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PubMed2001

Police attitudes toward people with intellectual disability: an evaluation of awareness training.

It is argued that more favourable police attitudes to people with intellectual disability (ID) are essential in meeting the police code of ethics, which stresses impartiality and respect for human dignity. The need to acknowledge and investigate the extent of support for eugenic attitudes in other key professionals who have a significant role in the successful inclusion of people with ID in community settings is discussed. The present paper reports on the evaluation of an awareness training event conducted by the Royal Ulster Constabulary in terms of the impact on attitudes towards people with ID held by police officers. The quasi-experimental design involved the measurement of participants' attitudes prior to and following awareness training, and the comparison of these data with a control group of participants who did not undertake awareness exercises. The Attitudes toward Mental Retardation and Eugenics (AMRE) scale was the instrument used to measure attitudes. Analysis identified the presence of varying degrees of support for the application of eugenic principles to people with ID. Furthermore, the results indicate that participation in the awareness exercise and subsequent discussions is associated with a significant reduction in support for eugenic-based attitudes towards people with ID by the police officers involved. Investment in training events which target attitudes towards people with ID can bring about a shift in reported attitudes. The importance of evaluating such awareness-raising exercises and their impact on police behaviour is highlighted.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

"Polyhybrid heterogeneous bastards": promoting medical genetics in America in the 1930s and 1940s.

I examine three American researchers in the 1930s and 1940s who populate the no-man's-land of medical genetics, between the heyday of "mainline" eugenics and the medical turn in human genetics in the 1950s. In scientists' narratives, William Allan, Madge Macklin, and Laurence Snyder appear as pioneers of medical genetics and genetic education. Allan was a country doctor with an interest in heredity. Snyder, a Harvard-trained geneticist, entered medical genetics through population-genetic studies of human blood groups. Macklin came from a background in academic medicine. Allan, Snyder, and Macklin believed in a genetic approach to medicine well before genetics offered clinical benefits. Although hereditary diseases had begun to overtake infectious diseases as causes of death and illness, formal genetics offered medicine little more than a few explanatory principles. These researchers made their case by a) listing mostly hopeful potential applications of genetics to disease; b) blurring the distinction between genetics and heredity; and c) engaging in preventive genetic medicine, that is, eugenics. Examining their careers reveals some of the texture of eugenic thought in American medicine as well as the continuities between the early eugenic phase of human genetics and the professional medical genetics that today's practitioners take as the origin of their field.

Eugenics↗
PubMed2006

Diverse bacterial genomes encode an operon of two genes, one of which is an unusual class-I release factor that potentially recognizes atypical mRNA signals other than normal stop codons.

BACKGROUND: While all codons that specify amino acids are universally recognized by tRNA molecules, codons signaling termination of translation are recognized by proteins known as class-I release factors (RF). In most eukaryotes and archaea a single RF accomplishes termination at all three stop codons. In most bacteria, there are two RFs with overlapping specificity, RF1 recognizes UA(A/G) and RF2 recognizes U(A/G)A. THE HYPOTHESIS: First, we hypothesize that orthologues of the E. coli K12 pseudogene prfH encode a third class-I RF that we designate RFH. Second, it is likely that RFH responds to signals other than conventional stop codons. Supporting evidence comes from the following facts: (i) A number of bacterial genomes contain prfH orthologues with no discernable interruptions in their ORFs. (ii) RFH shares strong sequence similarity with other class-I bacterial RFs. (iii) RFH contains a highly conserved GGQ motif associated with peptidyl hydrolysis activity (iv) residues located in the areas supposedly interacting with mRNA and the ribosomal decoding center are highly conserved in RFH, but different from other RFs. RFH lacks the functional, but non-essential domain 1. Yet, RFH-encoding genes are invariably accompanied by a highly conserved gene of unknown function, which is absent in genomes that lack a gene for RFH. The accompanying gene is always located upstream of the RFH gene and with the same orientation. The proximity of the 3' end of the former with the 5' end of the RFH gene makes it likely that their expression is co-regulated via translational coupling. In summary, RFH has the characteristics expected for a class-I RF, but likely with different specificity than RF1 and RF2. TESTING THE HYPOTHESIS: The most puzzling question is which signals RFH recognizes to trigger its release function. Genetic swapping of RFH mRNA recognition components with its RF1 or RF2 counterparts may reveal the nature of RFH signals. IMPLICATIONS OF THE HYPOTHESIS: The hypothesis implies a greater versatility of release-factor like activity in the ribosomal A-site than previously appreciated. A closer study of RFH may provide insight into the evolution of the genetic code and of the translational machinery responsible for termination of translation. REVIEWERS: This article was reviewed by Daniel Wilson (nominated by Eugene Koonin), Warren Tate (nominated by Eugene Koonin), Yoshikazu Nakamura (nominated by Eugene Koonin) and Eugene Koonin.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2000

