Unsterbliche Sterbliche: Zum erzählerischen Umgang mit ewigem Leben im Diesseits

Who wants to live forever? Jeder. Keiner. Die Suche nach irdischer Unsterblichkeit ist als Gegenstand von Erzählung so alt wie das Erzählen selbst: Seit Anbeginn der Überlieferung bildet diese Suche einen zentralen Stoff menschlicher Fantasie, der sich bis in die aktuellen Formen auch audiovisuellen Erzählens fortgesetzt hat. Ihre Narrative begleiten dabei ein ganz reales Streben um die Verlängerung des Lebens, das sich vom Okkultem zum Religiösen, vom Magischen zum Wissenschaftlichen und bis in die rezenten Life-Science des Silicon Valley an immer neue Kontexte zu heften verstand. Dem Wechselspiel beider Sphären widmet sich die vorliegende Arbeit: Sie verfolgt, wie sich im fortlaufenden Gespräch über die Unsterblichkeit Legenden und Beobachtungen, Geschichten und Untersuchungen, Visionen und Studien, kurz Fiktion und Forschung annähern. Gerade an der entstehenden Schnittstelle kann Erzählung ihr ganzes Potential entfalten: Wo sie zum Simulationsraum einzig in der Fiktion durchzuspielender Phänomene wird, da ist ihr Zugang exklusiv. Ihre Unsterblichen stecken den Rahmen für ein zukünftiges Operieren mit realen Lebensverlängerungsangeboten ab. Ihre Aushandlung von Unsterblichkeit generiert Deutungsangebote, die mit Philosophie, Publizistik und auch Naturwissenschaft um die Legitimität auch einer Interpretation bereits gegenwärtiger Konflikte konkurrieren.:1. Der Wunsch nach ewigem Leben 5 2. Konzepte der Unsterblichkeit 16 2.1 ›Der unsterbliche Sterbliche‹ 19 2.2 Gegenbilder – Weitere Unsterblichkeitskonzepte 22 2.3 Zwischenfazit 33 3. Tücken der Unsterblichkeit 36 3.1 Der Horizont der Religion 37 3.1.1 Unsterblichkeit im antiken Mythos 37 3.1.2 Abrahamitische Legenden – Der wandernde Jude und Al Chadhir 46 3.2 Vom Glaubensrahmen zum Erzählexperiment 64 3.2.1 Aufklärung über die Ewigkeit – Jonathan Swifts »Struldbruggs« 64 3.2.2 Provokation und Ermächtigung – Robert Maturins »Melmoth der Wanderer« und Mary Shelleys »Der sterbliche Unsterbliche« 72 3.2.3 Philosophie der Ewigkeit – Karel Čapeks »Die Sache Makropulos« 82 3.2.4 Die ewige Wiederkehr – Simone de Beauvoirs »Alle Menschen sind sterblich« 91 3.3 Moderne Fantasy – Die Elben des Tolkien-Universums 107 4. Trotz und Trost 118 5. Life-Science und third culture: Fortschritte zur Unsterblichkeit? 127 5.1 Eine Alternative zum Tod? 129 5.2 Annäherungen an die Unsterblichkeit 139 5.3 Mediale Inszenierungen des Lebensquells 153 5.4 Die neuen Herren des Todes 159 6. Narrative Reflexionen des Fortschritts – Neue Tücken der Unsterblichkeit 172 6.1 Leib, Seele, Identität 179 6.2 Distribution und Apartheit 195 6.3 Überbevölkerung 209 6.4 Gerontokratie 219 6.5 Stagnation 228 7. Vision und Warnung 237 8. Popularisierung und Medien 248 8.1 Trost und Trotz im Bild 252 8.2 Vision und Warnung im Bild 263 8.3 Transfer in weitere Erzählräume – Anime, Graphic Novel, Kinderbuch, Gaming 281 9. Fazit 296 10. Quellen- und Literaturverzeichnis 307 10.1 Erzählungen 307 10.1.1 Literatur 307 10.1.2 Audiovisuelles 312 10.2 Forschung und Forschungsquellen 316 10.2.1 Kulturwissenschaft 316 10.2.2 Philosophie 334 10.2.3 Life-Science 34

