Genetics

Genetics may influence outcome of efforts to promote maternal attachment – PLOS Research News

Secure attachment between mother and infant boosts childrens social, emotional and physical development. Many studies have investigated ways to strengthen maternal-infant attachment and how to implement these strategies for maximum effect, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. But few have asked whether genetics can explain why some children are more likely to benefit than others.

In a new study, Barak Morgan at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and colleagues tested whether a genetic polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene affects maternal-infant attachment. They reanalyzed data from a previous study that showed that home visits from a parenting program called Thula Sana promoted secure maternal-infant attachment in a low-income community in South Africa. Morgans team used the genetic data collected from approximately half of those who participated in the original trial when they were 13 years of age to compare attachment rates for participants with different polymorphisms of the serotonin transporter gene.

The scientists found that the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene may indeed explain why some infants were more likely than others to form strong attachments with their mothers after the home visits. The probability of forming a secure attachment depended on each childs specific versions, or alleles, of the serotonin transporter gene.

For children whose DNA carried one or two copies of the short allele of the serotonin transporter gene, Thula Sana proved highly effective at improving rates of secure infant attachment. Eighty four percent of children with the short allele formed secure attachment after the program, versus just 58 percent of children with the short allele who did not receive home visits.

Children with two copies of the long allele of the serotonin transporter gene, showed no measurable benefit from the home visits. For these children, the probability of secure maternal-infant attachment was 71 percent if the family received home visits and 70 percent if they did not receive the intervention.

The authors note that past research has operated under the belief that maternal attachment programs such as Thula Sana as well as other strategies to improve early childhood development benefit all children equally. The results of this study challenge this assumption, and indicate that the success of such strategies can vary from child to child and is influenced in part by the genetic polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene.

The authors call for additional research investigating the interactions between genetics and psychosocial strategies that promote early childhood development. Such research could inform global health policy, which is focused intently on strengthening early childhood development to mitigate the harmful effects of poverty.

Research Article: Morgan B, Kumsta R, Fearon P, Moser D, Skeen S, Cooper P, et al. (2017) Serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) polymorphism and susceptibility to a home-visiting maternal-infant attachment intervention delivered by community health workers in South Africa: Reanalysis of a randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med 14(2): e1002237. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002237

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Genetics may influence outcome of efforts to promote maternal attachment - PLOS Research News

Genetics

Scientists analyze Mediterranean durum genetics – World Grain

March 7, 2017 - by Laura Lloyd Search for similar articles by keyword: [Wheat]

Team from Spain completes first genetic, phenotypic and geographic adaptation study. Photo by Adobe Stock.

Among the studys goals was to establish a statistical relationship between certain genetic variables and the phenotypic characteristics they determine. A phenotype is defined as the appearance of an organism resulting from the interaction of genotype and environment. The phenotypic traits under study included the different varieties of durum wheats flowering time, biomass, drought resistance, foliar architecture, photosynthesis, protein, yield and yield components.

The study sought to establish which genetic characteristics were decisive in the expression of particular phenotypic traits that indicated both genetic improvement and adaptation of crops in environmental conditions associated with global climate change.

The study divided durum wheat into five genetic subpopulations one composed only of modern cultivars and another four closely related to their geographic origins in the eastern Mediterranean, eastern Balkans and Turkey, Western Balkans and Egypt and the Western Mediterranean. Durum wheat grown in the Mediterranean ecosystem, where weather conditions are moderately dry and sunny, is mostly used to make pasta and semolina. Domesticated thousands of years ago in the Fertile Crescent, durum spread widely, developing diverse landraces, or crop cultivars developed through traditional farming practices over a lengthy period of time or lacking influence from modern agricultural practices, the study authors said.

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Scientists analyze Mediterranean durum genetics - World Grain

Genetics

Precision Credulity: How Specious Genetic Tests Might Motivate Real Behavior Change – American Enterprise Institute

The ready availability of genetic testing has created a contradictory set of challenges.

(Disclosure/reminder: Im Chief Medical Officer of DNAnexus, a genetic data management company.)

On the one hand, there are data suggesting that some patients dont modify their behavior even after genetic testing indicates they might be at increased risk for a condition, such as lung cancer or skin cancer, a risk that could be mitigated through deliberate behavior change. (I recommend this 2016 Atlantic piece on the subject, by law and policy professor Timothy Caulfield, for his wise emphasis on social context, though Im less persuaded by the published meta-analysis that motivated the commentary.)

