Gene Concepts and Genethics: Beyond Exceptionalism

The discursive explosion that was provoked by the new genetics could support the impression that the ethical and social problems posed by the new genetics are somehow exceptional in their very nature. According to this view we are faced with special ethical and social problems that create a challenge so fundamental that the special label of genethics is needless to justify. The historical account regarding the evolution of the gene concepts could serve us to highlight the limits of what we know about genes and what we can do with genes. The widespread notion about the exceptionality of genetic knowledge and its applicative possibilities is hardly justifiable and leads to misunderstandings regarding the conceptualization of the ethical and social problems we might face. Following a more realistic interpretation of the role of genes in human life we might avoid a whole set of fictive dilemmas and counterproductive regulatory efforts in bioethics. Bioethical discourse should move from the gene-centered scientific discourse toward the more sophisticated and complex discourses where human development represented as a matter of complex interactions between genomes and environments, between genes, educational factors, nutritional regimes, and other different developmental resources. If a gene is seen as one among the different developmental resources that are shaping a given human trait then both genethics and genetic exceptionalism could hardly be represented as a justified approach in discussing the ethical and social problems of genetics.     

Comments on ‘On “Bettering Humanity” in Science and Engineering Education’

The object of this communication is to reflect on the recent article by James Stieb in relation to an earlier article by Selvan.     

必须关注防止医学领域内的唯心科学观

对医学科学领域内存在的和某些一度充斥的唯心科学观的社会表现进行分析,从过程管理和科学方法论的重要性入手,提出防范学术腐败和发展医学科学的方法和措施,从教育和民生的角度探讨医务工作者和社会学家必须关注的医学领域内的唯心科学观,并举例说明医学工作者的科学道德自律和社会责任感的重要性。     

论神经语言学的兴起与发展

神经语言学是一门新兴的医学与语言学的交叉边缘学科。简要论述了该学科的起源,研究范围,主要研究方法以及在我国的研究现状,还探讨了它与神经哲学的关系和它的哲学思考。因此,神经语言学体现了现代科学各学科门类交叉的必然趋势,是当代学术研究的前沿,具有广阔的发展前景。     

We Value What Values Us: The Appeal of Identity-Affirming Science

Members of the public (Study 1; n =  184) and university students (Study 2; n =  101) evaluated a piece of research and indicated their support for its continuation. The research findings were held constant, but the methods that revealed those findings were attributed to either neuroscience or social science, and the conclusions based on those findings were biased either in favor of men or in favor of women. Study 1 revealed that participants were more positive about research that affirmed their gender identity and that was based on neuroscience rather than social science. Study 2 found this pattern to be apparent in more specialist samples. Indeed, participants with some scientific training were more influenced by research that affirmed the reader's gender identity. Participants with less scientific training, in comparison, were more influenced by the type of science described when making judgments about the value of the research. Contrary to popular claims, this suggests that scientific knowledge alone is no protection against the effects of bias on research evaluation. Implications for the practice and popularization of science are discussed.     

SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION,HEALING, AND ALTRUISM: INTRODUCTION TO THE SYMPOSIUM

This essay introduces the five articles that follow, whose aim is to show how altruism emerges out of spiritual transformation and is integral to healing process in four kinds of ritual healing systems—popular, folk, an indigenous religious healing tradition, and complementary and alternative medicine represented by consciousness transformation movements. In this introduction I situate these largely marginalized religious and spiritual practices within the context of the religion‐science discourse, which has focused for the most part on the relationship between the established, mainstream religions and the dominant biomedical system. Antecedents of two of these types of religious practices, Spiritism and consciousness transformation movements, were part of the development of the psychological sciences in the nineteenth century but lost ground in the twentieth. Despite discrimination and persistent negative attitudes on the part of the established religions and biomedicine, these healing traditions have not only survived through the twentieth century but appear to have gained both followers and interest in the twenty‐first. In future decades, at least for complementary and alternative medical practices and perhaps also for spirit healing centers, there may be a reversal in status through greater acceptance of their unique combination of scientific and religious perspectives.     

网络医疗的发展和思考

随着科学技术、网络技术迅猛的发展,许多互联网业务如网上求医、网上购药、网上保健也日渐火热,成为人们防治疾病的又一手段。网络医疗是网络科技与医疗技术结合的产物,在信息高速发展的今天,它已成为医学交流中一道亮丽的风景线,各国都在不遗余力发展自己的远程医疗系统,这无疑将推动医学模式的进步。然而作为一种新的医疗手段,网络医疗目前仍存在着诸多的弊端和问题,这些问题反过来又可制约网络医疗的发展,因此必须在技术、政策、法律各方面予以完善,使之更好地服务于人类。     

论原始中医学的先进性

今年以来,张功耀先生在网上,在期刊发表“告别中医中药”谬说,理由之广,论点之奇,可谓独特。如说“中国古代无科学”,“在甲骨文流行时代,中国还没有医学”,“直到公元前6世纪,中国可能还没有医”,“中脉诊方法不具备起码的可用来排中分析的逻辑基础”等。为正视听,故从原始中医学的先进性作了回答。     

小学生创造性科学问题提出能力的发展研究

运用实验的方法,对371名小学生创造性科学问题提出能力的发展进行了研究。结果表明:(1)小学生创造性科学问题提出能力整体呈上升趋势;(2)男女生的创造性科学问题提出能力发展趋势基本相同,男生整体上要略高于女生,差异不显著;(3)小学生创造性科学问题提出能力的学校类型差异主要表现在发展趋势上,城市小学二到三年级停滞不前,乡村小学则迅速发展,之后发展趋势相同;(4)三到四年级是小学生创造性科学问题提出能力发展的“关键期”。     

Fetal alcohol syndrome and the developing socio-emotional brain

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is currently recognized as the most common known cause of mental retardation, affecting from 1 to 7 per 1000 live-born infants. Individuals with FAS suffer from changes in brain structure, cognitive impairments, and behavior problems. Researchers investigating neuropsychological functioning have identified deficits in learning, memory, executive functioning, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and poor communication and social skills in individuals with FAS and fetal alcohol effects (FAE). Investigators using autopsy and brain imaging methods have identified microcephaly and structural abnormalities in various regions of the brain (including the basal ganglia, corpus callosum, cerebellum, and hippocampus) that may account for the neuropsychological deficits. Results of studies using newer brain imaging and analytic techniques have indicated specific alterations (i.e., displacements in the corpus callosum, increased gray matter density in the perisylvian regions, altered gray matter asymmetry, and disproportionate reductions in the frontal lobes) in the brains of individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol, and their relations with brain function. Future research, including using animal models, could help inform our knowledge of brain-behavior relations in the context of prenatal alcohol exposure, and assist with early identification and intervention.