From bodies to bases : human biology and the laws of property

From Bodies to Bases: Human Biology and the Laws of Property takes the reader through the reactions of legal systems to the creeping commodification of all components of the human body. In a hierarchical approach starting with the whole body, through the organs, tissues, cells, and finally individual molecules such as DNA, the author shows how legislation and judicial decisions attempt to protect human dignity against those who would manufacture human clones, traffic in organs, market blood, eggs and sperm, patent genes, and exploit the genomes of the innocent

Hawking spleens, selling genes: the human body and the laws of property with special reference to South East Asia

Hawking spleens, selling genes: the human body and the laws of property is devoted to a discussion of the human body as a hierarchy of commoditiable components. It traces the progressive entry into the marketplace of whole persons, theor organs, tissues, cells and finally, their DNA and their proteins. The complex interaction between the science, the ethics and the legal issues is teased out with reference to the controversies abroad today. Special attention is given to South East Asia, an area which is showing an exponential growth in biotechnology, and is also a prime target for biopiracy and bioprospecting

Obstetrical analgesia: with special reference to the ether-oil-quinine method of rectal instillation

A series of twenty five maternity cases treated with rectal -ether -oil -quinine in labour is reviewed and discussed in tib light of modern practice.Great relief was experienced in 76% of all cases and moderate relief in 20% with one failure.No maternal deaths occurred in spite of the large percentage of abnormal cases and no foetal deaths could be attributed to its use.Its suitability to dystocia, tuberculosis, toxaemia and induction is proved.Labour is not unduly prolonged; it may be hastened but with careful technique rarely ceases.Certain minor objections can be obviated by improved technique and wider experience; they are not in themselves, sufficiently serious to disqualify the method.It is best used in hospital where skilled supervision and attention are available, but, in a modified form can be adapted to Nursing Homes.The physical and mental condition of the patient is improved by the knowledge of ease during delivery, thus ensuring a better convalescence.The admitted enthusiasm of the patient is the best criterion of the success of this method

The headscarf and the veil in English courts of law: issues of free expression and proportionality

Introduction: This chapter confines itself to strictly legal issues arising form the cases of Aishah Azmi and Shahina Begum, with some comments on the recent use of 'X' as well as, peripherally, some related aspects.....

The dispersive action of concentrated salts on collagen

1. The literature concerning the dispersion off collagen by concentrated salt solutions has been reviewed; the literature concerning the reconstitution off native type collagen fibres has boon briefly reviewed, as has recent literature on the properties off the substrate for this work, calf skin collagen. 2. It has been shown that the dispersion off collagen by KI and CaCl2, involves, above a threshold concentration off salt, a highly reversible denaturation of the protein. 3. This denaturation has been shown to result in the dissociation off collagen into three subunits at various concentrations off salt. It has been proposed on the basis of these fractionations that the collagen employed consists off a population off units with varying degrees off resistance to depolymerisation, and therefore varying degrees off intramolecular cohesion. 4. It is considered that the available evidence favours as the mechanism off denaturation the reorientation off water in the solvent by KI or CaCl2 rather than the direct binding off salt molecules or ions to the protein. 5. Collagen fibres thermally reconstituted in the presence of various physiological substances have been shown to have different degrees of resistance to re-dispersion by KI and urea. Substances which appear to render the collagen more resistant are some anions, all amino acids tested, and L-ascorbic acid. 6. The effect of ascorbic acid and related substances on the resistance to re-dispersion of thermally reconstituted collagen has been studied in some detail and it is considered that the stabilising effect of this substance is due to its ionising enol grouping. The literature concerning a possible interaction of L-ascorbic acid with collagen in vivo has been reviewed and it has been proposed that the acid may have both an intracellular and extracellular function in repair tissue. 7. It has been demonstrated that non-protein nitrogen can be prepared from collagen in a number of ways, some of which do not involve extremes of pH or temperature throughout the entire manipulation of the collagen, Evidence for and against the assigning of a specific biological function to this non-protein nitrogen has been discussed

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children

Studies of the chemical composition of a healing skin wound in rats, and of the concentrations of some constituents of tissues distant from the healing wound

1. A skin lesion was made in rats by dorsal incision and the insertion of a polythene tube. 2. Over a period of 25 days after wounding, assays were performed for ascorbic acid, DNA, hydroxyproline, methionine, tryptophan, tyrosine and free amino acids in the lesion tissue. 3. The neutral-salt-soluble proteins of the lesion tissue were fractionated on DEAE-Sephadex, with the separation of fibrinogen and γ-globulin from a serum protein fraction. 4. Over a period of 20 days after wounding, in wounded rats and in controls, assays were conducted for: ascorbic acid in lens and liver, hydroxyproline, soluble protein, methionine and water in muscle and tendon, and free amino acids in muscle. 5. Relative to controls there was a decrease in lens and liver ascorbic acid, a rise in tendon hydroxyproline, a rise in muscle free amino acids, a fall in muscle protein and a rise in tendon and muscle water