Participants as Partners in Genetic Research

Author(s):  
Rebecca Dresser

This chapter focuses on subject-centered developments in genetic research. Modern genetic research requires scientists to collect, store, and study DNA samples and health information from thousands of people. In the past, researchers have been allowed to use DNA samples and information without consent. Researchers have not been required to explain study results to subjects, nor have they been required to compensate people who contribute samples and health information to genetic studies. Experts developed these practices without input from the people whose contributions are essential to the genetic research enterprise. A growing amount of evidence shows that many research subjects and prospective subjects disagree with these traditional approaches. For ethical and practical reasons, subjects should have a greater role in determining how genetic research is conducted.

1991 ◽  
Vol 158 (5) ◽  
pp. 615-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Jones ◽  
Robin M. Murray

Genes are now accepted as being important in the aetiology of schizophrenia (Gottesman & Shields, 1982; McGuffinet al,1987), and over the past decade the emphasis in genetic research has shifted away from genetic epidemiology to searching the chromosomal DNA for the genes themselves. Despite this increasing technical sophistication, the application of linkage analysis to families multiply affected by schizophrenia has been accompanied by the familiar controversy over the exact borders of the adult clinical phenotype (Sherringtonet al,1988; St Clairet al,1989). Indeed, the preoccupation of researchers with the vagaries of the clinical definition has resulted in repeated attempts to use genetic studies to determine the relative validity of different operational definitions of schizophrenia (McGuffinet al,1984; Farmeret al,1987). To us, such studies beg the question of how precisely genes are involved in the aetiology of schizophrenia; after all, genes code for proteins, not for auditory hallucinations in the third person.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nándor Dreisziger

The past few decades saw the birth of the new science of genetics that can be used not only for medical purposes but also for the study of the past. Geneticists were quick to begin applying this science to the examination of Hungarian history, especially the subject of Hungarian origins. The purpose of this paper is to acquaint the reader with some of these studies. One study this paper will examine is itself a review of the scientific literature of early genetic studies on Hungarian origins. Other studies evaluated in this paper will be the English-language scientific publications of a team of Hungarian geneticists who over the last several years have studied the genetic inter-relatedness of 10th century and present-day Hungarian populations in the Middle Danube Valley of Central Europe. The paper comes to the conclusion that while very early genetic inquiries into Hungarian origins were often fault-ridden and are of little use now, more recent studies suggest that the currently held explanations of Hungarian ethnogenesis — especially the story of the so-called Hungarian conquest of the late 9th century — might very well be subjected to a fundamental re-assessment.


Pólemos ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-383
Author(s):  
Carlo Pelloso

AbstractCurrent Western constitutional systems, for quite a few practical reasons, seem to be a sick body that deserves and needs a soft euthanasia, rather than useless palliative care. On the one hand, the words ‘election’ and ‘democracy’ are currently considered synonymous: yet, when the supporters of the American and French revolutions proposed the technique of representation as a means to implement ‘the will of the people,’ there were no parties, no statutes concerning universal franchise, no mass-media, and no Internet. On the other hand, classical Athens has taught us that democracy is more than voting and something different from representation. This contribution argues that merging the radical ideas flourished in the past with the digital culture embedded in the present shall help wipe out the contemporary crisis under the banner of a new e-δημοκρατία.


Crisis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourens Schlebusch ◽  
Naseema B.M. Vawda ◽  
Brenda A. Bosch

Summary: In the past suicidal behavior among Black South Africans has been largely underresearched. Earlier studies among the other main ethnic groups in the country showed suicidal behavior in those groups to be a serious problem. This article briefly reviews some of the more recent research on suicidal behavior in Black South Africans. The results indicate an apparent increase in suicidal behavior in this group. Several explanations are offered for the change in suicidal behavior in the reported clinical populations. This includes past difficulties for all South Africans to access health care facilities in the Apartheid (legal racial separation) era, and present difficulties of post-Apartheid transformation the South African society is undergoing, as the people struggle to come to terms with the deleterious effects of the former South African racial policies, related socio-cultural, socio-economic, and other pressures.


