The social structures and thought patterns of the modern world are the fruits of the Enlightenment, which begins by eliminating final causal explanations in favour of purely material and efficient causes. The development and great technical success of Enlightenment procedures has, however, produced a cultural blindness about the good. Camus's novel shows us this cultural blindness through characters who themselves suffer from it; for modern man, it is almost a natural evil—we are born into it. Camus' hope must have been (...) that the vision of the characters' incapacity might help break us from the same incapacity. What the cured life looks like Camus does not say; in the world of our plague, it appears as either odd or mystery. (shrink)

Minimal genetic pre-formationism is defended, in that primacy is ascribed to DNA in the structuring of molecules through molecular codes. This together with the importance of such codes for stability and variation in living systems makes DNA categorically different from other causal factors. It is argued that post-transcriptional and post-translational processing in protein synthesis does not rob DNA of this structuring role. Notions of structuring causal powers that may vary in degree, of arbitrary molecular codes that are more or less (...) realized, of partial templating and of genetic information as a subspecies of mechanistic information are brought in to support this and to rival causal and semantic notions of information. It is concluded that the primacy of genes in their structuring of molecules goes together with parity between genes and non-genetic causal factors in regulation of living systems. This is seen to hold independently of the radical reconceptualization of organism cum environment that has been suggested in developmental systems theory. (shrink)

This volume centers on debates about how far moral judgments bind across traditions and epochs. Nowadays such debates appear especially volatile, both in popular culture and intellectual discourse: although there is increasing agreement that the moral and political criteria invoked in human rights documents possess cross-cultural force, many modern and postmodern developments erode confidence in moral appeals that go beyond a local consensus or apply outside a particular community. Often the point of departure for discussion is the Enlightenment paradigm of (...) a common morality, in which it is assumed that certain unchanging beliefs inhere in the structure of human reason. Whereas some thinkers continue to defend this paradigm, others modify it in diverse ways without abandoning entirely the attempt to address a universal audience, and still others jettison virtually all of its distinguishing features. Exhibiting a range of positions Western participants take in these debates, this volume seeks to advance the substance of the debates themselves without prejudging the outcome. Rival assessments of the Enlightenment paradigm are offered from various philosophical and theological points of view. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Robert Merrihew Adams, Annette C. Baier, Alan Donagan, Margaret A. Farley, Alan Gewirth, David Little, Richard Rorty, Jeffrey Stout, and Lee H. Yearley. (shrink)

We all live our daily lives surrounded by the products of technology that make what we do simpler, faster, and more efficient. These are benefits we often just take for granted. But at the same time, as these products disburden us of unwanted tasks that consumed much time and effort in earlier eras, many of them also leave us more disengaged from our natural and even human surroundings. It is the task of what Gene Moriarty calls focal engineering to (...) create products that will achieve a balance between disburdenment and engagement: “How much disburdenment will be appropriate while still permitting an engagement that enriches one’s life, elevates the spirit, and calls forth a good life in a convivial society?” One of his examples of a focally engineered structure is the Golden Gate Bridge, which “draws people to it, enlivens and elevates the human spirit, and resonates with the world of its congenial setting. Humans, bridge, and world are in tune.” These values of engagement, enlivenment, and resonance are key to the normative approach Moriarty brings to the profession of engineering, which traditionally has focused mainly on technical measures of evaluation such as efficiency, productivity, objectivity, and precision. These measures, while important, look at the engineered product in a local and limited sense. But “from a broader perspective, what is locally benign may present serious moral problems,” undermining “social justice, environmental sustainability, and health and safety of affected parties.” It is this broader perspective that is championed by focal engineering, the subject of Part III of the book, which Moriarty contrasts with “modern” engineering in Part I and “pre-modern” engineering in Part II. (shrink)

