UNESCO/IUBS/EUBIOS BIOETHICS DICTIONARY - "M"s

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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MAB: Man and Biosphere Program; Monoclonal Antibody.

MABO CASE: In 1992 the High Court of Australia upheld the claims of the Meriam people of Murray Island, represented by Edy Mabo, maintaining that since they had continually occupied their land they had a legitimate native title claim to it and, therefore, land rights. This legislation led to the establishment of Land Councils across Australia to administer land, community legal claims, act as advisory council on issues of heritage and so on. Native Title Legislations and Anti-Discrimination Acts were tangible achievements reflecting an increasing community desire for spiritual reconciliation and healing (see RECONCILIATION), particularly following the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody which found that high levels of Aboriginal incarceration were the result of inequities experienced by Aboriginal people (see NATIVE TITLE LEGISLATION - AUSTRALIA). (IP)

MAC: See MAXIMUM ACCEPTED CONCENTRATION.

MACHINE GUN: See AUTOMATIC WEAPONS.

MACHINE TRANSLATION: See TRANSLATION SOFTWARE.

MACRO-: Combining prefix indicating large, great, long (as opposed to micro), from Latin makrós . Macro-scale systems include habitats, ecosystems, communities, cities, nations etc. (See SCALE, MICRO-, MEGA-, META-, TRANS-, INTER-) (MP)

MACROECONOMICS: The branch of economics which investigates monetary policy in terms of aggregate economic statistics at a national level, such as budget and trade deficits and overall growth, unemployment and interest rates. (See MICROECONOMICS, ECONOMY) (MP)

MAD: 1. Commonly used word meaning ‘insane’. (See INSANITY) 2. Appropriately chosen acronym standing for “Mutually Assured Destruction” - the likely outcome of anyand today perhaps also between more recently-declared nuclear states such as India and Pakistan. (See NUCLEAR WEAPONS, DETERRENCE, COLD WAR) (MP)

MAD COW DISEASE: See BOVINE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY.

MADNESS: See INSANITY.

MAGIC MUSHROOMS: See PSILOCYBIN.

MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING: See MRI.

MAHAVIRA: (meaning "Great Hero") The Title of Vardhamana (599-527 bce). Vardhamana is held to be the last of a series of 24 ancient teachers of the traditions of Jainism, known as "Tirthankaras" (ford makers). (AG)

MAIMONIDES, MOSES (MOSHE BEN MAIMON): (1135-1204) Physician, philosopher and rabbi, he lived in Spain and Egypt. His writings on Jewish Law, medicine and philosophy, are an integrated whole. Observance of Biblical commandments keeps the body healthy and frees the mind from emotional pressures and addiction to material pleasures. So the mind can concentrate on active, intellectual activity. Just as Aristotle claimed that one who exercises the intellect is most beloved by the gods, Maimonides claimed that one comes under the protective supervision of God to the extent that one exercises one's intellect.

Maimonides describes Nature as if it had a mind, calling it "wise and crafty", and believing that it always strives for our health and the health of other creatures. Although there are what we call today genetic mutations, what nature does for the most part tends to be good and healthy. So a doctor should try to intervene as little as possible with a patient, allowing nature to cure itself. Only if this does not work should one try treatment, starting with treatment by way of the mind: especially by combating depression. Only if this does not work may one try medicine, starting with easy treatments and then using harsher ones only as a last resort.

Maimonides did not believe that one should turn to a doctor for every health need. One should become aware of one's own body, learning what foods, exercise and way of life are best for us. There are no universal rules in medicine because every person is different. The right diet, way of life or medicine for one person is not necessarily right for someone else. Modern medicine is just becoming aware of this fact, especially through genetic medicine, which is helping us learn the clinical importance of individual differences. Becoming aware of the individual health needs of one's own body, and discovering for oneself the way to health, with minimal dependence on physicians, would be an authentic autonomy.

As a physician, rabbi and philosopher, he was Israel's first interdisciplinary bioethicist. Angels, sometimes indistinguishable from the gods of Shinto and Hinduism, played a central role in his philosophy. He personified Nature as wise and crafty, bringing living organisms into existence, preserving them and always seeking their health. He therefore urged the physician to try to let nature cure the patient alone, with little or no interference. If that does not work, then one should try to cure the body psychosomatically, by first addressing the soul. Finally, easy natural treatments are to be preferred to harsh medicines. He urged people to look after their own health, paying attention to the effects of food and various behaviors on one's health, and trying to live accordingly: what is good or bad for one person may not necessarily be so for another. Today's genetic studies of why different foods, environmental conditions and medicines may have different effects on different people, are just starting to give scientific precision to this idea. -
Emphasizing psychosomatics, Maimonides saw worry as a major cause of illness. He said that it is pointless to worry about the past, because the past is already fixed and cannot be changed. It is pointless to worry about the future because the future lies in the realm of the possible. It can always turn out different from what we expected. So it only remains to concentrate on the here and now, without worry. A similar doctrine can also be found in Buddhist philosophy. (FL)

MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX: This huge complex of immune-response genes is located on chromosome 6p21.3. It covers a region of more than 3.800kb. Besides the classical class I, II and III genes, it also encodes DN/DO and 21 hydroxylase molecules. (see also HLA locus class I, class II and class III genes; Pheromone) (GK)

MAJOR INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT: An industrial accident involving the release of toxic/deleterious emission of a gas or a hazardous substance during an uncontrolled industrial activity resulting in the loss of human lives and long term health impacts. E.g. Methyl Iso Cyanide (MIC) gas release from Bhopal (India) and nuclear fall out from Chernobyl (Russia). (JA)

MAL- : Combining prefix indicating wrongness, badness or illness, from Latin: malus ‘bad’. (See PSEUDO-, ANTI-, META-) (MP)

MALE : Organisms whose reproductive organs produce only male gametes; that is, sperm in animals or pollen in fruit-bearing plants. (See FEMALE) (IP)

MALE INFERTILITY: See INFERTILITY.

