Playing God? Synthetic biology as a theological and ethical challenge

In the ethical debate over synthetic biology the formula “playing god” is widely used in order to attack this new branch of biotechnology. The article analyses, contextualizes and criticises this usage with respect to the theological concepts of creation, sin and humans as created in the image of God. Against the background of these theological understandings an ethical corridor of how to responsibly cope with the societal challenges of synthetic biology is presented

Loop Quantum Gravity a la Aharonov-Bohm

The state space of Loop Quantum Gravity admits a decomposition into orthogonal subspaces associated to diffeomorphism equivalence classes of spin-network graphs. In this paper I investigate the possibility of obtaining this state space from the quantization of a topological field theory with many degrees of freedom. The starting point is a 3-manifold with a network of defect-lines. A locally-flat connection on this manifold can have non-trivial holonomy around non-contractible loops. This is in fact the mathematical origin of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. I quantize this theory using standard field theoretical methods. The functional integral defining the scalar product is shown to reduce to a finite dimensional integral over moduli space. A non-trivial measure given by the Faddeev-Popov determinant is derived. I argue that the scalar product obtained coincides with the one used in Loop Quantum Gravity. I provide an explicit derivation in the case of a single defect-line, corresponding to a single loop in Loop Quantum Gravity. Moreover, I discuss the relation with spin-networks as used in the context of spin foam models.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure; v2: corrected typos, section 4 expanded

Unifying Viral Genetics and Human Transportation Data to Predict the Global Transmission Dynamics of Human Influenza H3N2

Information on global human movement patterns is central to spatial epidemiological models used to predict the behavior of influenza and other infectious diseases. Yet it remains difficult to test which modes of dispersal drive pathogen spread at various geographic scales using standard epidemiological data alone. Evolutionary analyses of pathogen genome sequences increasingly provide insights into the spatial dynamics of influenza viruses, but to date they have largely neglected the wealth of information on human mobility, mainly because no statistical framework exists within which viral gene sequences and empirical data on host movement can be combined. Here, we address this problem by applying a phylogeographic approach to elucidate the global spread of human influenza subtype H3N2 and assess its ability to predict the spatial spread of human influenza A viruses worldwide. Using a framework that estimates the migration history of human influenza while simultaneously testing and quantifying a range of potential predictive variables of spatial spread, we show that the global dynamics of influenza H3N2 are driven by air passenger flows, whereas at more local scales spread is also determined by processes that correlate with geographic distance. Our analyses further confirm a central role for mainland China and Southeast Asia in maintaining a source population for global influenza diversity. By comparing model output with the known pandemic expansion of H1N1 during 2009, we demonstrate that predictions of influenza spatial spread are most accurate when data on human mobility and viral evolution are integrated. In conclusion, the global dynamics of influenza viruses are best explained by combining human mobility data with the spatial information inherent in sampled viral genomes. The integrated approach introduced here offers great potential for epidemiological surveillance through phylogeographic reconstructions and for improving predictive models of disease control.status: publishe

Engineering of cyclodextrin glucanotransferases and the impact for biotechnological applications

Cyclodextrin glucanotransferases (CGTases) are industrially important enzymes that produce cyclic α-(1,4)-linked oligosaccharides (cyclodextrins) from starch. Cyclodextrin glucanotransferases are also applied as catalysts in the synthesis of glycosylated molecules and can act as antistaling agents in the baking industry. To improve the performance of CGTases in these various applications, protein engineers are screening for CGTase variants with higher product yields, improved CD size specificity, etc. In this review, we focus on the strategies employed in obtaining CGTases with new or enhanced enzymatic capabilities by searching for new enzymes and improving existing enzymatic activities via protein engineering

Theology and cosmology beyond the Big Bang theory

Wetensch. publicati

Multivariate statistical analysis of metabolomics profiles in tissues of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from the Southern and Western Hudson Bay subpopulations

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are apex predators of the Arctic, which exposes them to an array of natural and anthropogenic stress factors. Metabolomics analysis profiles endogenous metabolites that reflect the response of biological systems to stimuli, and the effects of multiple stressors can be assessed from an integrated perspective. A targeted, quantitative, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry-based metabolomics platform [219 metabolites including amino acids, biogenic amines, acylcarnitines, phosphatidylcholines (PCs), sphingomyelins, hexoses (Hex), and fatty acids (FAs)] was applied to the muscle and liver of polar bears from the Southern and Western Hudson Bay (Canada) subpopulations (SHB and WHB, respectively). Multivariate statistics were then applied to establish whether bears were discriminated by sex and/or subpopulation. Five metabolites identified by variable importance projection (VIP) discriminated the hepatic profiles of SHB males and females (Hex, arginine, glutamine, one PC, one sphingomyelin), while fifteen metabolites (primarily PCs along with leucine) contrasted the livers of males from SHB and WHB. Metabolite profiles in the muscle of male and female bears could not be differentiated; however, the muscles of SHB and WHB males were discriminated primarily by PCs and FAs. Stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) were variably related to metabolites; δ13C was correlated with some VIP metabolite concentrations, particularly in comparisons of male bears from SHB and WHB, suggesting an influence of dietary differences. However, δ15N and age exhibited few, relatively weak correlations with metabolites. The metabolite profiles discriminating the sexes and subpopulations may have utility for future assessments regarding the effects of specific stressors on the physiology of Hudson Bay polar bears