BioEssays最新文献

{"title":"“Social Darwinism” revisited","authors":"Dave Speijer","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400180","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400180","url":null,"abstract":"<p>I have commented upon inappropriate usage of “Darwinian” or “Darwinism” in public discourse in editorials before, see for example.<sup>[</sup><span><sup>1</sup></span><sup>]</sup> In such cases, I was upset about using the term in its highly restricted incarnation of the competitive struggle between organisms, as if evolution did not also give rise to, amongst others, symbiosis, cooperation, altruism, and empathy, as described by Darwin himself. Such misuse is partly due to the infamous 19th-century concept of “Social Darwinism”, popularized as “survival of the fittest” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survival_of_the_fittest; accessed July 10, 2024), a catchy, but rather unfortunate way of describing evolutionary theory (given its tautological characteristics in this highly oversimplified rendition). Another problematic aspect: “fit” invokes physical fitness, instead of “leaving more copies in successive future generations” which reflects a more accurate description of our evolutionary understanding.</p><p>However, a much more pernicious and common misunderstanding regarding evolution wreaks havoc in our environments and societies. Evolution can be understood as a multi-level, highly intricate, interplay between two forces: chance and selection. Even evolutionary scientists themselves run the risk of overemphasizing selection, while (unconsciously) downplaying the chance/luck component. Yes, we point to the <i>random</i> nature of mutations in DNA, but most of us do not sufficiently grasp the overwhelming presence and influence of chance on the make-up of biological (and societal) reality. Because it is so abundant, here are just a few wide-ranging examples. (i) Apart from “simple” mutations, complete gene-duplications can haphazardly occur, with retention opening up avenues of diversifying functions;<sup>[</sup><span><sup>2</sup></span><sup>]</sup> (ii) the vagaries of population dynamics, with bottlenecks allowing retention of slightly detrimental (or unnecessarily complex; see below) characteristics, arbitrarily giving rise to founder effects; (iii) the unpredictable nature of highly complex ecological systems, with “sudden” massive changes stemming from internal or external (e.g., an asteroid impact) causes. As Stephen J. Gould said, play the tape of life again and biology would look completely different;<sup>[</sup><span><sup>3</sup></span><sup>]</sup> thus “survival of the luckiest” is probably a better description; (iv) because untangling the effects of chance and selection is not easy, it is still unclear whether selection even made a meaningful contribution to elaborate (“extra”) mechanisms such as RNA editing or if these constitute examples of pure “constructive neutral evolution” with complexity just begetting further complexity.<sup>[</sup><span><sup>4, 5</sup></span><sup>]</sup></p><p>So, why is the relative neglect of chance in our understanding of reality so detrimental to how we interact with nature and each other in society? In","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202400180","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141787341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The yin and yang of pioneer transcription factors: Dual roles in repression and activation","authors":"Takeshi Katsuda,&nbsp;Jonathan H. Sussman,&nbsp;Kenneth S. Zaret,&nbsp;Ben Z. Stanger","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400138","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400138","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Pioneer transcription factors, by virtue of their ability to target nucleosomal DNA in silent chromatin, play crucial roles in eliciting cell fate decisions during development and cellular reprogramming. In addition to their well-established role in chromatin opening to activate gene expression programs, recent studies have demonstrated that pioneer factors have the complementary function of being able to silence the starting cell identity through targeted chromatin repression. Given recent discoveries regarding the repressive aspect of pioneer function, we discuss the basis by which pioneer factors can suppress alternative lineage programs in the context of cell fate control.</p>","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 10","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202400138","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141765531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Childhood B cell leukemia: Intercepting the paths to progression","authors":"Cesar Cobaleda,&nbsp;Carolina Vicente-Dueñas,&nbsp;Kim E. Nichols,&nbsp;Isidro Sanchez-Garcia","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400033","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400033","url":null,"abstract":"<p>B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common pediatric cancer, arising most often in children aged 2–5 years. This distinctive age distribution hints at an association between B-ALL development and disrupted immune system function during a susceptible period during childhood, possibly triggered by early exposure to infection. While cure rates for childhood B-ALL surpass 90% in high-income nations, survivors suffer from diminished quality of life due to the side effects of treatment. Consequently, understanding the origins and evolution of B-ALL, and how to prevent this prevalent childhood cancer, is paramount to alleviate this substantial health burden. This article provides an overview of our current understanding of the etiology of childhood B-ALL and explores how this knowledge can inform preventive strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202400033","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141765529","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The history and status of dopamine cell therapies for Parkinson's disease","authors":"Roger A. Barker,&nbsp;Anders Björklund,&nbsp;Malin Parmar","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400118","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400118","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by the loss of the dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway which has led to the successful development of drug therapies that replace or stimulate this network pharmacologically. Although these drugs work well in the early stages of the disease, over time they produce side effects along with less consistent clinical benefits to the person with Parkinson's (PwP). As such there has been much interest in repairing this pathway using transplants of dopamine neurons. This work which began 50 years ago this September is still ongoing and has now moved to first in human trials using human pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons. The results of these trials are eagerly awaited although proof of principle data has already come from trials using human fetal midbrain dopamine cell transplants. This data has shown that developing dopamine cells when transplanted in the brain of a PwP can survive long term with clinical benefits lasting decades and with restoration of normal dopaminergic innervation in the grafted striatum. In this article, we discuss the history of this field and how this has now led us to the recent stem cell trials for PwP.