What history tells us XXXX. The success story of the expression “genome editing”

International audienceThe expression « genome editing » designates the possibilities opened by the CRISPR-Cas9 enzyme to cut and modify genemes at precise positions. This expression has been rapidly adopted by biologists, but also journalists and laymen. I descibe steps in the recent emergence of this expression, as well as the reasons of its success.L’expression « édition du génome » désigne la possibilité ouverte par l’enzyme CRISPR-Cas9 de couper et de modifier le génome à des sites précis. Cette expression est utilisée aussi bien par les biologistes que par les journalistes et le grand public. Nous montrons dans cet article que cet usage est récent, nous décrivons les étapes qui ont conduit à sa diffusion et les raisons de son succès

Alberto Lista’s El Espectador sevillano (1809): an example of revolutionary discourse?

El Espectador sevillano, redactado por Alberto Lista, se publicó en Sevilla del 2 de octubre de 1809 al 29 de enero de 1810. Aunque se trata de uno de los periódicos más importantes del momento, se le ha estudiado poco. Redactado en la ciudad que, por las circunstancias bélicas, había pasado a ser capital de la España libre, ofrece una exposición sistemática de los fundamentos de la doctrina política liberal, que se plasmarían algunos meses después en la Constitución de Cádiz. En estas breves reflexiones, se trata de situar la publicación en el complejo e intenso debate de ideas de que fue entonces teatro Sevilla, para tratar de determinar hasta qué punto puede calificarse de revolucionario el pensamiento del Lista de 1809.El Espectador sevillano is a journal that was edited by Alberto Lista between 1809 (2 October) and 1810 (29 January). It happened to be published in Seville for the town had just become the capital city of unoccupied Spain. El Espectador sevillano provides us with a systematic account of the fundaments of political liberalism as a doctrine that led to the writing of the Constitution of Cadiz a few months after the termination of the journal. However little attention has been paid to El Espectador sevillano despite it is being one of the most political influential journals at that time. In this paper, we fill in this research gap by locating El Espectador sevillano within the complexity of the vibrant political debate that took place in Seville during this period, in order to assess to what extend Lista’s thinking in 1809 can be labelled as revolutionary

From Free Housing Policy to the Payment of Rates and Taxes in South African Cities 1994 - 2003: The Cape Town and Port Elizabeth Cases

Volume entitled: Ten Years of Democratic South Africa. Transition Accomplished? edited by Aurelia Wa Kabwe-Segatti, Nicolas Péjout and Philippe GuillaumeBetween the beginning of the 1990s and 2003, the housing policy has shifted from "housing for all" to a more comprehensive, rationalized and complex urban strategy. The RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) housing strategy favoured quantitative objectives (building as many houses as possible) and chose a subsidy-based private property model. The implications of such options are fi nancially problematic for local authorities and led to a rather unsustainable urban model.Entre le début des années 1990 et 2003, la politique du logement est passée de "un logement pour tous" à une stratégie urbaine plus large, plus complexe et plus rationnelle. La stratégie du logement du RDP (Reconstruction and Development Programme) avait visé des objectifs quantitatifs (la construction d'autant de maisons que possible) et choisit le modèle de la propriété privée subventionnée. Les implications de ces choix sont fi nancièrement problématiques pour les autorités locales et conduisent à un modèle urbanistique relativement peu viable

Monod and the spirit of molecular biology

International audienceThe founders of molecular biology shared views on the place of biology within science, as well as on the relations of molecular biology to Darwinism. Jacques Monod was no exception, but the study of his writings is particularly interesting because he expressed his point of view very clearly and pushed the implications of some of his choices further than most of his contemporaries. The spirit of molecular biology is no longer the same as in the 1960s but, interestingly, Monod anticipated some recent evolutions of this discipline