This volume centers on debates about how far moral judgments bind across traditions and epochs. Nowadays such debates appear especially volatile, both in popular culture and intellectual discourse: although there is increasing agreement that the moral and political criteria invoked in human rights documents possess cross-cultural force, many modern and postmodern developments erode confidence in moral appeals that go beyond a local consensus or apply outside a particular community. Often the point of departure for discussion is the Enlightenment paradigm of (...) a common morality, in which it is assumed that certain unchanging beliefs inhere in the structure of human reason. Whereas some thinkers continue to defend this paradigm, others modify it in diverse ways without abandoning entirely the attempt to address a universal audience, and still others jettison virtually all of its distinguishing features. Exhibiting a range of positions Western participants take in these debates, this volume seeks to advance the substance of the debates themselves without prejudging the outcome. Rival assessments of the Enlightenment paradigm are offered from various philosophical and theological points of view. In addition to the editors, the contributors include Robert Merrihew Adams, Annette C. Baier, Alan Donagan, Margaret A. Farley, Alan Gewirth, David Little, Richard Rorty, Jeffrey Stout, and Lee H. Yearley. (shrink)

In the last few years, the molecular and genetic nature of the granulocyte colonystimulating factor, which controls proliferation and differentiation of neutrophils, has been characterized. Recent clinical application of G‐CSF proves that this hormone is effective in the treatment of patients suffering from neutropenia.

Abstract:This study examined the relationship between the individual difference variables of personal moral philosophy, locus of control, Machiavellianism, and just world beliefs and ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. A sample of 602 marketing practitioners participated in the study. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships. The results either fully or partially supported hypothesized direct effects for idealism, relativism, and Machiavellianism. Findings also suggested that Machiavellianism mediated the relationship between individual difference variables and ethical judgments/behavioral intentions.

Signs and States, programme financé par l'ERG (European Research Council), a pour but d'explorer la sémiologie de l'Etat du XIIIe siècle au milieu du XVIIe siècle. Textes, performances, images, liturgies, sons et musiques, architectures, structures spatiales, tout ce qui contribue à la communication des sociétés politiques, tout ce qu'exprime l'idéel des individus et leur imaginaire, est ici passé au crible dans trois séries de rencontres dont les actes ont été rassemblés dans une collection, Le pouvoir symbolique en Occident (1300-1640). Ces (...) volumes, adoptant une perspective pluridisciplinaire et comparative dans une visée de long terme, combinent études de cas, analyses conceptuelles et réflexions plus théoriques. Et les réponses à ce questionnaire, issu d'une réflexion sur une histoire culturelle poursuivie sur plus de cinq siècles, remettent en cause une histoire de l'Occident latin où l'on opposerait Eglise et Etat : la mutation culturelle engendrée par la réforme grégorienne qui, tout en assurant d'abord le triomphe de la papauté, a donné à l'Etat moderne les moyens d'assurer sa propre légitimité en créant les conditions d'une révolution du système de communication. Elle engendre un partage du pouvoir symbolique et des processus de légitimation avec l'Etat : la capacité de ce dernier à se légitimer par le consentement de la société politique en dehors de la contingence religieuse est une spécificité de l'Occident latin, clé de l'essor des Etats modernes européens. (shrink)

In this personal essay, subtitled “A jaundiced view of journalism after 30 years in the trenches,” the author discusses the ethics challenges too often involved in the relationships between farm magazines and advertisers. Collusion between advertisers and editors is a clear and present danger, particularly in times when publications are struggling economically. Yet a more important question relates to agricultural journalists' collective failure to report on the underlying structural changes in agriculture and the broader society.

The members of the Six gene family were identified as homologues of Drosophila sine oculis which is essential for compound-eye formation. The Six proteins are characterized by the Six domain and the Six-type homeodomain, both of which are essential for specific DNA binding and for cooperative interactions with Eya proteins. Mammals possess six Six genes which can be subdivided into three subclasses, and mutations of Six genes have been identified in human genetic disorders. Characterization of Six genes from various (...) animal phyla revealed the antiquity of this gene family and roles of its members in several different developmental contexts. Some members retain conserved roles as components of the Pax-Six-Eya-Dach regulatory network, which may have been established in the common ancestor of all bilaterians as a toolbox controlling cell proliferation and cell movement during embryogenesis. Gene duplications and cis-regulatory changes may have provided a basis for diverse functions of Six genes in different animal lineages. (shrink)

