Maintaining a sense of direction during long-range communication on DNA

Many biological processes rely on the interaction of proteins with multiple DNA sites separated by thousands of base pairs. These long-range communication events can be driven by both the thermal motions of proteins and DNA, and directional protein motions that are rectified by ATP hydrolysis. The present review describes conflicting experiments that have sought to explain how the ATP-dependent Type III restriction–modification enzymes can cut DNA with two sites in an inverted repeat, but not DNA with two sites in direct repeat. We suggest that an ATPase activity may not automatically indicate a DNA translocase, but can alternatively indicate a molecular switch that triggers communication by thermally driven DNA sliding. The generality of this mechanism to other ATP-dependent communication processes such as mismatch repair is also discussed

Clash of cultures? Archaeology and genetics

This paper examines the ways in which genetic data have been used to interpret the transition to agriculture in Europe over the past two decades, and the relationship of these interpretations to more strictly archaeological explanations. It is suggested that, until recently, those working within the two disciplines have been using not only different data sets and methodologies, but also working within different disciplinary traditions which have inhibited communication and collaboration, and the production of a genuinely integrated field of ‘archaeogenetics’.V Članku analiziramo pristope, ki so v zadnjih dveh desetletjih uporabljali genetske podatke pri interpretaciji prehoda na poljedelstvo v Evropi ter odnos med temi interpretacijami in striktno arheološkimi razlagami. Ocenjujemo, da so raziskovalci v okviru teh dveh disciplin do nedavna uporabljali različne metodologije in serije podatkov ter delali znotraj različnih raziskovalnih tradicij. To je preprečevalo komunikacijo in sodelovanje ter izdelavo pristno integriranega področja ‘arheogenetike’

Archaeology and human genetics: Lessons for both

New research fields and areas of scientific specialization often bring division and disciplinary divides. Here Brown &amp; Pluciennik discuss the impact of genetic research on archaeology.</jats:p

Archaeological ethics in armed conflicts

Like its ancestral disciplines, archaeology is no stranger to human conflict. Greek and Roman warfare often resulted in the sacking of cities, with all property (public, private, temple) taken as booty and the population and heritage exterminated or absorbed (men killed, women and children sold into slavery). In addition to the personal danger risked in a hostile region, archaeologists may also be thrust into deep and divisive cultural embattlements. Cultural property may be destroyed, intentionally or unintentionally. Graves, including potential evidence of genocide or mass murder, may be disturbed. Archaeologists may find themselves embroiled in many of these disputes and violent events, leading to difficult and complex ethical issues. This viperous nest of ethical concerns is amplified where an archaeologist is present as part of, or perceived to be related to, an invading or occupying military force. The goal of this thesis is to develop an engaging and pragmatic virtue-based professional ethic that may guide an archaeologist and archaeology through the ethical bramble bush raised by modern human conflict. The present ethical systems, based primarily on utilitarian or deontological principles manifested in ethical codes, are deficient because they fail to establish the archaeologist as a trustee (active or passive) in a political dynamic, elevate the archaeological record even when these professional codes purport to discount its importance, fail to address adequately the matrix of relationships in a manner that ensures trust across the interests of all stakeholders – both present and past, and dramatically fail to identify and develop the central thrust of a professional ethic (as opposed to personal moral judgment) in the first instance.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

First Farmers: the Origins of Agricultural Societies, by Peter Bellwood. Malden (MA): Blackwell, 2005; ISBN 0-631-20565-9

There can be no doubt that Peter Bellwood's First Farmers is a major new statement which presents a robustly expressed solution to one of those classic problems which provides a benchmark for theorization and justifies archaeology as a field. But agreement stops there. Few academic books published recently have evoked such highly charged reactions. On the one hand, First Farmers has impressed many critics, reached audiences far afield from traditional archaeological readerships, and garnered major book awards from professional bodies such as the Society for American Archaeology. On the other hand, it has been subjected to a level of concerted criticism rare in the academic world. As the reviews below show, it has clearly hit a nerve; the gloves are of