Influence of fluconazole on phagocytosis, oxidative burst and killing activity of human phagocytes. Using a flow cytometric method with whole blood.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of fluconazole, an antimycotic on phagocytosis, oxidative burst and killing activity of phagocytes in human whole blood with Candida albicans as a test strain using a flow cytometric method. METHODS: Candida albicans was stained with Calcein AM, a greenfluorescent dye from Bioprobes (Molecular Probes, Inc., P.O. Box 22010, Eugene, OR 97402-0469, USA). To measure phagocytosis and burst activity diluted monoclonal antibody (CD-13-R-PE, Molecular Probes, Inc., P.O. Box 22010, Eugene, OR 97402-0469, USA) attaching at the surface of granulocytes and monocytes was added as well as Dihydroethidium solution (Molecular Probes, Inc., P.O. Box 22010, Eugene, OR 97402-0469, USA) which changes into red fluorescent Ethidium by oxidation when killing activity takes place. With Ethidium-Homodimer-1-solution (Molecular Probes, Inc., P.O. Box 22010, Eugene, OR 97402-0469, USA) killing activity can be observed. Three different tests, one incubating the Candida for 1- 4 hrs in advance, another incubating whole blood for 1 h, and the third incubating neither yeast nor blood, and a combined main test were carried out. Measurement of phagocytosis, burst- and killing activtiy was performed with a flow cytometric method (Coulter Company, type: Epics-Profile II). RESULTS: Three different concentrations of fluconazole (5, 20 and 100 microg/ml) show neither decreasing nor increasing influence on phagocytosis and burst activity, irrespective of whether yeasts or phagocytes had been incubated with fluconazole in advance or not. Also after incubating the drug with phagocytes for 1 h, neither an increase nor a decrease of killing activity was observed. A significant increase was, however, found with increasing incubation time of yeasts and fluconazole. - The minimum concentration of fluconazole, just enough to show a significant increase of the killing rate was 1 microg/ml after 3hrs of incubation. No further significant increase was detected when the concentration exceeded 5 microg/ml. CONCLUSION: 1 h incubation of human phagocytes with fluconazole does not have any significant influence on cellular activities. After advanced incubation of Candida a corresponding increase of the intracellular killing rate in phagocytes occurs, probably due to changes of the cytomorphology of yeasts.

Antifungal Agents↗
PubMed2001

Pedigrees, propaganda, and paranoia: family studies in a historical context.

This article reviews the uses of family studies carried out in the early 20th century under the banner of eugenics, a companion discipline to early genetics. It explores how, in an attempt to analyze and quantify purportedly biologic bases of social problems, the eugenicists constructed pedigree charts of notoriously "defective" families. Investigation of individuals with suspect traits formed the basis for instruction of field workers who linked those traits to larger groups. The resulting eugenic family studies provided a "scientific" face for a popular hereditarian mythology that claimed to explain all social failure in systematic terms. The eugenicists were successful in fueling public fear about the growing "army of idiots and imbeciles" graphically depicted in their pedigree charts. Their success was the result of a finely crafted educational program--propaganda that reduced science to simplistic terms. The tendency to oversimplify concepts of genetic causation and the rush to amplify the significance of research findings through the popular media is also apparent today. What begins as publicity has the potential to be transformed into propaganda. Although many in the scientific community are understandably reluctant to revisit the abuses of the past, that community must confront the history of eugenics as a necessary antidote to the genetic hype that surrounds us.

Bioethics↗
PubMed2002

Reflections on genetic manipulation and duties to posterity: an engagement with Skene and Coady.

In addressing the regulation of human genetic futures, scientific standards concerning human kinds are endorsed by philosophical approaches that tend to exclude many people with genetic conditions from the deliberative process. In broadening the axiological, ontological and epistemological framework to include disability perspectives, the focus is shifted from questions of regulation to practical matters of participation, invoking ideals of community equality and enabled choice. In developing practical community engagements to deliberate upon genetic futures, a process that allows dialectical encounter between eugenic and non-eugenic approaches is envisioned so that strong versions of eugenics are avoided.

Persons with Disabilities↗
PubMed1991

Sterilization versus segregation: control of the 'feebleminded', 1900-1938.

