Prejudice in science - Lessons from the coronavirus story.

In the current pandemic times, medical physicists may not be aware that there is an interesting story on two significant discoveries related to the coronavirus. One is the invention of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and the other is the first electron microscopic observation and identification of the coronavirus. Both of them were disregarded by the reviewers and major journals declined to publish these discoveries. These days, PCR, for example, is a widespread method for analyzing DNA, having a profound effect on healthcare, especially now during the Covid-19 pandemic. Prejudice or perhaps ignorance prevail in every aspect of our society, and there is no exception in scientific research. We need to, however, learn from these two stories and be open-minded about novel discoveries and findings - as they may be just disruptive in the "right" way to lead to an unexpected breakthrough.

Of Molecules and Mechanisms.

Without question, molecular biology drives modern neuroscience. The past 50 years has been nothing short of revolutionary as key findings have moved the field from correlation toward causation. Most obvious are the discoveries and strategies that have been used to build tools for visualizing circuits, measuring activity, and regulating behavior. Less flashy, but arguably as important are the myriad investigations uncovering the actions of single molecules, macromolecular structures, and integrated machines that serve as the basis for constructing cellular and signaling pathways identified in wide-scale gene or RNA studies and for feeding data into informational networks used in systems biology. This review follows the pathways that were opened in neuroscience by major discoveries and set the stage for the next 50 years.

A Quarter Century of PCR-Applied Techniques and Their Still-Increasing Fields of Use.

Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the basis of a variety of scientific applications and publications in a broad range of interests. It also plays a fundamental role in nucleic acid sequencing applications, including Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based ones. The potential of PCR diagnostics is enormous, particularly for the early diagnosis of life-threatening infections. Some other fields of applications that use PCR on a regular basis include oncology, genetics, microbiology, biochemistry, immunogenetics, NGS, ecology, comparative genome evolution, ancestry DNA, pharmacogenomics, personalized medicine, and even general medicine.

Entering the Pantheon of 21st Century Molecular Biology Tools: A Perspective on Digital PCR.

After several decades of relatively modest use, in the last several years digital PCR (dPCR) has grown to become the new gold standard for nucleic acid quantification. This coincides with the commercial availability of scalable, affordable, and reproducible droplet-based dPCR platforms in the past five years and has led to its rapid dissemination into diverse research fields and testing applications. Among these, it has been adopted most vigorously into clinical oncology where it is beginning to be used for plasma genotyping in cancer patients undergoing treatment. Additionally, innovation across the scientific community has extended the benefits of reaction partitioning beyond DNA and RNA quantification alone, and demonstrated its usefulness in evaluating DNA size and integrity, the physical linkage of colocalized markers, levels of enzyme activity and specific cation concentrations in a sample, and more. As dPCR technology gains in popularity and breadth, its power and simplicity can often be taken for granted; thus, the reader is reminded that due diligence must be exercised in order to make claims not only of precision but also of accuracy in their measurements.

The Evolution of the Polymerase Chain Reaction to Diagnose Childhood Infections.

Children's healthcare has evolved over the years, and the pediatric laboratory has contributed to the clinical understanding of childhood disease through the application of new technology and knowledge. This article highlights the evolution of PCR technology to aid in the diagnosis of pediatric infections, from the discovery of the PCR, through the subsequent years when the clinical need exceeded the capability of the technology, until the current day, when application of the PCR is becoming commonplace.

Twenty years of qPCR: a mature technology?

Quantitative PCR is the "gold standard" technology to quantify nucleic acids and, since the first report describing real-time PCR detection in 1993, its use has been grown exponentially. More recent technological advancements have extended the field of applications ranging from high-resolution melting detection to digital PCR. Nowadays, it is a very accessible technique, but some pitfalls should be overcome in order to achieve robust and reliable analysis.

From playfulness and self-centredness via grand expectations to normalisation: a psychoanalytical rereading of the history of molecular genetics.

In this paper, I will reread the history of molecular genetics from a psychoanalytical angle, analysing it as a case history. Building on the developmental theories of Freud and his followers, I will distinguish four stages, namely: (1) oedipal childhood, notably the epoch of model building (1943-1953); (2) the latency period, with a focus on the development of basic skills (1953-1989); (3) adolescence, exemplified by the Human Genome Project, with its fierce conflicts, great expectations and grandiose claims (1989-2003) and (4) adulthood (2003-present) during which revolutionary research areas such as molecular biology and genomics have achieved a certain level of normalcy--have evolved into a normal science. I will indicate how a psychoanalytical assessment conducted in this manner may help us to interpret and address some of the key normative issues that have been raised with regard to molecular genetics over the years, such as 'relevance', 'responsible innovation' and 'promise management'.

A quarter century of reaping what we SOE.

Gene Splicing by Overlap Extension (SOE), described in a BioTechniques Research Report 23 years ago, is still widely used today in spite of changes in technology and scientific fashion. The history of SOE offers practical lessons for those who seek the best techniques, and for those who strive to develop them.

John dalton: though in error, he still influenced our understanding of congenital color deficiency.

John Dalton was born in the 18th century and was recognized mainly for his work on the chemical atomic theory and "Dalton's Law" for the partial pressure of gases. However, during his lifetime he was already recognized for his theories on "colorblindness," with which he was afflicted. He was perhaps the first to report personal observations from experimentation on his color vision deficiency. His theory regarding its pathogenesis was posthumously proven to be incorrect after observations performed on his enucleated eyes. Further generations later, DNA analyses by PCR conclusively recorded the specific color deficiency (deuteranopia) with which Dalton was affected.

Treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia: the long road to imatinib.

The scientists of today have become accustomed to the extremely rapid pace of progress in the biomedical sciences spurred on by the discovery of recombinant DNA and the advent of automated DNA sequencing and PCR, with progress usually being measured in months or years at most. What is often forgotten, however, are the many prior advances that were needed to reach our present state of knowledge. Here I illustrate this by discussing the scientific discoveries made over the course of the past century and a half that ultimately led to the recent successful development of drugs, particularly imatinib mesylate, to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia.