Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
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Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. · May 2019
The ethics of genome editing in non-human animals: a systematic review of reasons reported in the academic literature.
In recent years, new genome editing technologies have emerged that can edit the genome of non-human animals with progressively increasing efficiency. Despite ongoing academic debate about the ethical implications of these technologies, no comprehensive overview of this debate exists. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted a systematic review of the reasons reported in the academic literature for and against the development and use of genome editing technologies in animals. ⋯ Our findings illuminate several key considerations about the academic debate, including a low disciplinary diversity in the contributing academics, a scarcity of systematic comparisons of potential consequences of using these technologies, an underrepresentation of animal interests, and a disjunction between the public and academic debate on this topic. As such, this article can be considered a call for a broad range of academics to get increasingly involved in the discussion about genome editing, to incorporate animal interests and systematic comparisons, and to further discuss the aims and methods of public involvement. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The ecology and evolution of prokaryotic CRISPR-Cas adaptive immune systems'.
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Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. · Sep 2018
ReviewThe methodological puzzle of phenomenal consciousness.
Is phenomenal consciousness constitutively related to cognitive access? Despite being a fundamental issue for any science of consciousness, its empirical study faces a severe methodological puzzle. Recent years have seen numerous attempts to address this puzzle, either in practice, by offering evidence for a positive or negative answer, or in principle, by proposing a framework for eventual resolution. ⋯ It is argued that the methodological puzzle remains obdurately with us and that, for now, we must adopt an attitude of humility towards the phenomenal. This article is part of the theme issue 'Perceptual consciousness and cognitive access'.
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Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. · Jul 2018
ReviewThree-dimensional cell culture: from evolution to revolution.
Recent advances in the isolation of tissue-resident adult stem cells and the identification of inductive factors that efficiently direct differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells along specific lineages have facilitated the development of high-fidelity modelling of several tissues in vitro Many of the novel approaches have employed self-organizing three-dimensional (3D) culturing of organoids, which offer several advantages over conventional two-dimensional platforms. Organoid technologies hold great promise for modelling diseases and predicting the outcome of drug responses in vitro Here, we outline the historical background and some of the recent advances in the field of three-dimensional organoids. We also highlight some of the current limitations of these systems and discuss potential avenues to further benefit biological research using three-dimensional modelling technologies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Designer human tissue: coming to a lab near you'.
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Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. · Apr 2018
ReviewEnquire within: cultural evolution and cognitive science.
Cultural evolution and cognitive science need each other. Cultural evolution needs cognitive science to find out whether the conditions necessary for Darwinian evolution are met in the cultural domain. Cognitive science needs cultural evolution to explain the origins of distinctively human cognitive processes. ⋯ However, there are other requirements, overlooked by dual-inheritance theorists when they conflate strong (Darwinian) and weak (choice) senses of 'cultural selection', including dumb choices and recurrent fidelity In a second excursion into cognitive science, I argue that these requirements can be met by metacognitive social learning strategies, and trace the origins of these distinctively human cognitive processes to cultural evolution. Like other forms of cultural learning, they are not cognitive instincts but cognitive gadgets. This article is part of the theme issue 'Bridging cultural gaps: interdisciplinary studies in human cultural evolution'.
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Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., B, Biol. Sci. · Oct 2017
ReviewEpstein-Barr virus infection and nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is associated with multiple types of human cancer, including lymphoid and epithelial cancers. The closest association with EBV infection is seen in undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), which is endemic in the southern Chinese population. A strong association between NPC risk and the HLA locus at chromosome 6p has been identified, indicating a link between the presentation of EBV antigens to host immune cells and NPC risk. ⋯ Dysregulated NF-κB signalling may contribute to the establishment of latent EBV infection in NPC. Stable EBV infection and the expression of latent EBV genes are postulated to drive the transformation of pre-invasive nasopharyngeal epithelial cells to cancer cells through multiple pathways. This article is part of the themed issue 'Human oncogenic viruses'.