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S&S: Technology

  • Educating the brainThe growing knowledge about how our brain works can inform educational programmes and approaches, in particular, for children with learning problems

    The growing knowledge about how our brain works can inform educational programmes and approaches, in particular, for children with learning problems

    1. Katrin Weigmann1
    1. 1 Oldenburg, Germany

    Insights from neuroscience can help us understand what goes on in the brain when we learn. Such insights might have an impact on educational practice in schools and help design programmes for those with learning impairments.

    Katrin Weigmann
    Published online 01.02.2013
  • Data‐driven hypotheses
    1. Paul van Helden1
    1. 1 Department of Biomedical Science at Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Health Science, Tygerberg Cape Town, South Africa

    Omics technologies and the large data sets they produce do not undermine hypothesis‐driven research. Rather, they help scientists formulate better and more relevant hypotheses to be put to the test.

    Paul van Helden
    Published online 01.02.2013
  • Caught in the actFemtochemistry opens the lid on biology's third vital criterion

    Femtochemistry opens the lid on biology's third vital criterion

    1. Philip Hunter1
    1. 1 London, UK

    Femtobiology freeze‐frames crucial split seconds of chemical reactions to investigate how enzymes function. The potential prize from this knowledge could be new avenues for drug development or ways to produce clean energy.

    Philip Hunter
    Published online 03.01.2013
  • Does intelligence require a body?The growing discipline of embodied cognition suggests that to understand the world, we must experience the world

    The growing discipline of embodied cognition suggests that to understand the world, we must experience the world

    1. Katrin Weigmann1,†
    1. 1 Oldenburg, Germany

    The new research field of embodied cognition aims to find out whether a mind needs a body to be able to think. The research is attracting psychologists, neurologists, artificial intelligence developers and robotics experts, all trying to understand the mystery of human intelligence.

    Katrin Weigmann
    Published online 01.12.2012
  • Reproduction without sex: social and ethical implicationsScience & Society Series on Sex and Science

    Science & Society Series on Sex and Science

    1. Thomas Baldwin1
    1. 1 University of York, Nuffield Council on Bioethics

    For more than 30 years, in vitro fertilization has helped numerous couples to have children. Despite this success, some still object to the use of artificial reproductive technologies on moral and ethical grounds.

    Thomas Baldwin
    Published online 01.12.2012
  • More than meets the eyeModern experimental techniques require increasingly sophisticated approaches to data visualization

    Modern experimental techniques require increasingly sophisticated approaches to data visualization

    1. Andrea Rinaldi1,†
    1. 1 Cagliari, Italy

    Visualizing data can lead to new insights and understanding, but modern research is so complex that the old methods cannot cope. Researchers are developing visual spaces for representing huge quantities of data in a new way.

    Andrea Rinaldi
    Published online 01.10.2012
  • Equally potent?Does cellular reprogramming justify the abandonment of human embryonic stem cells?

    Does cellular reprogramming justify the abandonment of human embryonic stem cells?

    1. Kristopher L Nazor1,
    2. Jeanne F Loring1,2 and
    3. Louise C Laurent3
    1. 1 Center for Regenerative Medicine, Department of Chemical Physiology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA
    2. 2 University of California, San Diego, California, USA
    3. 3 University of California, San Diego, Department of Reproductive Medicine, La Jolla, California, USA

    Induced pluripotent stem cells and our ability to transdifferentiate somatic cells might obviate the clinical use of embryonic stem cells in the future. Too many questions currently remain unanswered, however, to abandon embryonic stem cell research.

    Kristopher L Nazor, Jeanne F Loring, Louise C Laurent
    Published online 01.10.2012
  • Integration in action
    1. Sara Green1 and
    2. Olaf Wolkenhauer2
    1. 1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Centre for Science Studies, Aarhus, Denmark
    2. 2 Department of Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Rostock University, Rostock, Germany

    The workshop on ‘Integration in Biology and Biomedicine’ was held in May 2012 at the University of Sydney. It brought together scientists and philosophers to discuss the need for, and practice of, integration in the life sciences.

    Sara Green, Olaf Wolkenhauer
    Published online 01.09.2012
  • Where next for antibiotics?The immune system and the nature of pathogenicity are providing vital clues in the fight against antibiotic‐resistant bacteria

    The immune system and the nature of pathogenicity are providing vital clues in the fight against antibiotic‐resistant bacteria

    1. Philip Hunter1,†
    1. 1 London, UK

    The prevalence of drug resistance in major pathogenic bacteria is an increasingly severe public health problem. In addition to looking for new antibiotics, researchers are focusing on the immune system and the nature of pathogenicity itself to devise new strategies for fighting infectious disease.

    Philip Hunter
    Published online 01.08.2012
  • Open Access
    Engineering and ethical perspectives in synthetic biologyRigorous, robust and predictable designs, public engagement and a modern ethical framework are vital to the continued success of synthetic biology.

    Rigorous, robust and predictable designs, public engagement and a modern ethical framework are vital to the continued success of synthetic biology.

    1. James Anderson1,
    2. Natalja Strelkowa2,
    3. Guy‐Bart Stan2,
    4. Thomas Douglas3,
    5. Julian Savulescu3,
    6. Mauricio Barahona4 and
    7. Antonis Papachristodoulou5
    1. 1 Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, UK
    2. 2 Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, UK
    3. 3 Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford, UK
    4. 4 Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, UK
    5. 5 Department of Engineering Science and the Oxford Centre for Integrative Systems Biology, University of Oxford, UK

    The applications of synthetic biology will involve the release of artificial life forms into the environment. These organisms will present unique safety challenges that need to be addressed by researchers and regulators to win public engagement and support

    This is an open‐access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This license does not permit commercial exploitation without specific permission.

    James Anderson, Natalja Strelkowa, Guy‐Bart Stan, Thomas Douglas, Julian Savulescu, Mauricio Barahona, Antonis Papachristodoulou
    Published online 01.07.2012

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