We have synthesized a 582,970-base pair Mycoplasma genitalium genome. This synthetic genome, named M. genitalium JCVI-1.0, contains all the genes of wild-type M. genitalium G37 except MG408, which was disrupted by an antibiotic marker to block pathogenicity and to allow for selection. To identify the genome as synthetic, we inserted "watermarks" at intergenic sites known to tolerate transposon insertions. Overlapping "cassettes" of 5 to 7 kilobases (kb), assembled from chemically synthesized oligonucleotides, were joined by in vitro recombination to produce intermediate (...) assemblies of approximately 24 kb, 72 kb ("1/8 genome"), and 144 kb ("1/4 genome"), which were all cloned as bacterial artificial chromosomes in Escherichia coli. Most of these intermediate clones were sequenced, and clones of all four 1/4 genomes with the correct sequence were identified. The complete synthetic genome was assembled by transformation-associated recombination cloning in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, then isolated and sequenced. A clone with the correct sequence was identified. The methods described here will be generally useful for constructing large DNA molecules from chemically synthesized pieces and also from combinations of natural and synthetic DNA segments. 10.1126/science.1151721. (shrink)

This 1979 text addresses the ways in which the dominant theories in large areas of Western social science have been subject to strong criticisms, particularly ...

Despite the remarkable achievements of novel targeted anti‐cancer drugs, most therapies only produce remission for a limited time, resistance to treatment, and relapse, often being the ultimate outcome. Drug resistance is due to highly efficient adaptive strategies utilized by cancer cells. Exogenous and endogenous stress stimuli are known to induce first‐line responses, capable of re‐establishing cellular homeostasis and determining cell fate decisions. Cancer cells may also mount second‐line adaptive strategies, such as the mutator response. Hypermutable subpopulations of cells may expand (...) under severe selective stress, thereby accelerating the emergence of adapted clones. As with first‐line protective responses, these strategies appear highly conserved, and are found in yeasts and bacteria. We hypothesize that evolutionarily conserved programs rheostatically regulate mutability in fluctuating environments, and contribute to drug resistance in cancer cells. Elucidating the conserved genetic and molecular mechanisms may present novel opportunities to increase the effectiveness of cancer therapies. (shrink)

David Thomas takes a close look at the United Kingdom during the 1970s to examine the emergence of “electroculture.” Mapping class struggle, dispossession, and state violence onto a history of oil, Thomas makes the case that labor politics and energy politics are deeply intertwined.

Much has been written about prisoner research and the controversies surrounding prisoners as human subjects. The Institute of Medicine recently released a report addressing some of these issues. This report, which generated further controversy, needs to be fully discussed in the literature and certain aspects are examined in this work. Further, in the body of literature there has been little acknowledgement of the concept of the right of prisoners to be involved in research. This needs to be pursued from an (...) ethical perspective and eventually a legal one. This paper explores that concept and documents some facilities in which a prisoner's right to research has occurred. (shrink)

In this immensely readable and wide ranging book,Bernard Lewis charts the successive transformations of the Middle East,beginning with the two great empires,the Roman and the Persian,and covering the growth of Christianity,the rise and spread of Islam,the waves of invaders from the east,the Mongol hordes of Jengiz Khan,the rise of the Ottoman Turks,and the changing balance of power between the Muslim and Christian worlds.THE MIDDLE EAST is a brilliant survey of the history and civilisations of the region.

This is a biography of the works of Richard Price, 1723-1791, one of the leading radical intellectuals of the late-18th century. By profession a dissenting minister, he was also a mathematician, a political pamphleteer, particularly on the American and French Revolutions, and a moral philosopher.

Christian-Muslim Relations, a Bibliographical History 1 is a history of all the known works on Christian-Muslim relations from 600 to 1500. It comprises introductory essays and over 200 detailed entries containing descriptions, assessments and compehensive bibliographical details of individual works.

After a definition of ?common sense? it is argued that sociology and common sense both do and ought to interact with one another. Four positions on the sociology?common sense relation in the light of the interaction thesis are then critically discussed: sociology must break with common sense; sociology must be based on common sense; sociology and common sense are incomparable; and sociology and common sense are identical. The first two of these positions are further sub?divided in terms of whether the (...) arguments in their favour are or are not independent of one's conceptions of sociology and common sense. Each of these positions is illustrated by means of a case study of one author. The final section involves a consideration of ethnomethodology on the basis of the above typology: it is argued that ethnomethodology cannot find a site on the sociology?common sense question which is compatible with its basic commitments. (shrink)