The limits of replicability

Discussions about a replicability crisis in science have been driven by the normative claim that all of science should be replicable and the empirical claim that most of it isn’t. Recently, such crisis talk has been challenged by a new localism, which argues a) that serious problems with replicability are not a general occurrence in science and b) that replicability itself should not be treated as a universal standard. The goal of this article is to introduce this emerging strand of the debate and to discuss some of its implications and limitations. I will in particular highlight the issue of demarcation that localist accounts have to address, i.e. the question of how we can distinguish replicable science from disciplines where replicability does not apply

How studying the history and philosophy of RNA can help us understand COVID-19

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a central but often overlooked molecule in the story of the pandemic. It not only shapes how SARS-CoV-2 behaves but also how researchers investigate and fight it. By analysing RNA biology in more detail, says Stephan Guttinger (LSE), philosophers and historians of science could gain powerful new tools to assess the unfolding of the pandemic and science’s response to it

Replications everywhere

Why the replication crisis might be less severe than it seems at first

Nuclear envelope localization of human UNC84A does not require nuclear lamins

AbstractThe SUN proteins are a conserved family of proteins in eukaryotes. Human UNC84A (Sun1) is a homolog of Caenorhabditis elegans UNC-84, a protein involved in nuclear anchorage and migration. We have analyzed targeting of UNC84A to the nuclear envelope (NE) and show that the N-terminal 300 amino acids are crucial for efficient NE localization of UNC84A whereas the conserved C-terminal SUN domain is not required. Furthermore, we demonstrate by combining RNA interference with immunofluorescence and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching analysis that localization and anchoring of UNC84A is not dependent on the lamin proteins, in contrast to what had been observed for C. elegans UNC-84

Covid-19 and the need for more history and philosophy of RNA

RNA is central to the COVID-19 pandemic—it shapes how the SARS Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) behaves, and how researchers investigate and fight it. However, RNA has received relatively little attention in the history and philosophy of the life sciences. By analysing RNA biology in more detail, philosophers and historians of science could gain new and powerful tools to assess the current pandemic, and the biological sciences more generally

Creating parts that allow for rational design: synthetic biology and the problem of context-sensitivity

The parts-based engineering approach in synthetic biology aims to create pre-characterised biological parts that can be used for the rational design of novel functional systems. Given the context-sensitivity of biological entities, a key question synthetic biologists have to address is what properties these parts should have so that they give a predictable output even when they are used in different contexts. In the first part of this paper I will analyse some of the answers that synthetic biologists have given to this question and claim that the focus of these answers on parts and their properties does not allow us to tackle the problem of context-sensitivity. In the second part of the paper, I will argue that we might have to abandon the notions of parts and their properties in order to understand how independence in biology could be achieved. Using Robert Cummins' account of functional analysis, I will then develop the notion of a capacity and its condition space and show how these notions can help to tackle the problem of context-sensitivity in biology

Process and practice: understanding the nature of molecules

In recent years philosophers of biology have made renewed efforts to develop and defend a process ontology. These efforts have often focused on the example of living systems, which provide a strong case for a processual view of biological entities. Here I will analyze a different kind of biological entity, namely macromolecules. Looking at protein biology, I will show that contemporary theories in this field present us with a substance-like picture of macromolecules. Whilst this poses a challenge for existing process accounts, I will argue that the challenge can be overcome if metaphysicians abandon their focus on theory and follow a practice-informed scientific metaphysics. Turning to the practice of protein biology, and in particular the use of what I will refer to as ‘energy-level management’ practices, will suggest that macromolecules are processes, much like organisms

Total Synthesis, Configuration, and Biological Evaluation of Anguinomycin C

Immunofluorescence assays indicate that anguinomycin C is a potent inhibitor of protein export from the nucleus. Key features in the total synthesis of this antitumor natural product include a Cr-catalyzed enantioselective hetero-Diels– Alder reaction, a Negishi reaction with stereoinversion, and application of the DIOZ auxiliary

Cognitive Interference in Sports – Validation of a German Version of the Thoughts Occurrence Questionnaire Sport (TOQS)

Konzentration ist für die sportliche Leistungserbringung wesentlich. Die Störung der Konzentration durch eigene Gedanken wird als kognitive Interferenz bezeichnet. Im englischsprachigen Raum wird diese Interferenz mit dem Thought Occurence Questionnaire Sport (TOQS; Hatzigeorgiadis & Biddle, 2000) erfasst. Die vorliegende Arbeit validiert eine deutsche Version (TOQS-D) an zwei Stichproben bestehend aus insgesamt 348 Sporttreibenden (56 % männlich, MAlter = 25, SDAlter = 6, 61 % Teamsportarten, 53 % Mitglied im Schweizer Nationalkader). Eine explorative Faktorenanalyse (Stichprobe 1) sowie eine konfirmatorische Faktorenanalyse (Stichprobe 2) bestätigen die Struktur der Originalversion mit drei interkorrelierenden Faktoren: Leistungssorgen, aufgabenirrelevante Gedanken und Fluchtgedanken. Die Skala hat gute Reliabilitätswerte (interne Konsistenz: α = .89; Retestreliabilität: r = .82). Zudem zeigt der TOQS-D die erwartete konvergente Validität (Konzentrationsstörungen, Wettkampfangst), divergente Validität (Achtsamkeit) und Kriteriumsvalidität (Selbsteinschätzung der sportlichen Leistung). Mit dem TOQS-D liegt damit ein geeignetes Instrument vor, dessen Einsatzmöglichkeiten in Praxis und Forschung abschließend diskutiert werden.Concentration is essential for athletic performance. The disturbance of concentration by thoughts is called cognitive interference. In English-speaking countries, this interference is assessed with the Thought Occurrence Questionnaire for Sport (TOQS; Hatzigeorgiadis & Biddle, 2000). The present study validated a German version (TOQS-D) on two samples consisting of a total of 348 athletes (56 % male, Mage = 25, SDage = 6, 61 % team sports, 53 % national team members). An exploratory factor analysis (Sample 1) and a confirmatory factor analysis (Sample 2) confirmed the structure of the original version with three correlated factors: performance worries, task-irrelevant thoughts, and thoughts of escape. The scale has good reliability scores (internal consistency: α = .89; test–retest reliability: r = .82). In addition, the TOQS-D shows the expected convergent (concentration disruption, competition anxiety), divergent (mindfulness), and criterion validity (self-assessment of athletic performance). The TOQS-D can be considered an appropriate questionnaire, and its applications in practice and research is discussed