ERC FUNDED PROJECTS

Human bodies eat. But what does this entail? The proposed project will explore how the eating body is shaped in different Western practices. These will include nutritional research and health care clinics, sites that have a far-reaching impact on how we eat. Four related sub-projects will trace the most relevant contrasts: (1) the eating body's health: limiting calorie intake versus maximising satisfaction; (2) the eating body's sensitivity: on tasting in various practices; (3) the eating body and other eaters: on different ways of relating individual and collective; (4) the eating body and its environment: on absorbing food, excreting waste and different bodily boundaries. These four sub-projects will together inform an anthropology of the eating body in Western practices. A fifth sub-project will attend to the eater in theory . Eating may be ubiquitous in practice, but it is strikingly absent from theorising in the Western philosophical tradition. This has profound implications for social science repertoires, which tend to include an actor modelled on the neuromuscular body. This actor sees, hears, moves and manipulates, but does not eat. Drawing on what we learn about the eating body in the empirical parts of the study, the fifth sub-project will model the actor on the eater. Eaters do not observe from a distance, but are mixed up with their surroundings. They do not judge impartially, but appreciate their food as they destroy it. Their metabolic activity, distributed over every cell, does not depend on central control. The theoretical possibilities that follow, will be experimentally explored. Thus the project aims to substantially enrich the Western tradition by feeding it with lessons drawn from its own marginalised experiences.

1 848 701 €

Start date: 2010-03-01, End date: 2015-02-28

MaGIC intends to explore the use of nano/micro objects, in particular zeolite L, as materials for imaging, and, when the zeolites are used as substrates, for analyzing and manipulating cells. In particular in vivo and in vitro imaging, cell growth on nano/micro patterned zeolite monolayers, and understanding some of the processes of cell-to-cell communication are the ambitious goals of this proposal. We intend to achieve these goals through 5 objectives: 1. Synthesis and characterization of zeolites and loading and trapping of dye molecules. 2. Patterned zeolite monolayers and microcontact printing for asymmetric functionalization and cells transfer. 3. Molecular imaging using nanoporous materials as multiresponsive probes. 4. Cell growth, proliferation and stimulation of processes in spatially confined areas. 5. Communication between cells and cell differentiation. The project is extremely challenging and if successful will open new horizons in the use of nanomaterials in combination with living systems and will develop new technologies for handling delicate substrates and assemblies. The numerous ideas and problems that MaGIC addresses are of fundamental importance and collectively represent an interesting approach to simply mimicking nature, connecting biological components to abiotic materials in order to understand the mechanisms of the biological systems or to take advantage of the unique properties of the ‘non-biological’ components in a natural setting (in vivo and in vitro). The stepwise approach, starting from the use of the nanomaterials for observing the surrounding environment (cell imaging), and proceeding to their assembly in functional architectures, culminates in the realization of special interfaces with the ambition to realize and study cell-to-cell communication.

1 800 270 €

Start date: 2010-07-01, End date: 2015-06-30

With our contributions to DNA block copolymers (DBCs), we have opened a new field of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of polymer chemistry, biology and nanoscience. Within this proposal, we intend to apply our expertise with linear DBCs to new nucleocopolymer architectures ranging from star polymers to DNA networks. Our efforts will not only explore new covalently-bonded polymer topologies but also extend the range of self-assembled supramolecular structures accessible with DBCs. Current progress in this direction has yielded spherical and rod-like DBC micelles. In this proposal we further envisage membranes and vesicles generated by macromolecular DNA amphiphiles. A special focus will be the manipulation of the permeability of these structures by hybridization and the insertion of channel proteins. A major part of the proposal addresses potential applications of DBC architectures in the fields of nucleic acid detection and drug delivery. We will produce selective and sensitive nucleic acid probes employing DBCs with highly emissive conjugated polymer segments or based on novel fluorogenic DNA-templated reactions. Plans for potential delivery systems include the establishment of a DBC-based technology platform to allow combinatorial testing of micelle structures equipped with improved targeting, drug loading and stealth functions. For this purpose, the DNA shell of the nanoscopic aggregates will be exploited for its biological activity in the context of antisense and small interfering RNA activity as well as immune stimulation. Finally, we will employ DBC micelles as programmable nanoreactors within the complex environment of living cells and even carry out sequence-specific organic transformations induced by the cell s own messenger RNA

1 500 000 €

Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2014-10-31

This proposal describes a multi-scale research project investigating the social, cultural and political issues relating to governance and Indigenous Peoples. Recent international mobilization has led to a major shift, culminating in the adoption by the UN of the Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007. This highly symbolic and moral document is expected to induce changes and to combat discrimination. Indigenous peoples have acquired visibility, as models of sustainability and for their ecological knowledge. Yet their place in constitutional orders, their participation in decision-making, and their development practices have not been consistently studied. Crucial issues include their emergence as political actors, the role of transnational networks, and convergences in two sectors of global concern - human rights and the environment. The UNDRIP opens room to consider the various modalities of self-determination. A comparative approach will help get rid of simple dichotomies, while putting at the centre of the scientific debate the modernization of the Western discourse and the post-colonial theories. With the PI, a team will study the changes that international norms induce through the development of programs, EU initiatives too, and the response at local levels. The research will focus on arenas in which indigenous communities are confronted by modern policies: education, land management, political representation, legal systems and the expression of culture. 10 comparative studies will be undertaken, in Southern Africa, South America, Asia and Oceania. Key findings will be discussed through thematic and regional workshops; dissemination done through seminars and publications. The UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues has repeatedly requested the academic sector to provide analysis on the translation of universal discourses to situated practices. However, to date, no such research has been done on a comparative scale

2 090 280 €

Start date: 2010-06-01, End date: 2015-11-30