You, Me, and We: Biolabs for the 21st Century.

Twenty-first century biomedical research is advantaged by institutional infrastructures that foster a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. A few critical elements in the design of labs, research buildings, or campus can make interaction easier while preserving privacy and comfort for the individual researcher.

Mobile Monkeys and Modified Microbes: Medical Experimentation between Metropolitan and Colonial Laboratories, 1880-ca. 1925.

Following the medical breakthroughs of Pasteur and Koch after 1880, the use of simians became pivotal to laboratory research to develop vaccines and cultivate microbes through the technique of serial passage. These innovations fueled research on multiple diseases and unleashed a demand for simians, which died easily in captivity. European and American colonial expansion facilitated a burgeoning market for laboratory animals that intensified hunting for live animals. This demand created novel opportunities for disease transfers and viral recombinations as simians of different species were confined in precarious settings. As laboratories moved into the colonies for research into a variety of diseases, notably syphilis, sleeping sickness, and malaria, the simian market was intensified. While researchers expected that colonial laboratories offered more natural environments than their metropolitan affiliates, amassing apes, people, microbes, and insects at close quarters instead created unnatural conditions that may have facilitated the spread of undetectable diseases.

50 Years of the IAEA/WHO postal dose audit programme for radiotherapy: what can we learn from 13756 results?

Background: The IAEA/WHO postal dose audit programme has been operating since 1969 with the aim of improving the accuracy and consistency of dosimetry in radiotherapy in low-income and middle-income countries world-wide. This study summarises the 50 years' experience of audits and explores the quality of reference dosimetry in participating radiotherapy centres throughout the years.Material and methods: During the IAEA/WHO postal audits the dose determined from the mailed dosimeter is compared with that stated by the participant. Agreement to within ±5% is regarded acceptable whilst deviations outside ±5% limits trigger follow-up actions. Of particular interest in this study was the dependence of clinical dosimetry quality on factors related to the centre infrastructure and expertise in dosimetry of its staff.Results: The IAEA/WHO dose audit programme noted great increase in the overall percentage of acceptable results from about 50% in its early years to 99% at present, although there is some variability of results amongst participating countries. Whereas results for younger radiotherapy machines show the agreement rate between the measured and the stated doses well above 90%, for those over 20 years old the rate dropped to <80%. Linac dosimetry was always better than 60Co dosimetry and multi-machine centres generally performed better than single machine centres equipped with cobalt alone. Second and subsequent participation in audits showed higher quality dosimetry than the first participation. The implementation of modern dosimetry protocols resulted in more accurate dosimetry than the use of the older protocols.Conclusions: Over the 50 years that the IAEA has accumulated dosimetry audit data, practices in radiotherapy centres have significantly improved. Higher quality dosimetry confirmed in audits is generally associated with better infrastructure and adequate dosimetry expertise of medical physicists in participating centres.

The history of Rhoton's Lab.

The work performed in Dr. Rhoton's Lab, represented by over 500 publications on microneurosurgical anatomy, greatly contributed to improving the level of neurosurgical treatment throughout the world. The authors reviewed the development and activities of the Lab over 40 years. Dr. Albert L. Rhoton Jr., the founder of, and leader in, this field, displayed great creativity and ingenuity during his life. He devoted himself to perfecting his study methodology, employing high-definition photos and slides to enhance the quality of his published papers. He dedicated his life to the education of neurosurgeons. His "lab team," which included microneuroanatomy research fellows, medical illustrators, lab directors, and secretaries, worked together under his leadership to develop the methods and techniques of anatomical study to complete over 160 microneurosurgical anatomy projects. The medical illustrators adapted computer technologies and integrated art and science in the field of microneurosurgical anatomy. Dr. Rhoton's fellows established methods of injecting colors and pursued a series of projects to innovate surgical approaches and instruments over a 40-year period. They also continued to help Dr. Rhoton to conduct international educational activities after returning to their home countries. Rhoton's Lab became a world-renowned anatomical lab as well as a microsurgical training center and generated the knowledge necessary to perform accurate, gentle, and safe surgery for the sake of patients.