Author(s):  
Ramnik Kaur

E-governance is a paradigm shift over the traditional approaches in Public Administration which means rendering of government services and information to the public by using electronic means. In the past decades, service quality and responsiveness of the government towards the citizens were least important but with the approach of E-Government the government activities are now well dealt. This paper withdraws experiences from various studies from different countries and projects facing similar challenges which need to be consigned for the successful implementation of e-governance projects. Developing countries like India face poverty and illiteracy as a major obstacle in any form of development which makes it difficult for its government to provide e-services to its people conveniently and fast. It also suggests few suggestions to cope up with the challenges faced while implementing e-projects in India.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 229
Author(s):  
Muhammad Eko Atmojo ◽  
Helen Dian Fridayani

Kulon Progo Regency is one of the districts that has many innovations, one of which is community empowerment in collaboration with a modern shop abbreviated as the shop name owned by the people (tomira). This research was motivated by the achievements of the Kulon Progo district government in carrying out development and innovation in the development of the Kulon Progo region by fully involving the Kulon Progo district community through community empowerment. This initiative was taken by the government of Kulon Progo Regency to improve community empowerment and protect the people of Kulon Progo Regency from various economic threats. Considering that in the past few years many modern shops have mushroomed in each district/city, so this is what makes Kulon Progo Regency move quickly to empower the community by collaborating between MSMEs or cooperative with modern shops. This study uses a qualitative method which case study approach. With the empowerment that has been done, the original products of Kulon Progo Regency or local products can be traded in modern stores so that local products in Kulon Progo Regency can compete with national products in these modern stores. The existence of such cooperation will indirectly improve the image of Kulon Progo Regency and lift the original products of Kulon Progo Regency. The lifting of the original products of Kulon Progo Regency will have a positive impact on the community, where indirectly the economy of the community will increase so that there will be prosperity for the community. Kabupaten Kulon Progo adalah salah satu kabupaten yang memiliki banyak inovasi, salah satunya adalah pemberdayaan masyarakat bekerja sama dengan toko modern disingkat nama toko yang dimiliki oleh masyarakat (tomira). Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh pencapaian pemerintah kabupaten Kulon Progo dalam melakukan pengembangan dan inovasi dalam pengembangan wilayah Kulon Progo dengan melibatkan sepenuhnya masyarakat kabupaten Kulon Progo melalui pemberdayaan masyarakat. Inisiatif ini diambil oleh pemerintah Kabupaten Kulon Progo untuk meningkatkan pemberdayaan masyarakat dan melindungi masyarakat Kabupaten Kulon Progo dari berbagai ancaman ekonomi. Menimbang bahwa dalam beberapa tahun terakhir banyak toko-toko modern telah menjamur di setiap kabupaten/kota, jadi inilah yang membuat Kabupaten Kulon Progo bergerak cepat untuk memberdayakan masyarakat dengan berkolaborasi antara UMKM atau bekerjasama dengan toko-toko modern. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan studi kasus, dengan metode yang digunakan adalah dokumentasi. Dengan pemberdayaan yang telah dilakukan, produk asli Kabupaten Kulon Progo atau produk lokal dapat diperdagangkan di toko modern sehingga produk lokal di Kabupaten Kulon Progo dapat bersaing dengan produk nasional di toko modern ini. Adanya kerjasama tersebut secara tidak langsung akan meningkatkan citra Kabupaten Kulon Progo dan mengangkat produk asli Kabupaten Kulon Progo. Pencabutan produk asli Kabupaten Kulon Progo akan berdampak positif bagi masyarakat, di mana secara tidak langsung perekonomian masyarakat akan meningkat sehingga akan ada kesejahteraan bagi masyarakat.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qihui Wu ◽  
Hanzhong Ke ◽  
Dongli Li ◽  
Qi Wang ◽  
Jiansong Fang ◽  
...  

Over the past decades, peptide as a therapeutic candidate has received increasing attention in drug discovery, especially for antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), anticancer peptides (ACPs) and antiinflammatory peptides (AIPs). It is considered that the peptides can regulate various complex diseases which are previously untouchable. In recent years, the critical problem of antimicrobial resistance drives the pharmaceutical industry to look for new therapeutic agents. Compared to organic small drugs, peptide- based therapy exhibits high specificity and minimal toxicity. Thus, peptides are widely recruited in the design and discovery of new potent drugs. Currently, large-scale screening of peptide activity with traditional approaches is costly, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Hence, in silico methods, mainly machine learning approaches, for their accuracy and effectiveness, have been introduced to predict the peptide activity. In this review, we document the recent progress in machine learning-based prediction of peptides which will be of great benefit to the discovery of potential active AMPs, ACPs and AIPs.


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