But Ive been at least as struck by what seems in many ways to the be opposite problem: the use of specious genetic tests to motivate behavior change, such as the use of genetically informed diets or genetically informed exercise programs (or both), solutions an increasing number of consumer genetics companies seem to promote.

Although a robust scientific link between the genetic results and the indicated intervention is generally lacking, many individualswhether patients or elite athletesseem to find the idea that their recommendations are based on cutting-edge genetic science compelling. In a very real sense, this is genetics as placebo.

Credit: Twenty20

There are many examples demonstrating the impact of placebo on athletic performance, for example, in both trained (see here, here, here) and untrained (here) athletes. Its not a stretch to imagine that athletes who believe genetics can offer them a distinct advantage might perform better if they believe their training program is driven by genetics.

Its also entirely believable that patients with a particular faith in geneticsfor example, those who have self-selected by seeking out such testingmight be more likely to adhere to a wellness regimen represented as the customized output of genetic evaluation.

This phenomenon seems like an expression of what medical anthropologist (and one of my favorite undergraduate instructors) Arthur Kleinman called the Explanatory Model. The basic idea is that different people have different views of illness and disease, and the physician or healer needs to understand and acknowledge the patients model to optimize the therapeutic relationship.

Consider NIH director Francis Collins, for instance. After genetic testing suggested he was at increased risk for diabetes, he immediately altered his diet and exercise regimenpresumably because he strongly connected with the idea of genetic risk. Collins reaction isnt unique; Ive encountered a number of individuals whove apparently been motivated to change their lifestyle after getting curiosity-driven genetic testing.

The thing is, from a medical perspective, the logic is lacking, or at least soft; most people would presumably benefit from a healthier lifestyle, whether genetic testing reveals a particular predisposition or not. Collins, a physician-scientist, shouldnt have needed genetic testing to motivate lifestyle changes. Yet apparently, it took genetic testing because that deeply resonated with his explanatory model of illness.

As an aside, its important to recognize that patients are not the only ones who may find themselves beguiled by the charms of genetic data. A recent, powerful Stat article described a dubious genetic test used to help doctors select the optimal opioid for patients; the reporter, Charles Piller, memorably captures how the analysis was perceived by an enthusiastic physician:

Tests of how his patients would respond to particular drugs validate his clinical judgment most of the time, [the physician] said. When they dont, he ignores the results.

This seems like another version of genetics as placebomaking the doctor feel better about his diagnosisrather than genetics as discriminating science.

Ive also seen a similar phenomenon in biopharma companies that aspire to use biomarkers (not necessarily genetic) to guide decision-making during early drug development. Ive been surprised by how often biomarkers or other early signals are embraced when seem to support the decision the team wants to make (generally advancing a drug), but ignored or rationalized away when they go in the wrong direction. Of course context is always important in interpreting specific results, but its striking how early signals can be selectively employed in drug development decisions to inject the imprimatur of science into a confusing and often highly political process.

Returning our focus to patients, some might ask, whats so wrong about using genetic testing to motivate behavior change in those who are susceptiblewho in essence advertise their susceptibility by seeking out genetic testing? If the testing is legitimateas presumably Collins wasthen perhaps it will provide the motivation needed to pursue a healthy lifestyle. And even if the relationship between testing and therapeutic recommendation is scientifically dubious, it might still motivate the recipient to eat healthier, exercise more or perform at a higher level. It would be ironic, certainly, if the primary benefit of many genetic tests proves to be behavioral, but whats the harm, especially if its paid for by consumers?

The problem is that even if there are short-term successes, they may come at the unacceptable cost of eroding trust in the underlying science, a consequence that might ultimately undermine what genetics could one day deliver.

My fear is that validated genetics gets overwhelmed by hucksterism, and patients who might benefit from genetics will get turned off, and reject critically important advice. Just as unsupported belief in the science could lead to overly enthusiastic adoption today (such as using genetics to guide diet), its not hard to envision this ending badly, besmirching the reputation of genetics and leading to the concerning possibility that down the line, expectations of disappointment might dissuade potential users of genetic testing in the future.