Two popular models of trustworthiness have garnered support over the years. One has postulated three aspects of trustworthiness as state-based antecedents to trust. Another has been interpreted to comprise two aspects of trustworthiness. Empirical data shows support for both models, and debate remains as to the theoretical and practical reasons researchers may adopt one model over the other. The present research aimed to consider this debate by investigating the factor structure of trustworthiness. Taking items from two scales commonly employed (...) to assess trustworthiness, we leveraged structural equation modeling to explore which theoretical model is supported by the data in an organizational trust context. We considered an array of first-order, second-order, and bifactor models. The best-fitting model was a bifactor model comprising one general trustworthiness factor and ability, benevolence, and integrity grouping factors. This model was determined to be essentially unidimensional, though this is qualified by the finding that the grouping variables accounted for significant variance with for several organizational outcome criteria. These results suggest that respondents typically employ a general factor when responding to items assessing trustworthiness, and researchers may be better served treating the construct as unidimensional or engaging in scale parceling of their models to reflect this response tendency more accurately. However, the substantial variance accounted by the grouping variables in hierarchical regression suggest there may be contexts in which it would be acceptable to consider the theoretical factors of ability, benevolence, and integrity independent of general trustworthiness. (shrink)

This paper reads through some contemporary literary critical problems and theorizing about textuality to Augustine's Confessions, to the enrichment, if not the ecstasy of both contemporary and medieval thinking. It shows that Augustine is both aware of much that passes as new in theorizing about language, and that his text is argumentatively and rhetorically structured to set difference at play. Like Augustine's writing, this article is a performance piece: besides arguing, it acknowledges; beside demonstration, it questions; besides telling, it shows; (...) it would not be called a study of textuality in Augustine, but a performance of textuality with (in) Augustine. (shrink)

The thesis of this text is that representation and mimesis, and so reason and passion, are not opposed, but differ. Their presumed opposition leads to many false and therefore harmful ideas and practices, as Glaucon exhibits in his republic, but even these harmful ideas and practices exhibit not only that it is not possible to escape either mimesis or representation but also that the harm is precisely to develop a culture along the lines of a hegemonic structure wherein one (...) is dominant and the other secondary—that is the point Plato exhibits in his Republic. Mimesis and representation are, in a more contemporary parlance, differing regimens of phrasal connection, phrase being a word that is as musical as it is grammatical. No ground can serve as a place of judgement between the two of them for all ground is the dust/blood/text of both. As Plato says, "all the arts of the muses are iconic and mimetic." It is more accurate, and therefore best, to see mimesis and representation not as differing acts, but as differing aspects or moments of every semiotic act—and every act is semiotic to a being for which any act is so. (shrink)

Paul W. Taylor has proposed a foundational structure for developing a respect for nature. This structure appears to go weIl beyond what is needed to justify such respect. The intricacies and nuances of life on Earth can gain our respect without attempting the impossible task of abandoning our human perspective or a particular interest in our own species.

The concept of public participation is one of growing interest in the UK and elsewhere, with a commensurate growth in mechanisms to enable this. The merits of participation, however, are difficult to ascertain, as there are relatively few cases in which the effectiveness of participation exercises have been studied in a structured manner. This seems to stem largely from uncertainty in the research community as to how to conduct evaluations. In this article, one agenda for conducting evaluation research that might (...) lead to the systematic acquisition of knowledge is presented. This agenda identifies the importance of defining effectiveness and of operationalizing one’s definition. The article includes analysis of the nature of past evaluations, discussion of potential difficulties in the enactment of the proposed agenda, and discussion of some potential solutions. (shrink)

Peer reporting is a specific form of whistelblowing in which an individual discloses the wrongdoing of a peer. Previous studies have examined situational variables thought to influence a person's decision to report the wrongdoing of a peer. The present study looked at peer reporting from the individual level. Five hypotheses were developed concerning the relationships between (1) religiosity and ethical ideology, (2) ethical ideology and ethical judgments about peer reporting, and (3) ethical judgments and intentions to report peer wrongdoing.Subjects read (...) a vignette concerning academic cheating, and were asked to respond to a question-naire concerning the vignette. Data were analyzed using structural equation methodology. (shrink)

