Synthetic biology in the view of European public funding organisations

We analysed the decisions of major European public funding organisations to fund or not to fund synthetic biology (SB) and related ethical, legal and social implication (ELSI) studies. We investigated the reaction of public organisations in six countries (Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K.) towards SB that may influence SB's further development in Europe. We examined R&D and ELSI communities and their particular funding situation. Our results show that the funding situation for SB varies considerably among the analysed countries, with the U.K. as the only country with an established funding scheme for R&D and ELSI that successfully integrates these research communities. Elsewhere, we determined a general lack of funding (France), difficulties in funding ELSI work (Switzerland), lack of an R&D community (Austria), too small ELSI communities (France, Switzerland, Netherlands), or difficulties in linking existing communities with available funding sources (Germany), partly due to an unclear SB definition.     

Bacterial chemotaxis: molecular biology of a sensory system

All cells respond to chemical stimuli and the nature of the mechanisms involved is thus very important. This article reviews the response of one of the simplest organisms, Escherichia coli, to chemical stimulation, as evidenced by the effect on flagellar movements. Even this elementary sensory-response system involves almost 50 gene products.     

医学生物化学与分子生物学双语教学示范课程建设初探

医学双语教学是中国普通高等医学院校教育教学改革重要内容之一,本文研究生物化学与分子生物学专业双语教学示范课程建设模式,探讨双语教学的经验,努力避免或解决双语教学中出现的问题,真正满足地区未来发展的需要,学生未来发展的需要,打造我校精品双语教学示范课程。     

Crick's notion of genetic information and the 'central dogma' of molecular biology

An assessment is offered of the recent debate on informationin the philosophy of biology, and an analysis is provided ofthe notion of information as applied in scientific practicein molecular genetics. In particular, this paper deals withthe dependence of basic generalizations of molecular biology,above all the ‘central dogma’, on the so-called‘informational talk’ (Maynard Smith [2000a]). Itis argued that talk of information in the ‘central dogma’can be reduced to causal claims. In that respect, the primaryaim of the paper is to consider a solution to the major difficultyof the causal interpretation of genetic information: how todistinguish the privileged causal role assigned to nucleic acids,DNA in particular, in the processes of replication and proteinproduction. A close reading is proposed of Francis H. C. Crick'sOn Protein Synthesis (1958) and related works, to which we owethe first explicit definition of information within the scientificpractice of molecular biology.

1. Introduction

   1.1 The basicquestions of the information debate

   1.2 Thecausal interpretation(CI) of biological informationand Crick's‘central dogma’

2. Crick's definitions of genetic information
3. The main requirementfor (CI)
4. Types of causation in molecular biology

   4.1 Structuralcausation in molecular biology

   4.2 Nucleicacids as correlativecausal factors

5. The ‘central dogma’ withoutthe notion of information
6. Concluding remarks

     

分子生物学技术在病原微生物检验中的应用

进入21世纪以来,感染性疾病仍然是危害人类健康的重大隐患,WHO宣布,近年来新发现29种新病原体,而且出现了一些耐药性菌株,给临床诊断和治疗带来了很大的困难.因此,研究和发展各种病原微生物的分子生物学检测技术,从分子水平准确确认与检测病原体,对感染性疾病的治疗和预后有重要意义,本文就分子生物学技术在病原微生物诊断中应用作一简要概述.     

Facilitators and inhibitors for integrating expertise diversity in innovation teams: The case of plasmid exchange in molecular biology

Innovation increasingly relies on collaboration in teams instead of individual efforts. Although the advantages of teams for innovating are virtually undisputed, we have only a very rudimentary understanding of their success drivers. To shed more light on innovation teams, we conceptualize multiplicity in expertise as nonredundant expertise and distinguish it from factors that facilitate or hinder the integration of this expertise. These factors are overlap in expertise, disparity in team members’ status, and whether or not teams use automation technology. We use the empirical context of molecular biology, especially the part of this field in which teams produce and exchange genetic material in the form of so-called plasmids. Combining data about plasmids from a central plasmid repository (AddGene) with bibliometric data endows us with a rich dataset capturing information about team diversity in addition to two innovation performance measures (the number of plasmid orders and the number of citations attracted by publications). Our analysis shows that multiplicity in expertise increases innovation performance; this relationship is strengthened by the overlap in expertise and weakened by disparity in status and the use of the automation technology. Our paper provides a more detailed theory of expertise diversity and contributes to the diversity literature. Our findings also lead to implications for practitioners.     

高被引科学家h指数成长性探讨——以分子生物学与遗传学领域为例

以“ISI Highly Cited.com”数据库中分子生物学与遗传学领域中部分科学家为样本,从纵向和横断的角度对该领域高被引科学家h指数进行统计,对h指数的历时性和共时性进行探讨和分析。结果表明:高被引科学家在研究生涯内h指数有线性成长规律;当高被引科学家不再发表论文后,h指数仍在5-8年期呈现对数型成长;以10年期划分的中年组、中老年组和老年组高被引科学家的h指数平均值以等差10依次递增。     

中国科学院动物生态与保护生物学重点实验室

野生动物作为自然生态系统的重要组成部分,对维持生态系统的平衡发挥着重要作用。然而,随着人口膨胀和经济高速发展所带来的环境压力,生态系统正受到严重的