But inevitably, Im more optimistic than concerned.

First, I hope is that even in a sea of unsupported wellness claims (eat this, not that; train this way, not that), it will still be possible to discern legitimate medical advice (take extreme measures to avoid the sun and see your dermatologist frequently if you carry particular mutations predisposing to melanoma, say) that could save someones life. Ideally, this rigorous vetting will come from the community itself, as it has in a number of other examples cardiologist and former FDA Chief Health Informatics Officer Taha Kass-Hout frequently cites.

Second, I hope that responsible, critical scientists continue to pursue links between genetics and behavior, including diet, exercise and human performance (the pioneering work of Stanford cardiologist Euan Ashley falls squarely into the last category, for examplealso discussed on this recent Tech Tonics podcast).

Thirdmuch as I argued in the New York Times when the human genome was first sequenced, nearly two decades agoI suspect the rigorous pursuit of genetics will perhaps paradoxically reveal the limits of reductionism, highlight that genetics is not everything and emphasize the need for more integrative approaches to vexing population health problems.

Or, as Dennis Ausiello, Joseph Martin and I put it in 2000, in the American Journal of Medicine,

As Goldstein and Brown recently noted, paraphrasing Magritte, a gene sequence is not a drug, and although the development of rational therapy for a disease may require an understanding of its molecular basis, the path from mechanistic understanding to clinical treatment is often difficult to define and hard to predict. Proteins often behave differently in test tubes than in cells, and cells behave differently in culture than as part of a vital organism. Finally, a patients experience of disease reflects more than simply an underlying biologic defect. It is, to quote Eric Cassell, a process inextricably bound up with the unfolding story of this particular patient. Thus, the critical question we are now struggling with as physicians and physician-scientists is how to avail ourselves of the advances in molecular biology without losing sight of our primary goalthe care and treatment of our patients.

Clearly, this struggle continues.

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Precision Credulity: How Specious Genetic Tests Might Motivate Real Behavior Change - American Enterprise Institute

Cell Biology

Scientists engineering cells to eat deadly bacteria – Phys.Org

March 7, 2017 by Carrie Wells, The Baltimore Sun

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University are working to engineer single-cell organisms that will seek out and eat bacteria that are deadly to humans.

Their work combines the fields of biology and engineering in an emerging discipline known as synthetic biology.

Although the work is still in its infancy, the researchers' engineered amoeba cells could be unleashed one day in hospitals to kill Legionella, the bacteria that cause Legionnaire's disease, a type of pneumonia; or Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria associated with various infections and other life-threatening medical conditions in hospital patients.

Because amoeba are able to travel on their own over surfaces, the engineered cells also could be used to clean soil of bacterial contaminants, or even destroy microbes living on medical instruments. If the scientists are successful at making the cells perform tasks, it also could have important implications for research into cancer and other diseases.

"We're using this as a test bed for determining do we understand how cells work to the point where we can engineer them to perform certain tasks," said Douglas N. Robinson, a professor of cell biology and a member of the Hopkins team. "It's an opportunity to demonstrate that we understand what we think we understand. I think it's an opportunity to push what we're doing scientifically to another level."

The five-member team's work began in October after it received a four-year, $5.7 million federal contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA.

Douglas said they want the engineered cells to respond to dangerous bacteria the way a human might respond to the smell of a freshly baked plate of cookies - to immediately crave a cookie, walk into the kitchen and eat some.

Engineering cells to perform such tasks remains a work in progress.

"In practice it hasn't gone terribly well," said Pablo A. Iglesias, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and a member of the Hopkins team. "People manage to do things but it takes huge amounts of effort and it's more or less random. There has to be a lot of iterations before it works."

David Odde, a professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Minnesota, hailed the research as exciting, especially since antibiotic resistance is on the rise. He said the team would face many challenges.

"I think getting the cells to sense the bacteria robustly might be a challenge, and I'm sure they're aware of that," he said. "The cells have to sense something that the immune system has failed to sense."

The research could lead to new discoveries beyond what the team is focusing on, Odde said. They could learn more about how amoeba sense the bacteria and how that signals to them that they should move forward and eat, he said.

"How does the signaling inform the eating parts?" he said. "They might make new discoveries about how these cross systems talk to each other which will be really valuable for this project and many other projects."

