Techniques of donation: ‘three parents’, anonymity and disclosure

The clinical application of novel in-vitro fertilisation techniques involving mitochondrial donation was legalised in the UK in 2015. Mitochondria contain genetic material and it is possibly not surprising that headlines have described the resulting baby as having ‘three parents’ – the intending mother and father, and the egg donor. The techniques raise important questions, including how do we interpret transfer of biological material from one body to another? What are the implications for identity? And how, whether or when should the use of these techniques be revealed to the child? This article has two aims. First, it sets out the key ethical issues raised by the clinical introduction of mitochondrial donation. Secondly, it presents empirical data to highlight how patients themselves respond to these ethical questions. It concludes by highlighting how the introduction of medical technologies and the relationships between donors and recipients are dependent on the cultural, historical and social contexts

Dimond response to Department of Health mitochondria consultation

This report is a response to the Department of Health Consultation 'A consultation on draft regulations to permit the use of new treatment techniques to prevent the transmission of a serious mitochondrial disease from mother to child' submitted May 2014 Please also see my comments on the way in which the consultation has been carried out (submitted to DoH June 2014

Allele-specific control of replication timing and genome organization during development

DNA replication occurs in a defined temporal order known as the replication-timing (RT) program. RT is regulated during development in discrete chromosomal units, coordinated with transcriptional activity and 3D genome organization. Here, we derived distinct cell types from F1 hybrid musculus × castaneus mouse crosses and exploited the high single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) density to characterize allelic differences in RT (Repli-seq), genome organization (Hi-C and promoter-capture Hi-C), gene expression (total nuclear RNA-seq), and chromatin accessibility (ATAC-seq). We also present HARP, a new computational tool for sorting SNPs in phased genomes to efficiently measure allele-specific genome-wide data. Analysis of six different hybrid mESC clones with different genomes (C57BL/6, 129/sv, and CAST/Ei), parental configurations, and gender revealed significant RT asynchrony between alleles across ∼12% of the autosomal genome linked to subspecies genomes but not to parental origin, growth conditions, or gender. RT asynchrony in mESCs strongly correlated with changes in Hi-C compartments between alleles but not as strongly with SNP density, gene expression, imprinting, or chromatin accessibility. We then tracked mESC RT asynchronous regions during development by analyzing differentiated cell types, including extraembryonic endoderm stem (XEN) cells, four male and female primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), and neural precursor cells (NPCs) differentiated in vitro from mESCs with opposite parental configurations. We found that RT asynchrony and allelic discordance in Hi-C compartments seen in mESCs were largely lost in all differentiated cell types, accompanied by novel sites of allelic asynchrony at a considerably smaller proportion of the genome, suggesting that genome organization of homologs converges to similar folding patterns during cell fate commitment

Uncomfortable Bedfellows: Locke and the Libertarian Theory of Property

Libertarians, such as Robert Nozick, have often appealed to Locke’s labor theory as the basis in which to defend full ownership rights to property. My central claim is that this is a mistake. Locke, I argue, is not a comfortable libertarian bedfellow for the following three reasons. (1) Locke’s account of property neither implies rights to full ownership, nor was Locke himself committed to the view. (2) The conditions Locke\u27s labor theory places on property rights would generate a state that more closely aligns with the welfare state than the libertarian minimal state. (3) Even when we ignore Locke’s theological commitments—commitments that tend to support (1) and (2)—and operationalize his labor theory on secular grounds, full ownership rights would not follow. I conclude that if libertarians are serious about defending rights to full ownership, it\u27s unlikely to be found in Locke

Another Proof of the Steiner Result for Three Equidistant Points in Euclidean Space and an Analogous Proof in Hyperbolic Space

In the early 19th century, Jacob Steiner wanted to find the shortest path to connect three villages. He concluded that the shortest path depended on the angles of the triangle created. If all the angles were less than 120 then the shortest path involved a fourth interior point, a Steiner point, at which the segments from the vertices all meet at 120°. Our research group developed a new slicing method that can be used to prove which paths are minimal. To demonstrate this new method, we first give a new proof of a particular Steiner result. Then we use it to prove an analogous result in hyperbolic space; that is, the shortest path between three equidistant points in hyperbolic space is formed by hyperbolic geodesics that meet at 120°

UNDERSTANDING AND ENCOURAGING CLIMATE FRIENDLY ACTION: A STUDY OF INDIVIDUALS\u27 PERSONAL ENERGY AND TRANSPORTATION DECISIONS AND BELIEFS ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

There is a strong scientific consensus that climate change is happening, is caused by human activities, and will have significant negative consequences. Avoiding the most severe consequences will require significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, including changes in individuals\u27 personal energy and transportation choices, which can contribute significantly to climate change. Past research has identified a wide range of factors that may influence perceptions of climate change and willingness to act to reduce it. However, there are still considerable gaps in our knowledge. There is limited understanding of how different factors interact in people\u27s decisions about personal energy and transportation. Additionally, most previous research has focused on behavioral intentions rather than actual behavior, and there tends to be a considerable gap between intentions and actions. Therefore, the goal of this study was to gain a more holistic and in-depth understanding of how different influences interact in people\u27s decision processes to motivate their personal energy and transportation choices. This study used interview data and a qualitative analysis approach to gain this in-depth understanding and complement past research, which has used mainly psychometric, survey-based research methods. I found that individuals\u27 decisions about personal energy and transportation actions occurred in (at least) two stages. First, people had a preferred approach to energy and transportation use. This was most often based on key values and social factors. A preferred approach to personal energy and transportation actions that included climate friendly actions was frequently motivated by pro environmental values. However, values about consumption and social justice were also important motivators. Membership in a social network that supported climate friendly actions was also important. However, people\u27s actual personal energy and transportation actions were the results of an `in the moment\u27 decision making process in which their preferred approach was often mediated by other factors including their lifestage - such as requirements of having a family, conflicting desires, or failure to keep their more-values based preferences top of mind. Interestingly, climate change itself was not an important reason for climate friendly actions; mainly because people felt that their ability to reduce climate change through individual action was very limited

Instructional Continuity: Making the Curriculum Resilient to Disruption

Making the campus resilient to disruption requires a sharp focus on our principal activity: teaching and learning. In 2008 a faculty task force at the University of California, Berkeley was convened to answer the question “how can we prepare to continue teaching the curriculum during periods of disruption (disasters, pandemic illnesses, etc.)”. The practices recommended by this task force were then incorporated into Berkeley’s on-line continuity planning tool. That tool (now available from the Kuali Foundation as Kuali Ready) is being used by more than 50 colleges and universities. A practical approach to Instructional Continuity will be discussed by Paul Dimond, Manager of Berkeley’s Office of Continuity Planning and the architect of Berkeley’s methodology and tool. The session will begin with a treatment of continuity planning for all campus functions, then focus specifically on making the curriculum “survivable”. The Kuali Ready tool will be demonstrated