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In November 2018, a scientific scandal broke when news emerged that the world’s first gene edited babies had been born in China on the eve of the 2nd International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong. He Jiankui had recruited a total of seven couples who were in need of fertility treatment to participate in an effort to clinically apply human embryo editing with the promise that, if successful, their future children would be protected from HIV. While He Jiankui has since been jailed for illegal medical practice and much has been written about his unethical and flawed “experiment,” in this article we suggest that the Hong Kong summit nevertheless marked the moment when human embryo editing came to be platformed. Human embryo editing brings together a complete set of new reproductive and genetic technologies into a total bio-reproductive platform shaped by socio-technical “disease free” imaginaries.

In November 2018, a scientific scandal broke when news emerged that the world's first gene edited babies had been born in China on the eve of the 2nd International Summit on Human Genome Editing in Hong Kong. He Jiankui had recruited a total of seven couples who were in need of fertility treatment to participate in an effort to clinically apply human embryo editing with the promise that, if successful, their future children would be protected from HIV. While He Jiankui has since been jailed for illegal medical practice and much has been written about his unethical and flawed "experiment," in this article we suggest that the Hong Kong summit nevertheless marked the moment when human embryo editing came to be platformed. Human embryo editing brings together a complete set of new reproductive and genetic technologies into a total bio-reproductive platform shaped by socio-technical "disease free" imaginaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan can form interpolymer complexes (IPCs) with anionic polymers to form biomedical platforms (BMPs) for wound dressing/healing applications. This has resulted in its application in various BMPs such as gauze, nano/microparticles, hydrogels, scaffolds, and films. Notably, wound healing has been highlighted as a noteworthy application due to the remarkable physical, chemical, and mechanical properties enabled though the interaction of these polyelectrolytes. The interaction of chitosan and anionic polymers can improve the properties and performance of BMPs. To this end, the approaches employed in fabricating wound dressings was evaluated for their effect on the property−performance factors contributing to BMP suitability in wound dressing. The use of chitosan in wound dressing applications has had much attention due to its compatible biological properties. Recent advancement includes the control of the degree of crosslinking and incorporation of bioactives in an attempt to enhance the physicochemical and physicomechanical properties of wound dressing BMPs. A critical issue with polyelectrolyte-based BMPs is that their effective translation to wound dressing platforms has yet to be realised due to the unmet challenges faced when mimicking the complex and dynamic wound environment. Novel BMPs stemming from the IPCs of chitosan are discussed in this review to offer new insight into the tailoring of physical, chemical, and mechanical properties via fabrication approaches to develop effective wound dressing candidates. These BMPs may pave the way to new therapeutic developments for improved patient outcomes.

Umbilical cord blood (UCB) is an important source for stem cells used in clinical treatments. For this purpose, UCB has to be collected at birth and stored in biobanks. The discourse about UCB biobanking practices commonly holds that it occurs in two opposite economies, the public sector and a competing private one. They correspond with moral economies of gift-giving in a redistributive economy versus private ownership of cord blood in a market economy. Our analysis of UCB banking in Europe shows that this opposition narrative is both empirically and analytically unsatisfactory. Using the analytic concepts of entanglement (Callon) and biomedical platforms (Keating and Cambrosio), we demonstrate how the network of actors, objects, interests and practices in biobanking creates different kinds of value and shared issues across public and private services. Our case study illustrates how the interrelation between technical, ethical, economic and logistical considerations plays out and generates a field of practices where redistributive and market economies coexist, are co-dependent and hybridize each other. The narrative of opposition therefore can inform STS studies regarding the normative values written into the public facing side of biobanking, but bioeconomic analyses benefit from building on concepts that enable the examination of the complex interrelations between the wider network of heterogeneous elements on which UCB banking relies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyprus has one of the highest incidences in the world of the mutations that cause thalassaemia. A very successful prevention programme was developed since the 1970s which deployed genetic screening of couples of reproductive age to reduce the number of thalassaemic children born. Against the backdrop of a personal account given by Dr. Minas Hadjiminas who is credited with starting the programme, the author inquires into postcolonial society as a context for epidemiological interventions. The article explores both socio-cultural and medical reasons for the success of the prevention programme. It argues that the civic epistemology of postcolonial Cyprus allowed for the medical profession to establish a paternalistic regime 'for the common good' that was also motivated by a strong 'love for the people of Cyprus' on the part of the medical practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan can form interpolymer complexes (IPCs) with anionic polymers to form biomedical platforms (BMPs) for wound dressing/healing applications. This has resulted in its application in various BMPs such as gauze, nano/microparticles, hydrogels, scaffolds, and films. Notably, wound healing has been highlighted as a noteworthy application due to the remarkable physical, chemical, and mechanical properties enabled though the interaction of these polyelectrolytes. The interaction of chitosan and anionic polymers can improve the properties and performance of BMPs. To this end, the approaches employed in fabricating wound dressings was evaluated for their effect on the property–performance factors contributing to BMP suitability in wound dressing. The use of chitosan in wound dressing applications has had much attention due to its compatible biological properties. Recent advancement includes the control of the degree of crosslinking and incorporation of bioactives in an attempt to enhance the physicochemical and physicomechanical properties of wound dressing BMPs. A critical issue with polyelectrolyte-based BMPs is that their effective translation to wound dressing platforms has yet to be realised due to the unmet challenges faced when mimicking the complex and dynamic wound environment. Novel BMPs stemming from the IPCs of chitosan are discussed in this review to offer new insight into the tailoring of physical, chemical, and mechanical properties via fabrication approaches to develop effective wound dressing candidates. These BMPs may pave the way to new therapeutic developments for improved patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]