Biopolitics of "Acquired Immunity": The War Discourse and Feminist Response-Abilities in Art, Science, and Technology During COVID-19

Toward Next-Generation Phenomics: Precision Medicine, Spaceflight, Astronaut Omics, and Beyond

Large investments over many decades in genomics in diverse fields such as precision medicine, plant biology, and recently, in space life science research and astronaut omics were not accompanied by a commensurate focus on high-throughput and granular characterization of phenotypes, thus resulting in a "phenomics lag" in systems science. There are also limits to what can be achieved through increases in sample sizes in genotype-phenotype association studies without commensurate advances in phenomics. These challenges beg a question. What might next-generation phenomics look like, given that the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence offer prospects and challenges for high-throughput digital phenotyping as a key component of next-generation phenomics? While attempting to answer this question, I also reflect on governance of digital technology and next-generation phenomics. I argue that it is timely to broaden the technical discourses through a lens of political theory. In this context, this analysis briefly engages with the recent book "The Earthly Community: Reflections on the Last Utopia," written by the historian and political theorist Achille Mbembe. The question posed by the book, "Will we be able to invent different modes of measuring that might open up the possibility of a different aesthetics, a different politics of inhabiting the Earth, of repairing and sharing the planet?" is directly relevant to healing of human diseases in ways that are cognizant of the interdependency of human and nonhuman animal health, and critical and historically informed governance of digital technologies that promise to benefit next-generation phenomics.

Twin Scholarships of Glycomedicine and Precision Medicine in Times of Single-Cell Multiomics

Systems biology and multiomics research expand the prospects of planetary health innovations. In this context, this mini-review unpacks the twin scholarships of glycomedicine and precision medicine in the current era of single-cell multiomics. A significant growth in glycan research has been observed over the past decade, unveiling and establishing co- and post-translational modifications as dynamic indicators of both pathological and physiological conditions. Systems biology technologies have enabled large-scale and high-throughput glycoprofiling and access to data-intensive biological repositories for global research. These advancements have established glycans as a pivotal third code of life, alongside nucleic acids and amino acids. However, challenges persist, particularly in the simultaneous analysis of the glycome and transcriptome in single cells owing to technical limitations. In addition, holistic views of the complex molecular interactions between glycomics and other omics types remain elusive. We underscore and call for a paradigm shift toward the exploration of integrative glycan platforms and analysis methods for single-cell multiomics research and precision medicine biomarker discovery. The integration of multiple datasets from various single-cell omics levels represents a crucial application of systems biology in understanding complex cellular processes and is essential for advancing the twin scholarships of glycomedicine and precision medicine.

Major Genetic Drivers of Statin Treatment Response in African Populations and Pharmacogenetics of Dyslipidemia Through a One Health Lens

A One Health lens is increasingly significant to address the intertwined challenges in planetary health concerned with the health of humans, nonhuman animals, plants, and ecosystems. A One Health approach can benefit the public health systems in Africa that are overburdened by noncommunicable, infectious, and environmental diseases. Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the previously overlooked two-fold importance of pharmacogenetics (PGx), for individually tailored treatment of noncommunicable diseases and environmental pathogens. For example, dyslipidemia, a common cardiometabolic risk factor, has been identified as an independent COVID-19 severity risk factor. Observational data suggest that patients with COVID-19 infection receiving lipid-lowering therapy may have better outcomes. However, among African patients, the response to these drugs varies from patient to patient, pointing to the possible contribution of genetic variation in important pharmacogenes. The PGx of lipid-lowering therapies may underlie differences in treatment responses observed among dyslipidemia patients as well as patients comorbid with COVID-19 and dyslipidemia. Genetic variations in APOE, ABCB1, CETP, CYP2C9, CYP3A4, CYP3A5, HMGCR, LDLR, NPC1L1, and SLCO1B1 genes affect the pharmacogenomics of statins, and they have individually been linked to differential responses to dyslipidemia and COVID-19 treatment. African populations are underrepresented in PGx research. This leads to poor accounting of additional diverse genetic variants that could be important in understanding interindividual and between-population variations in therapeutic responses to dyslipidemia and COVID-19. This expert review examines and synthesizes the salient and priority PGx variations, as seen through a One Health lens in Africa, to improve and inform personalized medicine in both dyslipidemia and COVID-19.

