Assessing Nature? The Genesis of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

International audienceBased on an anlysis of the creation of an IPBES, our contribution addresses the progressive stabilization of an institutional design for assessing Nature. As regards the implementation of new forms of environmental governance, social science literature has zidely promoted norms of transparency, openness and participation. But so far, few researchers have focused on the way this disclosure model now concretely weighs down on real institutions and institutionalization processes. Little attention has been paid to the way this requirement can combine with other requirements or older models of action. In the case of IPBES, our goal is to question how the requirements of participation and transparency are put into practice. We will highlight the role of UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) in the institutionalization process of IPBES and see how the disclosure model is combined with other requirements which simultaneously involve the re-creation of "enclosure" (i.e. the need for academic sound science, or the usual way in which things are done at UNEP, i.e. bureaucratic practices). OUr work is based on an empirical study including documentation analysis and interviews

Producing 'Human Elements Based Medical Technologies' in Biotech Companies: Some Ethical and Organisational Ingredients for Innovative Cooking

This article is based on the findings of an EU-funded qualitative research project, entitled 'From GMP to GBP: Fostering good bioethics practices [GBP] among the European biotechnology industry', which seeks to improve the understanding of bioethical issues through the observation of the daily practices in European biotechnology companies and proposes a methodology approaching ethical issues. The comparative study was carried out in biotech companies in France, Italy, Sweden, Hungary and Belgium which develop a wide range of new technologies, all of them involving human materials or where human subjects participate (in clinical trials). Based on our findings in these local settings, we suggest that the notion of bioethics and the way its production is theorised need to be re-conceptualised. We argue that material practices and moral statements are intermingled in inextricable ways that render the formation of bioethical concerns fully dependent on the organisational landscape in which it is embedded. More precisely, the here presented co-production model of moral statements and organisational practices presents a set of common factors that influence how bioethical discourses are shaped, despite the heterogeneity of their epistemic cultures. For example, the procedural design of cell-based-products, the modes of collecting and storing biological specimen, the relationship between patients and companies and technological transfers to emerging countries are defining components that contribute to the shaping process of bioethical concerns. Thus, the path dependency of bioethical concerns relies on an already existing, specific infrastructure and existing relationships within and outside a company rather than on external judgement subsequently applied to its objects, or a collection of processes of reasoning coming from external institutions

Spatial Segregation of BMP/Smad Signaling Affects Osteoblast Differentiation in C2C12 Cells

BACKGROUND: Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are involved in a plethora of cellular processes in embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. Signaling specificity is achieved by dynamic processes involving BMP receptor oligomerization and endocytosis. This allows for spatiotemporal control of Smad dependent and non-Smad pathways. In this study, we investigate the spatiotemporal regulation within the BMP-induced Smad transcriptional pathway. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we discriminate between Smad signaling events that are dynamin-dependent (i.e., require an intact endocytic pathway) and dynamin-independent. Inhibition of dynamin-dependent endocytosis in fluorescence microscopy and fractionation studies revealed a delay in Smad1/5/8 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation after BMP-2 stimulation of C2C12 cells. Using whole genome microarray and qPCR analysis, we identified two classes of BMP-2 induced genes that are differentially affected by inhibition of endocytosis. Thus, BMP-2 induced gene expression of Id1, Id3, Dlx2 and Hey1 is endocytosis-dependent, whereas BMP-2 induced expression of Id2, Dlx3, Zbtb2 and Krt16 is endocytosis-independent. Furthermore, we demonstrate that short term inhibition of endocytosis interferes with osteoblast differentiation as measured by alkaline phosphatase (ALP) production and qPCR analysis of osteoblast marker gene expression. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study demonstrates that dynamin-dependent endocytosis is crucial for the concise spatial activation of the BMP-2 induced signaling cascade. Inhibition of endocytic processes during BMP-2 stimulation leads to altered Smad1/5/8 signaling kinetics and results in differential target gene expression. We show that interfering with the BMP-2 induced transcriptional network by endocytosis inhibition results in an attenuation of osteoblast differentiation. This implies that selective sensitivity of gene expression to endocytosis provides an additional mechanism for the cell to respond to BMP in a context specific manner. Moreover, we suggest a novel Smad dependent signal cascade induced by BMP-2, which does not require endocytosis