MALEFICENCE: (Latin maleficentia "doing ill") Committing harm, hurtful or disrespectful to, of evil criminal nature. (IP)

MALNUTRITION: (mal ‘bad’ + ‘nutrition’) 1. Insufficient nutritional and food intake, typified by hunger, malnourishment, lethargy, depression, weak immunity, vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and in extreme cases such as famine, symptoms of sunken ribs, bloated belly, weakness, sickness and death by starvation. 2. Bad or incorrect nutritional intake more broadly, whether food insufficiencies typical of third world countries, or the typically high fat/salt/sugar diet and caloric over-consumption of countries like the U.S. and Australia. (See NUTRITION, NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY, MINERAL AND VITAMIN DEFICIENCY, ANOREXIA NERVOSA, BULIMIA NERVOSA, OBESITY, FAMINE, FOOD CRISIS, FOOD AID) (MP)

MALPRACTICE: In law, failure of a professional to exercise a reasonable degree of skill and care. (See NEGLIGENCE, MISCONDUCT). (DM)

MALTHUS, THOMAS ROBERT: (1766-1834)- Author of "An Essay on the Principle of Population". In addition to his research on population growth, his achievements in the field of economics are also impressive. However, most influential was his work on population. Darwin developed some of his ideas of the theory of natural selection from Malthus' essay. The adjective "malthusian" is used to refer to predictions of large growth in population. Malthus' essay on population is of particular relevance to questions of population growth and food supply. (AG)

MAMMALIA: The homeothermic (warm-blooded), hairy, milk-suckling vertebrates of the class Mammalia. Extant taxa are the Monotrema (echidnas and platypus), Marsupalia (kangaroos, koalas, etc.), and Eutheria (placental mammals). (RW)

MAN: A man is an adult human male, but the term was also commonly used to refer more generally to the human species as a whole, as in "the evolution of Man". Such male-centric language is outdated in the modern context of equal rights and status of men and women - humans or humanity are preferable alternatives to the term. (See HUMAN, HOMO SAPIENS , MALE) (MP)

MANAGED CARE or MANAGED CARE PROGRAMS: Health insurance plans intended to reduce unnecessary health care costs through a variety of mechanisms, including economic incentives for physicians and patients to select less costly forms of care, programs for reviewing the medical necessity of specific services, increased beneficiary cost sharing, controls on inpatient admissions and lengths of stay, selective contracting with health care providers, and the intensive management of high-cost health care cases. (See HEALTH INSURANCE, HEALTH MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATIONS, HEALTH CARE DELIVERY). (DM)

MANDATORY DRUG TESTING: Drug testing that is compulsory, required for some employees of companies. The consequence of refusal may be dismissal from the job, or in the case of military staff, some punishment may be effected. (See DRUG TESTING) (DM)

MANGROVE FOREST: The mangrove forest habitat is located along tropical and subtropical estuaries and coastal intertidal zones, often fringed seaward by seagrass habitat and landward by saltmarsh habitat. Many mangrove species occur from 20 families (e.g. 39 species in Australia including Avicennia integra and Rhizophora stylosa). Mangrove trees are salt-tolerant and ‘breathe’ througsery to rejuvenate fish stocks. (See ESTUARY, SEAGRASS, TROPICAL RAINFOREST, SCLEROPHYLL FOREST, HABITAT TYPES)  (MP)

MANIA: An elevated mood or state of mind, often associated with bipolar depression or drug use, characterized by pathological enthusiasm, flight of ideas, energy, elation, extravagance, obsession, overconfidence, distractibility and delusion. The sufferer of mania may have optimism and confidence and may or may not be concerned by their own indiscreet behavior, pressure of speech, inflated grandiosity and other impaired social functions. (See BIPOLAR DEPRESSION, LITHIUM) (MP)

MANIC DEPRESSION: See BIPOLAR DEPRESSION.

MANUFACTURING CONSENT: See PROPAGANDA.

MANUSMRITI (THE LAWS OF MANU): First systematization of sacred Hindu law, composed around 1500 BCE. The twelve extant books of the Manusmriti are attributed to Manu, the mythical father of Hindu moral and social law. (MP)

MAO: See MONOAMINE OXIDASE.

MAORI: The indigenous people of New Zealand – Aoteoroa (Maori name for New Zealand), who are thought to have immigrated to New Zealand about 1000-1300 A.D. (DM)

MARDI GRAS: 1. A world-famous vibrant and gaudy city parade featuring wide-ranging partying and high levels of crime which takes place annually in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 2. The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is a famous annual event in Sydney, Australia, including risqué street parade advocating homosexual rights and lifestyles. (See MARDI GRASS, PROTEST) (MP)

MARDI GRASS: Colorful parade, anti-prohibition rally and community direct action advocating the decriminalization of marijuana, taking place for example annually in Nimbin Australia, and other places such as organized ‘smoke-ins’ on some university campuses. (See DECRIMINALIZATION, CRITICAL MASS, RECLAIM THE STREETS, CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE, NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION) (MP)