This paper presents a model designed to contextualize studies of the specialized custodial mental handicap institutions which evolved in Britain and North America during the early decades of this century. The frame of reference adopted is the eugenics movement, and particularly the debate over sterilization vs segregation as the preferred means of controlling the breeding of the 'unfit'. The rise of farm colonies is seen as epitomizing the expression of eugenic ideologies in the social and physical landscapes. The geographical manifestation of eugenically-driven policy is illustrated in a case study of the Langdon colony, an extension of the Royal Western Counties Institution at Starcross near Exeter, as it developed between 1931 and 1938.

Canada↗
PubMed2000

Mendelism and medicine: controlling human inheritance in local contexts, 1920-1960.

The rise of Mendelism has often been associated with the development of agricultural sciences and the attempts to improve varieties and select new plants. In contrast, historians have tended to stress the tensions between Mendelism and medicine originating in the influence of eugenicists. The use of Mendel's laws in the context of discussing human inheritance and the transmission of pathologies was nonetheless pervading the medical literature from the 1920s onwards. This paper investigates the dynamics of medical Mendelism by comparing developments in France and in Britain. In contrast to reluctant botanists and zoologists, the elite of the French medical profession was often 'Mendelian'. Mendel's laws have accordingly been integrated into a complex approach to the familial transmission of pathologies, into a theory of pathological inheritance, which combined genetics, germ theory and hygiene. This approach was widely accepted among the paediatricians and obstetricians active in both the eugenics movement and the natalist movement. The career of the pediatrician R. Turpin is a good example of the visibility of this form of medical Mendelism and of its long-lasting impact on genetic research in the country. In Britain, where the social basis of eugenics was not the medical profession, eugenics' claims often clashed with public health and hygiene priorities. Medical Mendelism was in the first place supported and advanced by doctors and scientists participating in the public debates about the care of 'feeble minded' and the classification of social groups. As revealed by the trajectory of L. Penrose this context favoured the linkage between statistics and pedigree analysis, thus leading to the 'Mendelization' of human pathologies. After the war, this Mendelization in turn facilitated the rise of medical genetics as a speciality focusing on genetic counselling and on the management of computable hereditary risks. This comparative analysis thus highlights: a) the influence of local medical cultures on the fate of Mendelism; b) the continuities between the pre-war studies of pathological inheritance and the post-war rise of medical genetics.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The complexity of the genotype-phenotype relationship and the limitations of using genetic "markers" at the individual level.

Many associations have recently been discovered between phenotypic variation and genetic loci, causing some to advocate what Robert Sinsheimer has called "a new eugenics" that would treat genetic "defects" in individuals prone to a disease. The first premise of this vision is that genetic association studies reveal the biological cause of the phenotypic variation. Once the responsible genes are known, the second premise is that we should focus upon changing "nature" rather than "nurture" by correcting the "defective" genes. The first premise is flawed because associations between genetic markers and phenotypes can be spurious, as shown by an example. Moreover, it is shown that using non-causative but associated genetic markers one at a time (the normal practice) can lead to incorrect predictions of disease risk for many individuals. Going from association to causation is a non-trivial step scientifically that has rarely been done in much of the human genetic research. Even when a particular locus does contribute to the phenotypic variation of interest, the first premise remains flawed because phenotypes in general arise from complex interactions among genes and between genes and environments as shown for genes associations with coronary artery disease (CAD). The ability of current molecular genetic tools to "fix" defective genotypes is extremely limited, but even if the technological problems could be overcome, the studies on CAD reveal no obvious "defective" gene to fix because the genetic effects are so context dependent (upon both other genes and environmental factors). Contrary to the second premise of the new eugenics, the more we learn about how different genotypes show variable responses to environments, the more important the environment becomes for individual treatment. The paradigm of a "defective gene" may work for classical Mendelian genetic diseases that are due to loss-of-function mutations. However, such mutations affect only a small portion of humanity. When the focus is changed to common disease and behavioral phenotypes, the "defective gene" paradigm is biologically meaningless and often harmful when applied to individuals. Thus, even when genes clearly do influence common phenotypic variation, the premises of the "new eugenics" are biologically indefensible.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed1989

Politics of heredity--Germany 1900-1940, a brief overview.

The paper gives a brief overview of the main stages of development of eugenics and race hygiene in Germany between 1900 and 1940. Two main stages can be differentiated: one, the formation of the eugenics movement and its development parallel to quantitative population policy before and after World War I, and the second beginning toward the end of the Weimar Republic (1919-1933) when the financial crisis of the public health system favored eugenic schemes implemented by an authoritarian government, such as the Nazi regime.