Changer les gènes ? Un projet qui n'est plus prioritaire

International audienceModification of the human germ line has remained a distant but valuable objective for most biologists since the emergence of genetics (and even before). To study the historical transformations of this project, I have selected three periods—the 1930s, at the pinnacle of eugenics, around 1974 when molecular biology triumphed, and today—and have adopted three criteria to estimate the feasibility of this project: the state of scientific knowledge, the existence of suitable tools, and societal demands. Although the long-awaited techniques to modify the germ line are now available, I will show that most of the expectations behind this project have disappeared, or are considered as being reachable by highly different strategies.La modification ciblée de la lignée germinale (et donc de l'espèce humaine) est restée un objectif distant mais raisonnable, depuis l'émergence de la génétique (et même avant) jusqu'à ces dernières années. J'ai choisi trois temps pour étudier les évolutions historiques de ce projet – dans les années 1930, au sommet du mouvement eugéniste, autour de 1974 quand la biologie moléculaire triomphait, et aujourd'hui – et j'ai sélectionné trois critères pour estimer la faisabilité d'un tel projet – l'état des connaissances scientifiques, l'existence de techniques adaptées, et les demandes de la société. Bien que les techniques longtemps espérées pour modifier la lignée germinale soient aujourd'hui disponibles, je montrerai que la plupart des attentes qui soutenaient ce projet ont disparu, ou sont considérées comme pouvant être atteintes par des stratégies totalement différentes

Pseudoalleles and gene complexes: the search for the elusive link between genome structure and gene function

International audienceAfter their discovery in the first decades of the XX th century, pseudoalleles generated much interest among geneticists: they apparently violated the conception of the genome as a collection of independent genes elaborated by Thomas Morgan's group. Their history is rich, complex, and deserves more than one short contribution. I will focus on two issues: the way the phenomenon of pseudoallelism suggested that the genome was more than a simple addition of independent genes, and the connection established between the formation of pseudoalleles during evolution and their functional roles. I will successively consider the first explanations for the origin of pseudoalleles elaborated in the mid-1930s, the metabolic/developmental sequential model proposed by Ed Lewis in the 1950s, the disappointments encountered with the T-complex in the 1970s, and the fading of the previous models after the molecular characterization of the pseudoallelic gene complexes in the 1980s. Genomes are more than collections of genes, but their structures are the result of a complex evolutionary history that leaves no place for simplistic models

What history tells us XXXIX.CRISPR-Cas: From a prokaryotic immune system to a universal genome editing tool

International audienceCRISPR-Cas9 is an enzyme that allows to cut (and modify) genomes at precise sites . This new technology, simple and cheap, opens new paths to fundamental research as well immense opportunities for applications. I show that this new tool finds its origin in the study of a bacterial system of immunity against bacteriophages. I will emphasize the importance of three articles published in 2005. These contributions have not been properly cited by followers. This case study is an excellent example of the extensive rewriting of history done by scientists.CRISPR-Cas est une enzyme qui permet de couper (et de modifier) les génomes aux sites précis choisis par l’expérimentateur. De nombreux travaux ont été effectués avec ce système, et les perspectives de recherche fondamentale et d’applications que ce nouvel outil ouvre ont suscité ces dernières années un vaste débat. Dans cet article, nous décrivons comment cet outil universel trouve son origine dans l’étude d’un système d’immunité bactérienne contre les virus. Nous montrons en particulier l’importance de trois articles publiés en 2005, dont le rôle a été minimisé dans les publications ultérieures. Il s’agit d’un magnifique exemple de réécriture de l'histoire par ses acteurs

What history tells us XXXXI. Ubiquitin and proteolysis

International audienceThe importance of the discovery, at the beginning of the 1980s, of a complex mechanism pf protein degradation involving multiple additions of a small protein called ubiquitin, and the use of energy (ATP), is unanimously acknowledged. I describe the multiple obstacles that the quality of the experimental work permitted to overcome. The idea that protein degradation could be an important step of cellular control was not obvious for molecular biologists. The use of ATP for such a process seemed unnecessary. And the complexity of the system was unexpected. This discovery deeply transformed molecular biology