Therapie

This article aims at analyzing mechanisms leading to a situation of mistrust about the scientific evaluation of the medicinal product, beyond issues related to links of interests. The assumption is that conflicts of interest are only one component of this mistrust. It doesn't explain all social controversies affecting this sector, in particular the credibility of drug evaluation systems. We explore here how, during the six stages of certification that characterize the trajectory of the drug and its evaluation - the functioning of scientific production and collective representations contribute to this mistrust. Without any analyses on the precise mechanisms of this mistrust, the loss of legitimacy of institutions and of scientific evaluation will increase. This goes hand in hand with a potential risk to public health

From a 'Social Raw Matter' to the Emergence of Collectives-Exploring Bio-institutions as Social Lab: Introduction

International audienceBio-institutions include biodiversity and biotechnology institutions, devices and networks. They are considered a social lab to explore the way collectives are constituted and stabilized through socio-technical arrangements and infrastructures

Précaution ou eugénisme ? risques et promesses de la sélection génétique appliquée à des fins de santé publique

National audienceSi les enjeux des innovations thérapeutiques font l'objet de nombreuses investigations en sciences sociales dans le cas de la santé humaine, le monde de la médecine vétérinaire reste beaucoup moins exploré. Pourtant, avec la succession récente de diverses affaires ou crises sanitaires impliquant des maladies animales transmissibles à l'homme (grippe aviaire, vache folle, chikungunia), ce sont des hybridations inédites entre les enjeux de santé animale et ceux de santé humaine qui émergent. De nouveaux découpages et de nouveaux dispositifs transversaux entendant prendre en charge cette articulation ont vu le jour. Ils résultent d'une promesse de précaution et de vigilance, appliquée « de la fourche à la fourchette » ou « de la ferme à l'assiette », et de l'espoir de pouvoir prévenir et gérer à leur source dans le domaine agricole en particulier et notamment dans l'élevage animal - les problèmes sanitaires susceptibles de toucher les produits consommés par l'homme

Does the French Bioethics Law create a "moral exception" to the use of human cells for health? A legal and organizational issue

This article focuses on the legal and organisational regulation of human cells in the United Kingdom and France. French Bioethics Law regulates human cells for health according to European Union law where it is enforceable. But products unregulated by EU law and based on human cells are never considered as medicinal products, given the strict implementation of the principle of �nonpatrimonialité� of the human body and its elements. By comparison, in the UK such products can be qualified as medicinal products. Moreover, the setting up of the UK stem cell bank gives rise to the development of policies which expand the stem cell as a legal object. The paper discusses how these societies� ethical and legal commitments underlie organisational practices in order to analyse the relationship between the existence (or not) of a national stem cell bank and the broader regulation of human cells.Este artículo se centra en la regulación legal y organizativa sobre células humanas en el Reino Unido y Francia. La ley de bioética francesa regula las células humanas para la salud de acuerdo con la legislación de la Unión Europea, donde ésta tiene vigencia. Sin embargo, los productos no regulados por la legislación de la UE que hacen referencia a las células humanas no son considerados como medicamentos sujetos a la estricta aplicación del principio de "no patrimonialidad" del cuerpo humano y sus elementos. En comparación, estos productos en el Reino Unido pueden ser calificados como productos medicinales. Por otra parte, la creación del banco de células madre en el Reino Unido da lugar al desarrollo de políticas de elaboración que se expande a las célulasmadre en el campo de los objetos jurídicos. Este artículo muestra cómo los compromisos éticos y legales que estas sociedades han adoptado subyacen a las prácticas organizativas de estos países. Su propósito es analizar la relación entre la existencia (o no) de un banco nacional de células madre y la regulación más amplia del uso de células humanas

From standards to concerted programs of collective action: The standardization process of cell therapy in France. Pragmatist contribution to the sociology of innovation

International audienc