Gregor Wolbring

Metagenomics of Hydrocarbon Resource Environments Indicates Aerobic Taxa and Genes to be Unexpectedly Common

Oil in subsurface reservoirs is biodegraded by resident microbial communities. Water-mediated, anaerobic conversion of hydrocarbons to methane and CO2, catalyzed by syntrophic bacteria and methanogenic archaea, is thought to be one of the dominant processes. We compared 160 microbial community compositions in ten hydrocarbon resource environments (HREs) and sequenced twelve metagenomes to characterize their metabolic potential. Although anaerobic communities were common, cores from oil sands and coal beds had unexpectedly high proportions of aerobic hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria. Likewise, most metagenomes had high proportions of genes for enzymes involved in aerobic hydrocarbon metabolism. Hence, although HREs may have been strictly anaerobic and typically methanogenic for much of their history, this may not hold today for coal beds and for the Alberta oil sands, one of the largest remaining oil reservoirs in the world. This finding may influence strategies to recover energy or chemicals from these HREs by in situ microbial processes.

Why NBIC? Why human performance enhancement?

A 2001 U.S. workshop with the title “Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science (NBIC): Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance” introduced the convergence of various sciences and technologies based on their nanoscale properties. It highlighted BIC as the science and technologies converging on the nanoscale. However many other sciences and technologies with nanoscale components exist, such as chemistry and material sciences. Furthermore the workshop chose human performance enhancement as its case study of application despite various other possible applications that could have been chosen. This paper addresses the questions why the workshop organizers (a) introduced nanoscale as a convergence concept, (b) chose BIC as the convergence examples and (c) chose human performance enhancement as their application. The paper provides some thoughts as to the success and consequences of that strategy.

Stable Association of G Proteins with β2AR Is Independent of the State of Receptor Activation

beta 2-Adrenergic receptors expressed in Sf9 cells activate endogenous Gs and adenylyl cyclase [Mouillac B., Caron M., Bonin H., Dennis M. and Bouvier M. (1992) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 21733-21737]. However, high affinity agonist binding is not detectable under these conditions suggesting an improper stoichiometry between the receptor and the G protein and possibly the effector molecule as well. In this study we demonstrate that when beta 2-adrenergic receptors were co-expressed with various mammalian G protein subunits in Sf9 cells using recombinant baculoviruses signalling properties found in native receptor systems were reconstituted. For example, when beta 2AR was co-expressed with the Gs alpha subunit, maximal receptor-mediated adenylyl cyclase stimulation was greatly enhanced (60 +/- 9.0 versus 150 +/- 52 pmol cAMP/min/mg protein) and high affinity, GppNHp-sensitive, agonist binding was detected. When G beta gamma subunits were co-expressed with Gs alpha and the beta 2AR, receptor-stimulated GTPase activity was also demonstrated, in contrast to when the receptor was expressed alone, and this activity was higher than when beta 2AR was co-expressed with Gs alpha alone. Other properties of the receptor, including receptor desensitization and response to inverse agonists were unaltered. Using antisera against an epitope-tagged beta 2AR, both Gs alpha and beta gamma subunits could be co-immunoprecipitated with the beta 2AR under conditions where subunit dissociation would be expected given current models of G protein function. A desensitization-defective beta 2AR (S261, 262, 345, 346A) and a mutant which is constitutively desensitized (C341G) could also co-immunoprecipitate G protein subunits. These results will be discussed in terms of a revised view of G protein-mediated signalling which may help address issues of specificity in receptor/G protein coupling.

Hearing Beyond the Normal Enabled by Therapeutic Devices: The Role of the Recipient and the Hearing Profession

The time is near where ‘therapeutic’ bodily assistive devices, developed to mimic species-typical body structures in order to enable normative body functioning, will allow the wearer to outperform the species-typical body in various functions. Although such devices are developed for people that are seen to exhibit sub species-typical abilities, many ‘therapeutic enhancements’ might also be desired and used by people that exhibit species-typical body abilities. This paper presents the views of members of the World Federation of the Deaf on potential beyond species-typical abilities enabling therapeutic assistive devices (i.e. related to hearing). Survey respondents showed support for the development and uptake of beyond normal hearing enabling devices. The views of survey respondents as clients affect hearing-enabling professions (such as audiologist and speech pathologists). The paper analyzes what guidance code of ethics of hearing enabling professions give in regards to beyond normal hearing enabling devices. This paper suggests that people labeled impaired and the professions that serve them should more involved in the enhancement discourse.