The amoeba they are using, Dictyostelium discoideum, is commonly found in damp soil and naturally eats bacteria after sensing the biochemical scent of it. Since the amoeba eats bacteria, the researchers must program it to go after the kind of bacteria that they want it to eat, instead of other types of bacteria.

Robinson, the cell biology professor, will study how the amoeba's "legs" power movement. Peter Devreotes, another cell biology professor on the team, will study what happens in the amoeba's "brain" once it senses the bacteria nearby. Iglesias, a computational biologist, has expertise in control systems, once designing airplane controllers, and he will help design the biological controller used to steer the amoeba in the right direction.

The other two team members, Tamara O'Connor, an assistant professor in the Hopkins department of biological chemistry, and Takanari Inoue, an associate professor of cell biology, will try to ensure the amoeba go after the right bacteria and link the amoeba's "brain" and "legs."

Andre Levchenko, a professor of biomedical engineering at Yale University, said it might take a lot to "foolproof" the mechanism and that unexpected problems may arise, such as mutations in the cells.

"What would be interesting to see is how stable their new engineered organisms are. With anything that is alive and adaptable and dynamic, it's always a concern when you engineer it," Levchenko said. "I've been very impressed with this particular proposal. It's risky, but it does have a lot of elements that make me think it'll be very successful."

Dennis Discher, director of the National Cancer Institute's Physical Sciences Oncology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said "the time is right" for this type of research.

"It's intriguing to not just think about cells in your body, but amoeba that usually are sort of good for nothing except basic biological science and repurpose them for other uses," he said.

Robinson said it may be hard to get the amoeba to move properly toward the bacteria they want it to eat because the controller could cause it to overshoot and end up too far away.

Iglesias said that under the contract with DARPA, the team will have to meet benchmarks every six months. The first benchmark was to prove that the amoeba's controller can be inserted successfully, which Iglesias said they have done.

The task was difficult because the amoeba are the size of a micron, or about one-tenth of the width of a human hair. They can also move fairly quickly, Iglesias said.

DARPA "wants you to think big and do something big, and I think in that respect it's pretty exciting," Iglesias said.

Explore further: Amoeba feast on backpacks

2017 The Baltimore Sun Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

(Phys.org)The amoeba Acanthamoeba cunningly traps motile bacteria, collecting them in a rucksack before devouring the whole backpack. This behaviour of the single-cell organisms is unique.

Amoeba eat bacteria and other human pathogens, engulfing and destroying them or being destroyed by them, but how these single-cell organisms distinguish and respond successfully to different bacterial classes has been ...

Many living things can respond to electric fields, either moving or using them to detect prey or enemies. Weak electric fields may be important growth and development, and in wound healing: it's known that one of the signals ...

A parasitic amoeba that causes deadly brain infections has turned up in a warm spring in Grand Teton National Park, prompting a warning Monday for anybody intent on soaking in the popular pool: If you absolutely must take ...

Our innate immune system, made up mainly of phagocytes, protects our body by exterminating bacteria. To do this, it uses two mechanisms. The first kills foreign bodies within the phagocyte itself. The second kills them outside ...

Finding an immune system in the social amoeba (Dictyostelium discoideum) is not only surprising but it also may prove a clue as to what is necessary for an organism to become multicellular, said the Baylor College of Medicine ...

It seems like a feat of magic. Human DNA, if stretched out into one, long spaghetti-like strand, would measure 2 meters (six feet) long. And yet, all of our DNA is compacted more than 10,000 times to fit inside a single cell. ...

Scientists are beginning to realize that many cellular behaviors, such as metastasizing cancer cells moving through the body or wound healing, aren't random events, but the result of coordinated actions by cells.

Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Purdue University have completed a model of unprecedented near-atomic resolution of the chemical ...

Black swan events are rare and surprising occurrences that happen without notice and often wreak havoc on society. The metaphor has been used to describe banking collapses, devastating earthquakes and other major surprises ...

The speed at which a tiny ant evolves to cope to its warming city environment suggests that some species may evolve quickly enough to survive, or even thrive, in the warmer temperatures found within cities, according to a ...

While there are already a number of species named after famous British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, including mammals, reptiles, invertebrates and plants, both extinct and extant, not until now has the ...

