Genetic Engineering

"The Problem of Transhumanism in the Light of Philosophy and Theology"

by Philippe Gagnon

Chapter 34 in Blackwell Companion to Science and Christianity, J. B. Stump and A. G. Padgett (eds.) (Malden/Oxford: Wiley/Blackwell, 2012), pp. 393-405.

Transhumanism is a means of advocating a re-engineering of conditions that surround human existence at both ends. The... more Transhumanism is a means of advocating a re-engineering of conditions that surround human existence at both ends. The problem set before us in this chapter is to inquire into what determined its appearance, in particular in the humanism it seeks to overcome. We look at the spirit of overcoming itself, and the impatience with the Self, in order to try to understand why it seeks a saving power in technology. We then consider how the evolutionary account of the production of organisms does not set them against a perfect standard, but rather injects in them a contingency that seems to be near to the heart of the problem. We then try to assess the objective basis for improvements and manipulation of nature, and although we do not find it forbidden on all occasions, it seems that the criteria for such alterations are impossible to detach from a form of eugenics. We finally open a window toward a theological account of the problem, and find that the desire of autonomy and independence is inevitably going to be challenged by the Christian dogma of creation.

TERMINATOR TECHNOLOGY APPRAISING BIOTECHNOLOGY'S CLAIM TO FEED THE WORLD

by Jonathan Okeke

When pigs fly? Legal and ethical issues in transgenics and the creation of chimeras

by Linda MacDonald Glenn

GM Foods and the Misperception of Risk Perception

by Wolfgang Wagner

Gaskell, G., Allum, N., Wagner, W., Kronberger, N., Torgersen, H., Hampel, J. et al. (2004). GM Foods and the Misperception of Risk Perception. Risk Analysis, 24(1), 185-194.

Public opposition to genetically modified (GM) food and crops is widely interpreted as the result of the public's... more Public opposition to genetically modified (GM) food and crops is widely interpreted as the result of the public's misperception of the risks. With scientific assessment pointing to no unique risks from GM crops and foods, a strategy of accurate risk communication from trusted sources has been advocated. This is based on the assumption that the benefits of GM crops and foods are self-evident. Informed by the interpretation of some qualitative interviews with lay people, we use data from the Eurobarometer survey on biotechnology to explore the hypothesis that it is not so much the perception of risks as the absence of benefits that is the basis of the widespread rejection of GM foods and crops by the European public. Some respondents perceive both risks and benefits, and may be trading off these attributes along the lines of a rational choice model. However, for others, one attribute2014benefit2014appears to dominate their judgments: the lexicographic heuristic. For these respondents, their perception of risk is of limited importance in the formation of attitudes toward GM food and crops. The implication is that the absence of perceived benefits from GM foods and crops calls into question the relevance of risk communication strategies for bringing about change in public opinion.

Nature In Disorder: the Troubled Public of Biotechnology

by Wolfgang Wagner

Wagner, W., Kronberger, N., Gaskell, G., Allum, N., Allansdottir, A., Cheveigné, S. et al. (2001). Nature in disorder: The troubled public of biotechnology. In G. Gaskell & M. Bauer (Eds.), Biotechnology 1996-2000, the Years of Controversy. London: The National Museum of Science and Industry.

Collective Symbolic Coping With New Technology: Knowledge, Images and Public Discourse

by Wolfgang Wagner

Wagner, W., Kronberger, N., & Seifert, F. (2002). Collective symbolic coping with new technology: Knowledge, images and public discourse. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41(3), 323-343.

