Colonial Legacies, Postcolonial Biologies: Gender and the Promises of Biotechnology

Three decades of work in the feminist studies of science and technology have shaped our evolving understandings of the relationships between sex, gender, and biotechnology. Sex, and gender are most often reduced to binary categories, severely limiting our conceptions not only of human diversity, but those of science and technology. Using two case study set in India, transnational surrogacy and the Indian Genome Variation Project, this paper explores how popular positions around biotechnology are reduced to binary positions promoting and opposing biotechnology as the solution for the economic and social development of India. By locating surrogacy and genomics within the larger geopolitical, historical, economic and cultural transformations of postcolonial India, the paper argues that both technologies are far more complex in their impact on women and gender. Why does technology become the major site of hope for the future? Why does genomics become the site for the promises of good health? Why has India become a site for reproductive tourism, and transnational surrogacy in particular? Drawing on the social studies of science, the paper argues that technology and human bodies are never neutral but always prefigured with a gender, race, caste and sexuality. Surrogacy and genomics should be understood within these colonial and postcolonial histories of science and technology

Cartographies for Feminist STS: Celebrating the Work of Sharon Traweek

In the 2020 Prague Virtual Conference of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) Sharon Traweek was awarded the society\u27s John D. Bernal Prize jointly with Langdon Winner. The Bernal Prize is awarded annually to individuals who have made distinguished contributions to the field of STS. Prize recipients include founders of the field of STS, along with outstanding scholars who have devoted their careers to the understanding of social dimensions of science and technology. In this essay responding to Traweek\u27s Bernal lecture, Subramaniam explores Traweek\u27s mentorship in her own work as a feminist STS scholar in biological sciences

Recolonizing India: Troubling the Anticolonial, Decolonial, Postcolonial

This is not a manifesto, nor is it a prescriptive call for a new, decolonial, or decolonized science and technology studies (STS). Instead, our critical perspectives in this issue are propositional offerings. We aim to provoke questions about how science and technology studies might intersect with decolonizing or decolonial practices and scholarship, and what kinds of openings these intersections may or may not provide. We offer these reflections as invitations to think with us and to consider the worlds in which we live and work. They are entries into a conversation that, of course, does not start or end with us, but rather draws upon multiple intellectual genealogies and particular struggles and colonial histories

Why We need Critical Interdisciplinarity: A Dialogue on Feminist Science Technology Studies, Postcolonial Issues, and EcoDiversity. A Dialogue between Banu Subramaniam and Sigrid Schmitz

The following dialogue between two biologists and Feminist Science and Technology Studies (STS) scholars, Banu Subramaniam and Sigrid Schmitz, took place on June 16th, 2016 at the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg. Banu Subramaniam gave a talk on “Interdisciplinary Hauntings: The Ghostly Words of Naturecultures.“ Afterwards both researchers discussed the linkages between feminist science studies, postcolonial perspectives, and eco-diversity discourses

EVALUATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTIMICROBIAL, AND HYPOGLYCEMIC EFFECTS OF THE LEAVES OF EMBELIA RIBES

Objective: The purpose of this work is to evaluate the antimicrobial, antibacterial, and hypoglycemic effects of methanolic and ethanolic extracts of Embelia ribes leaves using in vitro studies.Methods: Antibacterial activities of the methanolic and ethanolic extract of E. ribes leaves against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococci, and Klebsiella pneumoniae at different concentrations ranging from 10, 25, 50, and 75 μg/mL and their antibacterial activities were compared to those of the reference controls such as ciprofloxacin and clindamycin. Furthermore, the effect of leaf extracts on α-amylase and α-glucosidase enzymes was assayed.Results: The methanolic and ethanolic extract of E. ribes leaves effectively inhibited the activity of α-amylase and α-glucosidase in a dose-dependent manner. The effect of the methanolic extract was more prominent than that of ethanolic extract. At the same time, both the extracts showed markable inhibition of bacterial growth at a concentration of 75 μg/mL compared to the other three doses (10, 25, and 50 μg/ml) and also commercially available antibiotic drugs ciprofloxacin and clindamycin that were used as positive control drugs. The antibacterial activity of methanolic extract is significantly higher than that of ethanolic extract.Conclusion: The preliminary results of this study have put forward E. ribes into promising herb with respect to its therapeutic potential although further studies are needed to evaluate its mechanism of action

Thermal comfort properties of knitted fabrics produced from bamboo/polyester core-spun yarns

The influence of polyester content, twist and loop length on the comfort properties of single jersey knitted fabrics produced from 100% bamboo, 80:20 bamboo/polyester and 60:40 bamboo/polyester core-spun yarns has been studied. Comfort properties, such as air permeability, moisture vapour transmission, thermal conductivity and thermal resistance properties have been analyzed with three different twist levels and loop lengths. Box–Behnken, a three level three factorial design software, has been used to study the interactive effect of core-sheath ratio, twist and loop length on the comfort properties of single jersey knitted fabrics, response surface equations are derived and the design variables are optimized. It is found that the increase in bamboo content in the core yarns having high twist and loop length increases the moisture vapour transmission and thermal conductivity of the knitted fabrics. The air permeability and thermal resistance of the knitted fabrics are found to be higher as the polyester component is increased. High twist and loop length increase the thermal comfort properties of knitted fabrics

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries