The Slave, the Fetus, the Body: Articulating Biopower and the Pregnant Woman

Many slaveholders attempted to justify the institution of slavery in the United States by claiming that the practice of slavery was actually in the interests of the slaves themselves. Not only are these arguments invalid because they justify inhumane treatment and the imprisonment of innocent human beings, they also contain a dangerous paternalism (a “speaking for”) that has not vacated the social sphere. Indeed, this same logic—the notion that bodies can be regulated and controlled for their own protection—is presently being used to speak for the fetus in order to justify fetal rights. Borrowing from Berlant (1997), these fetal rights arguments work against the interests of the mother, constituting pregnant women as chattel and reinforcing the governing logics of a fetal and infantile citizenship. In the spirit of W.E.B. Du Bois, we contend that, “she must have the right of motherhood at her own discretion,” regardless of deployments of fetal citizenship (2007, p. 121). A pregnant woman should have the right to abort the fetus just as those enslaved had and have the right to freedom. Following Koppelman, we note that abortion restrictions result in the involuntary servitude of women to the fetus and effectively impede pregnant women from exercising their right to break a contract with the fetus. Consequently this essay argues that we have the responsibility to defend reproductive freedom based on the concept of prohibiting involuntary servitude

The trans-ancestral genomic architecture of glycemic traits

Glycemic traits are used to diagnose and monitor type 2 diabetes and cardiometabolic health. To date, most genetic studies of glycemic traits have focused on individuals of European ancestry. Here we aggregated genome-wide association studies comprising up to 281,416 individuals without diabetes (30% non-European ancestry) for whom fasting glucose, 2-h glucose after an oral glucose challenge, glycated hemoglobin and fasting insulin data were available. Trans-ancestry and single-ancestry meta-analyses identified 242 loci (99 novel; P < 5 x 10(-8)), 80% of which had no significant evidence of between-ancestry heterogeneity. Analyses restricted to individuals of European ancestry with equivalent sample size would have led to 24 fewer new loci. Compared with single-ancestry analyses, equivalent-sized trans-ancestry fine-mapping reduced the number of estimated variants in 99% credible sets by a median of 37.5%. Genomic-feature, gene-expression and gene-set analyses revealed distinct biological signatures for each trait, highlighting different underlying biological pathways. Our results increase our understanding of diabetes pathophysiology by using trans-ancestry studies for improved power and resolution. A trans-ancestry meta-analysis of GWAS of glycemic traits in up to 281,416 individuals identifies 99 novel loci, of which one quarter was found due to the multi-ancestry approach, which also improves fine-mapping of credible variant sets.Peer reviewe

Accumulation, Stability, and Localization of a Major Chloroplast Heat-Shock Protein

Abstract. Diverse higher plant species synthesize low molecular weight (LMW) heat shock proteins (HSPs) which localize to chloroplasts. These proteins are homologous to LMW HSPs found in the cytoplasm of all eukaryotes, a class of HSPs whose molecular mode of action is not understood. To obtain basic information concerning the role of chloroplast HSPs, we examined the accumulation, stability, tissue specificity, and intra-chloroplast localization of HSP21, the major LMW chloroplast HSP in pea. Intact pea plants were subjected to heat stress conditions which would be encountered in the natural environment and HSP21 mRNA and protein levels were measured in leaves and A organisms produce heat-shock proteins (HSPs) t in response to elevated temperatures and certain other stresses (Lindquist and Craig, 1988). Physiological and genetic data indicate that the production of HSPs during stress is essential for cell survival or recovery from stress. There are four major classes of HSPs in eukaryotes, HSP90, HSP70, HSP60 (or GroE), and low molecular weight (LMW) HSPs (15-30 kD). Proteins with homology to the first three classes are also synthesized by Escherichia coli in response to heat stress. Although HSPs were first identified by their elevated expression during stress, in many cells it has been found that HSPs or highly homologous proteins are expressed constitutively, or under cell cycle or developmental control (Lindquist and Craig, 1988). Furthermore, HSP60 and distinct homologues of HSP70 are present in semiautonomous organeiles, the mitochondria, and chloroplasts (Hemmingsen et al., 1988; Craig et al., 1989; Marshall et al., 1990). Chloroplasts also contain specific LMW HSP

Expression of a Conserved Family of Cytoplasmic Low Molecular Weight Heat Shock Proteins during Heat Stress and Recovery

Plants synthesize several families of low molecular weight (LMW) heat shock proteins (HSPs) in response to elevated temperatures. We have characterized two cDNAs, HSP18.1 and HSP17.9, that encode members of the class I family of LMW HSPs from pea (Pisum sativum). In addition, we investigated the expression of these HSPs at the mRNA and protein levels during heat stress and recovery. HSP18.1 and HSP17.9 are 82.1% identical at the amino acid level and are 80.8 to 92.9% identical to class I LMW HSPs of other angiosperms. Heat stress experiments were performed using intact seedlings subjected to a gradual temperature increase and held at a maximum temperature of 30 to 42 degrees Celsius for 4 hours. HSP18.1 and HSP17.9 mRNA levels peaked at the beginning of the maximum temperature period and declined rapidly after the stress period. Antiserum against a HSP18.1 fusion protein recognized both HSP18.1 and HSP17.9 but not members of other families of LMW HSPs. The accumulation of HSP18.1-immunodetected protein was proportional to the severity of the heat stress, and the protein had a half-life of 37.7 ± 8 hours. The long half-life of these proteins supports the hypothesis that they are involved in establishing thermotolerance