Notes on toxinology

Conclusions Some of the papers to follow in the present series of communications on toxinology will show that in the field of chemistry, physiology, pharmacology and immunology, as well as molecular biology, animal venoms provide us with some particularly useful models. Obviously, this is one of the main reasons for the growing interest shown by numerous scientists in animal toxins.With reference to medicine, more research is needed in the field just mentioned with the aim of improving medical care. In addition, however, it is postulated that research on the behaviour of venomous animals towards man, and research into the quantities of venom actually applied to man, be intensified. Also, on the basis of results in this context, people most exposed could be provided with more and better information about prevention.Work of this sort requests the collaboration of biologists, who observe toxic animals in their natural habitat and who investigate in particular when, and under what prerogatives, the animals make use of toxins in their natural surroundings. Thus we end up with what has been said in the introduction to these notes: toxic animals are to be studied as entities and toxicity has to be looked at from all aspects essential for life, possibly including parasite and population control.Should the very last point prove valid, fascinating links could be established between toxinology and ecology and in turn migt become important for nature conservation. Thus, toxinology is but a budding field, the limits of which, can yet only be assumed.     

Notes on the hydroxamate assay for amino acid activating enzymes

Zusammenfassung Die durch die Hydroxamatmethode bestimmte Aktivität von Aminosäureaktivierungsenzymen wird durch das Alter der angewandten NH₂OH·HCl-Lösung, durch manchmal vorhandene Hydroxamat spaltende Enzyme sowie durch Unzulänglichkeiten in der chemischen Hydroxamatbestimmungsmethode beeinflusst.

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This investigation was aided by U. S. Public Health Service Training Grant CRTY-5028.     

Notes on the cytological feature of male sterility in the mule

Zusammenfassung Untersuchungen der Spermatogenese beim Pferd und Esel haben die diploide Chromosomenzahl 66 und die haploide Zahl 33 eindeutig ergeben. Die gleiche Zahl 66 kann beim Maulesel festgesetzt werden. Der Hoden des Maulesels enthält keine Spermatozytenteilung, trotzdem Spermatogonienteilung vorhanden ist. Unfruchtbarkeit beim Maulesel wegen Mangels beider Reifeteilungen hat sich mit Sicherheit feststellen lassen.

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Contribution No. 326 from the Zoological Institute, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. With a financial aid from the Scientific Research Fund of the Ministry of Education.     

Notes on the sperm morphology ofCtenomys maulinus (Rodentia,Octodontidae)

A morphometric study of the sperm ofCtenomys maulinus Philippi 1872 was carried out. A process of the postacrosomic region that probably correponds to a permanent structure in the sperms of these rodents, and is characteristic of the genus, was observed.     

Idealisation,genetic explanations and political behaviours: Notes on the anti-reductionist critique of genopolitics

The rapid development of genetic research, determined, among others, by the requirements of The Human Genome Project, and a gradual reorientation in the perception of the role of nature and culture in the process of shaping complex networks of human relations by some political scientists, result in the increasing application of genetic data and methods in research regarding political behaviours. One of the key philosophical objections against the studies of the genetic foundations of political behaviours is that of excessive reductionism. This is supposed to manifest itself in the inadequate selection of the level of analysis for the explained phenomenon, the incompleteness of explanations and their low utility. My findings show that this objection is not sufficiently supported by contemporary science. Both studies using classical behavioural genetic methodologies and studies using DNA-based methods show that genes most likely play a role in political behaviours. Emphasising the significance of genetic influences in the midst of multiple extra-genetic interactions generates highly idealised explanations. Using the conceptual apparatus of the deformational concept of culture, I have demonstrated that the omission of a number of important extra-genetic influences by researchers is a consequence of focusing on specific causal patterns. This omission, however, does not entail negating the influence of non-genetic factors and, importantly, it may not have to be permanent. Following this approach, if correct, the reductionism of research into the genetic foundations of political behaviours is a standard cognitive procedure applied in science.