MARIJUANA: Marijuana, also known as dope, pot, weed, buds, grass, leaf, mull, Mary-Jane, reefer, kif or ganja, is a psychoactive recreational drug consisting of the dried flowering buds and leaves from plants of the genus Cannabis (hemp), containing the active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Despite its illegality, statistics show a remarkably high overall use and increasingly at a younger age. Among the 15 to 35 year age group, for example, it is often considered an ordinary part of social life. Marijuana and its stronger resinous form hashish have dose-dependent effects on mood, perception, cognition and psychomotor coordination. Users experience feelings of relaxation, euphoria, childishness, lateral thought, time distortions, enhancement of taste and touch, omniscience and ease, in which emotions are enhanced and everything seems more profound. Heavier doses cause difficulties in concentration, "tunnel" attention, anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations and sleep, but since the drug does not affect the brain's respiratory center death by overdose is highly unlikely. Pot smokers are rarely aggressive or belligerent whilst under its influence (peacenik hippies are a dope cliché ) although they may become irritable during comedown or withdrawal. Marijuana does not produce severe withdrawal symptoms but is addictive as it induces dependence, as seen by continued use despite adverse consequences especially when mixed with tobacco where the habit can also generate a nicotine addiction. However, statistics indicate that the majority of addicts give up by their 30s, probably because of the adverse life-impacts from regular use, especially considering the increasingly potent THC content of modern hydroponic weed. With the increased tolerance and dependence of frequent intake, the previous enhancement of creativity and philosophical insight may be replaced by mental dullness, memory impairment, learning difficulties, communication problems, sleeping disorders, paranoia in interaction with "straights", and possibly transient psychosis. Another common behavioral disorder is amotivational syndrome, in which lethargy and apathy in the "pot-head" can cause impairment of relationships, academic activity and other work-related performances. Amotivational syndrome is resolved on quitting. Other serious risk factors are exacerbation of preexisting mental illness especially schizophrenia, and increased likelihood of severe depression if coincidental with emotional crises and other extraneous stresses. Regular use also decreases levels of the male hormone testosterone, which should alert users about paternal responsibilities in matters of reproduction; particularly since research has established a significant correlation between heavy marijuana use during pregnancy and impaired fetal growth and development. As for cigarettes, so for dope - prolonged smoking leads to impaired pulmonary function, emphysema, and risk of mouth, lung and especially throat cancers. These physical risks are increased by the typical smoking techniques: pipes and water pipes ("bongs") are very hot, pot cigarettes ("joints") are inhaled deep, holding in the smoke, and the synergistic effects with tobacco may be higher by an order of magnitude when compared to the risk of either separately. Alternative methods of intake include the use of a vaporizer to minimize the inhalation of tar, or incorporation into foods such as cookies. There is no evidence of progression to harder drugs as a result of occasional social cannabis use progression and heavy use may indicate a preexisting addictive personality. Likewise there is no evidence that marijuana use leads to other criminal behavior. Dope interferes moderately with hand-eye motor coordination thus risking motor vehicle accidents, though driving impairment is less affected compared with alcohol intoxication because the driver tends to drive more carefully. There has been much media and political dialogue in recent years about the decriminalization of marijuana. Statistical comparisons between the long-running Dutch experiment in decriminalization and other Western countries have concluded that the decriminalization of dope makes very little difference to its social patterns of use. Marijuana has been identified as having a variety of medical uses including pain control, appetite enhancement (the "munchies", e.g. for AIDS), as a muscle relaxant, as an anti-nausea and anti-emetic (e.g. chemotherapy), and as a treatment for glaucoma. (See DOPE, CANNABIS, HASHISH, THC, AMOTIVATIONAL SYNDROME, QUITTING SMOKING). (IP+MP)

MARINE ENVIRONMENT: See MARINE PROTECTED AREA, ESTUARY.

MARINE PROTECTED AREA: See NATIONAL PARK, MULTIPLE USE AREA.

MARKER: An identifiable physical location on a chromosome (e.g., restriction enzyme cutting site, gene, RFLP marker) whose inheritance can be monitored. Markers can be expressed regions of DNA (genes) or some segment of DNA with no known coding function but whose pattern of inheritance can be determined. (DM)

MARKER GENE: A gene for expressing a protein which makes the cells or organisms with the gene, e.g., to provide tolerance to antibiotics. A selected gene with a characteristic feature for gene transfer. (JA, DM)

MARRIAGE: the legalized union between husband and wife. Since prehistory, the institution of marriage has passed from one society to another in different forms (e.g., abduction, straight purchase, legitimized property and economic agreement such as a dowry, organized competition among the perspective suitors, monogamy, polygamy etc) but always retained a positive sacred social value because through it humans reproduced themselves. The importance of marriage in the conscience of our distant ancestors is well illustrated in western mythology where Zeus, right after establishing his authority on mount Olympus, legitimized his relationship with Hera through marriage. From the ethical point of view, a couple demonstrates through marriage their desire to produce children as fertility insured a kind of immortality. (See DIVORCE, CONCUBINE). (IP)

MARSUPIALS: See MONOTREMES, EUTHERIAN MAMMAL.

MARTIAL ARTS: People have fought one another during most of the times known to history and archaeology. But a distinction should probably be drawn between purely physical techniques, on the one hand, and what the Japanese call kamiwaza, ie Divinely Inspired techniques, on the other. The warriors of the Bible seem to have known kamiwaza. It is also present in the more ancient Japanese schools, like Kashima Shinryu. More modern schools, like Aikido, which were developed from ancient schools, may also have kamiwaza. Martial arts are bioethically relevant because of the spiritual elements and because of the ethic which warriors have developed, and which insists on principles like honour, honesty, fairness and deep human relationships in the most difficult of situations. It is easy to be ethical while teaching a philosophy class, but much harder when contending with terror attacks.
In the last century, martial arts went through a period of time when spiritual development was considered the most important thing, and many people, in the more peaceful parts of the world, ignored practical application for defence of oneself and others. People in some parts of the world, however, have been contending with war and terrorism with little interruption for many years. People elsewhere could ignore real life until late 2001. But after the September attack on New York and Washington, and after the navy of formerly pacifist Japan had to engage in a fire fight in December, the revival of warrior ethics has become a necessity. We would all rather not fight. But if we have to fight, let us learn to do so ethically and with inner calm and peace. (FL)

