A set of principles and practical suggestions for equitable fieldwork in biology.

Field biology is an area of research that involves working directly with living organisms in situ through a practice known as "fieldwork." Conducting fieldwork often requires complex logistical planning within multiregional or multinational teams, interacting with local communities at field sites, and collaborative research led by one or a few of the core team members. However, existing power imbalances stemming from geopolitical history, discrimination, and professional position, among other factors, perpetuate inequities when conducting these research endeavors. After reflecting on our own research programs, we propose four general principles to guide equitable, inclusive, ethical, and safe practices in field biology: be collaborative, be respectful, be legal, and be safe. Although many biologists already structure their field programs around these principles or similar values, executing equitable research practices can prove challenging and requires careful consideration, especially by those in positions with relatively greater privilege. Based on experiences and input from a diverse group of global collaborators, we provide suggestions for action-oriented approaches to make field biology more equitable, with particular attention to how those with greater privilege can contribute. While we acknowledge that not all suggestions will be applicable to every institution or program, we hope that they will generate discussions and provide a baseline for training in proactive, equitable fieldwork practices.

Military Dogs and Their Soldier Companions: The More-than-human Biopolitics of Leishmaniasis in Conflict-torn Colombia.

Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease that produces growing skin ulcers. In Colombia, the transmitting phlebotomine sandfly is native to the same jungles that have been the primary theater of war. Although combatants are the most affected by leishmaniasis, military landmine detection dogs are also significantly impacted. This article draws on ethnographic field research with human and canine members of the Colombian military. While their leishmaniasis ulcers constitute a shared expression of violence that makes evident the closeness of the human-dog bond, differences in their state-provided health care reveal the production of shifting species hierarchies. I argue that war scrambles both human-dog affective relationships and biopolitically configured interspecies hierarchies in ways that produce suffering, not just for humans and dogs separately, but also for the bonds they forge together. Building peace through health care demands repairing the ways in which armed violence has rendered the bonds between humans and nonhumans pathological.

Berberine inhibits cell growth and mediates caspase-independent cell death in human pancreatic cancer cells.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive human malignancies with an increasing incidence worldwide. In addition to the poor survival rates, combinations using gemcitabine as a backbone have failed to show any benefit beyond monotherapy. These facts underscore an urgent need for novel therapeutic options and motivated us to study the effect of berberine on pancreatic cancer cells. Here, we undertook an mRNA-based gene expression profiling study in order to get deeper insight into the molecular targets mediating the growth inhibitory effects of berberine on pancreatic cancer cells compared to normal ones. Twenty-four hours after treatment, berberine showed preferential selectivity toward pancreatic cancer cells compared to normal ones. Moreover, expression profiling and Ingenuity pathway analysis results showed that the cytotoxicity of berberine was accompanied with an activation of BRCA1-mediated DNA damage response, G1/S and G2/M cell cycle checkpoint regulation, and P53 signalling pathways. The activation of these signalling pathways might be explained by the fact that berberine intercalates DNA and induces DNA strand break through inhibition of topoisomerases and induction of DNA lesions.