Feminism Is for Everyone: Scientists, Too

Critically informed engagement in politics and the knowledge of social theory help democratize knowledge production, and redress power asymmetries in science and society. A feminist lens is one of the many ways in which power asymmetries in science can be critically unpacked and interrupted. There are many strands of feminism and feminist theory that differ in their approaches to resist patriarchy and injustices in science and society. As an example, I adopt here the definition of feminism of the late cultural critic bell hooks because her works underscore that feminism is an intersectional liberatory methodology for everyone to resist multiple forms of oppression simultaneously. Queer theory is a strand of social theory that came to prominence since the 1990s in particular. Queer feminism continues to shape feminist writing on science cultures and the knowledge-based innovations contemporary science strives to accomplish. Systems science brings about systems thinking, and that includes rethinking science as culture beyond a narrow realm of technology, and being cognizant of the broader social, feminist, queer, and political contexts of science around the world.

Oral Microbiome, Mental Health, and Sleep Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Observational Study in Chinese and Korean American Immigrants

COVID-19 is a systemic disease whose effects are not limited to the respiratory system. The oral microbiome (OM)-brain axis is of growing interest in understanding the broader, neuropsychiatric, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through a systems biology lens. In this context, mental health and sleep disturbance are often reported by Asian Americans. In a cross-sectional observational study design, we examined the associations of the oral microbiome with mental health among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic (between November 2020 and April 2021). Participants (n = 20) were adult Chinese and Korean American immigrants in Atlanta, Georgia, and primarily born outside the United States (60%) with a mean age of 34.8 years ±14 (standard deviation). Participants reported depressive symptoms, anxiety, and sleep disturbance, as measured by standard questionnaires. The OM was characterized by 16S rRNA V3-V4 gene using saliva. Depressive symptoms and anxiety were reported by 60% (n = 12) of participants, whereas 35% (n = 7) reported sleep disturbance. The α-diversity was significantly associated with depressive symptoms, and marginally with anxiety. Participants with depressive symptoms and anxiety had enriched Rothia and Scardovia, respectively, whereas those without symptoms had enriched Fusobacterium. Individuals with sleep disturbance had enriched Kingella. In conclusion, this study suggests significant associations of the OM diversity with certain mental health dimensions such as depressive symptoms and anxiety. Specific taxa were associated with these symptoms. The present observations in a modest sample size suggest the possible relevance of the OM-brain axis in studies of mental health during COVID-19.

The Promises of Proteomics and Metabolomics for Unravelling the Mechanism and Side Effect Landscape of Beta-Adrenoceptor Antagonists in Cardiovascular Therapeutics

Cardiovascular medicine witnessed notable advances for the past decade. Multiomics research offers a new lens for precision/personalized medicine for existing and emerging drugs used in the cardiovascular clinic. Beta-blockers are vital in treating hypertension and chronic heart failure. However, clinical use of beta-blockers is also associated with side effects and person-to-person variations in their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms that underpin the side effect landscape of beta-blockers is imperative to optimize their therapeutic value. In addition, current research emphasizes the circadian clock's vital roles in regulating pharmacological parameters. Administration of the beta-blockers at specific dosing times could potentially improve their effectiveness and reduce their toxic effects. The rapid development of mass spectrometry technologies with chemical proteomics and thermal proteome profiling methods has also substantially advanced our understanding of underlying side effects mechanisms by unbiased deconvolution of drug targets and off-targets. Metabolomics is steadily demonstrating its utility for conducting mechanistic and toxicological analyses of pharmacological compounds. This article discusses the promises of cutting-edge proteomics and metabolomics approaches to investigate the molecular targets, mechanism of action, adverse effects, and dosing time dependency of beta-blockers.

Narrative Metadata: Leaving the War Metaphor Behind and Unpacking the Control Tactics of Biopower in COVID-19

Narratives are a veritable type of metadata. Narratives are power-laden storylines that conjure up emotions and enact value systems that markedly affect scientific practices, and to what ends, and for whom science and health innovations are made available. Narratives, if they are left unchecked, can undermine critical thinking and the agency of publics, threatening the possibilities for robust, responsible, relevant, and democratic science. One such narrative, a sociotechnical metadata in its own right, and of immense relevance in the current historical moment of the pandemic, is the uncritical use of the war and other military metaphors in COVID-19 science and planetary health interventions. In October 2022 issue of OMICS, Ebru Yetişkin adopts a biophilosophical transdisciplinary approach and feminist versions of science and technology studies to examine the ways in which the war discourse and other military metaphors have been deployed for the sake of biopower during COVID-19. In this article, we discuss the need to critically unpack the narrative metadata to leave the war metaphor behind, and hold to account the control tactics of biopower embedded in the COVID-19 pandemic.