MARTYR: From old English and Greek.Literally means a witness. 1-a person who choose to die rather than give up his faith. 2-a person who assumes an attitude of self-sacrifice for his beliefs. 3-In Islamic context the word " Sha`hid" has the same meaning. It means sacrificing one`s own life on the way of God's faith. (AB)

MASOCHISM: A perverse form of self-defeating gratification derived from receiving physical, mental or emotional abuse. Masochism is a personality disorder in which pleasure is heightened during maltreatment or domination, even to the extent of violence or cruelty, at the hands of another/others. The masochist may need to experience, in reality or fantasy, emotional or physical pain to become sexually aroused. The term is derived from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836-1895), the Austrian historian, cuckold and author of the classic masochist novel Venus in Furs which was drawn from his own life and relationships. (See SADISM, SADOMASOCHISM). (IP + MP)

MASS EXTINCTION: Mass extinction events are relatively brief periods during which a large proportion of the Earth’s  existing species are extirpated. They are characterised by numerous extinctions occuring simucal nature of the planet. The big five mass extinctions in Earth’s  history occured at the final stages of the following Periods: experiencing the sixth mass extinction. Regrettably, the current mass extinction event has been driven by human development and expansion, and Homo sapiens will not necessarily be excluded from it’s  catastrophic effects. (See EXTINCTION, HUMAN EXTINCTION) (MP).

MASS MEDIA: Instruments of communication that reach large numbers of people; for example, the press, radio, television. (DM)

MASS SCREENING: The use of quick and simple diagnostic procedures with large groups of apparently well people for the purpose of detecting the presence or risk of diseases or disorders. (DM)

MATERIAL FLOWS: Material flows include abiotic solids (minerals, fossil energy carriers, topsoil etc.), biotic flows (animal harvest biomass, plant biomass etc.), water (surface runoff, groundwater, ocean currents), air (atmospheric gases) and pollution (damaging chemicals, human waste, radioactive materials etc.). ‘Material Flux Analysis’ and ‘Substance Flow Analysis’ are methods for tracking the flow of material inputs, stocks, outputs and wastes. (See ENVIRONMENTAL FLOWS) (MP)

MATERIALISM:

MATERNAL BLOOD SAMPLING: A term applied to blood sampling from pregnant mothers, usually to assess the health of the fetus. Certain serum protein markers can indicate higher probability of the fetus being suffering from neural tube defects or Down syndrome. Because it is only elevated risk, the followup is normally a more direct fetal diagnosis test. (See AMNIOCENTESIS, CVS). (DM)

MATERNAL HEALTH: Health of the mother, while pregnant or raising a child. (DM)

MATERNAL LOVE: The love given to a child by a mother. (DM)

MATERNAL MORTALITY: The rate of death of pregnant mothers or women giving birth to a child. There is a high rate of mother's death in the case of abortions performed by untrained medical practitioners or women themselves. (See ABORTION). (DM)

MATERNAL SERUM ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN: A protein normally secreted by the fetal liver, yolk sac and gastrointestinal tract. Elevated concentration levels of alpha-fetoprotein in the amniotic fluid is used to diagnose early fetal neural tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly. The protein concentration is normally low in adults but may be elevated in cirrhosis, alcoholic and viral hepatitis and certain malignancies such as hepatomas and germ cell neoplasm. (See PRENATAL DIAGNOSIS; FETAL THERAPY). (DM+IP)    
MATESHIP: 1. The condition of being mating partners. (See MARRIAGE) 2. That feeling of fellowship, common bond, camaraderie , trust and honor between ‘mates’ or friends. Traditionally a male ethic, such as ‘gentleman’s rules’ or theCULTURAL IDENTITY) (MP)  

MATHEMATICAL MODELING: Artificially constructed models by the use of computers in order to predict greenhouse or population trends for example. Scientist use these models to make statements or predictions about the world, however, models are only as accurate as the data used in its construction. (IP)

MATRIMONY: The bond or union of marriage. (See MARRIAGE) (MP)

MATRIX METHODS: A matrix is a rectangular arrangement of data, usually with the unit, subject or individual in a horizontal row and the variables or measures represented by vertical columns. This arrangement facilitates matrix methods of arithmetic, statistics and analysis. (See LEOPOLD MATRIX) (MP)
 
MATTER: Physics: The ‘bricks and mortar’ of the universe,ing substitutable aspects of the same thing (e=mc²). The universe has been theorized also to contain ‘antimatter’ and ‘dark matter’. Matter isQUARK, LEPTON, ENERGY, MATERIAL FLOWS) (MP)

MAXIMUM ACCEPTED CONCENTRATION: Commonly abbreviated as MAC. Human body is adopted to a certain threshold value to any substance. The upper limit of tolerance is the MAC., its levels are based partly on scientific evaluation of the available toxicological data and partly by the health based recommended occupational exposure limit. These data may be available with the Health Department. (JA).

MAXIMUM ECONOMIC YIELD: The value difference between the costs of inputs and the value of outputs in an economic process. The total cost of inputs should, but often doesn’t, include an estimation of environmental, social and ethical costs. (See COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS, MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD) (MP)

MAXIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD: A long-lived but now obsolete term referring to the theoretical threshold level of greatest utilization of a resource such that the affected population or resource neither increases nor decreases. Maximum sustainable yield has given way to ‘optimum sustainable yield’, which accommodates into management modeling the existence of dynamic ecosystem fluctuations and precaution in the face of uncertainty. (See OPTIMUM SUSTAINABLE YIELD) (MP)

MD: Medical Doctor.

