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Across populations, human morbidity and mortality risks generally follow clear gradients, with socially-disadvantaged individuals and groups tending to have higher morbidity and mortality at all life stages relative to those more socially advantaged. Anthropologists specialize in understanding the proximate and ultimate factors that shape variation in human biological functioning and health and are therefore well-situated to explore the relationships between social position and health in diverse ecological and cultural contexts. While human biologists have developed sophisticated methods for assessing health using minimally-invasive methods, at a disciplinary level, we have room for conceptual and methodological improvement in how we frame, measure, and analyze the social inequities that might shape health inequities. This toolkit paper elaborates on some steps human biologists should take to enhance the quality of our research on health inequities. Specifically, we address: (1) how to frame unequal health outcomes (i.e., inequalities vs. disparities vs. inequities) and the importance of identifying our conceptual models of how these inequities emerge; (2) how to measure various axes of social inequities across diverse cultural contexts, and (3) approaches to community collaboration and dissemination. We end by discussing (4) future directions in human biology research of health inequities, including understanding the ultimate causes of sensitivity to social inequities and transitioning from research to action., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for analyzing the biochemical properties of biological samples such as proteins, cellular materials, and tissues. It provides objective information on samples and has been adopted in many research areas of biomedical and biotechnological interest. FTIR spectroscopy can be performed using different approaches at the macro and micro levels allowing the examination of an incredibly broad class of materials. However, it has become evident that the choice of proper spectra acquisition geometries and the modalities of sample preparation in FTIR spectroscopy analysis require special consideration, especially for certain classes of materials such as cells and tissues. In the present paper, we described the different procedures used for preparing and analyzing different types of biological and biotechnological samples when the more largely available approaches are employed using a commercial FTIR spectrometer. Some basic aspects of data analysis procedures are presented in an Appendix. A certain number of our previous experimental results are reported for demonstrating once more the versatility and the potentiality of FTIR spectroscopy., (© 2022 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.)

Background: The use of minimally invasive biomarkers (MIBs - physiological biomarkers obtained from minimally invasive sample types) has expanded rapidly in science and medicine over the past several decades. The MIB approach is a methodological strength in the field of human and non-human primate evolutionary biology (HEB). Among humans and our closest relatives, MIBs provide unique opportunities to document phenotypic variation and to operationalize evolutionary hypotheses., Aims: This paper overviews the use of MIBs in HEB. Our objectives are to (1) highlight key research topics which successfully implement MIBs, (2) identify promising yet under-investigated areas of MIB application, and (3) discuss current challenges in MIB research, with suggestions for advancing the field., Discussion and Conclusions: A range of MIBs are used to investigate focal topics in HEB, including energetics and life history variation/evolution, developmental plasticity, and social status and dominance relationships. Nonetheless, we identify gaps in existing MIB research on traits such as physical growth and gut function that are central to the field. Several challenges remain for HEB research using MIBs, including the need for additional biomarkers and methods of assessment, robust validations, and approaches that are standardized across labs and research groups. Importantly, researchers must provide better support for adaptation and fitness effects in hypothesis testing (e.g., by obtaining complementary measures of energy expenditure, demonstrating redundancy of function, and performing lifetime/longitudinal analyses). We point to continued progress in the use of MIBs in HEB to better understand the past, present, and future of humans and our closest primate relatives., (© 2022 The Authors. American Journal of Human Biology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

More than a decade ago, 'plasticity' suddenly became a 'fashionable' topic with overemphasized implications for regenerative medicine. The concept of 'plasticity' is supported by old transplantation work, at least for embryonic cells, and metaplasia is a classic example of plasticity observed in patients. Nevertheless, the publication of a series of papers showing rare conversion of a given cell type into another unrelated cell raised the possibility of using any unaffected tissue to create at will new cells to replace a different failing tissue or organ. This resulted in disingenuous interpretations and a reason not to fund anymore research on embryonic stem cells (ESc). Moreover, many papers on plasticity were difficult to reproduce and thus questioned; raising issues about plasticity as a technical artefact or a consequence of rare spontaneous cells fusion. More recently, reprogramming adult differentiated cells to a pluripotent state (iPS) became possible, and later, one type of differentiated cell could be directly reprogrammed into another (e.g. fibroblasts into neurons) without reverting to pluripotency. Although the latter results from different and more robust experimental protocols, these phenomena also exemplify 'plasticity'. In this review, we want to place 'plasticity' in a historical perspective still taking into account ethical and political implications., (Copyright © 2012 EMBO Molecular Medicine.)

Originally incorporated as the Human Biology Council in 1974, the Human Biology Association, as it has been known since 1994, has matured in the intervening 30 years to become a society that represents broadly the interests of human biologists in the U.S. and throughout the world. The purpose of this paper is to trace the development of the Association from its foundation to the present in the context of changes in the organization of the Association and in its By-Laws, officers, committees, and membership; the history of the two journals that served as the Association's official organs (Human Biology and American Journal of Human Biology); and how the annual meetings have evolved from a modest one-day plenary session to meetings that last more than two days and include a variety of scientific contributions. Highlights of the national meetings include the Raymond Pearl Memorial Lecture, the Franz Boas Distinguished Achievement Award, and the Edward E. Hunt, Jr. Student Prize., (Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

For the past nine years students entering the Dental School in the University of Western Australia have participated in an introductory clinical dentistry program closely integrated with oral biology. This paper outlines the content of the program and discusses its educational advantages. Changing attitudes in Australian universities toward the appointment of full professors in clinical disciplines also are discussed, and reference is made to the way in which these appointments are helping to achieve a closer correlation between basic science and clinical dentistry.

This paper defines the scope of oral biology, examines patterns of organization and staffing of oral biology departments, discusses the rationale for including courses in oral biology in the undergraduate curriculum, and the organization and content of such courses. Future trends in oral biology are outlined and the conclusion is reached that until clinical departments can assume primary responsibility for ensuring that basic sciences are adequately correlated with clinical dentistry, the need for an oral biology department within a dental school will continue to exist. Furthermore, departments of oral biology must collaborate closely with the clinical departments to develop unified teaching programs that encourage the use of basic science material in solving clinical problems

This paper was motivated by a controversy concerning the role of basic sciences in medical education. A problem underlying this issue is that it is unknown how basic science is used in clinical reasoning. The experiment was designed to address this issue. Three texts were constructed dealing with basic science knowledge relevant to a clinical problem. Subjects were asked to read and recall the texts. Next, the subjects were required to read and recall the clinical text describing a patient problem. Finally, they were asked to provide a diagnosis and an explanation of the underlying pathophysiology. Subjects were first-, second- and fourth-year medical students. Detailed analysis of subjects' protocols are presented. In general, the results show that when basic science information is given before the clinical problem, the basic science knowledge is used either incorrectly or inconsistently in explaining the clinical problem by all subjects. The authors interpret these results to indicate that the basic sciences and the more practical clinical knowledge form two separate domains with their own individual structures and the clinical information cannot be embedded into the basic science knowledge structure.