Designing for the life sciences: the epistemology of elite life science real estate

In this article trends in the design of iconic elite life science buildings is discussed. Four main elite life science buildings of the new century are considered. The buildings reflect things going on in and around elite contemporary life science today, including changing ideas about the relation between the public and science, and about the relation of science to the market. Reading trends in the design of science buildings is a way to follow the evolving epistemology of the life sciences and changing demands of science policy

Gender and sexuality in the US election: three lessons

The US nation spent the last month or so deciding whether to mind that one of the two major party candidates, Donald Trump, had bragged about using his money and power to kiss and grope women without consent, including the line about “grabbing women by the pussy,” that spurred the striking “pussy grabs back” meme. This came on the heels of disrespect toward Mexican Americans, Muslim Americans, African Americans and those with disabilities, and against a background of unrelenting misogyny

IVF global histories, USA: between rock and a marketplace

The USA has played, and continues to play, a distinctive and significant part in the history of IVF and assisted reproductive technology worldwide. American IVF emerged in the scientific context of contraceptive and fertility research, in the social context of a wealthy nation without universal healthcare, and in the political context of the abortion debate and its impact on federal versus state funding and regulation. IVF had its first clinical success in the USA in 1981. Since then, IVF in the USA has become known for procedures involving third, fourth and fifth parties as gamete donors and surrogates. The USA has also been one of the pioneers in domestic and transnational deployment of IVF for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) parenthood, and a pioneer of the social egg-freezing revolution. US IVF has been marked by professional and patient advocacy for such things as the honest reporting of success rates, recognition of the risks of postponed childbearing, and the need for insurance coverage. Certain landmark legal custody disputes over IVF embryos and offspring, as well as media attention to gendered, racialized, and class-based access to and pricing of assisted reproductive technology, have also driven the development of IVF in the USA

How should “CRISPRed” babies be monitored over their life course to promote health equity?

Gene-edited babies who might be born in the future should be monitored over the course of their life. These patients’ physical, mental, and social health monitoring should be coordinated by clinicians in ways that anonymize patients’ data for privacy protection but also allow for national and international aggregate evaluations. Transnational monitoring efforts should focus on safety and efficacy, social and disability justice, what constitutes the standard of care, and how best to promote both access to care and social and genomic research and innovation. In addition, effective and binding mechanisms for stopping or limiting uses of gene editing technology should be developed

Comparison of RANS, DES and DDES Results for ONERA M-6 Wing at Transonic Flow Speed Using an In-House Parallel Code

The very first thought that comes to the mind with the application area of the DES and DDES schemes is a massively separated flow with highly unsteady flowfield. However, for various complex three dimensional cases, there is no prior knowledge of the flowfield in the domain and it may have mild separation or no separation at all with a steady domain. This study is carried out to see that what will be the behaviour of the DES and DDES schemes in comparison with the URANS scheme if they are applied to a steady state case. An in-house mpi code DG-DES is used for the present study. Three different flux computational schemes named Roe, AUSM and HLLC schemes within DES formulation are compared to check the response for the flows without massive separation and unsteadiness. The cases are run in both single and double precision mode for DES formulation using Roe flux computational scheme to appreciate the accuracy of the solver. A good comparison of pressure distribution with the experimental data is obtained for all URANS, DES and DDES simulations. The pressure distribution results for DES scheme using single and double precision agree well with the experimental data. The pressure distribution predicted by DES using Roe, AUSM and HLLC schemes agree well with the experimental data. The computed values of Cl and Cd are also in close approximity to the other studies. The drag predicted by all DES and DDES simulations is lower than the URANS scheme. It indicates that the DES and DDES schemes generate lower dissipation due to switching to the LES mode and hence result in lower drag prediction as compared with the URANS solution. There is no anomaly observed in the flow due to the use of DES or DDES for steady flow case

Making and breaking families – reading queer reproductions, stratified reproduction and reproductive justice together

In February 2016 we convened a workshop at UC Berkeley, Making Families: Transnational Surrogacy, Queer Kinship, and Reproductive Justice. We were seeking to bring into direct conversation three theoretical frameworks that have each transformed scholarship and influenced practice around transnational surrogacy and reproduction: ‘stratified reproduction’, ‘reproductive justice’, and ‘queer reproductions’. Given the different intellectual and activist genealogies of these three fields, our aim in the workshop and in this resulting symposium issue was twofold: firstly, to draw out the explicit and implicit contributions of these three areas to understanding and helping shape the changing landscape of transnational surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology (ART) and secondly, to work through apparent tensions among these three approaches so as to forge intellectual and political solidarities that can strengthen scholarship and influence policy.Wellcome Trust (grant no. 100606 and grant no. 209829/Z/17/Z); European Commission (FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, grant no. 629341); Spanish Ministry of Economy, Competitiveness and Industry (grant no. CSO2015-64551-C3-1-R

Before it is too late: professional responsibilities in late-onset Alzheimer's research and pre-symptomatic prediction

The development of a wide array of molecular and neuroscientific biomarkers can provide the possibility to visualize the course of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at early stages. Many of these biomarkers are aimed at detecting not only a preclinical, but also a pre-symptomatic state. They are supposed to facilitate clinical trials aiming at treatments that attack the disease at its earliest stage or even prevent it. The increasing number of such biomarkers currently tested and now partly proposed for clinical implementation calls for critical reflection on their aims, social benefits, and risks. This position paper summarizes major challenges and responsibilities. Its focus is on the ethical and social problems involved in the organization and application of dementia research, as well as in healthcare provision from a cross-national point of view. The paper is based on a discussion of leading dementia experts from neuroscience, neurology, social sciences, and bioethics in the United States and Europe. It thus reflects a notable consensus across various disciplines and national backgrounds. We intend to initiate a debate on the need for actions within the researchers’ national and international communities

A Twin Study of Heritable and Shared Environmental Contributions to Autism

The present study examined genetic and shared environment contributions to quantitatively-measured autism symptoms and categorically-defined ASD. Participants included 568 twins from the Interactive Autism Network. Autism symptoms were obtained using the Social Communication Questionnaire and Social Responsiveness Scale. Categorically-defined ASD was based on clinical diagnoses. DeFries-Fulker and liability threshold models examined etiologic influences. Very high heritability was observed for extreme autism symptom levels (h2g=.92-1.20). Extreme levels of social and repetitive behavior symptoms were strongly influenced by common genetic factors. Heritability of categorically-defined ASD diagnosis was comparatively low (.21, 95% CI=0.15-0.28). High heritability of extreme autism symptom levels confirms previous observations of strong genetic influences on autism. Future studies will require large, carefully ascertained family pedigrees and quantitative symptom measurements