MEAN: Three types, arithmetic, geometric and weighted. Arithmetic mean is obtained by adding all the data values and dividing by the number of data items, the sample size is indicated by n and the mean xbar. Geometric mean is the n ^th root of the product of n items. Weighted mean is the method of assigning different emphasis or weights to data items. (JA)

MEAN DEVIATION: Is a measure of the average amount by which the values in a distribution differ from the arithmetic mean. (JA)

MEANING OF LIFE: Bioethical principles like beneficence and non-maleficence have no clinical application in the absence of reflection on the meaning of life. This is not necessarily a religious position because atheists and agnostics also have opinions on the meaning of life. The radical existentialist opinion that life is meaningless, is also an important result of reflection on the meaning of life.

Meaning of life is not identical with QUALITY OF LIFE (q.v.). One who is devoted entirely to chasing physical and aesthetic pleasure might have a life of much quality, but little meaning. But a very sick, dependent, bedridden, depressed patient in great pain, who for the first time reflects on ones good and bad deeds, one relationships with other people, and on our total ignorance of where we came from and where we are going, may have extremely low quality of life and much meaning. Nor is meaning of life identical with sanctity of life. The idea that there are some values more important than life itself, values for which one should be willing to sacrifice one's life, is the idea that a meaningless life is not worth living.

There are three levels to the meaning of one's life: the meaning of one's life in one's own eyes, the meaning of one's life with respect to others, and the metaphysical meaning of one's life, if such a thing exists. We can never be sure about any of these things. We cannot be sure about the meaning of one's life to oneself, because we can always change our minds, see things in a new light, or even come to realize that what we believed to be our own thoughts were really ideas to which we were indoctrinated. Terminal patients often change their minds about whether their continued treatment is worthwhile. Nor can we be sure about what our lives mean to others. A word or a small action today can have unknown and long term effects on our friends, families, students and others. Nor can we really know anything at all about the metaphysical meanings of our lives. Does God exist or not? And if God exists, what is God like? And if we don't know what God is like, what sense can there be in our belief that God exists? And is there life after death? And what is that life like? Heaven and hell, or reincarnation, or perhaps something so surprising we cannot even imagine it? Or maybe we are just meat, and death is the end of us? Reflection on the meaning of life leads to the conclusion that we cannot know anything about it. Therefore, declarations of whether continuing treatment is "in the interests" or "not in the interests" of a patient, are meaningless declarations. The humility to admit that we really don't know anything about the meaning of life should be the first prerequisite for engaging in clinical ethical decision making. (FL)

MEASUREMENT: The collection or quantification of data on location, size, shape, distribution, boundaries, distance, dimensionality or rate of change. Data is obtained through the use of a measuring instrument. Measures are against some standard, for example the meter was defined at different times by a fractional proportion of the circumference of the World, a platinum rod stored in Paris, and currently by the distance light travels over a particular time. Usually parameters or indicators are measured rather than the real population or value. You need to know not just what you are measuring, but what it represents, to what precision and accuracy, and what assumptions or biases may be inherent. Moreover, relativity theory states that measurement is subjective to the measurer’s viewpoint, and in quantum theory the act of measurement usually interferes with the measure itself. Complexity theory has also illustrated some of the subjectivities andsurement. Nevertheless, measurement is one of our most powerful tools for approximating the true shape of reality, and one of the defining differentiators of science from TATISTICS, MODELING, INDICATOR, PARAMETER, PRECISION, ACCURACY, ASSUMPTIONS, SPACE, TIME, ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING) (MP)

MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY: Measures of central tendency conceptualize the middle position of a data set or group of observations, and include the mean, median and mode. (See MEAN, MEDIAN, MODE) (MP)

MEASURES OF DISPERSION: Measures of dispersion indicate the spread or distribution of data, and include variance, standard deviation, standard error, range, interquartile range, skew and kurtosis. (See RANGE, VARIANCE, STANDARD DEVIATION, STANDARD ERROR, SKEW, KURTOSIS) (MP)

MEDIA ACTIVISM: See CULTURE JAMMING.

MEDIA MANIPULATION: See PROPAGANDA.

MEDIA PIRACY: Illegal or unauthorized use of copyrighted media content, software, brand-names, bandwidth or connection to internet, cable or satellite TV broadcasts. "Pirate radio" refers to stealthy broadcasting on illegal bandwidths of activist and alternative radio stations. Piracy refers more particularly to unauthorized "borrowing" of copyright media for cheap reproduction and sale, a practice widespread for example across Asia in print, CD, CD-ROM, VCD, and DVD formats. Media piracy reduces economic incentives and may drive official prices up. Nevertheless, it also equalizes the availability and distribution of information to the poor in developing countries who would otherwise not have access. (See ANTICOPYRIGHT, CULTURE JAMMING) (MP)

MEDIAN: 1. In statistics, the value falling in the middle of a data set when arranged in ranked order; the 50^th percentile of the measurements. If the set contains an even number, the average of the two middle measurements is taken. The median is more robust than the mean, i.e not as sensitive to unusual data points such as outliers. (See MEAN, MODE) 2. In anatomy and biology, situated in the middle - for example the median artery or nerve. (MP, JA)

MEDIATION: Mediation of conflict in personal, industrial or international relations refers to the involvement or intervention of a third party such as a mutually respected neutral analyst. Success or failure can depend on the belief systems of the mediator in relation to each side of the dispute. Effective communication is also essential to negotiate compromise or settlement. Best may be several independent mediators who are able to represent each side of the dispute with empathy, but are still friendly with each other. (See FACILITATION, NEGOTIATION, DISPUTE, CONFLICT RESOLUTION, CONSENSUS, COMPROMISE, PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY, TEAMWORK, THIRD PARTY) (MP)

