Debemos aprovechar sin duda los beneficios que traen las nuevas tecnologías, y debemos aplicarlas al propio ser humano en la medida en que una reflexión prolongada y serena nos diga que esa aplicación proporciona mejoras en un sentido pleno. Pero eso no implica que debamos aceptar el discurso ideológico del transhumanismo. Este discurso debe buena parte de su poder de convicción a ciertos presupuestos filosóficos que no han sido suficientemente explicitados y discutidos. El presente trabajo pretende poner de relieve algunos de ellos.
La biología sintética encierra un enorme potencial transformador de los organismos vivos, incluyendo en un futuro quizás no muy lejano la transformación del propio genoma humano. Son claras las conexiones que pueden establecerse entre este enorme potencial transformador y las pretensiones de los partidarios del biomejoramiento humano. La construcción de genomas completamente sintéticos puede cambiar de forma definitiva e irreversible aspectos fundamentales de la vida humana, quizás hasta el punto de dar lugar a un organismo que difiera de nuestra especie como ahora nosotros podemos diferir de los grandes simios. En este artículo se discuten los principales pros y contras que ha suscitado este debate, señalando algunos de los presupuestos más problemáticos de las propuestas recientes sobre el biomejoramiento humano.
Uno de los puntales principales de la tesis de la falsificación de Nietzsche está en su epistemología evolucionista, pero, precisamente por ello, esta tesis carece de una fundamentación adecuada, ya que desde consideraciones evolucionistas no hay bases suficientes para sustentar el ficcionalismo de Nietzsche frente a posiciones realistas epistémicas. El argumento implicado en el desarrollo del ficcionalismo nietzscheano es una modalidad del argumento falaz que David C. Stove denominó «la Joya» o «el peor argumento del mundo». Y si bien este argumento no es la única vía que Nietzsche emplea para sustentar su antirrealismo, sí es la principal.
La pandemia de la covid-19 ha puesto de manifiesto una vulnerabilidad parcialmente olvidada. Este período tan hostil nos ha hecho ser más conscientes de la finitud de nuestra vida y de los peligros a los que estamos expuestos por ser el organismo biológico que somos. Ante tal panorama, el transhumanismo ha aprovechado la coyuntura para proclamar, con más fuerza que nunca, los beneficios que tendría la aplicación de las nuevas tecnologías en el propio ser humano. Sin embargo, al mismo tiempo, los detractores de este movimiento han señalado, con la misma intensidad, cómo la pandemia ha debilitado muchas de sus promesas. Nosotros mostramos cómo tanto los primeros como los segundos siguen manteniendo posiciones radicalmente distintas en torno a qué se debe hacer con respecto a la vulnerabilidad, pero ambos han visto la oportunidad en esta pandemia para iluminar cuál debe ser la dirección correcta para el futuro de nuestra especie. Este acontecimiento, no afincado en los terrenos de ciencia-ficción, puede llegar a ser decisivo para repensar los grandes retos que (aún) nos esperan.
The synthesis, full characterization, photochemical properties, and cytotoxic activity toward cisplatin-resistant cancer cell lines of new semisquaraine-type Pt(II) complexes are presented. The synthesis of eight semisquaraine-type ligands has been carried out by means of an innovative, straightforward methodology. A thorough structural NMR and X-ray diffraction analysis of the new ligands and complexes has been done. Density functional theory calculations have allowed to assign the trans configuration of the platinum center. Through the structural modification of the ligands, it has been possible to synthesize some complexes, which have turned out to be photoactive at wavelengths that allow their activation in cell cultures and, importantly, two of them show remarkable solubility in biological media. Photodegradation processes have been studied in depth, including the structural identification of photoproducts, thus justifying the changes observed after irradiation. From biological assessment, complexes C7 and C8 have been demonstrated to behave as promising photoactivatable compounds in the assayed cancer cell lines. Upon photoactivation, both complexes are capable of inducing a higher cytotoxic effect on the tested cells compared with nonphotoactivated compounds. Among the observed results, it is remarkable to note that C7 showed a PI > 50 in HeLa cells, and C8 showed a PI > 40 in A2780 cells, being also effective over cisplatin-resistant A2780cis cells (PI = 7 and PI = 4, respectively). The mechanism of action of these complexes has been studied, revealing that these photoactivated platinum complexes would actually present a combined mode of action, a therapeutically potential advantage. ; Instituto de Salud Carlos III ; Spanish Government RTI2018-098027-B-C22 ; European Commission BIO2015-67358-C2-2-P CTQ2016-75363-R ; Spanish Government Instituto de Salud Carlos III Spanish Government ; Generalitat de Catalunya 2017SGR-864