Physiology studies and scientific exchange in the Anthropology Laboratory of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro (1910s-1920s).

The main purpose of this study is the scientific practice of Edgard Roquette-Pinto at the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro during the 1910's and 1920's in the XXth Century. The article examines the relationship between laboratory science and nation building. Driven by Physicians-Anthropologists like Edgard Roquette-Pinto among others, the investigations performed at the Anthropology Laboratory there reveal the dynamic of the borders between Laboratory and Field Sciences, and the new biological parameters adopted at that time. The investigative agenda involved plants, animals and human bodies, and it was related to the current Anthropology concept aligned with the debate of Nation construction. The physiological studies amplified the scientific exchange with different institutions, emphasizing cultural exchange between Brazil and Paraguay, and the role played by Edgard Roquette-Pinto there as he inaugurated the Physiological course at Faculty of Medicine at University of Asunción.

Veterinarians at the Connaught Medical Research Laboratories, 1931-72.

This study traces the changing mission of the University of Toronto's Connaught Medical Research Laboratories regarding the health of animals. We argue that the early work of Connaught's veterinarians in the 1930s and 1940s focused on the care for experimental animals as well as lending veterinary knowledge to problems in human medicine and public health. This gave way to a more direct focus on veterinary products after the Second World War. Connaught was motivated to enter the veterinary field in part to capitalize upon the growing market for veterinary medicines. It met with mixed success in this endeavour. Work was initially focused on livestock medicines and later expanded into products for companion animals, reflecting broader shifts in the veterinary profession and the economic value of animals during the 20th century.

Anecdote of the Omura laboratory and the discovery of avermectin.

I first met Professor Omura, Distinguished Emeritus Professor, at The Kitasato Institute (Kitaken) when I was 28 years old. Since then, he has been my respectful supervisor as well as mentor. Looking back on those memories, I am deeply honored to write about the discovery and development of avermectin.

The laboratory and the asylum: Francis Walker Mott and the pathological laboratory at London County Council Lunatic Asylum, Claybury, Essex (1895-1916).

London County Council's pathological laboratory in the LCC asylum at Claybury, Essex, was established in 1895 to study the pathology of mental illness. Historians of psychiatry have understood the Claybury laboratory as a predecessor of the Maudsley Hospital in London: not only was this laboratory closed when the Maudsley was opened in 1916, but its director, Frederick Walker Mott, a champion of the 'German' model in psychiatry, was instrumental in the establishment of this institution. Yet, as I argue in this essay, for all the continuities with the Maudsley, the Claybury laboratory should not be seen solely as its predecessor - or as a British answer to continental laboratories such as Theodor Meynert's in Vienna. Rather, as I show using the examples of general paralysis of the insane and 'asylum colitis', the Claybury laboratory is best understood as an attempt to prevent mental illness using a microbiological model.

The letter, the dictionary and the laboratory: translating chemistry and mineralogy in eighteenth-century France.

Eighteenth-century scientific translation was not just a linguistic or intellectual affair. It included numerous material aspects requiring a social organization to marshal the indispensable human and non-human actors. Paratexts and actors' correspondences provide a good observatory to get information about aspects such as shipments and routes, processes of translation and language acquisition (dictionaries, grammars and other helpful materials, such as translated works in both languages), texts acquisition and dissemination (including author's additions and corrections, oral presentations in academic meetings and announcements of forthcoming translations). The nature of scientific translation changed in France during the second half of the eighteenth century. Beside solitary translators, it also happened to become a collective enterprise, dedicated to providing abridgements (Collection académique, 1755-79) or enriching the learned journals with full translations of the most recent foreign texts (Guyton de Morveau's 'Bureau de traduction de Dijon', devoted to chemistry and mineralogy, 1781-90). That new trend clearly had a decisive influence on the nature of the scientific press itself. A way to set up science as a social activity in the provincial capital of Dijon, translation required a local and international network for acquiring the linguistic and scientific expertise, along with the original texts, as quickly as possible. Laboratory results and mineralogical observations were used to compare material facts (colour, odour, shape of crystals, etc.) with those described in the original text. By providing a double kind of validation - with both the experiments and the translations - the laboratory thus happened to play a major role in translation.