MEDICAID: A US funded form of public assistance sponsored jointly by the federal and state governments providing medical aid for those below a certain level of income. (See MEDICINE; MEDICAL CARE). (IP)

MEDICAL CARE: The provision of expenses for doctors, nurses and other medical services as well as surgery, hospitals, institutional care and transportation necessary in the prevention/alleviation or treatment of a physical or mental disability or illness. Medical expenses, including medicines, drugs and health insurance premiums of an individual and his or her dependents are allowed as an itemized deduction to the extent that such amounts exceed a certain percent of adjusted gross income. (See MEDICAID; MEDICINE). (IP)

MEDICAL EDUCATION: Specialist training in one or more branches of medicine, including instruction in biology, physics and chemistry. Medical education has developed very differently in different countries but is becoming more and more transdisciplinary taking in, for example, subjects such as bioscience and bioethics. (See EDUCATION, RELIGIOUS EDUCATION). (IP).

MEDICAL ETHICS and MEDICAL ETHICISTS: Medical ethics is the clinical branch of bioethics dealing with the ethics of physicians and surgeons. It is to be distinguished from NURSING ETHICS (q.v.), Physiotherapy Ethics, Pharmacist Ethics, etc. Medical ethics includes many subcategories. Internists and oncologists tend to take a major interest in questions of care and the discontinuation of care of terminal patients, truthtelling, and the like. Neonatologists deal with patients who are incapable of making informed decisions on their own, but whose parents or guardians cannot always be counted on to make the best decision for them. Psychiatrists and paediatricians have patients with varying and often-unclear degrees of ability to make informed choices. Gynaecologists have questions about abortion, in-vitro fertilisation, etc.

Bioethicists can play different kinds of roles in medical ethics. Some people think that medical ethics is a branch of philosophy. There are ethicists, sometimes with education in philosophy, who serve on hospital ethics committees or who accompany physicians on rounds, participating in clinical decisions. But it can be debated whether an education in philosophy gives sufficient understanding of the clinical realities to make decisions about life and death. So others think that the people to make the clinical ethical decisions should be physicians and nurses, and that the role of philosophical bioethicists should be pedagogical, helping to educate physicians and nurses to think deeply when they approach clinical ethical questions.

It is doubtful whether one person alone should take life and death decisions, like DNR, even if that person is the most distinguished professor of medicine. Weighty decisions should be made together with the patient and family, whenever possible, and after consultation in the ward staff meeting, with other physicians, nurses and social workers. (FL)

MEDICAL ETHICS COMMITTEES: See IRBS, EC.

MEDICAL ETIQUETTE: Accepted forms of social behavior among physicians and other health professionals. (DM)

MEDICAL INFORMATION DIRECTORIES: The desire of the health profession to benefit humanity saw it pioneer free and open distribution of medical journals on the internet. Medline (www.medlineplus.gov) is a free archive of some 3500 medical journals selected by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Numerous other periodicals, directories, medical forums and diagnostic tools exist such as Medscape, Medical Matrix, HealthAnswers, OnHealth and Virtual Hospital. (See BIOETHICS INFORMATION DIRECTORIES, ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION DIRECTORIES) (MP)

MEDICAL WASTE: Waste materials from a diagnosis process or treatment of patient e.g. intravenous tubing, contaminated dressing materials. Synonymous names include hospital waste and infectious waste. Former includes all the discarded total waste both biological materials and non biological. Infectious while the latter refers to any hospital/ medical waste contaminated with germs of infectious diseases.(JA)

MEDICINE: (Latin medicina 'art of healing') the science and art of dealing with the prevention, cure and alleviation of disease. In its more recent sense the science and art of preserving good physical and psychological health. (See HIPPOCRATIC OATH, MEDICAL CARE; MEDICAID). (IP)

MEDITATION: See TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION, ZEN.

MEDLINE: See MEDICAL INFORMATION DIRECTORIES.

MEGA-: Standard SI Unit multiplier denoting one million times, or ten to the power of six (mega: 10⁶ ). The mega- spatial scale deals with the international and global environment. (See SCALE, MACRO-, MICRO-, META-, TRANS-, INTER-) (MP)

MEGADIVERSITY: A concept introduced by Dr. McNeely to indicate the richness of species diversity in a given country by taking an inventory of species - 70% of worlds' species diversity is found in 10 such countries - Mexico. Columbia, Equador, Peru, Brazil, Zaire, Madagascar, china, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. (JA)

MEGAFAUNA EXTINCTIONS: See EXTINCTION.

MEGALOMANIA: Delusions of grandeur or personal importance, or a personality typified by lust for wealth and power. Megalomania may be a symptom of drug delusion, mania or psychosis. (See DELUSION) (MP)

MEGALOPOLIS: After the Ancient Greek Megalopolis of Arcadia, a mega-city; an extensive system of urban centers and interconnecting metropolis, typically with a population in the tens of millions. (See METROPOLIS, ECUMENOPOLIS) (MP)

MEIOSIS: The process of two consecutive cell divisions in the diploid progenitors of sex cells. Meiosis results in four rather than two daughter cells, each with a haploid set of chromosomes.

MEME: The word meme was first proposed by Richard Dawkins in the context of evolutionary processes and cultural replication, in The Selfish Gene (1976): “We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation . ‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene’. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme . If it is any consolation, it could alternately be thought of as being related to ‘memory’, or the French word même .” les, although not necessarily direct perception or things that cannot replicate or be imitated. Perhaps the best example of how memes compete and reproduce by natural selection is the ‘meme’ meme itself. The concept of the meme has successfully made it into dictionaries and general discourse, presumably helped by being analogous to the word gene . In contrast, another term for almost the same concept, the ‘culturgen’, proposeTOR) (MP & IP)

MEME COMPLEX: The ‘coadapted meme complex’, abbreviated to ‘memeplex’, is a group of memes which are symbiotic in that they are selected for, replicate and evolve together. Dawkins uses the ‘God’ meme complex as an example, suggesting we “regard an organized church, with its architecture, rituals, laws, music, art, and written tradition, as a co-adapted stable set of mutually-assisting memes.” (See MEME) (MP)

MEMEPLEX: See MEME COMPLEX.