Restructured health care reimbursement systems and new requirements for nonprofit hospitals are transforming the U.S. health system, creating opportunities for enhanced integration of public health and health care goals. This article explores the role of public health practitioners and lawyers in this moment of transformation. We argue that the population perspective and structural strategies that characterize public health can add value to the health care system but could get lost in translation as changes to tax requirements and payment systems are (...) rapidly implemented. We urge public health leaders to take a more active role in hospital assessments of community health needs and evaluation of the patient outcomes for which providers are accountable. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Mimesis: Culture, Art, SocietyGene FendtMimesis: Culture, Art, Society, by Gunter Gebauer and Christoph Wulf; translated by Don Reneau; 400 pp. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995, $45.00 cloth, $18.00 paper.The purpose of this book is to develop “a historical reconstruction of important phases in the development of mimesis” (p. 1) from a brief discussion of its pre-Platonic Greek significance through contemporary thinkers. It is, then, not strictly a (...) philosophical text, as are most of the texts and authors the book takes up. It is, however, a significant effort in the history of ideas, and as such it is shot through with traces of the traditional tropes, shaping power, ideology, and even social relations of that discipline, particularly as it is practiced in the venerable school of German scholarship. That is, the structure, tone, and argument of the book are shaped mimetically. This book’s problematic is, then, not simply historical, as Republic’s problem with the poets is not simply philosophical. Rather, both books partake of mimesis, even while each one aims to criticize or set forth the concept’s historical development.Let this stand as notice of a deep philosophical problem with the method of historical criticism. In fairness we should note that the authors are not unconscious of their difficulty here: “The fact that mimesis cannot be represented without the use of mimetic processes poses the fundamental problem of theory formation in reference to our object. What is the relation between the representational and the represented world? Is the representation of representation structurally equivalent to simple representation?” (p. 21). The authors hope to moot the power of those questions, if not the questions themselves, by attending “first of all to representations of mimesis found in texts best selected for that purpose and only afterward begin to offer considerations of a more generalizing nature” (p. 21). Their reasoning and choice of texts here is the traditional trope of the discipline: a mimema. Among other things, this methodos requires that the authors treat Girard as developing a “literary critical examination of [mimesis in] nineteenth and twentieth century novels” (p. 359n1) and a “new ordering of nineteenth century social relations” (p. 235), rather than, as he claims, a comprehensive anthropological thesis. At least, this method requires treating the former as essential, and the latter as less justifiable, for if Girard’s anthropological thesis about mimesis were justifiable a history of the idea of mimesis would be merely a heresiology. This problem can be restated mutatis mutandis for such thinkers as Plato and Augustine, whose theses—if they have theses—about mimesis are deeply anthropological.Two further questions arise early on and remain at the end. If, as the authors hold (and show), “the concept of mimesis necessarily loses its intellectual centrality with the rise of rational thought,” so much so that “the field of art, which comes to be regarded in the process as autonomous, undergoes a complete and fundamental restructuring” (p. 3), must we not begin to [End Page 199] suspect—as recent philosophers like Derrida attempt to show—that there is a dialectical relationship between the intentional, truth-functional relations of modern rational thought and the mimetic, unformalizable and “ambivalent” (pp. 2–3) processes of mimesis? Rather than conclude that “the question what is mimesis? is one which demonstratively leads to error” (p. 309), does it not begin to seem that intentional representation, as most visible in science, and mimetic assimilations, as most obviously effective in art, are together the necessary dialectical elements of culture, art and science? While it seems that the rise of rational scientific thought pushes mimesis to the social fringes of the arts, isn’t scientific activity and writing still just as much subject, and just as much a product, of the power of mimesis as art? Similarly art is just as bound as science to “probability” or “the convincing impossibility,” to recall Aristotle. This idea is not entirely foreign to the book; it appears subliminally as a plausible explication of the work of theorists like Benjamin and Adorno (pp. 267–93).The third difficulty is a question about selection. As in Auerbach’s renowned precursor, Wulf... (shrink)

