The need for scientists and judges to work together: regarding a new European network

Is it always true to say that science is, by definition, universal whilst laws and the courts which apply them are a classic state and national expression? Yes and no. In recent years a new scenario has opened all over the world. Courts intervene more and more in disputes on matters related to scientific procedures in the biological field. In doing so the courts' decisions are affected by scientific issues and ways of reasoning and, on the other hand, affect the scientific field and its way of reasoning. While the old matter of bioethics was still alive and while judges were improving their skill in dealing with hard matters, like refusal of medical treatments, abortion, euthanasia et cetera, a new challenge appeared on the horizon, the challenge of biological sciences, and especially of the most troubled field of human genetics. A completely new awareness is developing among judges that they belong to an international judiciary community, as informal as it is real. Such a community is, even at an embryonic stage, sufficiently universal to be able to come together with the international scientific community. The authors maintain we are in urgent need for new interaction between judges and scientists and of new international means in the light of such cooperation. Judges and jurists need to become better acquainted with scientific questions and learn to exchange ideas with scientists. They also need to set themselves against the latters' conceptual systems and be willing to put their own up for discussion. A European Network for Life Sciences, Health and the Courts is taking its first steps, and judges and scientists are working side by side to tackle the new challenges. The provisional headquarters are located at the University of Pavia (I), Laboratorio di Biologia dello Sviluppo and Collegio Ghislieri (e-mail:. [email protected]). ENLSC activity is inspired by the following idea: to be against science is as much antiscientific as to be acritically pro-science

Human embryonic stem cells handbook

After the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine was awarded jointly to Sir John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent it became imperative to write down the review for a book entirely devoted to human embryonic stem cells (hES), those cells that are a urgent need for researchers, those cells that rekindle the ethical debates and finally, last but not least, those cells whose study paved the way to obtain induced pluripotent stem cells by the OSKC’s Yamanaka method (the OSKC acronim refers, for those not familiar with the topic, to the four stemness genes used to transfect somatic fibroblasts: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc)...

RNA therapeutics - Function, design and delivery

RNA therapeutics - Function, design and deliver

Mass spectrometry in food safety - Methods and Protocols

Food safety is one of the main concern in a seven billion people world where food production is now-a-day a world enterprise. Food safety is a necessary pre-requisite for healthy citizens, a global duty that all main geographical areas (Europe, China, the USA and Japan) have addressed. However, the book is rightly opened by an overview of the European union regulations, the area where the most up-to-date regulations have been developed.....

Signal transduction protocols

The fascinating world of signal transduction is deeply, and clearly, investigated in this book edited by two leading scientists, Prof. Louis M. Luttrell (Dept. Medicine & Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Medical University of South Carolina at Charleston) and Prof. Stephen S.G. Ferguson (Robarts Research Institute, The University of Western Ontario at London, Ontario). The editors were able to put together twentyfive chapters.....

Genetically modified organisms and genetic engineering in research and therapy

This is a very interesting book for both the contents and the procedure that lead to its production. In fact this is the third volume of the series BioValley Monographs edited by Philippe Poindron (University of Strasbourg) and Pascale Piguet (University of Basel) and sponsored by Conseil Régional d’Alsace, Endress foundation and BioValley Alsace (the biocluster of the upper Rhine area)

Cytoplasmic lattices are not linked to mouse 2-cell embryos developmental arrest

Cytoplasmic lattices are important regulators of oocyte maturation. They store components of the protein synthesis machinery including ribosomes and, among others, they are involved in the regulation of microtubule dynamics in both mouse and human. Cytoplasmic lattices undergo dramatic reorganizations at crucial stages of oocyte maturation, where they are abundantly present in the cytoplasm of developmentally competent oocytes named SN (Surrounded Nucleolus) while they are rare in the cytoplasm of 2-cell stage-arresting NSN (Not Surrounded Nucleolus) oocytes, suggestive of a requirement of cytoplasmic lattices for development past the 2-cell stage. Here, to elucidate this requirement, 2-cell mouse embryos derived from SN and NSN oocytes were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. Contrary to what had been proposed hitherto, cytoplasmic lattices are present in 2-cell embryos derived not only from SN, but also from NSN oocytes, irrespective of the embryo production system (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection, parthenogenesis). Hence our conclusion that cytoplasmic lattices do not count among the factor(s) responsible for the embryo arrest at this crucial stage of development

In memoriam of Prof. Mels van der Ploeg

In memoriam of Prof. Mels van der Ploe

Desiderare di cambiare rotta

The origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is undoubtedly due to the devastation and destruction of the planet. From the industrial revolution onwards, we, sapiens sapiens, have devastated more than 2/3 of the earth's surface for industrialization, urbanization, and agricultural production processes. Not only that, we have deforested the equivalent of the surface of the African continent for the intensive breeding of cattle and the production of red meat. All this has dramatically expanded social and environmental inequalities and injustices. The report by Sir Partha Dasgupta (the economics of biodiversity) and the study of Gilbert Simodon, which we comment on here, are a precious help in making us responsible for the seriousness of the 'ecological question.' Are we behaving like good ancestors? And most importantly, what kind of planet will we leave for generations to come?    L’origine della pandemia da COVID-19 è da attribuire alla devastazione e distruzione del pianeta causata dai nostri esasperati consumi e stili di vita. Infatti è dalla rivoluzione industriale in poi che noi, sapiens sapiens, abbiamo devastato più dei 2/3 della superfice terrestre per processi di industrializzazione, urbanizzazione e produzione agricola. Non solo, abbiamo deforestato l’equivalente della superficie del continente africano per l’allevamento intensivo di bovini e la produzione di carne rossa.Tutto ciò ha ampliato a dismisura disuguaglianze ed ingiustizie sociali ed ambientali. Il rapporto di Sir Partha Dasgupta (l’economia della biodiversità) e lo studio dell’opera di Gilbert Simodon, che qui commentiamo, sono un prezioso aiuto per responsabilizzarci sulla gravità della ‘questione ecologica’. Ci stiamo comportando da buoni antenati? E, soprattutto, che tipo di pianeta lasceremo alle generazioni a venire? &nbsp