Producing objects, producing texts: accounts of android automata in late eighteenth-century Europe

Using the famous android automata made by the Swiss clockmakers Jaquet-Droz as an example, this essay examines the relationship between the production of automata and the production of texts about them against the background of economic and cultural conditions of artisan production and of the emerging ‘media industry’ in the public sphere of the late eighteenth century on the European continent. It explores the artisan environment in which the automata came into being and develops readings of various types of texts on the automata, including analyses of the contexts and print media of which they were a part. The essay concludes by explaining two interrelated peculiarities about eighteenth-century texts on the Jaquet-Droz automata: the fact that none of the texts displayed any interest in the metaphysical or ethical consequences of artificial or mechanical humans, and that they were, on the contrary, often simply copied from each other and thus adhered to the customs and exigencies of the emerging media industry of the time. The pre-industrial, traditional, non-mass produced construction of the automata thus coincided with the emerging contemporary mass production of texts and media, and it makes these texts and their objects bring into focus a key paradox underlying the history of modernity, the mass production of individuals and of individuality.     

Mutations in INVS encoding inversin cause nephronophthisis type 2, linking renal cystic disease to the function of primary cilia and left-right axis determination

Nephronophthisis (NPHP), an autosomal recessive cystic kidney disease, leads to chronic renal failure in children. The genes mutated in NPHP1 and NPHP4 have been identified, and a gene locus associated with infantile nephronophthisis (NPHP2) was mapped. The kidney phenotype of NPHP2 combines clinical features of NPHP and polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Here, we identify inversin (INVS) as the gene mutated in NPHP2 with and without situs inversus. We show molecular interaction of inversin with nephrocystin, the product of the gene mutated in NPHP1 and interaction of nephrocystin with beta-tubulin, a main component of primary cilia. We show that nephrocystin, inversin and beta-tubulin colocalize to primary cilia of renal tubular cells. Furthermore, we produce a PKD-like renal cystic phenotype and randomization of heart looping by knockdown of invs expression in zebrafish. The interaction and colocalization in cilia of inversin, nephrocystin and beta-tubulin connect pathogenetic aspects of NPHP to PKD, to primary cilia function and to left-right axis determination.     

一种新型叶绿体表达系统的构建

针对目前的叶绿体转基因技术存在载体构建步骤繁琐耗时的问题,建立了一种新型的不需自带启动子的叶绿体表达系统,选择模式植物烟草叶绿体中的假基因作为外源基因的插入位点.通过基因枪转化法获得4株独立的叶绿体转化植株.此新技术可实现叶绿体载体构建的时间、技术成本最小化,从而促进转基因叶绿体的应用.     

Bridging epigenomics and complex disease: the basics

The DNA sequence largely defines gene expression and phenotype. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that an additional chromatin-based regulatory network imparts both stability and plasticity to genome output, modifying phenotype independently of the genetic blueprint. Indeed, alterations in this “epigenetic” control layer underlie, at least in part, the reason for monozygotic twins being discordant for disease. Functionally, this regulatory layer comprises post-translational modifications of DNA and histones, as well as small and large noncoding RNAs. Together these regulate gene expression by changing chromatin organization and DNA accessibility. Successive technological advances over the past decade have enabled researchers to map the chromatin state with increasing accuracy and comprehensiveness, catapulting genetic research into a genome-wide era. Here, aiming particularly at the genomics/epigenomics newcomer, we review the epigenetic basis that has helped drive the technological shift and how this progress is shaping our understanding of complex disease.