Canines, Consanguinity, and One-Medicine: All the Qualities of a Dog except Loyalty

The rise of pet culture and the expansion of medical science occurred concurrently in the late–nineteenth century. From this time in Anglo-American societies dogs were simultaneously valorised as ‘man’s best friend’ and the ‘ideal model’ for experimental medicine. By tracking the hounds into our laboratories and onto the settee, changes in our conception of the properties of blood and canine breeding can be used to excavate covert connections between the contradictory social and scientific utilisations of this species. Describing the movement of genealogical and medical knowledge between the bench-top, the kennel and the clinic illustrates how Rudolph Virchow’s earlier promotion of a concept of ‘one-medicine’ foreshadowed the twentieth-century concomitant development and intermingling of the biomedical sciences and a sophisticated companion animal medical expertise

PERSONALIZED MEDICINE: ALL BENEFITS FOR THE PATIENT BUT NEW CHALLENGE IN THE PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP

peer reviewedPersonalized medicine should lead to major advances for patient care since it contributes to deliver the >. In curative medicine, this approach should improve the efficacy of medications by initial selection of "good responders", and should reduce adverse events due to poor tolerance or toxicity by a better pharmacological choice and a more appropriate individualized dose adjustment. Over recent years, considerable technical advances have increasingly linked personalized medicine with predictive and preventive medicine. This progress raises hopes for major advancements in medicine, but may also cause some concern among the lay public. The patient should actively be involved in the decisions related to his/her health, in a true model of participatory medicine. Finally, personalized medicine should leave its strict technical nature and become more interested in the person as a whole, within a holistic approach also integrating psychosocial aspects that are so important in the physician-patient relationship.La médecine personnalisée devrait constituer un progrès considérable pour les malades puisqu’elle contribue à donner «le bon traitement au bon patient». En médecine curative, cette approche devrait aboutir à améliorer l’efficacité des médicaments en sélectionnant d’emblée les patients «bons répondeurs» et à réduire les problèmes de tolérance et de toxicité grâce à un meilleur choix pharmacologique et à un ajustement posologique mieux individualisé. Par ailleurs, les progrès techniques des dernières années font que la médecine personnalisée est de plus en plus intimement liée à la médecine prédictive et préventive. Ces progrès ouvrent des avancées majeures en médecine, mais peuvent soulever aussi nombre d’inquiétudes légitimes dans le grand public. Le patient se doit de collaborer activement à la démarche et aux choix concernant sa propre santé, dans le cadre d’une véritable médecine participative. Enfin, la médecine personnalisée doit sortir de sa stricte technicité pour s’intéresser à la personne dans sa globalité, dans une approche holistique et humaniste intégrant également les aspects psycho-sociaux tellement importants dans la relation médecin-malade. Mots-clés : Médecine générale - Médecine personnalisée - Médecine prédictive - Médecine préventive - Patien

Dilemmas in fetal medicine: premature application of technology or responding to womens choice?

Copyright @ 2006 The Author.It is argued that innovative health technologies (IHTs) may be changing the roles of both patients and health practitioners, and raising new issues, including ethical, legal and social dilemmas. This paper focuses on the innovative area of fetal medicine. All fetal treatment necessitates accessing the fetus through the pregnant woman's body, and non-surgical treatments have long been a part of pregnancy care. However, recent developments in this area, including the increasing routinisation of sophisticated antenatal ultrasound screening and the introduction of treatments including fetal surgery, may mark a shift in this specialty. The paper explores such shifts from the perspectives of medical and midwifery practitioners working in two Fetal Medicine Units. It examines the apparent effects of the orientation of fetal medicine on prevalent conceptualisations of the maternal-fetal relationship, and some of the consequences of this. It is argued that new forms of uncertainty, including complex risk and diagnostic information, and uncertain prognostic predictions set within the rhetoric of non-directive counselling and women's choice, are leading to unprecedented ethical dilemmas within this area. More widespread debate about such potential dilemmas needs to take place before, rather than following their introduction.This study is supported by the Wellcome Trust Biomedical Ethics programme and the ESRC Innovative Health Technologies Programme (grant number L218252042)

Translational Bioinformatics for Human Reproductive Biology Research: Examples, Opportunities and Challenges for a Future Reproductive Medicine

Since 1978, with the first IVF (in vitro fertilization) baby birth in Manchester (England), more than eight million IVF babies have been born throughout the world, and many new techniques and discoveries have emerged in reproductive medicine. To summarize the modern technology and progress in reproductive medicine, all scientific papers related to reproductive medicine, especially papers related to reproductive translational medicine, were fully searched, manually curated and reviewed. Results indicated whether male reproductive medicine or female reproductive medicine all have made significant progress, and their markers have experienced the progress from karyotype analysis to single-cell omics. However, due to the lack of comprehensive databases, especially databases collecting risk exposures, disease markers and models, prevention drugs and effective treatment methods, the application of the latest precision medicine technologies and methods in reproductive medicine is limited.This research was funded by Project of Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (20JR5RA363); Project of Gansu Provincial Education Department (2020B-003)