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Biochemistry

University of Illinois Department of Biochemistry

MCB

Biochemistry at Illinois has a long tradition of excellence in biochemical research. Many of our undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral research associates have used their experiences at Illinois to establish careers of responsibility in both academia and the private sector.

I hope that you will take the time to explore our department by investigating our undergraduate and graduate programs so that you can learn about the intellectual opportunities now possible by breakthroughs in this postgenomic era of biology. The future of biochemistry has changed, and we believe that our department is well-positioned to provide training for your future.

Susan Martinis, Head

Dr. Hong Jins lab has solved the atomic structure of a stalled ribosome using state-of-art electron cryo-microscopy. This structure is used to understand how stalled ribosomes are rescued in the cell. The findings were published in Nature in January 2017. Read more...

University of Illinois professors Chad Rienstra (Chemistry), Emad Tajkhorshid, and James Morrissey (Biochemistry) have been awarded a Directors Transformative Research Award from the National Institutes of Health for their highly creative approach to the study of cell membrane lipids. Read more...

To recognize the importance of faculty contributions to science and education and to acknowledge Dr. Sligars mentorship, Dr. Jenner created the Stephen G. Sligar professorship in 2016. The Investiture was held on October 28, 2016 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Read more...

Emad Tajkhorshid, professor of biochemistry, biophysics, computational biology, and pharmacology, and his research group are studying the movement of gases across biological membranes, a vital process for powering cells with oxygen and performing photosynthesis, among other things. The group is hoping to closely examine the role of proteins in these processes in order to better understand the impact of gas exchange in living cells and organisms.

Researchers from Case Western Reserve University and the University of Southern California are working together with Tajkhorshid on their project, Molecular Mechanisms and Pathways for Gas Transport Across Biological Membranes and Implications for Physiology and Performance. Read more...

A number of current and recent graduate students and postdoctoral scholars have applied for and won prestigious awards and fellowships. The awardees reflect the breadth of outstanding research at UIUC and the quality of students and researchers attracted to the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Read more...

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University of Illinois Department of Biochemistry

Biochemistry

About | Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology …

"Hands-on" Workshop on Computational Biophysics

This workshop, which runs from April 17-21, 2017, at the Beckman Institute, will be presented by members of the NIH Center for Macromolecular Modeling & Bioinformatics at Urbana-Champaign. Topics will cover instruction in state-of-the-art molecular dynamics simulation and free energy techniques using NAMD, bacterial cells simulation with Lattice Microbes (LM) and biomolecular visualization and analysis with VMD. Morning lecture presentations will introduce fundamental theory and concepts, while afternoon hands-on computer laboratory sessions will allow participants to apply NAMD, LM and VMD directly in a series of guided tutorials. The workshop is designed for all students and researchers in computational and/or biophysical fields who seek to extend their expertise to include biomolecular simulations. Experimentalists and non-specialists are encouraged to attend and will benefit particularly from instruction in the use of QwikMD, a new teaching software incorporating NAMD and VMD that significantly lowers the learning curve for novice users. Enrollment limited to 25 participants. Application deadline: March 10, 2017 Announcement and Applications: http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Training/Workshop/Urbana2017a/

This is the first atomic structure of the ribosome solved by cryoEM on the U of I campus. Its breathtaking to see how each and every atom in this beautiful molecular machine arranged in three-dimension said Dr. Jin. Using the 3D atomic structure and biochemistry, Jin and team were able to decipher how a protein known as ArfA recognizes a stalled bacterial ribosome and recruits release factor RF2 to catalyze peptide release, a process that leads to rescuing the stalled ribosome in the bacterial cell. Since bacterial and human cells employ completely different strategies to rescue stalled ribosomes, the rescue mechanism of bacteria is a drug target. This is also a collegial collaborative effort, our colleagues in the Beckman Institute, the research team led by Prof. Emad Tajkhorshid, provided us with powerful computational resources, said Dr. Jin. Read the full article here: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature21053.html

Biophysics Professor Paul Hergenrother's discovery from 10 years ago is showing success in treating cancer in dogs today. Human trials to begin soon. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/01/24/cancer-dog-drugs/

Center Director Satish Nair has been appointed to the I.C. Gunsalus Endowed Professorship in the College of LAS, for his "demonstrated high originality of thought, independence and impact in research, as well as a commitment to quality."