Spiders spin multiple types of silks that are renowned for their superb mechanical properties. Flagelliform silk, used in the capture spiral of an orb‐web, is one of the few silks characterized by both cDNA and genomic DNA data. This fibroin is composed of repeating ensembles of three types of amino acid sequence motifs. The predominant subrepeat, GPGGX, likely forms a β‐turn, and tandem arrays of these turns are thought to create β‐spirals. These spring‐like helices may be critical for the exceptional (...) ability of capture silk to stretch and recoil. Each ensemble of motifs was found to correspond to a different exon within the flagelliform gene. The pattern of sequence similarity among exons indicates intragenic concerted evolution. Surprisingly, the introns between the iterated exons are also homogenized with each other. This unusual molecular architecture in the flagelliform silk gene has implications for the evolution and maintenance of spider silk proteins. BioEssays 23:750–756, 2001. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (shrink)

Genèse et structure de la Phénoménologie de l'esprit de Hegel est le premier commentaire détaillé du célèbre ouvrage de Hegel, que Jean Hyppolite avait également traduit pour la première fois en français. Publié en 1946 par Aubier-Montaigne dans la collection ± Philosophie de l'esprit?, réédité à plusieurs reprises, il a aidé des générations d'étudiants et de chercheurs à aborder l?œuvre de Hegel, devenant un véritable classique. Depuis 1970, Genèse et structure avait cessé d'être imprimé. Restitué ici dans sa (...) forme originaire, le livre est précédé par une introduction de l'éditeur qui situe le contexte dans lequel il avait été élaboré, l'inscrit dans l'histoire de la réception de Hegel en France et en retrace la fortune. (shrink)

At the interface of developmental biology and evolutionary biology, the very criteria of scientific knowledge are up for grabs. A central issue is the status of evolutionary genetics models, which some argue cannot coherently be used with complex gene regulatory network (GRN) models to explain the same evolutionary phenomena. Despite those claims, many researchers use evolutionary genetics models jointly with GRN models to study evolutionary phenomena. This dissertation compares two recent research projects in which researchers jointly use the two (...) kinds of models. I use methods from the empirical social sciences, such as digital corpus analysis, content analysis, and structured case analysis. I infer three primary conclusions about projects of the kind studied. First, they employ an implicit concept of gene that enables the joint use of both kinds of models. Second, they pursue more epistemic aims besides mechanistic explanation of phenomena. Third, they don’t work to create and export broad synthesized theories. Rather, they focus on phenomena too complex to be understood by a common general theory, they distinguish parts of the phenomena, and they apply models from different theories to the different parts. For such projects, seemingly incompatible models are synthesized largely through mediated representations of complex phenomena. (shrink)

Fruit de nombreuses annees de travail, L'essence de la manifestation est l'ouvrage majeur de Michel Henry. Frolant le millier de pages, il engloutit le lecteur qui plonge en lui, pour decouvrir une nouvelle et fulgurante philosophie de la subjectivite et de l'affectivite, tout en le menant dans les subtiles arcanes de l'histoire de la philosophie, genialement relue. Il n'en demeure pas moins que l'ouvrage est aussi une somme, qui demande sans doute quelques outils pour s'orienter dans sa complexite. Ce livre, (...) ecrit en commun par une generation renouvelee de chercheurs ayant travaille sur les archives du philosophe, voudrait aider le lecteur qui entreprend ou reprend la lecture de L'essence de la manifestation, en mettant en lumiere sa genese et sa structure, mais aussi le caractere fascinant d'un livre magistral de la philosophie d'expression francaise du 20eme siecle. (shrink)

Definitions of the term gene typically superimpose molecular genetics onto Mendelism. What emerges are persistent attempts to regard the gene as a unit of structure and/or function, language that creates multiple meanings for the term and fails to acknowledge the diversity of gene architecture. I argue that coherence at the molecular level requires abandonment of the classical unit concept and recognition that a gene is constructed from an assemblage of domains. Hence, a domain set (1) (...) conforms more closely to empirical evidence for genetic organization of DNA regions capable of transcription and (2) has ontological properties lacking in the traditional unit definition. (shrink)