Disability Rights Approach Toward Bioethics

Bioethics theories are supposed to develop ethical principles, which allow for the governance of science, technology, and biomedical research. This article presents evidence for the lack of a disability rights approach, or even an acceptance of one, in the development of bioethics theories. The author also describes the debate on bioethics issues as they relate to disabilities, using as an example the debate over sex selection and disability “deselection.” Characteristics labeled as disabilities, a term that often is used as a synonym for defects, diseases, and subnormal abilities, are seen as “medical problems” in need of medical solutions. An “animal farm” philosophy appears to dominate the debate over bioethics issues and the development of bioethics theories as they pertain to disabilities. In this philosophy, characteristics labeled as medical problems are treated differently from characteristics labeled as societal problems, making the acceptance of a disability rights approach impossible because such an approach perceives disability within a social justice framework rather than a medical one.

Ableism and Energy Security and Insecurity

Energy insecurity is felt, and energy security is desired on a global, regional, national and local level and on the level of households, communities, groups, sectors, regions, countries and cultures. Different strategies and priorities for gaining energy security and avoiding energy insecurity are envisioned and employed by different households, communities, groups, sectors, regions, countries and cultures. This paper introduces the concept of ableism as an analytical framework to analyse strategies and priorities for gaining energy security and for avoiding or reducing energy insecurity, as well as envisioning governance solutions.

Paralympians Outperforming Olympians: An Increasing Challenge for Olympism and the Paralympic and Olympic Movement

Non-therapeutic performance enhancement in sport is a contentious issue for some time but the issue of therapeutic enhancements has only recently entered the sport vernacular. The purpose of therapeutic assistive devices so far is widely seen as lifting as impaired perceived people back to species-typical norms. However, ‘therapeutic’ body devices developed to mimic species-typical body structures and expected body functioning, as a side effect, increasingly allow the wearer to outperform the species-typical body in various functions. Unsurprisingly, then, this brings the prospect of people labelled as impaired outperforming the so called non-impaired person in general and the paralympic athlete outperforming Olympic athletes. The ‘cheetah’ prosthetic legs worn by the South African Paralympic amputee Oscar Pistorius are one example of a ‘therapeutic’ device that might in the future outperform the species-typical body. Although it does not yet, it has already been labelled as a techno doping device. Others that already outperform are wheelchairs; however, they are rather invisible in the dispute around therapeutic enhancements and sport. This essay highlights various issues attached to this paradigm shift of the ability relationship between disabled and so called non-disabled people, Paralympic and Olympic athletes and what this might mean for Olympism and the Paralympic and Olympic Games.

Ableism and Favoritism for Abilities Governance, Ethics and Studies: New Tools for Nanoscale and Nanoscale-enabled Science and Technology Governance

The values that shape what nanotechnologies are developed are wide and varied. Some hope to remedy environmental problems, others desire to cure cancer, and still others are looking for the next “indispensible” consumer product; but underlying these goals are deeper values that we rarely think about. Gregor Wolbring argues that many of these goals are shaped by our vision of which abilities are desirable and which are to be avoided. Wolbring calls this moral judgment of abilities “ableism,” and he uses it to show how even people with the best of intentions can help to create an increasingly inequitable world.

Sensors: Views of Staff of a Disability Service Organization

Sensors have become ubiquitous in their reach and scope of application. They are a technological cornerstone for various modes of health surveillance and participatory medicine—such as quantifying oneself; they are also employed to track people with certain as impairments perceived ability differences. This paper presents quantitative and qualitative data of an exploratory, non-generalizable study into the perceptions, attitudes and concerns of staff of a disability service organization, that mostly serve people with intellectual disabilities, towards the use of various types of sensor technologies that might be used by and with their clients. In addition, perspectives of various types of privacy issues linked to sensors, as well data regarding the concept of quantified self were obtained. Our results highlight the need to involve disabled people and their support networks in sensor and quantified-self discourses, in order to prevent undue disadvantages.

Nanoscale science and technology and social cohesion

Nanoscale sciences and technologies are developing at a rapid pace enabling other science and technology fields and generating new products and processes. Nanoscale and other science and technology products and processes can impact positively or negatively various aspects of social cohesion such as belonging, shared values, identity, feelings of commitment, equal opportunities, participation in society and social life and the respect and tolerance for diversity directly or through impacting other parameters such as food, health and economic security. One area hardly covered yet is the impact of ableism and its transhumanised form on different areas of social cohesion and the role of nanoscale and other sciences and technologies. The coverage of social cohesion within nanoscale science and technology discourses and vice versa and the linkage to ableism is one aspects of this paper. The paper suggests a way forward for the nanoscale, the ableism and the social cohesion discourses.