Eugenics↗
PubMed1999

The road to abortion (II): how government got hooked.

The first part of this series traced close links between eugenics (the effort to breed a "better" human race) and population control throughout the greater part of this century up to the 1960s. It stressed the population work of early eugenicists and eugenics sympathizers such as Frederick Osborn, Margaret Sanger, Gunnar Myrdal, Alan Guttmacher, Garrett Hardin and John D. Rockefeller 3rd. This second and concluding part will show how population controllers, from the 60s onward increasingly added economic and foreign-policy concerns to their original "eugenics" motive of improving human genetic stock. Working in both Democratic and Republican administrations, they gained major government backing for their programs and also played a key role in the legalization of abortion. I will use President Richard Nixon's administration as an example of heavy government involvement.

Abortion, Legal↗
PubMed2005

Death of John Paul II and the basic human care for the sick and the dying.

The death of Terri Schiavo by starvation and its sanction by some United States Courts indicates the alarming revival of the eugenics and euthanasia movement. From the legal sanction of physician-assisted suicide, the euthanasia movement now tries to advance the legal protection for "mercy killing." Terri was diagnosed with persistent vegetative state, a term that is outdated, vague and imprecise and that likens a human being to a vegetable. Medical literature indicates that patient with so-called "persistent vegetative state" can recover, and that they do experience pain. The euthanasia movement, linked to eugenics in its origin and present day influence in bioethics espouses the Nazi notion of "lives not worth living," unlimited patient autonomy, and philosophical utilitarianism. John Paul II countered the eugenic philosophy with the classical Western concept of man as the image and likeness of God, responsible for the care of himself and society as a whole. He taught in writing and by example that food and water are basic human care that every person should receive. In the last days of his life he showed a judicious use of proportionate or ordinary means to maintain life. He chose to forego disproportionate medical treatment when there was no reasonable hope of recovery. At that point he continued to receive ordinary medical care, together with basic human and spiritual care.

Catholicism↗
PubMed1995

Fetal alcohol syndrome at the turn of the 20th century. An unexpected explanation of the Kallikak family.

At the turn of the 20th century, studies of a family known in the literature as the Kallikaks were used to document the hereditary nature of mental retardation, poverty, and antisocial behavior. This family was said to authenticate eugenic theory, which states that heritable characteristics carried by individuals on "independent unit characters are unalterable determinants of behavior and performance. A review of the original Kallikak data, however, suggests that in utero exposure to alcohol rather than heredity contributed significantly to the transgenerational learning failure seen throughout the Kallikak pedigree. However, eugenic theory was so thoroughly accepted that the promotion and acceptance of "hereditary feeblemindedness" as the principal cause of the developmental problems in the affected offspring smothered the research efforts on in utero effects of alcohol until long after the eugenic concepts were abandoned later in the century.

Female↗
PubMed1995

Satellite in vitro fertilization: the Oregon experience.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to compare the results of preliminary evaluation, ovarian hyperstimulation, and monitoring of patients at a distant in vitro fertilization satellite center with those treated at the main campus of the program. STUDY DESIGN: Fifty-four patients completing oocyte retrieval cycles at the Eugene satellite Oregon Health Sciences University in vitro fertilization program for the period Jan. 1, 1991, through Dec. 31, 1993, were compared with 222 patients at the main campus for age, peak estradiol level, number of oocytes retrieved, number of embryos, clinical pregnancy rate, and pregnancy outcome. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between the Eugene in vitro fertilization satellite center and the main campus for any of the factors analyzed with the exception of clinical pregnancy rate. The clinical pregnancy rate per cycle at the Eugene satellite center was 39% while the Portland main campus rate was 23% (p = 0.027), presumably because of a larger number of couples with severe male factor infertility at the central site. CONCLUSION: A distant in vitro fertilization satellite program was highly successful in the Oregon experience. In addition to greater convenience to the patients, the program was highly comparable to the main campus program in measured parameter of ovarian hyperstimulation, oocyte retrieval, number of embryos, and pregnancy rate.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Attitudes of African American premedical students toward genetic testing and screening.