MEME POOL: See COLLECTIVE MEMORY.

MEMETICS: The scientific study of memes; their nature, replication, cultural transmission, storage media, technological links, genetic analogues, corresponding physiology, cooperation, competition, copying fidelity, fecundity and longevity. (See MEME, MEME COMPLEX, MEMOTYPE, SEMIOTICS, CULTURAL EVOLUTION) (MP)

MEMORY: (Latin: memoria) 1. The capacity of the mind for learning, retention and recall of thoughts, observations and information. Memory is involved in the selection of events relevant to survival from a constant barrage of environmental inputs. Stimulus during certain critical stages of child development is crucial to memory and learning. There are different types of memory associated with different parts of the brain and having specific characteristics (e.g. visual association, language, short term & long term memories). Memory is associated with changes in the processing and neural channels of the brain rather than the molecules. Neurological details remain unknown, but memories are expressed as changes in the synapses and/or as broader interrelated patterns of excitation. (See COLLECTIVE MEMORY, MEME, MEMORY ENHANCEMENT, MEMORY IMPAIRMENT, MIND). 2. The storage capacity of a computer system, measured in bytes, or units of information, available for central processing, with hard drive storage commonly in the gigabyte range and random access memory in the megabyte range. (See ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE) (MP)

MEMORY ENHANCEMENT: Capacity for memory is not necessarily predetermined and can be considerably enhanced with training and mental organization. The effort of memorizing must be made at the initial time of the observation rather than later at the time of recall. The metaphor of a filing cabinet is useful as it illustrates the importance of proper organization of memories in logically related groups. For long-term memory revision is important to reinforce the associated neural connections. Because memories predominantly rely on visual representations, many memory enhancement techniques use pictures and spatial relationships. Mind-maps are a useful tool for representing relationships between memory groups. Mnemonics associate initial letters or other markers with easy-to-remember phrases and are useful for memorizing lists or equations. Daisy-chaining also uses mental visual associations (most memorable if seemingly ridiculous) to link together related information such as the segments of a seminar. There are numerous other techniques involving visual associations and mental codes for remembering facts, lists, faces, names and numbers. (See MEMORY, MEMORY IMPAIRMENT) (MP)

MEMORY IMPAIRMENT: The condition in which an individual experiences the inability to remember or recall pieces of information or behavioural skills, such as losing memory of earlier periods of life or forgetting to perform a behavior at a scheduled time. Memory impairment may be a symptom of drug intoxication, severe emotional trauma, brain damage, Alzheimers disease and senile dementia. The condition can be pathophysiological or environmental, and may be either temporary or permanent. (See AMNESIA, MEMORY, MEMORY ENHANCEMENT) (MP)

MEMOTYPE: As yet, ‘memotype’ is poor equivalent of phenotype). Grant (1990) defines the memetic information as the ‘memotype’, and its expression in social behavior the ‘sociotype’. The distinction between the meme (or idea, instruction, ‘i-culture’, ‘memotype’) and the meme phenotype (or ‘phemotype’, ‘meme product’, ‘vehicle’, ‘m-culture’, ‘sociotype’) has varied between different investigators. Copying fidelity is not as good for ‘copy the product’ (e.g. Lamarckian inheritance) as for ‘copy the instructions’ (e.g. genetic inheritance), although both mechanisms are used by memes. (See MEME, MEMETICS, MEME COMPLEX) (MP)

MENDEL, GREGOR: Mendel, Johann - Given the name Gregor when he took the monastic vows in 1843. The so-called father of modern genetics for his experiments in the 19th Century on genetic segregation in peas. (DM)

MENDELIAN DISORDERS: In the pattern of inheritance there is a definite pattern of gene distribution hwere lateration of a single gene may lead to disorder with possible risk to relatives. A dominent gene inheritance with a 50% genetic risk to offspring of an affected person, is a frequent inheritance pattern in this group. The occurrence of new genetic mutations means that a significant proportion of such individuals may not have a family history of the condition, though their offspring will still be at high risk. E.g. Polycystic kidney disease. There could be late onset disorders following "recessive" inheritance E.g. haemochromatosis. (JA)

MENDELIAN GENETICS: Classical method of observing inheritance of a trait(s) in the offspring of crosses between individuals differing in that trait(s); results in accordance with Mendel's laws. (DM)

MENGELE, JOSEPH: (1911-1979) Known as the "Angel of Death". Mengele served as physician at the concentration camp at Auschwitz, and it was there that he conducted many horrifying experiments on living human beings. At the time of his enrollment at Munich University, the Nazi party already had a large presence in the German parliament. Mengele submitted his application to the Nazi party in 1937, after having absorbed an ideology of euthanasia and "purification" of race. He was admitted to the SS in 1938, after having been cleared of any suspicion of having Jewish ancestry, and received his medical degree the same year. He served as doctor of Auschwitz from May 1943 to January of 1945. His deepest obsession in his experimentation was with twins, because he was convinced that they held the key to genetic secrets. For this reason, he sought out Jewish twins in the camp for his experiments. The experiments themselves involved exposing the human body to extreme cold, high pressure, low pressure, etc., and he even injected dye into eyes to check the possibility of changing eye color in this manner. In addition to his general contempt for the subjects of his experiments, he deliberately chose Jewish holidays as dates of selecting his victims. When the Russian troops began to near the camp in January of 1945, Mengele fled. He was captured by the Americans and concealed his SS past. He managed to escape because he had switched his identity papers with his friend, Frizt Ulmann. Mengele fled Europe for Argentina, and later moved to Paraguay. In 1979, Mengele drowned. In 1985, his bones were exhumed. These were examined and proven to be his remains. (AG)

