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225The fructose 6-phosphate (Fru-6P) saturation curve for phosphofructokinase (PFK) from E. coli is sigmoidal in the presence of saturating MgATP levels, while the corresponding curve for B. stearothermophilus PFK is essentially hyperbolic. Sigmoidality can be due to apparent cooperativity arising from the kinetic mechanism of an enzyme. We have determined the kinetic mechanism of B. stearothermophilus PFK (BsPFK). BsPFK was found to obey a non rapid-equilibrium random mechanism similar to the…Read more
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219Review of Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life by Lee M. Silver (review)Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion 11 248-253. 2007.
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194Review of A Moral Climate: The Ethics of Global Warming by Michael Northcott (review)Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 4 499-501. 2010.
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730Climate Justice, Hurricane Katrina, and African American EnvironmentalismJournal of African American Studies 3 (18): 305-314. 2014.The images of human suffering from New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina remain seared in our nation's collective memory. More than 8 years on, the city and its African-American population still have not recovered fully. This reality highlights an important truth: the disturbances that accompany climate change will first and foremost affect minority communities, many of whom are economically disadvantaged. This paper: (1) describes how Hurricane Katrina, an example of the type of nat…Read more
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215ANT-OAR Fails on All Counts: Method of Harvesting Stem Cells Riddled with Scientific and Ethical FlawsScience and Theology News (1): 23-25. 2006.The altered nuclear transfer-oocyte assisted reprogramming (ANT-OAR) proposal has serious scientific and philosophical flaws, and it is not a morally acceptable means of obtaining embryonic stem cells. Note that this is the final preprint of an article that was published in the newspaper Science and Theology News in June 2006.
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417The Flawed Scientific Basis of the Altered Nuclear Transfer-Oocyte Assisted Reprogramming (ANT-OAR) ProposalStem Cell Reviews and Reports 1 (3): 60-65. 2007.First put forth in June 2005, the altered nuclear transfer-oocyte assisted reprogramming (ANT-OAR) proposal has been promoted as an ethically-acceptable alternative to the embryo-destructive methods now used to obtain embryonic stem cells. According to its proponents, the goal of ANT-OAR is to use the cloning process to create a pluripotent stem cell. This would be achieved through overexpression of the transcription factor Nanog (or a hypothetical substitute) both in the enucleated egg cell and…Read more
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289Partial Trajectory: The Story of the Altered Nuclear Transfer-Oocyte Assisted Reprogramming (ANT-OAR) ProposalLinacre Quarterly 1 (74): 50-59. 2007.This essay aims to tell the story of the “altered nuclear transfer-oocyte assisted reprogramming,” or ANT-OAR, proposal—from its conception by Professor William Hurlbut of the President’s Council on Bioethics—to its adoption and promotion by a group of conservative, mostly Catholic philosophers, theologians and scientists—to its eventual demise in Congress. It also will give some reflections on how ANT-OAR promotes a genetically deterministic view of the human organism and can lead down a slippe…Read more
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405Global Climate Change and Catholic ResponsibilityJournal of Catholic Social Thought 4 (2): 373-401. 2007.Citation: Braun G, Hellwig MK, Byrnes WM (2007) Global Climate Change and Catholic Responsibility: Facts and Faith Response. Journal of Catholic Social Thought 4(2): 373-401. Abstract: The scientific evidence is now overwhelming that human activity is causing the Earth’s atmosphere to grow hotter, which is leading to global climate change. If current rates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continue, it is predicted that there will be dramatic changes, including flooding, more intense heat waves …Read more
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760Darwin’s Gift to Science and Religion by Francisco J. Ayala (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 9 (4): 789-792. 2009.Comment from Author (12-17-13): Please note that the correct term for the theological attempt to resolve the problem of how evil can exist in a world ruled by a loving and all-powerful God is "theodicy," not "theodicity" as indicated in the second paragraph on the first page of the article. I apologize for the error.