This work was supported by FONDECYT, Project No. 1200748. Y.R.Y. acknowledges funding from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile via a VRI 2015 -2017 fellowship and Ph.D. CONICYT 2018 fellowship No. 21182120. A.M.-S. acknowledges funding from Ph.D. CONICYT fellowship No. 51150322. The authors also gratefully acknowledge financial support from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion, Spain (grant numbers CTQ2016-77614-P and RED2018-102387-T) and "Plan Propio de I + D + i" of the Universidad Castilla-La Mancha (grant number 2020-GRIN29078). ; A set of trisubstituted guanidine ligands L1H2-L4H2 with general formula (PrHN)(2)CNR (R = Ph (L1H2), R = 2,4,6-Me3C6H2(L2H2), R = p-BrC6H4(L3H2), R = (C5H4)Fe(C5H5), Fc (L4H2)) was employed to synthesize a family of mono- and dinuclear asymmetric methyl aluminum guanidinato compounds ((L2H)AlMe2 (1), (L4H)AlMe2 (2), (L-1)Al2Me4 (3), (L-2)Al2Me4 (4), (L-3)Al2Me4 (5), (L-4)Al2Me4 (6), (L1H)(2)AlMe (7), (L2H)(2)AlMe (8), and (L4H)(2)AlMe (9)) that were characterized by NMR spectroscopy (1-9) and single-crystal X-ray diffraction (4 and 8). These compounds were tested as catalysts for the fixation of carbon dioxide with epoxides to give cyclic carbonates, using tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) as cocatalyst. The reactions were performed under solvent-free conditions at 70 degrees C and 1 bar CO2 pressure. Complexes 1-9 were more active than their respective free guanidines under the same experimental conditions for the synthesis of styrene carbonate (11a). The dinuclear complex 6 was the most efficient and active catalyst for the synthesis of several monosubstituted carbonates (11a-1) with excellent conversions and selectivities. Furthermore, the formation of some disubstituted cyclic carbonates (13a-c) using this dinuclear aluminum catalyst was also studied. ; Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) CONICYT FONDECYT 1200748 ; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile ; Comision Nacional de Investigacion Cientifica y Tecnologica (CONICYT) 51150322 21182120 ; Spanish Government CTQ2016-77614-P RED2018-102387-T ; "Plan Propio de I + D + i" of the Universidad Castilla-La Mancha 2020-GRIN29078
The synthesis, characterization and cytotoxic activity against different cancer cell lines of various mesoporous silica-based materials containing folate targeting moieties and a cytotoxic fragment based on a triphenyltin(IV) derivative have been studied. Two different mesoporous nanostructured silica systems have been used: firstly, micronic silica particles of the MSU-2 type and, secondly, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) of about 80 nm. Both series of materials have been characterized by different methods, such as powder X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, absorption spectroscopy and microscopy. In addition, these systems have been tested against four different cancer cell lines, namely, OVCAR-3, DLD-1, A2780 and A431, in order to observe if the size of the silica-based systems and the quantity of incorporated folic acid influence their cytotoxic action. The results show that the materials are more active when the quantity of folic acid is higher, especially in those cells that overexpress folate receptors such as OVCAR-3 and DLD-1. In addition, the study of the potential modulation of the soluble folate receptor alpha (FOLR1) by treatment with the synthesized materials has been carried out using OVCAR-3, DLD-1, A2780 and A431 tumour cell lines. The results show that a relatively high concentration of folic acid functionalization of the nanostructured silica together with the incorporation of the cytotoxic tin fragment leads to an increase in the quantity of the soluble FOLR1 secreted by the tumour cells. In addition, the studies reported here show that this increase of the soluble FOLR1 occurs presumably by cutting the glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol anchor of membrane FR-α and by the release of intracellular FR-α. This study validates the potential use of a combination of mesoporous silica materials co-functionalized with folate targeting molecules and an organotin(IV) drug as a strategy for the therapeutic treatment of several cancer cells overexpressing folate receptors. ; Spanish Government RTI2018-094322-B-I00 CTQ2017-90802-REDT ; Ministry of Research and Innovation, CNCS-UEFISCDI within PNCDI III PN-III-P4-ID-PCCF-2016-0142