</p>","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202400118","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141765530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A brief chronicle of research on human pluripotent stem cells","authors":"Martin F. Pera","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400092","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400092","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Today, human pluripotent stem cell technologies find widespread application across biomedical research, as models for early human development, as platforms for functional human genomics, as tools for the study of disease, drug screening and toxicology, and as a renewable source of cellular therapeutics for a range of intractable diseases. The foundations of this human pluripotent stem cell revolution rest on advances in a wide range of disciplines, including cancer biology, assisted reproduction, cell culture and organoid technology, somatic cell nuclear transfer, primate embryology, single-cell biology, and gene editing. This review surveys the slow emergence of the study of human pluripotency and the exponential growth of the field during the past several decades.</p>","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 12","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141765528","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The structure of the γ-TuRC at the microtubule minus end – not just one solution","authors":"Qi Gao,&nbsp;Bram J. A. Vermeulen,&nbsp;Martin Würtz,&nbsp;Hyesu Shin,&nbsp;Dilara Erdogdu,&nbsp;Anjun Zheng,&nbsp;Florian W. Hofer,&nbsp;Annett Neuner,&nbsp;Stefan Pfeffer,&nbsp;Elmar Schiebel","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400117","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400117","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In cells, microtubules (MTs) assemble from α/β-tubulin subunits at nucleation sites containing the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC). Within the γ-TuRC, exposed γ-tubulin molecules act as templates for MT assembly by interacting with α/β-tubulin. The vertebrate γ-TuRC is scaffolded by γ-tubulin-interacting proteins GCP2-6 arranged in a specific order. Interestingly, the γ-tubulin molecules in the γ-TuRC deviate from the cylindrical geometry of MTs, raising the question of how the γ-TuRC structure changes during MT nucleation. Recent studies on the structure of the vertebrate γ-TuRC attached to the end of MTs came to varying conclusions. In vitro assembly of MTs, facilitated by an α-tubulin mutant, resulted in a closed, cylindrical γ-TuRC showing canonical interactions between all γ-tubulin molecules and α/β-tubulin subunits. Conversely, native MTs formed in a frog extract were capped by a partially closed γ-TuRC, with some γ-tubulin molecules failing to align with α/β-tubulin. This review discusses these outcomes, along with the broader implications.</p>","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141751162","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"BioEssays 8/2024","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/bies.202470012","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202470012","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Eukaryotic chromosome ends are characterized by specialized structures, namely telomeres. Telomeric DNA is usually rich in guanines and is able to form four-stranded G-quadruplexes. In article 2300229, So Young Joo et al. review how dynamic interactions between G-quadruplexes and the tumor suppressor BRCA2 influence telomere replication.\u0000\u0000 <figure>\u0000 <div><picture>\u0000 <source></source></picture><p></p>\u0000 </div>\u0000 </figure>\u0000 </p>","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202470012","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141753935","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Issue Information: BioEssays 8/2024","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/bies.202470013","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202470013","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202470013","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141781125","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Genotoxic stress impacts pre-mRNA 3′-end processing","authors":"Biswendu Biswas,&nbsp;Stéphan Vagner","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400037","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400037","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Genotoxic stress, arising from various environmental sources and endogenous cellular processes, pose a constant threat to genomic stability. Cells have evolved intricate mechanisms to detect and repair DNA damage, orchestrating a robust genotoxic stress response to safeguard the integrity of the genome. Recent research has shed light on the crucial role of co- and post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms in modulating the cellular response to genotoxic stress. Here we highlight recent advances illustrating the intricate interplay between pre-mRNA processing, with a focus on 3′-end processing, and genotoxic stress response.</p>","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/bies.202400037","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141731004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Protein memory?","authors":"Matthias Bochtler","doi":"10.1002/bies.202400162","DOIUrl":"10.1002/bies.202400162","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":9264,"journal":{"name":"BioEssays","volume":"46 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2024-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141632680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}