[Laboratory of Pharmacognosy of Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra (Portugal): teaching and et research (1902-1980)]. / Le laboratoire de pharmacognosie de la Faculté de pharmacie de l'Université de Coimbra (Portugal): enseignement et recherche (1902-1980).

In this article the authors present a brief history of the Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Portugal (1902-1980). The authors refer the importance of pharmacognosy in the study plans, the scientific research and the scientific collection of pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra. This heritage consists of collection of drugs prepared in the laboratory of pharmacognosy, a collection Drogen-Lehrsammlung purchased to E. Merck and a collection of botanic-didactic models of the XIXth century of the famous German manufacturer R. Brendel. The authors study the relationship between research and teaching, highlighting the importance of the collections of drugs.

[The Escouflaire Laboratories].

Escouflaire antiasthmatic cigarettes and powders knew certain success during almost one century. The medical use of solanaceae with bronchodilator properties helped relieve numerous asthmatics. The Belgian pharmacist Charles Adolphe Escouflaire (1857-1909), pharmacist from the university of Leuven, Belgium, awarded his diploma in 1879. He created his antiasthmatic products in his pharmacy of Ath and established in 1885 a pharmaceutical laboratory. He registered trademarks under the brand name Zematone for its antiasthmatic cigarettes. His products will be rapidly known and sold all over the world. The discovery of a complete box of medical cigarettes in the Czech Republic allows us to evoke his products, the distributor F. S chnöbling in this country, the modes of display and uses. This article redraws the history of the laboratory under the direction of three generations of the Escouflaire family. The laboratory will expand after WWII with production factories in Baisieux and Blandain before definitely close in 1974.

[[The Lactéol's laboratory of Dr Boucard (Laboratoire du Dr Boucard]. / Le laboratoire du Lactéol du Docteur Boucard.

Shortly before 1910, Dr Boucard creates his laboratory in Paris. It manufactures and sells a drug based on lactic ferments the " Lactéol du Dr Boucard" (Dr's Boucard Lactéol) that will make the fortune of the physician. The article explains Dr Boucard's life and his relationship with the arts (painting and photography), and tells the story of his laboratory until the 2000s, referring to the pharmacists who succeeded them, as well as the various buildings where were elaborated Lactéol's variants.

A French description of German psychology laboratories in 1893 by Victor Henri, a collaborator of Binet.

There is a rich tradition of writings about the foundation of psychology laboratories, particularly in the United States but also in France. Various documents exist concerning former German laboratories in American and French literature. But the most interesting French paper was certainly written by a young psychologist named Victor Henri (1872-1940) who was a close collaborator of Alfred Binet (1857-1911) in the 1890s. Visiting various psychology laboratories, he wrote, in 1893, a clear description of the laboratories of Wundt, G. E. Müller, Martius and Ebbinghaus. An English translation is given of Henri's paper and the historical importance of his contribution is here expounded by contrasting the German and French psychologies of the time.

"They Sweat for Science": The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory and Self-Experimentation in American Exercise Physiology.

In many scientific fields, the practice of self-experimentation waned over the course of the twentieth century. For exercise physiologists working today, however, the practice of self-experimentation is alive and well. This paper considers the role of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory and its scientific director, D. Bruce Dill, in legitimizing the practice of self-experimentation in exercise physiology. Descriptions of self-experimentation are drawn from papers published by members of the Harvard Fatigue Lab. Attention is paid to the ethical and practical justifications for self-experimentation in both the lab and the field. Born out of the practical, immediate demands of fatigue protocols, self-experimentation performed the long-term, epistemological function of uniting physiological data across time and space, enabling researchers to contribute to a general human biology program.