Systematic Racism, Abortion and Bias in Medicine: All Threads Woven in the Cloth of Racial Disparity for Mothers and Infants

This note argues that decisions like that of NAACP v. Wilmington Medical Center, Inc. have been one of many contributing factors in the disparity in mortality rates of both black and American Indian/Alaska Native newborns in comparison to white newborns across the country. Part II examines the current state of the law regarding issues of discrimination, accessibility of health care, and relocation and closure of medical centers that has disproportionately affect minorities in the U.S. Part III discusses the statistics of white, black, and American Indian/Alaska Native newborn and maternal mortality rates in the United States. Part IV addresses the potential causes of this disparity, which include inadequate access to quality medical care for racial minorities, implicit racial bias, a demand for more minority doctors, and strict abortion restrictions. Part V proposes that a reduction in the racial disparities in mortality rates for black and indigenous mothers and infants can be achieved by implementing comprehensive state-level “public-private” collaborations, and increasing availability and coverage of more birthing resources like midwives. Lastly, Part VI concludes that the current condition of federal and state legislation has not eliminated the racial disparities in maternal and infant mortality rates, and further measures must be taken to achieve this goal

Collaborative Leadership in Medicine

I interviewed five leaders in the field of medicine, all physicians in leadership positions, and analyzed their leadership styles. Additionally, I researched collaborative leadership and its role in the ever changing world of healthcare. I have found that physicians in respected leadership roles tend to be team members who are very willing to acknowledge their flaws but also be aware of strengths and use them for the good of patients and the communit

From laboratory bench to benchmark: technology transfer in laboratory medicine

Background: Life Sciences research, enhancing the occurrence of innovation, is able to impact clinical decision-making, both at diagnosis and therapy. Indeed, starting from the knowledge of specific needs and of technical-scientific demands, researchers can conceive and experiment innovative solutions. Despite these strengths, transferring research to the market in Life Sciences shows considerable criticalities. The aim of this paper is to provide concrete evidences on the processes of technology transfer based on the exploitation of the results obtained by KronosDNAsrl, an academic spin-off focused on reproductive medicine. Methods: Different tools were used to evaluate the technical feasibility (validation of the results obtained with the prototype) and to manage the technology transfer process of One4Two®. Results: The different analyses we carried out showed the feasibility of the proposed solution. As a result, the One4Two® prototype has been developed and validated. Conclusions: Here, we provide a strength of evidences on how knowledge obtained by translational research on "bench" can be used to be transferred to the market on "benchmark" enabling innovation in Laboratory Medicine. In addition, the model described for One4Two® can be easily transferred to other products

Bettering Humanity through Biology

Biology is arguably referred to as the “science of the XXIth century”. This prestigious title intrinsically contains a huge responsibility. For many centuries, Biology has contributed directly or indirectly to bettering humankind, although its obvious and objective effects have only been made evident since the XIXth century. There are three main domains to which Biology has made significant contributions: Agriculture, Environment and Medicine. Several scientific disciplines connected to Biology have been involved such as Genetics (mendelian and molecular), Cell Biology, Ecology, Microbiology, and what was known for a long time as “Natural History” (today we would include these roughly within Botany and Zoology). Agronomy, a relatively recent science, has made a tremendous impact by providing knowledge on growing plants and animals, and developing new and better crops. One specific moment in time, following WW II, known as the “Green Revolution” benefitted humanity immensely, by combating hunger in countries such as India and Mexico. The “father” of the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug, was awarded the 1970 Peace Nobel Prize for such achievements. In the XXIth century, biologists and agronomists are working hard to develop new and better crops to feed almost 8 billion people. In the medical field, the contributions are inumerable, from the discovery and development of vaccines (Jenner and Pasteur), to antibiotics (Fleming) and combatting diseases. This has increased the average life expectancy of humans from around 30-40 in the beginning of the XXth century, to a present value of around 75 (depending on the country). These achievements have been recognized by society, through dozens of Nobel Prizes in Medicine. All these successes have been made possible through Biology. In the past 30-40 years, numerous voices have been raised alerting for the environmental degradation of our planet, its land and oceans, its biomes and ecosystems. We have been depleting our planet at an incredible rate. But today, biologists and environmental scientists have the knowledge and tools to better the planet. We know how the ecosystems function and what causes harm them. There is still time, together with a strong public opinion, to halt the damage. Once again, Biology is a principal actor