"This is LAS - A look at our year" features several Biophysics faculty members' achievements! See what some of our chemists have been up to this year.

Biophysics Professor Chad Rienstra has been elected 2016 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for distinguished contributions to the development of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance for structural determination of large biomolecular assemblies relevant to human disease.

Biophysics Professor Klaus Schulten has passed away. He was an integral member of the computational biology program and was highly respected. For more information regarding his work please visit the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group.

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About | Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology ...

Anatomy

Politics Podcast: The Anatomy Of A Political Scandal – FiveThirtyEight

Mar. 6, 2017 at 6:38 PM

Why do some political scandals stick and others dont? At what point does a scandal do damage to the politicians involved? Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston who studies political scandals, joins the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast to talk about the questions surrounding the Trump administrations relationship with Russia.

Then, the 2018 midterms are still over a year and a half away, but that doesnt mean there arent elections to watch. Harry Enten shares the latest on the upcoming special elections, and discusses whether they say anything about the electoral direction of the country.

You can listen to the episode by clicking the play button above or by downloading it in iTunes, the ESPN App or your favorite podcast platform. If you are new to podcasts, learn how to listen.

The FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast publishes Monday evenings, with occasional special episodes throughout the week. Help new listeners discover the show by leaving us a rating and review on iTunes. Have a comment, question or suggestion for good polling vs. bad polling? Get in touch by email, on Twitter or in the comments.

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Politics Podcast: The Anatomy Of A Political Scandal - FiveThirtyEight

Anatomy

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Photos: Owen & Amelia Hash It Out in Episode 17 – Moviefone

This one is already making us tense. In "Grey's Anatomy" Season 13, Episode 17, "Till I Hear It From You," Maggie's mom will return, and Owen and Amelia will finally dig into whatever the heck is going on with them right now.

This Thursday, March 9 gives us Episode 15, "Civil War" -- with Meredith in an Alex/Riggs sandwich -- and then we have the Japril standalone episode in Montana on March 16. This Episode 17 with Owen and Amelia airs March 23.

Here's the synopsis from ABC:

"Diane Pierce (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) returns to Grey Sloan, but Maggie (Kelly McCreary) is still in the dark as to why she's really there. Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) hash out their problems as they work a trauma case together, and Bailey (Chandra Wilson) tries to mend her relationship with Richard (James Pickens Jr.)."

Poor Maggie is always the last to know everything, but she'll probably find out about her mom's cancer this week. It's going to take a lot for Bailey and Richard to patch things up. At this point, it's not clear how the Eliza (Marika Dominczyk) situation is going to play out, but we have a couple of weeks ahead of this episode to see what happens.

The promo photos ABC shared don't show Maggie's mom at all, but they do show Owen and Amelia, and also DeLuca (Giacomo Gianniotti) and Stephanie (Jerrrika Hinton), who appear to be working with Owen on the case. There's also a shot of Jo (Camilla Luddington), with DeLuca behind her. Maybe he'll try to make a move on her, since he still seems to have a crush.

Episode 17 was directed by Kevin McKidd, who also directed the Japril standalone. In addition to LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Maggie's mom, the episode guest stars June Squibb as Elsie Clatch, and Hal Holbrook as Lewis Clatch.

"Grey's Anatomy" Season 13 airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on ABC.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Photos: Owen & Amelia Hash It Out in Episode 17 - Moviefone

Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy Live Stream: Watch Season 13, Episode 15 Online Free – Streaming Observer News

Show/Episode: Greys Anatomy Season 13, Episode 15 Civil War

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 9 at 8 p.m. ET

Channel: ABC

Watch the Greys Anatomy Live Stream with: DIRECTV NOW (free 7-day trial), Sling TV (free 7-day trial)

Next Day, On Demand: Sling TV (free 7-day trial)

International Stream: Streaming options outside of the US

Civil War offers up a first-class case of hospital politics. April, Catherine, Jackson, and Richard all spend time on a difficult trauma case that is only made harder by in-hospital politics. Amelia comes to terms with how she feels about Owen. Meanwhile, Meredith ends up caught between Nathan and Alex because of a patient. If you cant wait to watch Greys Anatomy Season 13, Episode 15 online, you can learn how in the rest of this guide.