PURPOSE: Genetic research is progressing at a rapid rate. While most view genetic advances favorably, concerns regarding eugenics and discrimination based on genetic test results have been raised. These concerns have been found among all groups studied; however, they have particular relevance for members of the African American community. Studies have shown that because of a long history of negative experiences, African Americans have a general mistrust of the medical establishment. It is unclear whether these negative attitudes encompass genetic advances. Because there is little empiric data in the literature, it is not known whether African Americans have a positive view of genetic advances or whether they have the same level of mistrust as is seen in their attitudes toward other forms of biomedical research. METHODS: This study was conducted as an initial effort to examine the attitudes of African Americans toward recent genetic advances and, specifically, genetic testing. A cohort of 97 college-age minority students, including 78 African Americans, participating in the Health Career Enhancement for Minorities Program (HCEM) at Case Western Reserve University were surveyed. Surveys were made available before and after the summer long course, which included five lectures on basic genetic principles and medical genetics. RESULTS: Both African American students and other minority students initially (questionnaire prior to HCEM course) had an overall positive view of genetic testing. The vast majority supported genetic testing for preventive care (95%) and presymptomatic detection of disease (88%) and agreed that it should be easily available (83%). However, several concerns were expressed as well, including fears about discrimination (68%), privacy (68%), that abortions will become more common (51%), and eugenics (37%). It is interesting that in the postcourse questionnaire, the percentages of positive views remained similar to those of the precourse survey, but the number of respondents expressing concerns increased. DISCUSSION: These results suggest that the minority students surveyed view many aspects of genetic testing and other advances favorably. However, these students expressed concerns about discrimination, privacy, and eugenics. These concerns were increased, not lessened, by exposure to genetics education. One possible explanation for this observation is that the students had a greater understanding of the issues regarding genetic testing after the HCEM lectures and discussion. Of note, there was a greater negative response toward genetic screening programs among the African American students compared with the non-African American minority students. This suggests that the negative attitudes of African Americans toward biomedical research do extend to some aspects of genetics and that educational programs must be designed and implemented if this community is going to receive the maximum benefits of this advancing technology.

Adult↗
PubMed2007

Experimental validation of novel genes predicted in the un-annotated regions of the Arabidopsis genome.

BACKGROUND: Several lines of evidence support the existence of novel genes and other transcribed units which have not yet been annotated in the Arabidopsis genome. Two gene prediction programs which make use of comparative genomic analysis, Twinscan and EuGene, have recently been deployed on the Arabidopsis genome. The ability of these programs to make use of sequence data from other species has allowed both Twinscan and EuGene to predict over 1000 genes that are intergenic with respect to the most recent annotation release. A high throughput RACE pipeline was utilized in an attempt to verify the structure and expression of these novel genes. RESULTS: 1,071 un-annotated loci were targeted by RACE, and full length sequence coverage was obtained for 35% of the targeted genes. We have verified the structure and expression of 378 genes that were not present within the most recent release of the Arabidopsis genome annotation. These 378 genes represent a structurally diverse set of transcripts and encode a functionally diverse set of proteins. CONCLUSION: We have investigated the accuracy of the Twinscan and EuGene gene prediction programs and found them to be reliable predictors of gene structure in Arabidopsis. Several hundred previously un-annotated genes were validated by this work. Based upon this information derived from these efforts it is likely that the Arabidopsis genome annotation continues to overlook several hundred protein coding genes.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed1995

[Not Available].

The article describes the social and medical profile of the lay healer Eugen Wenz (1856-1945) during his first period of medical activity as owner of the naturopathic and homoeopathic establishment "Marienbad" in Mühringen in the years 1895-1899. Wenz was severely restricted in his activities: the health insurance schemes did not reimburse him, the medical authorities of Württemberg attempted at first to prevent the foundation of the 'Marienbad' and the doctors of the surrounding area interfered several times in his medical treatment. Finally Eugen Wenz appears not to have been accepted by the population of the district (Oberamt), since the Marienbad was very poorly frequented and so unable to provide Wenz with a secure income. A statistic comparison shows that many other lay healers seem to have been confronted with similar problems. The social profile of Eugen Wenz disproves partially the general picture of the profession of German lay healers depicted by research in medical history hitherto.

Complementary Therapies↗
PubMed1991

[75 years of Cignolin].

Eugen Galewsky (1864-1935), dermatologist in Dresden, introduced 1,8-dihydroxyanthrone (Cignolin, Dithranol) for therapy of psoriasis. He intended to substitute Chrysarobin, a synthetic product, which causes strong discolouring and irritation of skin. In 1916 the firm Farbenfabrik Bayer, Leverkusen, obtained a patent for synthesis of 1.8-dihydroxyanthrone by an inexpensive method. There is a reason to believe that the brother of Eugen Galewsky, the chemist Paul Galewsky, was a co-worker to the Farbenfabrik Bayer and that he recommended his brother Eugen testing Cignolin. Even now Cignolin is still used in the treatment of psoriasis.

Anthralin↗