Powering life through MitoTechnologies: Exploring the bio-objectification of mitochondria in reproduction

open access articleMitochondria, the organelles providing the cell with energy, have recently gained greater public visibility in the UK and beyond, through the introduction of two reproductive technologies which involve their manipulation, specifically ‘mitochondrial donation’ to prevent the maternal transmission of inherited disorders, and ‘Augment’ to improve egg quality and fertility. Focusing on these two ‘MitoTechnologies’ and mobilising the conceptual framework of “bio-objectification”, we examine three key processes whereby mitochondria are made to appear to have a life of their own: their transferability, their optimisation of life processes and their capitalisation. We then explore the implications of their bio-objectification in the bioeconomy of reproduction. Drawing on publicly available material collected in two research projects, we argue that mitochondria become a biopolitical agent by contributing to the redefinition of life as something that can be boosted at the cellular level and in reproduction. Mitochondria are now presented as playing a key role for a successful and healthy conception through the development and promotion of MitoTechnologies. We also show how their “revitalising power” is invested with great promissory capital, mainly deriving from their ethical and scientific biovalue in the case of mitochondrial donation, and from the logics of assetisation, in the case of Augment

Experience-based co-design toolkit : Un outil pour l’engagement des communautés dans la gestion de la crise sanitaire du COVID-19

La pandémie de Covid-19, et les résistances aux mesures qui ont émergé au fil du temps, ont démontré l’importance d’impliquer les populations concernées dans la réponse à la crise. Les sciences sociales avaient déjà mis en lumière la nécessité d’une telle implication dans le cadre d’épidémies précédentes comme celles d’Ebola de 2014 et 2016. Dans ce contexte, la communauté des anthropologues a été véritablement impliquée dans la mise en place de la réponse de santé globale aux épidémies en tant que « traducteur·trices culturel·les (cultural brokers) », s’engageant avec les communautés concernées. Pourtant, quand le virus du SARS-CoV-2 a commencé à circuler en Europe, l’importance de l’engagement des communautés concernées semble avoir été minimisée, notamment en Suisse. Dans le but de pouvoir y remédier, nous avons développé le projet SocioImplement - Experience-based co-design Covid-19 recommendations : a tool for communities’ engagement in public health crises, financé dans le cadre du Programme National de Recherche (PNR) 78 – Covid 19. Il s’agit d’un projet collaboratif, réalisé dans le canton de Vaud, en Suisse, qui visait à co-construire avec les acteur·trices concerné·es des recommandations de gestion de crise sur la base de leurs expériences et réalités de terrain. Pour ce faire, nous avons mobilisé la méthode de l’experience-based co-design. Développée initialement dans le milieu des soins, nous l’avons transposée ici à un contexte de santé publique afin de tester ce dispositif de façon innovante. Ce toolkit documente la mise en place du projet avec pour objectif de rendre compte de cette expérience et des apprentissages qui en ont été tirés. En rendant accessible ce dispositif à d’autres chercheur∙euses ou acteur∙trices du système de santé, il vise à leur permettre de s’en emparer pour promouvoir et développer les recherches participatives, collaboratives et communautaires en santé. Chaque étape adaptée du processus sera décrite, ainsi que les limitations et bénéfices liés à la mise en place d’un tel projet

Between data providers and concerned citizens: Exploring participation in precision public health in Switzerland.

This empirical article explores the dynamics of exchange and reciprocity between cohorters, that is, study organizers, and cohortees, that is, study participants. Drawing on literature on bioeconomy and valuation, we analyze cohortees' expectations in return for the "clinical labor" they perform in the pilot phase of a Swiss precision public health study. Based on an ethnography of this cohort and data from seven focus groups with cohortees (n = 37), we identified four positions: (1) the good citizen participant, (2) the critical participant, (3) the concerned participant, and (4) the self-oriented participant. These reveal that cohortees' participation, still framed in altruistic terms, nevertheless engages expectations about reciprocal obligations of the state and science in terms of public health, confirming the deep entanglement of gift-based, financial, and moral economies of participation. The different values emerging from these expectations-robust scientific evidence about environmental exposure and a socially oriented public health-provide rich indications about stake making which might matter for the future of precision public health

Towards a Swiss health study with human biomonitoring: Learnings from the pilot phase about participation and design.

BACKGROUND A large-scale national cohort aiming at investigating the health status and determinants in the general population is essential for high-quality public health research and regulatory decision-making. We present the protocol and first results of the pilot phase to a Swiss national cohort aiming at establishing the study procedures, evaluating feasibility, and assessing participation and willingness to participate. METHODS The pilot phase 2020/21 included 3 components recruited via different channels: a population-based cross-sectional study targeting the adult population (20-69 years) of the Vaud and Bern cantons via personal invitation, a sub-study on selenium in a convenience sample of vegans and vegetarians via non-personal invitation in vegan/vegetarian networks, and a self-selected sample via news promotion (restricted protocol). Along with a participatory approach and participation, we tested the study procedures including online questionnaires, onsite health examination, food intake, physical activity assessments and biosample collection following high-quality standards. RESULTS The population-based study and the selenium sub-study had 638 (participation rate: 14%) and 109 participants, respectively, both with an over-representation of women. Of altogether 1349 recruited participants over 90% expressed interest in participating to a national health study, over 75% to contribute to medicine progress and help improving others' health, whereas about one third expressed concerns over data protection and data misuse. CONCLUSIONS Publicly accessible high-quality public health data and human biomonitoring samples were collected. There is high interest of the general population in taking part in a national cohort on health. Challenges reside in achieving a higher participation rate and external validity. For project management clear governance is key

Ovules vieillissants, mères sans âge ?

Trop âgés pour être parents ? Récemment, une réponse affirmative a été donnée à cette question par un tribunal italien ayant pris la décision de retirer à un couple la garde de leur fille de trois ans et de la donner à l’adoption. Lors de la naissance de cette dernière, conçue dans une clinique étrangère spécialisée en médecine reproductive, les parents étaient âgés de 57 et 70 ans (Vasireddy et Bewley, 2013 ; Gulino et al., 2013). Largement relayée par les médias, cette décision suscite majo..

The making of 'old eggs': the science of reproductive ageing between fertility and anti-ageing technologies.

This article proposes going back in the history of reproductive medicine to shed light on the role of assisted reproductive technology (ART) in the making of 'old eggs'. Focusing on two key technologies - egg donation and cytoplasmic transfer - both of which contributed significantly to the production of scientific knowledge about reproductive ageing, the article suggests that ART can be analysed as 'in-vivo models' playing a pivotal role in the shift from age as a demographic variable to ageing understood in biological terms. It will shed light on the role of ART in locating age in the eggs and producing a cellular understanding of fertility decline. It argues that ART not only offers new means of reconfiguring the biological clock by extending fertility, but also reconfigures the biology of reproductive ageing itself. This becomes both the target and the means for new technological interventions, imaginaries and norms, anchored in women's bodies and a more plastic biology, and thereby illuminates hitherto underexplored aspects of the encounter between the science and technology of reproduction and anti-ageing