This work has been supported by the Regional Government of Madrid (Project ACES2030-CM , S2018/EMT-4319 ), the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation , and the Spanish State Research Agency (Project PGC2018-099296-B-I00 ) ; A novel Zn-based-MOF material, called Zn-URJC-8, containing two different organic linkers, 2-aminoterephtallic acid and 4,4-bipyridyl, has been synthetized and used for catalytic purposes for the first time. The structure of Zn-URJC-8 has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) showing -NH2 groups inward-facing of narrow pores, providing the material with excellent properties as CO2 adsorbent. The good results obtained by means of carbon dioxide adsorption isotherms have demonstrated the high interaction between CO2 and -NH2 groups with a Qst value of 54 kJ/mol at low coverage. The Zn-URJC-8 material also display promising results as catalyst for CO2 transformation in added value products. Almost complete conversion of epichlorohydrin and CO2 in cycloaddition reaction has been achieved under mild conditions, and the influence of different radical groups coordinated to the epoxides has been evaluated on the reaction yield. The recyclability has been also tested and the structural integrity of the catalyst is maintained after several consecutive reaction cycles. ; Regional Government of Madrid ACES2030-CM, S2018/EMT-4319 ; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación ; Agencia Estatal de Investigación PGC2018-099296-B-I00
Red Guipuzcoana de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion OF218/2018 University of Basque Country GIU 17/13 Basque Government IT1005-16 IT1291-19 IT1310-19 Junta de Andalucia FQM-394 Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) PGC2018-102052-A-C22 PGC2018-102052-B-C21 MAT2016-75883-C2-1-P European Union (EU) ESF ; In this work, three isostructural metal-organic frameworks based on frst row transition metal ions and 2-aminoisonicotinate (2ain) ligands, namely, {[M(μ-2ain)2]·DMF}n [MII=Co (1), Ni (2), Zn (3)], are evaluated for their sensing capacity of various solvents and metal ions by monitoring the modulation of their magnetic and photoluminescence properties. The crystal structure consists of an open diamond-like topological 3D framework that leaves huge voids, which allows crystallizing two-fold interpenetrated architecture that still retains large porosity. Magnetic measurements performed on 1 reveal the occurrence of feld-induced spin-glass behaviour characterized by a frequency-independent relaxation. Solvent-exchange experiments lead successfully to the replacement of lattice molecules by DMSO and MeOH, which, on its part, show dominating SIM behaviour with low blocking temperatures but substantially high energy barriers for the reversal of the magnetization. Photoluminescence studied at variable temperature on compound 3 show its capacity to provide bright blue emission under UV excitation, which proceeds through a ligand-centred charge transfer mechanism as confrmed by timedependent DFT calculations. Turn-of and/or shift of the emission is observed for suspensions of 3 in diferent solvents and aqueous solutions containing metal ions.
Lozano-Ferna´ndez et al. (Lozano-Ferna´ndez I, Blain HA, Lo´pez-Garcı´a JM, Agustı´ J. 2014. Biochronology of the first hominid remains in Europe using the vole Mimomys savini: Fuente Nueva 3 and Barranco Leo´n D, Guadix-Baza Basin, south-eastern Spain. Hist Biol: Int J Paleobiol. doi:10.1080/08912963.2014.920015) recently published age estimates for two Late Villafranchian sites of Orce (Guadix-Baza basin, SE Spain), BL-D and FN-3, which provide some of the earliest evidence of human presence in Western Europe. The estimates were obtained from mean Lm1 values of the water vole Mimomys savini preserved in the sites and a couple of rectilinear equations derived in the Atapuerca TD section for site age on tooth length. However, this chronometric tool has problems that discourage its use in biostratigraphy, including: (1) the assumption of an orthogenetic trend of Lm1 increase during the evolution of the M. savini/Arvicola lineage; (2) the use of a chronology for the TD section not supported by original ESR data; (3) the discrepancies between the mean Lm1 values published for the TD levels and (4) the chronological ranges predicted when the standard deviations are used, which are exceedingly large as to be of value for biostratigraphic purposes. As a result, the pseudo numerical ages estimated for the Orce sites only add noise to the timing of the first human dispersal in Europe, which is based on a combination of results from well-established techniques such as palaeomagnetism, biostratigraphy and ESR. ; This study has been funded by the 'Consejerı´a de Educacio´n, Cultura y Deportes' (contract Exp. B090678SV18BC) and 'Consejerı´a de Economı´a, Innovacio´n y Ciencia' (project P11- HUM-7248) of the Junta de Andalucı´a. MD is currently the recipient of an International Outgoing Fellowship from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] under REA grant agreement [PIOF-GA-2013-626474].