The powerful combination of genetic, developmental and molecular approaches possible with the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has led to a profound understanding of the genetic control of early developmental events. However, Drosophila is a highly specialized long germ insect, and the mechanisms controlling its early development may not be typical of insects or Arthropods in general. The beetle, Tribolium castaneum, offers a similar opportunity to integrate high resolution genetic analysis with the developmental/molecular approaches currently used in other organisms. Early results (...) document significant differences between insect orders in the functions of genes responsible for establishing developmental commitments. (shrink)

Zeins are a group of alcohol‐soluble proteins that are synthesized in the endosperm of developing maize seeds. These proteins are encoded by a large number of genes located on several chromosomes; based upon the number of mutants that have been isolated, zein gene regulation is complex. Comparisons of gene flanking regions reveal conserved sequences that may be important for their regulation. Studies of transformed plant tissues support the assertion that cis‐acting elements with the 5′ flanking regions of zein (...) genes are required for accurate transcription. Although the genes are transcribed in transgenic tobacco and petunia plants, they are not properly regulated. This appears to be due to transcriptional effects rather than protein or mRNA instability. (shrink)

The regulation of glucose dehydrogenase (GLD) in Drosophila illustrates the combinatorial aspects of gene regulation in development. Furthermore, the findings serve to point up a general question about cukaryotic structural gene control: is regulation of expression always optimal?

Cascades of transcriptional regulation are the common source of the forward drive in all developmental systems. Increases in complexity and specificity of gene expression at successive stages are based on the collaboration of varied combinations of transcription factors already expressed in the cells to turn on new genes, and the logical relationships between the transcription factors acting and becoming newly expressed from stage to stage are best visualized as gene regulatory networks. However, gene regulatory networks used in (...) different developmental contexts underlie processes that actually operate through different sets of rules, which affect the kinetics, synchronicity, and logical properties of individual network nodes. Contrasting early embryonic development in flies and sea urchins with adult mammalian hematopoietic development from stem cells, major differences are seen in transcription factor dosage dependence, the silencing or damping impacts of repression, and the impact of cellular regulatory history on the parts of the genome that are accessible to transcription factor action in a given cell type. These different features not only affect the kinds of models that can illuminate developmental mechanisms in the respective biological systems, but also reflect the evolutionary needs of these biological systems to optimize different aspects of development. (shrink)

Somatic complementation by fusion of two mutant cells and mixing of their cytoplasms occurs when the genetic defect of one fusion partner is cured by the functional gene product provided by the other. We have found that complementation of mutational defects in the network mediating stimulus‐induced commitment and sporulation of Physarum polycephalum may reflect time‐dependent changes in the signaling state of its molecular building blocks. Network perturbation by fusion of mutant plasmodial cells in different states of activation, and the (...) time‐resolved analysis of somatic complementation effects can be used to systematically probe network structure and dynamics. Time‐resolved somatic complementation quantitatively detects regulatory interactions between the functional modules of a network, independent of their biochemical composition or subcellular localization, and without being limited to direct physical interactions. BioEssays 25:950–960, 2003. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. (shrink)

The history of research on pseudoalleles, closely linked genes that have similar functions, is rich and complex. Because pseudoalleles’ proximity on the chromosome makes their distinction by the complementation tests traditionally used by geneticists difficult, and because they have similar functions, they were initially often considered as allelic forms of the same gene, hence their name. The Hox cluster is an emblematic example of a pseudoallelic gene complex. The first observations of pseudoalleles were made very early but remained (...) puzzling until a simple model explaining their formation and characteristics emerged in the middle of the 1930s. This model suggested that pseudoalleles originated by gene.. (shrink)

Of the many proposals for inferring genetic regulatory structure from microarray measurements of mRNA transcript hybridization, several aim to estimate regulatory structure from the associations of gene expression levels measured in repeated samples. The repeated samples may be from a single experimental condition, or from several distinct experimental conditions; they may be “equilibrium” measurements or time series; the associations may be estimated by correlation coefficients or by conditional frequencies (for discretized measurements) or by some other statistic. This (...) paper describes two elementary statistical difficulties for all such procedures, no matter whether based on Bayesian updating, conditional independence testing, or other machine learning procedures such as simulated annealing or neural net pruning. One difficulty obtains if large numbers of cells are aggregated in a measurement of expression levels from a common population of cells; the other obtains if small numbers of cells are aggregated or if samples are separately aggregated over different populations of cells. (shrink)