You can watch ABC online in a couple of different ways. The easiest way is by picking a live stream service. This means that youll be able to watch Greys Anatomy Civil War online when it airs on TV. There are two great, low-cost ways to watch Greys Anatomy Season 13, Episode 15 online and those are DIRECTV NOW and Sling TV. Even better, both options include free trials, so you can even watch Greys Anatomy online free! On-demand options are also available and will be discussed further in the article.

ABC is a channel offered in every DIRECTV NOW package. Package pricing starts at $35 each month and includes a minimum of 60 channels. ABC and other local channels are available in live stream in select cities or they are available on-demand nationwide. You also have FX, History, Food Network, USA, AMC, TNT, TBS, and Discovery. If you find you dont have enough channels you can choose a larger package or you can add channels like HBO for just a few dollars more each month.

DIRECTV NOW works on mobile and streaming devices and can be watched from almost anywhere with a WiFi connection. The DIRECTV NOW 7-day trial ensures that you can watch Greys Anatomy Season 13, Episode 15 online free! You can check out our DIRECTV NOW review if you want to learn more.

Like DIRECTV NOW, Sling TV also offers the ability to watch ABC online. The first thing you need to do is choose a package. The Sling TV Orange package only costs $20 a month and includes more than 25 channels. You will have access to TNT, AMC, A&E, ESPN, Disney, and many additional channels. From there, you need the Broadcast Extra package for an additional $5. This gives you access to ABC and select other channels. ABC is only available in live stream in select cities, but there is nationwide on-demand access, so youll be able to watch Greys no matter what! If youre interested in HBO that can be added to any package for $15/month.

Sling TV works on streaming and mobile devices from most locations. Perhaps the best news of all is that you can watch Greys Anatomy Season 13, Episode 15 online free with the Sling TV free 7-day trial! Our Sling TV review is available if you have any questions.

You can also watch Greys Anatomy S13, E15 online using on-demand services. Both Amazon Instant Video and Vudu are two of the most popular services. They both offer single episodes at $2 a piece and if you decide to order the season pass you can get them cheaper than that. Both services will allow you to watch online from a variety of streaming and mobile devices. You wont be able to watch the show in live stream, but each service does offer new episodes as soon as the day after they air on TV.

Still want to know how to watch Greys Anatomy Season 13, Episode 15 online? If so, any questions can be directed to our comment section. And if theres anything else youd like to know about Greys Anatomy streaming, our guide can fill you in!

Ashtyn Evans is a screenwriter and freelance writer from the Midwest. She owns nearly a thousand films on Amazon and holds streaming subscriptions to everything from HBO and Hulu to Showtime and Starz. Email her at ashtynevans@streamingobserver.com. Disclosure: Streaming Observer is supported by readers. Articles may contain referral links. For more information, see the disclosure at the bottom of the page.

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Grey's Anatomy Live Stream: Watch Season 13, Episode 15 Online Free - Streaming Observer News

Human Behavior

Human behavior drives trend of shared transport | Shanghai Daily – Shanghai Daily (subscription)

SINCE it is so easy to find a car or bike available for sharing on Shanghais streets, I often wonder about doing some soul-searching about this new trend.

The emerging sharing economy over the past one or two years has managed to survive sabotage, hoarding, losses and all kinds of accidental damage. It has also stirred debate about human nature and not all of it is optimistic.

I dont think we have quite arrived at the level of civility that enables sharing, said my friend Vincent, who takes a hardened, hopeless stance against my optimism.

He comes from Chongqing, a pilot city for car sharing in southwestern China, and said it feels all too familiar seeing the colorful two-seater cars that zoom around his hometown suddenly appearing in Shanghai for hourly rental. To him, it feels like the calm before the storm.

I remember the headlines about how some hot-tempered Chongqing local just abandoned a car-for-share at a parking lots exit to protest a dispute over parking fees. Vincent has his own more personal anecdotes about the perils of car-sharing. He said he once rented a car with a takeaway Chongqing hotpot spilled all over the seat by the previous driver. The smell and the stains were hard to wash away.

I have definitely seen worse, I said, trying to hold back a laugh.