Lozano-Ferna´ndez et al. (Lozano-Ferna´ndez I, Blain HA, Lo´pez-Garcı´a JM, Agustı´ J. 2014. Biochronology of the first hominid remains in Europe using the vole Mimomys savini: Fuente Nueva 3 and Barranco Leo´n D, Guadix-Baza Basin, south-eastern Spain. Hist Biol: Int J Paleobiol. doi:10.1080/08912963.2014.920015) recently published age estimates for two Late Villafranchian sites of Orce (Guadix-Baza basin, SE Spain), BL-D and FN-3, which provide some of the earliest evidence of human presence in Western Europe. The estimates were obtained from mean Lm1 values of the water vole Mimomys savini preserved in the sites and a couple of rectilinear equations derived in the Atapuerca TD section for site age on tooth length. However, this chronometric tool has problems that discourage its use in biostratigraphy, including: (1) the assumption of an orthogenetic trend of Lm1 increase during the evolution of the M. savini/Arvicola lineage; (2) the use of a chronology for the TD section not supported by original ESR data; (3) the discrepancies between the mean Lm1 values published for the TD levels and (4) the chronological ranges predicted when the standard deviations are used, which are exceedingly large as to be of value for biostratigraphic purposes. As a result, the pseudo numerical ages estimated for the Orce sites only add noise to the timing of the first human dispersal in Europe, which is based on a combination of results from well-established techniques such as palaeomagnetism, biostratigraphy and ESR. ; This study has been funded by the 'Consejerı´a de Educacio´n, Cultura y Deportes' (contract Exp. B090678SV18BC) and 'Consejerı´a de Economı´a, Innovacio´n y Ciencia' (project P11- HUM-7248) of the Junta de Andalucı´a. MD is currently the recipient of an International Outgoing Fellowship from the People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] under REA grant agreement [PIOF-GA-2013-626474].
We report the formation of five novel multifunctional coordination polymers based on 1H-indazole-4- carboxylic acid (HL). To the best of our knowledge, these complexes are the first examples of coordination compounds constructed with this interesting ligand. These materials were synthesized by solvothermal routes, possess different 2D-structures and show interesting magnetic properties due to the copper compound showing an unusual spin-canted effect while the anisotropic cobalt material behaves as a fieldinduced single molecule magnet. MTT assays performed on human embryonic kidney (HEK293) and mouse skin melanoma (B16-F10) cell lines indicated that the Cd-based compound was the only one exhibiting dose-dependent toxicity on B16-F10 cells, most likely due to the release of toxic Cd(II). Cadmium and zinc polymers exhibit interesting luminescence properties. The fact that zinc polymers did not exhibit inherent toxicity against both cancer and non-cancerous cells make this new family an excellent candidate for further investigation in the field of luminescent materials with biomedical applications. ; Junta de Andalucia FQM-394 FQM-1484 ; Red Guipuzcoana de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion OF218/2018 ; University of Basque Country GIU 17/13 ; Basque Government IT1005-16 ; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) PGC2018-102052-A-C22 PGC2018-102052-B-C21 ; Junta de Andalucia FQM-394 FQM-1484 ; European Union (EU) ; ESF ; Government of the Basque Country ; FEDER/MCIU/AEI RYC-2016-21042 JdC-2017
A couple of isostructural coordination polymers with the general formula [Ln4(pymca)4(AcO)8]n have been obtained from reactions between pyrimidine-2-carboxylate (pymca) ligand and rare-earth ions (Ln = Dy (1), Nd (2)). These two-dimensional compounds have been characterized and the crystal structures have been solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction technique, resulting in layers along the bc plane based on pymca and acetate anions that act as bridging ligands between metal atoms. Given that pymca and acetate anions possess carboxylate and hetero-nitrogen groups, it is possible to build a coordination polymer whose metal centers have a nine coordination. Furthermore, static and dynamic magnetic measurements of compound 1 reveal the lack of single molecule-magnet (SMM) behavior in this system due to the following two effects: (i) the ligand field does not stabilize magnetic ground states well separated from excited states, and (ii) anisotropy axes are not collinear, according to results with Magellan software. On another level, luminescent properties of compounds 1 and 2 are attributed to singlet π-π* transitions centered on pymca ligand as corroborated by time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. ; Junta de Andalucia FQM-394 ; Red Guipuzcoana de Ciencia, Tecnologia e Innovacion OF218/2018 ; University of Basque Country GIU 17/13 ; Basque Government IT1005-16 ; Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) PGC2018-102052-A-C22 PGC2018-102052-B-C21 PGC2018-102047-B-I00 ; European funding (ERDF) ; European funding (ESF) ; Government of the Basque Country
This research was partially supported by the fellowship H2020-MSCA-IF-2017-794885-SELFSENS and by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport under Grant FPU18/01376 and funded by Spanish ministry of Science and Innovation grant number PGC2018-102052-B-C21. ; In this letter, we present the extension of a previous work on a cost-effective method for fabricating highly sensitive humidity sensors on flexible substrates with a reversible response, allowing precise monitoring of the humidity threshold. In that work we demonstrated the use of three-dimensional metal-organic framework (MOF) film deposition based on the perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylate linker, potassium as metallic center and the interspacing of silver interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) as humidity sensors. In this work, we study one of the most important issues in efficient and reproducible mass production, which is to optimize the most important processes' parameters in their fabrication, such as controlling the thickness of the sensor's layers. We demonstrate this method not only allows for the creation of humidity sensors, but it also is possible to change the humidity value that changes the actuator state. ; Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport H2020-MSCA-IF-2017-794885-SELFSENS ; Spanish Government FPU18/01376 ; PGC2018-102052-B-C21
