Teaching Note—Integrating a Social Justice Assignment Into a Research Methods Course

Although social justice is a core value of social work, it can be more difficult to integrate into a research methods class. This article describes an assignment developed for a BSW one-semester research class that served the dual purpose of educating students about social justice as well as qualitative research. Students were instructed to identify a social norm and then breach it for 1 hour. They then wrote about their experience and their insights in a paper using thick description, analyzing themes and reflecting on insights into social justice. Copyright © Council on Social Work Education

Spatiotemporally confined red light-controlled gene delivery at single-cell resolution using adeno-associated viral vectors

Methodologies for the controlled delivery of genetic information into target cells are of utmost importance for genetic engineering in both fundamental and applied research. However, available methods for efficient gene transfer into user-selected or even single cells suffer from low throughput, the need for complicated equipment, high invasiveness, or side effects by off-target viral uptake. Here, we engineer an adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector system that transfers genetic information into native target cells upon illumination with cell-compatible red light. This OptoAAV system allows adjustable and spatially resolved gene transfer down to single-cell resolution and is compatible with different cell lines and primary cells. Moreover, the sequential application of multiple OptoAAVs enables spatially resolved transduction with different transgenes. The approach presented is likely extendable to other classes of viral vectors and is expected to foster advances in basic and applied genetic research.ISSN:2375-254

PenTag, a Versatile Platform for Synthesizing Protein-Polymer Biohybrid Materials

The site-specific and covalent conjugation of proteins on solid supports and in hydrogels is the basis for the synthesis of biohybrid materials offering broad applications. Current methods for conjugating proteins to desired targets are often challenging due to unspecific binding, unstable (noncovalent) coupling, or expensive and difficult-to-synthesize ligand molecules. Here, is presented PenTag, an approach for the bioorthogonal, highly specific, and covalent conjugation of a protein to its ligand for various applications in materials sciences. Penicillin-binding protein 3 (PBP3) is engineered and shows that this protein can be used for the stable and spontaneous conjugation of proteins to dyes, polymers, or solid supports. PenTag as a crosslinking tool is applied for synthesizing stimuli-responsive hydrogels or for the development of a biohybrid material system performing computational operations emulating a 4:2 encoder. Based on this broad applicability and the use of a small, cheap, and easy-to-functionalize ligand and a stable, soluble recombinant protein, is seen PenTag as a versatile approach toward biohybrid material synthesis.ISSN:1616-3028ISSN:1616-301

In Pursuit of Social Justice: Emic and Etic Perspectives of Social Service Providers

Professional social service providers have an obligation to seek social justice for their clients and the communities they serve. Using a case-study approach, this exploratory qualitative study examined how providers address community needs from emic and etic perspectives and the influence of race concordance on the development of these perspectives in relation to social justice. Themes found include: (a) understanding the community, (b) providing culturally appropriate services, and (c) fighting for social justice. Suggestions are offered for narrowing the gap between social justice knowledge and action taking. Suggestions are also offered for providing more culturally appropriate social services

Policy-Practice in Social Work: Models and Issues

The emergence of policy—practice is a recent development in social work. In this article, policy—practice is defined as a direct social work practice mode with the potential to strengthen the social work profession\u27s abilities to meet its century-long commitments of providing policy-informed services to those in need of them. At the same time, policy—practice advocates for and participates in policy implementation and change. This article examines policy—practice and places it within the context of the profession\u27s historic cause—function debate and identifies several barriers that have complicated development. Most important, the article reviews five policy—practice models found in the literature: (1) social worker as policy expert, (2) social worker as change agent in external work environments, (3) social worker as change agent in internal work environments, (4) social worker as policy conduit, and (5) social worker as policy itself