The Power of Exercise and the Exercise of Power: The Harvard Fatigue Laboratory, Distance Running, and the Disappearance of Work, 1919-1947.

In the early twentieth century, fatigue research marked an area of conflicting scientific, industrial, and cultural understandings of working bodies. These different understandings of the working body marked a key site of political conflict during the growth of industrial capitalism. Many fatigue researchers understood fatigue to be a physiological fact and allied themselves with Progressive-era reformers in urging industrial regulation. Opposed to these researchers were advocates of Taylorism and scientific management, who held that fatigue was a mental event and that productivity could be perpetually increased through managerial efficiency. Histories of this conflict typically cease with the end of the First World War, when it is assumed that industrial fatigue research withered away. This article extends the history of fatigue research through examining the activities of the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory in the 1920s and 1930s. The Laboratory developed sophisticated biochemical techniques to study the blood of exercising individuals. In particular, it found that exercising individuals could attain a biochemically "steady state," or equilibrium, and extrapolated from this to assert that fatigue was psychological, not physiological, in nature. In contrast to Progressive-era research, the Laboratory reached this conclusion through laboratory examination, not of industrial workers, but of Laboratory staff members and champion marathon runners. The translation of laboratory research to industrial settings, and the eventual erasure of physiological fatigue from discussions of labor, was a complex function of institutional settings, scientific innovation, and the cultural meanings of work and sport.

Alliances in Human Biology: The Harvard Committee on Industrial Physiology, 1929-1939.

In 1929 the newly-reorganized Rockefeller Foundation funded the work of a cross-disciplinary group at Harvard University called the Committee on Industrial Physiology (CIP). The committee's research and pedagogical work was oriented towards different things for different members of the alliance. The CIP program included a research component in the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory and Elton May's interpretation of the Hawthorne Studies; a pedagogical aspect as part of Wallace Donham's curriculum for Harvard Business School; and Lawrence Henderson's work with the Harvard Pareto Circle, his course Sociology 23, and the Harvard Society of Fellows. The key actors within the CIP alliance shared a concern with training men for elite careers in government service, business leadership, and academic prominence. But the first communications between the CIP and the Rockefeller Foundation did not emphasize training in human biology. Instead, the CIP presented itself as a coordinating body that would be able to organize all the varied work going on at Harvard that did not fit easily into one department, and it was on this basis that the CIP became legible to the President of Harvard, A. Lawrence Lowell, and to Rockefeller's Division of Social Sciences. The members of the CIP alliance used the term human biology for this project of research, training and institutional coordination.

The role of a laboratory of experimental psychology in the Brazilian education renewal of the 1930s.

In this article, we present the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology at the Belo Horizonte Teachers College (Escola de Aperfeiçoamento de Professores de Belo Horizonte) during its early years (1929-1932). The Laboratory is examined in the context of the prevailing public discourse on primary education and its renewal in Brazil. To achieve our goal, we describe the Belo Horizonte Teachers College and its Laboratory's director, tools, and functions. In presenting these aspects, we highlight the Laboratory of Experimental Psychology as an important place that promoted contact with psychological instruments, techniques, and theories. It contributed to the training of teachers and produced psychological knowledge for elementary education in Brazil.

[The "catgut's" laboratory of Auguste Fandre in Nancy]. / Les laboratoires de catgut d'Auguste Fandre, à Nancy.

Auguste Fandre, owner of a pharmacy in Nancy since 1906, specializes his enterprise in biological analyses and in the production of sterilized serums and blisters. In 1907, he imagines the "Catgut Fandre". During the First World War, his production becomes enormous and he must reorganize his laboratory. At the beginning of the 1920s, he undertakes the construction of moderns installations behind the pharmacy. These buildings are used up to the 1980s and then the laboratory is transfered to Ludres in the vicinity of Nancy. In the middle of these years, the old buildings are destroyed; they have been replaced by a fallow ground.