Using data from policy analyses, media analyses and a European-wide survey about public perceptions of biotechnology... more Using data from policy analyses, media analyses and a European-wide survey about public perceptions of biotechnology conducted in 1996 and again in 1999, it is shown how a country’s public develops an everyday understanding of a new technology (genetic modi􏰣cation) construed as potentially harmful by the media. To understand the reliance on images and related beliefs, we propose a theory of collective symbolic coping. It identi􏰣es four steps: 􏰣rst, the creation of awareness; second, production of divergent images; third, convergence upon a couple of dominant images in the public sphere; fourth, normalization. It is suggested that symbolic coping occurs in countries where a recent increase in policy activity and of media reporting has alerted the public; that this public show a high proportion of beliefs in menacing images; that these beliefs are relatively independent of pre-existing popular science knowledge; and that they are functionally equivalent to scienti􏰣c knowledge in providing judgmental con􏰣 dence and reducing self-ascribed ignorance. These propositions are shown to be true in Austria and Greece. Several implications of the theory are discussed, including social representation theory and public understanding of science.

The 2010 Eurobarometer on the life sciences

by Wolfgang Wagner

Gaskell, G., Allansdottir, A., Allum, N., Castro, P., Esmer, Y., Fischler, C., Jackson, J., Kronberger, N., Hampel, J., Mejlgaard, N., Quintanilha, A., Rammer, A., Revuelta, G., Stares, S., Torgersen, H., Wagner, W. (2011). The 2010 Eurobarometer on the life sciences. Nature-Biotechnology, 29(2), 113-114.

Since 1991, the triennial Eurobarometer survey has assessed public attitudes about biotech and the life sciences in... more Since 1991, the triennial Eurobarometer survey has assessed public attitudes about biotech and the life sciences in Europe. The latest 2010 Eurobarometer survey on the Life Sciences and Biotechnology (http:// ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/ document_library/pdf_06/europeans- biotechnology-in-2010_en.pdf), based on representative samples from 32 European countries, hints at a new era in the relations between science and society. We see less criticism of technology based on distrust in government and industry; more enthusiasm for novel technologies; and a more sophisticated appraisal of what technologies offer in terms of benefits, safety and sustainability. Europeans want regulation in the public interest and want a voice in such regulation when social values are at stake; we highlight an emerging European landscape of social value differences that shape people’s views of technologies...

Genetic modification and selection of microorganisms for growth on Mars

by David Thomas

J. A. Hiscox and D. J. Thomas, 1995.  Genetic modification and selection of microorganisms for growth on Mars.  Journal of the British Interplanetary Society, 48:419-426.

Swimming Upstream: Regulating Genetically Modified Salmon (2008)

by Paul A. Lombardo

Phosphorylation of yeast plasma membrane H+-ATPase by casein kinase I

by Enrique Estrada

PhD thesis in the laboratory of André Goffeau. Université Catholique de Louvain.

The plasma membrane H+-ATPase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is subject to phosphorylation by a casein kinase I activity... more The plasma membrane H+-ATPase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is subject to phosphorylation by a casein kinase I activity in vitro. We show this casein kinase I activity to result from the combined function of YCK1 and YCK2, two highly similar and plasma membrane-associated casein kinase I homologues. First, H+-ATPase phosphorylation is severely impaired in the plasma membrane of YCK-deficient yeast strains. Furthermore, the wild-type level of the phosphoprotein is restored by the addition of purified mammalian casein kinase I to the mutant membranes. We used the H+-ATPase as well as a synthetic peptide substrate that contains a phosphorylation site for casein kinase I to compare kinase activity in membranes prepared from yeast cells grown in the presence or absence of glucose. The addition of glucose results in increased H+-ATPase activity which is associated with a decline in the phosphorylation level of the enzyme. Mutations in both YCK1 and YCK2 affect this regulation, suggesting that H+-ATPase activity is modulated by glucose via a combination of a “down-regulating” casein kinase I activity and another, yet uncharacterized, “up-regulating” kinase activity. Biochemical mapping of phosphorylated H+-ATPase identifies a major phosphopeptide that contains a consensus phosphorylation site (Ser-507) for casein kinase I. Site-directed mutagenesis of this consensus sequence indicates that Glu-504 is important for glucose-induced decrease in the apparent Km for ATP.

Promoter and Coding Sequence Considerations for Caenorhabditis elegans and Other Eukaryotes

by Chris Palmer