical experience in agriculture and the food system. Multiple opportunities for intervention of animal agriculture exist, and multiple disciplines including the new biological and functional disciplines will be needed to provide what will be perceived to be the full scope of animal science research.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animal Husbandry↗
PubMed2006

"A mission-driven discipline": the growth of conservation biology.

Conservation biology emerged in the mid-1980s, drawing on established disciplines and integrating them in pursuit of a coherent goal: the protection and perpetuation of the Earth's biological diversity. Opportunistic in its borrowing and application of knowledge, conservation biology had its roots within the established biological sciences and resource management disciplines but has continually incorporated insights from the empirical experience of resource managers, from the social sciences and humanities, and from diverse cultural sources. The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) has represented the field's core constituency, while expanding that constituency in keeping with the field's integrative spirit. Conservation Biology has served as SCB's flagship publication, promoting research, dialog, debate, and application of the field's essential concepts. Over the last 20 years the field, SCB, and the journal have evolved to meet changing conservation needs, to explore gaps in our knowledge base, to incorporate new information from related fields, to build professional capacity, and to provide expanded opportunities for international participation. In turn, the field, SCB, and journal have prompted change in related fields, organizations, and publications. In its dedication to advancing the scientific foundations of biodiversity conservation and placing that science at the service of society in a world whose variety, wildness, and beauty we care for conservation biology represents both a continuation and radical reconfiguration of the traditional relationship between science and conservation.

Conservation of Natural Resources↗
PubMed1995

Biological research on sexual orientation: a critique of the critics.

Evolutionary biologists are tired of being accused of being too biologically deterministic, by critics who have little understanding of what biological or evolutionary theories actually imply. Misunderstandings came about because social-science disciplines often do not share evolutionary biology's tendency to build into their models multiple "normal" paths of development. Sociobiologists first explained homosexuality adaptively because they first try to explain everything adaptively. Most nonbiologists are unaware of this very strong evolutionary tradition. It is now fashionable to discount scientific objectivity, but there are many examples of where such an attack is unwarranted. Kinsey produced a nontypological theory of sexual orientation in spite of his history as a taxonomist. Sociobiologists produced a nonpathological explanation of nonreproductive homosexuality in spite of the centrality of reproductive success in their models. In judging whether a discipline is particularly likely to be misused in social debates, one must perform the appropriate intellectual "controls". One must examine appropriate uses as well as misuses, and one must examine other disciplines to see whether there are differences in the relative likelihood of abuse. Indeed, many social-science theories have been even more clearly abused than biological ones.

Animals↗