Of the many proposals for inferring genetic regulatory structure from microarray measurements of mRNA transcript hybridization, several aim to estimate regulatory structure from the associations of gene expression levels measured in repeated samples. The repeated samples may be from a single experimental condition, or from several distinct experimental conditions; they may be “equilibrium” measurements or time series; the associations may be estimated by correlation coefficients or by conditional frequencies (for discretized measurements) or by some other statistic. This (...) paper describes two elementary statistical difficulties for all such procedures, no matter whether based on Bayesian updating, conditional independence testing, or other machine learning procedures such as simulated annealing or neural net pruning. One difficulty obtains if large numbers of cells are aggregated in a measurement of expression levels from a common population of cells; the other obtains if small numbers of cells are aggregated or if samples are separately aggregated over different populations of cells. (shrink)

We outline three very different concepts of the gene—instrumental, nominal, and postgenomic. The instrumental gene has a critical role in the construction and interpretation of experiments in which the relationship between genotype and phenotype is explored via hybridization between organisms or directly between nucleic acid molecules. It also plays an important theoretical role in the foundations of disciplines such as quantitative genetics and population genetics. The nominal gene is a critical practical tool, allowing stable communication between bioscientists (...) in a wide range of fields grounded in well-defined sequences of nucleotides, but this concept does not embody major theoretical insights into genome structure or function. The post-genomic gene embodies the continuing project of understanding how genome structure supports genome function, but with a deflationary picture of the gene as a structural unit. This final concept of the gene poses a significant challenge to conventional assumptions about the relationship between genome structure and function, and between genotype and phenotype. (shrink)

Advances in molecular biological research in the latter half of the twentieth century have made the story of the gene vastly complicated: the more we learn about genes, the less sure we are of what a gene really is. Knowledge about the structure and functioning of genes abounds, but the gene has also become curiously intangible. This collection of essays renews the question: what are genes? Philosophers, historians and working scientists re-evaluate the question in this volume, (...) treating the gene as a focal point of interdisciplinary and international research. It will be of interest to professionals and students in the philosophy and history of science, genetics and molecular biology. (shrink)

The concept of the gene has been the central organizing theme of 20th century biology. Biology has become increasingly influential both for philosophers seeking a naturalized basis for epistemology, ethics, and the understanding of the mind, as well as for the human sciences generally. The central task of this work is to get the story right about genes and in so doing provide a critical and enabling resourse for use in the further pursuit of human self-understanding. ;The work begins (...) with a wide-ranging historical reconstruction and conceptual analysis of the meaning of "the gene" that results in defining and distinguishing two different "genes". Each of these can be seen as an heir to one of the two major historical trends in explaining the source of biological order---preformationism and epigenesis. The preformationist gene predicts phenotypes but only on an instrumental basis where immediate medical and/or economic benefits can be had. The gene of epigenesis , by contrast, is a developmental resource that provides templates for RNA and protein synthesis but has in itself no determinate relationship to organismal phenotypes. The seemingly prevalent idea that genes constitute information for traits is based, I argue, upon an unwarranted conflation of these two senses which is in effect held together by rhetorical glue. Beyond this historical, conceptual, and rhetorical inquiry the bulk of the dissertation then concerns itself with an empirically up-to-date analysis of the cell and molecular basis of biological order and of the pathological loss of same. In each of these chapters I structure my analysis with the idea in mind that the "conflated" view can be held empirically accountable. Major touchpoints in this work include the ideas of I. Kant, J. Blumenbach, K. E. von Baer, J. Muller, R. Virchow, W. Johannsen, R. Falk, J. Sapp, E. Schrodinger, M. Delbruick, G. Gamow, R. Doyle, L. Kay, S. Kauffman, E. Jablonka, J. Rothman, K. Yamamoto, P. Rous, H. Temin, J. M. Bishop, H. Harris, E. Stanbridge, D. L. Smithers, B. Vogelstein, E. Farber and H. Rubin. (shrink)