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450Human Genetic Technology, Eugenics, and Social JusticeThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 1 (4): 555-581. 2001.In this new post-genomic age of medicine and biomedical technology, there will be novel approaches to understanding disease, and to finding drugs and cures for diseases. Hundreds of new “disease genes” thought to be the causative agents of various genetic maladies will be identified and added to the list of hundreds of such genes already identified. Based on this knowledge, many new genetic tests will be developed and used in genetic screening programs. Genetic screening is the foundation upon w…Read more
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326The ecological imperative and its application to ethical issues in human genetic technologyEthics in Science and Environmental Politics 2003 63-65. 2003.As a species, we are on the cusp of being able to alter that which makes us uniquely human, our genome. Two new genetic technologies, embryo selection and germline engineering, are either in use today or may be developed in the future. Embryo selection acts to alter the human gene pool, reducing genetic diversity, while germline engineering will have the ability to alter directly the genomes of engineered individuals. Our genome has come to be what it is through an evolutionary process extending…Read more
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275Dawkins, Richard, A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 4 (1): 216-218. 2004.
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298McKibben, Bill. Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 4 (3): 639-641. 2004.
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326Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, by the President’s Council on Bioethics (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 5 (1): 205-207. 2005.
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368The Panda’s Black Box: Opening Up the Intelligent Design Controversy edited by Nathaniel C. Comfort (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 8 (2): 385-387. 2008.
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334Deeper than Darwin: The Prospect for Religion in the Age of Evolution, by John F. Haught (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 6 (1): 179-182. 2006.
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265Ruse, Michael. Can a Darwinian Be a Christian?: The Relationship between Science and Religion (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 2 (3): 564-566. 2002.
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362Confessions of a" pro-life" Obama supporterThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 9 (2): 241-244. 2009.The author supported Barack Obama for president, and he agrees with Obama on most issues. However, he opposes the federal funding of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research. Besides involving the destruction of human life, hESC research can (1) result in the exploitation of women, and (2) cause human reproduction to become a means to an end, i.e., human embryos will become commodities to be bought and sold. Recent scientific developments show the growing potential of induced pluripotent stem (…Read more
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274Why human "altered nuclear transfer" is unethical: a holistic systems viewThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 5 (2): 271-279. 2005.A remarkable event occurred at the December 3, 2004, meeting of the U. S. President’s Council on Bioethics. Council member William Hurlbut, a physician and Consulting Professor in the Program in Human Biology at Stanford University, formally unveiled a proposal that he claimed would solve the ethical problems surrounding the extraction of stem cells from human embryos. The proposal would involve the creation of genetically defective embryos that “never rise to the level of integrated organismal…Read more
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355Epigenetics, Evolution, and UsThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 3 (3): 489-500. 2003.This essay moves along broad lines from molecular biology to evolutionary biology and ecology to theology. Its objectives are to: 1) present some recent scientific findings in the emerging field of epigenetics that indicate that it is “the genome in context,” not genes per se, that are important in biological development and evolution; 2) show that this weakens the gene-centric neo-Darwinist explanation of evolution which, in fact, shares a certain preformationist orientation with intelligent de…Read more
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294Stock, Gregory. Redesigning Humans: Our Inevitable Genetic Future (review)The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 3 (2): 427-429. 2003.
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383Direct Reprogramming and Ethics in Stem Cell ResearchThe National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly 8 (2): 277-290. 2008.The recent successful conversion of adult cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells through direct reprogramming opens a new chapter in the study of disease and the development of regenerative medicine. It also provides a historic opportunity to turn away from the ethically problematic use of embryonic stem cells isolated through the destruction of human embryos. Moreover, because iPS cells are patient specific, they render therapeutic cloning unnecessary. To maximize therapeutic benefit, …Read more
Louisiana State University
PhD, 1994
Areas of Specialization
Other Academic Areas |
Areas of Interest
Applied Ethics |
Philosophy of Biology |
Other Academic Areas |