Search results for "Philosophy of Science"

Exploring new ways of regulation by resveratrol involving miRNAs, with emphasis on inflammation

2015

This review presents recent evidence implicating microRNAs (miRNAs) in the beneficial effects of resveratrol (trihydroxystilbene), a nonflavonoid plant polyphenol, with emphasis on its anti-inflammatory effects. Many diseases and pathologies have been linked, directly or indirectly, to inflammation. These include infections, injuries, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, obesity, cancer, osteoarthritis, age-related macular degeneration, demyelination, and neurodegenerative diseases. Resveratrol can both decrease the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines (e.g., IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α) and increase the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines; it also decreases the expression of adhesion prot…

The endometrium in human assisted reproduction.

1991

Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms and Breast Cancer Susceptibility

2006

Human breast cancer (BC) is characterized by a considerable clinical heterogeneity. Steroid hormone receptor expression and growth factor receptor expression have been considered suitable diagnostic and prognostic markers, whereas mutations of oncosuppressor and gatekeeper genes have been found associated with an increased risk for this malignancy. To evaluate the role that polymorphisms of genes involved in the regulation of inflammatory response might play in BC susceptibility, we investigated associations between cytokine functionally relevant polymorphisms in 84 BC patients compared to 110 age- and sex-matched controls. TNF-alpha (-308G/A), TGF-beta1 (+869C/T), IL-10 (-1117G/A; -854C/T;…

Genes, genomes, and codes : revisiting some key terms with multiple meanings

2015

Is a genome the full complement of an organism?s genes or of its DNA? Is genetics the study of genes or of heredity? Is the genetic code the mechanism for translating nucleotide sequence to amino acid sequence or to phenotype? Does «genetic information» refer to the sequences coding for proteins or to all DNA sequences? Each of these questions stems from an elision between one, concrete, meaning, and another, open-ended and ambiguous. Such elision invites the illusion that the ambiguity of the open-ended term has been resolved, and by implication, that the gap between actual achievement and promise has been closed. Yet, despite the phenomenal progress molecular biology has made, we remain w…

The singular fate of Genetics in the History of French Biology, 1900-1940

1988

In this study we have examined the reception of Mendelism in France from 1900 to 1940, and the place of some of the extra-Mendelian traditions of research that contributed to the development of genetics in France after World War II. Our major findings are: (1) Mendelism was widely disseminated in France and thoroughly understood by many French biologists from 1900 on. With the notable exception of Lucien Cuenot, however, there were few fundamental contributions to the Mendelian tradition, and virtually none from about 1915 to the midthirties. Prior to 1900, Cuenot's work was already marked by a striking interest in physiological mechanisms; his physiological preoccupations played a consider…

Classification of prokaryotic genetic replicators: between selfishness and altruism

2015

Prokaryotes harbor a variety of genetic replicators, including plasmids, viruses, and chromosomes, each having different effects on the phenotype of the hosting cell. Here, we propose a classification for replicators of bacteria and archaea on the basis of their horizontal-transfer potential and the type of relationships (mutualistic, symbiotic, commensal, or parasitic) that they have with the host cell vehicle. Horizontal movement of replicators can be either active or passive, reflecting whether or not the replicator encodes the means to mediate its own transfer from one cell to another. Some replicators also have an infectious extracellular state, thus separating viruses from other mobil…

Unusual genomic structure: melanocortin receptors in Fugu.

2005

The melanocortin (MC) receptors are found in five subtypes in mammals and chicken, while recent studies have shown that the Fugu (Takifugu rubripes) genome has only four MC receptors and the zebrafish genome has six subtypes. The MC3 receptor seems to be missing from the two closely related pufferfishes, Fugu and Tetraodon (Tetraodon nigroviridis). The MC2 and MC5 receptors in the pufferfish have introns. Moreover, these two receptors are found in a tandem that is remarkably conserved in several vertebrate species. Here, we speculate about the genomic origin of the MC receptors.

Genetics of Inflammation in Age-Related Atherosclerosis: Its Relevance to Pharmacogenomics

2007

In response to tissue injury elicited by trauma or infection, the inflammatory response, as a complex network of molecular and cellular interactions, sets an answer directed to facilitate a return to physiological homeostasis and tissue repair. The role of the genetic background and the subsequent predisposition toward the extent of the inflammatory response is determined by gene variability encoding endogenous mediators involved in the inflammatory pathway. Due to its clinical relevance, the genetics of inflammation in aging will be studied using an inflammatory disease like atherosclerosis as an example. Several studies have reported a significant difference in distribution, between patie…

Felix Klein, Adolf Hurwitz, and the “jewish question” in german academia

2007

Episodes in the Berlin-Göttingen Rivalry, 1870-1930

2000

One of the more striking features in the development of higher mathematics at the German universities during the nineteenth century was the prominent role played by various rival centers. Among these, Berlin and Gottingen stood out as the two leading institutions for the study of research-level mathematics. By the 1870s they were attracting an impressive array of aspiring talent not only from within the German states but also from numerous other countries as well. The rivalry between these two dynamos has long been legendary, yet little has been written about the sources of the conflicts that arose or the substantive issues behind them. Here I hope to shed some light on this theme by recall…