Ferrocene as functional subunits in macrocycles

The interdisciplinary field of molecular electronics, describes the use of molecules in elec-tronic devices and deals with the central question of how electrons move through a single molecule. The research spans chemistry, physics and material science and is focused on the investigation of the structure-property relationship of functional molecules as well as their implementation in an electrical circuit. Thereby, the chemists’ role is to synthesize tailormade compounds at a molecular level of control that mimic the features of conven-tional electronic components such as rectifiers, switches or transistors. This PhD thesis is mainly focused on the design and syntheses of ferrocene grafted phe-nylethynyl backbones that are rotationally restricted through cyclization. The redox-active ferrocene unit acts as decisive functional entity in the construct. Alteration in the oxida-tion state of ferrocene has a direct influence on the molecular energy level and thus the electronic properties of the molecule. The ability to externally address and control the en-ergy level of the molecule is a central feature and of great importance for the construction of components for single molecule electronics. The thesis is segmented into 4 chapters, whereat chapter 1 - 3 discuss the synthesis and characterization of the functional molecules and chapter 4 provides the experimental de-tails of all compounds described throughout the thesis. Each chapter is introduced indi-vidually and the projects are put into the scientific context which is relevant to the de-scribed work and illustrated with a few examples

Floodplain management in temperate regions : is multifunctionality enhancing biodiversity?

Background: Floodplains are among the most diverse, dynamic, productive and populated but also the most threatened ecosystems on Earth. Threats are mainly related to human activities that alter the landscape and disrupt fluvial processes to obtain benefits related to multiple ecosystem services (ESS). Floodplain management therefore requires close coordination among interest groups with competing claims and poses multi-dimensional challenges to policy-makers and project managers. The European Commission proposed in its recent Biodiversity Strategy to maintain and enhance European ecosystems and their services by establishing green infrastructure (GI). GI is assumed to provide multiple ecosystem functions and services including the conservation of biodiversity in the same spatial area. However, evidence for biodiversity benefits of multifunctional floodplain management is scattered and has not been synthesised. Methods/design: This protocol specifies the methods for conducting a systematic review to answer the following policy-relevant questions: a) what is the impact of floodplain management measures on biodiversity; b) how does the impact vary according to the level of multifunctionality of the measures; c) is there a difference in the biodiversity impact of floodplain management across taxa; d) what is the effect of the time since implementation on the impact of the most important measures; and e) are there any other factors that significantly modify the biodiversity impact of floodplain management measures? Within this systematic review we will assess multifunctionality in terms of ESS that are affected by an implemented intervention. Biodiversity indicators included in this systematic review will be related to the diversity, richness and abundance of species, other taxa or functional groups. We will consider if organisms are typical for and native to natural floodplain ecosystems. Specific inclusion criteria have been developed and the wide range of quality of primary literature will be evaluated with a tailor-made system for assessing susceptibility to bias and the reliability of the studies. The review is intended to bridge the science-policy interface and will provide a useful synthesis of knowledge for decision-makers at all governance levels

Splice-shifting oligonucleotide (SSO) mediated blocking of an exonic splicing enhancer (ESE) created by the prevalent c.903+469T>C MTRR mutation corrects splicing and restores enzyme activity in patient cells

The prevalent c.903+469T>C mutation in MTRR causes the cblE type of homocystinuria by strengthening an SRSF1 binding site in an ESE leading to activation of a pseudoexon. We hypothesized that other splicing regulatory elements (SREs) are also critical for MTRR pseudoexon inclusion. We demonstrate that the MTRR pseudoexon is on the verge of being recognized and is therefore vulnerable to several point mutations that disrupt a fine-tuned balance between the different SREs. Normally, pseudoexon inclusion is suppressed by a hnRNP A1 binding exonic splicing silencer (ESS). When the c.903+469T>C mutation is present two ESEs abrogate the activity of the ESS and promote pseudoexon inclusion. Blocking the 3′splice site or the ESEs by SSOs is effective in restoring normal splicing of minigenes and endogenous MTRR transcripts in patient cells. By employing an SSO complementary to both ESEs, we were able to rescue MTRR enzymatic activity in patient cells to approximately 50% of that in controls. We show that several point mutations, individually, can activate a pseudoexon, illustrating that this mechanism can occur more frequently than previously expected. Moreover, we demonstrate that SSO blocking of critical ESEs is a promising strategy to treat the increasing number of activated pseudoexon