In a photo widely circulated online, a thin needle is shown sticking up from the seat of a bike-for-share. The thought of what could possibly motivate someone to do that made me cringe. There have also been photos online about the scan codes to unlock shared vehicles being smeared beyond recognition, bikes-for-share piled up like garbage or even dismembered for resale with just a stump left.

Its not hard to guess who might be behind all this vandalism. Careless users, childish pranksters, street thugs, calculating thieves. The list of possible culprits sows deep seeds of disappointment in the selfishness of humans, and it certainly doesnt help the image of a sharing economy.

Last week, a local bike-for-share company in Fujian Province went broke after nearly 80 percent of its bikes went missing 19 days after its service was launched.

The drawbacks arent crushing the high hopes of companies that view the sharing economy as a beneficial investment. Across the country, many companies in the business are expanding their footprints.

In Shanghai alone, there are two major operators offering car-share and about 10 bike-for-share services. All use vehicles with distinctive styling or paint to lift their profiles. Whenever I see these colorful wheels roll by, I start to worry that industry latecomers may be at loss to come up with even more innovative ideas to stamp their signatures on the streets.

How many of those companies do you think will still be operating next year? I once asked my friend Andrew, who works in the venture capital industry a prime investor in the sharing business.

I find it ironic that an industry that prides itself on making money by exploiting human greed can invest in a business model that relies on human honesty and trust.

I dont think its about overcoming our selfishness, Andrew told me. When most people come to find themselves beneficiaries of the sharing economy by saving money and enjoying convenience, they play by the rules and even take exception toward those who violate them. It has nothing to do with altruism. It just becomes a new life order you dont want to be disrupted.

His words evoked memories of Scandinavia, where I was once an exchange student. Its a peaceful part of the world where bike-sharing was warmly embraced by the public early on. Upon arrival, I was surprised to find that locals would leave their private bikes unlocked by the roadside. Several other Chinese exchange students and I hatched a plan to pinch one of the bikes and then return it a few days later, just to show the owner the risk of unguarded trust. But later on, the mere mention of this idea embarrassed us because it would ruin something beautiful and precious that we found no longer distant, and grew attached to.

In China, it is not easy to bring every person who violates sharing rules to heel and make them pay for their actions.

Some sharing company encourages users to be knights on wheels by reporting the misbehavior of others in exchange for credit points that can lead to discounts. Law enforcement and the judicial system are also taking action by identifying rule breakers and fining them or taking them into custody.

But there are times we involuntarily betray the trust that we can be responsible members of the society because we are so lack of certain practice that the ultimate boundaries have yet to be firmly established.

Because of the explosive growth of bikes-for-share businesses, some downtown areas of Shanghai have reached their capacity for parking cycles. A district recently seized 4,000 bikes-for-share, stirring a controversy over how much the sharing economy should be allowed to eat up public resources.

The spirit of sharing can even take on a life of its own. A code manual has been compiled and circulated on WeChat, showing how people can get free rides at a bike-for-share service that uses combination locks. For every half an hour, one can save 1 yuan at most.

Is that really worth all the trouble? I sneaked into one of those WeChat groups, out of curiosity. I wondered whether these people are really so poor that they are willing to cede their sense of common decency.

My question was answered by another question. Do you really think those sharing companies care about making money from our payments? The cynics seemed to think that the safety deposits charged in advance of hiring a shared bike are being used clandestinely to invest in other businesses rather than being held in deposit for refund.

I hate to tell them this, but the grey zone of safety deposits that inspires their conspiracy theory is now coming under supervision by banks.

Sharing companies dont stand to make a lot of money for the time being, given their low-pricing strategy, low-quality maintenance and aggressive deployment. Their profit prospects will no doubt clarify doubts about the sharing business being just another example of market-invented hype.

No company wants to run a business like a charity, even if its credentials are eco-friendly. It is against their self-interested nature.

If only a hidden agenda can satisfy some peoples imaginations about businessmen being shrewd and dishonest, I do have some theories. Think about the maps that can be completed with GPS-equipped bikes for narrow back lanes and think of the expandable scope for desirable new home locations as more shared bikes and cars are available from Metro stations. Surely these offshoots will generate more business opportunities. Just as priceless are the lessons they teach us about what kind of people we can choose to be.

Mia is an independent market observer.

Originally posted here:
Human behavior drives trend of shared transport | Shanghai Daily - Shanghai Daily (subscription)