MEN'S BUSINESS: 1. Australian colloquialism used by members of "men’s  liberation movement" 2. Australian Aboriginal tenning of life as an adult and establishes a young man’s  responsibility to their family and group while also learning about men’s  spiritual secrets and matters of law. Some parts of the ceremonies canitiates are marked by a permanent sign on the body to demonstrate that thto gradually learn about the land, its sacred sites and other matters. Men's business can be seen as the Aboriginal equivalent of Latin terms Mens legis - the mind of the law; that is, the purpose, spirit, or intention of a law or the law generally, and Mens legislatoris - the intention of the law-maker. (See WOMEN'S BUSINESS, TOTEMISM). (IP)

MENTAL COMPETENCE OR CAPACITY: The ability to understand the nature and effects of the act in which a person is engaging; such as the transaction of a particular contract or will or giving permission for the performance of a particular test or medical procedure. (See INFORMED CONSENT; MENTAL INCOMPETENCE). (IP)

MENTAL HEALTH: Since the founding of the United Nations the concepts of mental health and hygiene have achieved international acceptance. As defined in the 1946 constitution of the WHO, “health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The term mental health represents a variety of aspirations: rehabilitation of the mentally disturbed, prevention of mentate of well-being in which the individual functions at a level consistent with his or her mental potential. The concept of possible state insofar as circumstances are alterable. Mental health is regarded as a condition of the individual, relatiygiene includes all measures taken to promote and to preserve mental health. Community mental health refers to the extent onducive to, the mental health of its members.  (DM)

MENTAL ILLNESS: Throughout history the mentally ill or disturbed have been viewed with a mixture of fear and revulsion. Their fate generally has been one of rejection, neglect, and ill treatment. Though in ancient medical writings there are references to mental disturbance that display views very similar to modern humane attitudes, interspersed in the same literature are instances of socially sanctioned cruelty based upon the belief that mental disorders have origins such as possession by demons. (DM)

MENTAL INCOMPETENCE: Is established when there exists an essential deficiency of the faculties of reasoning, or when a person is incapable of understanding and acting with informed choice in the ordinary affairs of life. (See INFORMED CONSENT, MENTAL COMPETENCE OR CAPACITY). (IP)

MENTALLY RETARDED: See MENTALLY DISABLED.

MERCENARY ARMIES: See INSTITUTION OF WAR.

MERISTEM: Embryonic tissue found on stem and root apex with totipotent property for lifetime growth, three types: 1. Protoderm-outer most protoderm which forms epidermis (epidermal tissue) 2. Ground meristem gives rise to ground tissue, 3.procambium forms vascular tissue. Apical meristem is infection *(virus) free. Daughter plants derived from them also virus free. An example of micro-propagation. (JA)

MESCALINE: A spychoactive poisonous alkaloid derived from the flowering heads of Lophophora williamsii or peyote - the spineless cactus that grows in Mexico and the southwestern United States (made famous by Aldous Huxley in his book The Doors of Perception). The drug produces visual hallucinations and can change an individual’s perception of the world by stimulating grand illusions and exalted fecific religious ceremonies to produce awe, euphoria and a feeling of ecstasy. Mescaline has a similar chemical structure to noradrenaline (norepinephrine), one of the three principal neurotransmitters that balance mood. (see BRAIN NEUROTRANSMITTERS; HALLUCINATION; PSILOCYBIN) (IP)

MESOLITHIC AGE: The archeological age beginning about 15,000 years ago characterized by pastoralism or the raising of domestic animals. (IP)

MESOMORPH: A person with a body shape (somatotype) typified by muscular frame, large bones and athletic features, who may find it genetically easier to develop muscle and maintain fitness. (See ENDOMORPH, ECTOMORPH) (MP)

MESOTHELIOMA: See SILICOSIS.

MESSENGER RNA, mRNA: A class of RNA produced by transcribing the DNA sequence of a gene. The mRNA molecule carries messages specific to each of the 20 amino acids. Its role in protein synthesis is to transmit instructions from DNA sequences (in the nucleus of the cell) to the ribosomes (in the cytoplasm of the cell). (DM)

MESTIZO: (Spanish: ‘mixed’) American-Spanish term (e.g. Mexico) referring to a person of mixed European and First Nation (American Indian) descent. (MP)

META-: Combining prefix from the Greek: meta- means ‘above’ or ‘outside’. (See TRANS-, MULTI-, MACRO-, MICRO-, MEGA-, INTER-, INTRA-, ANTI-, MAL-, PSEUDO-). (MP)

META-ANALYSIS: Investigation of a problem from ‘above’, whareviews a large multidisciplinary range of studies. (See ANALYSIS) (MP)

METABOLISM: See HALF-LIFE.

METAETHICS: See ETHICS.

META-KNOWLEDGE: Knowledge about knowledge, for example ways of knowing, knowledge categories, significance of knowledge, links and interactions, knowledge applications, and understanding of uncertainties and ignorance. (See KNOWLEDGE) (MP)

METAPHOR: ‘Metaphor’ is a literary and thinking device used to compare something unknown with something known. ‘Metonymy’ is rheting, or sometimes misleading. Care not to be misled by over-assumption of additional characteristics which may not be present in both, or confusion of the metaphor for actuality (e.g. the ‘Selfish Gene’ metaphor). (See AMBIGUITY) (MP)

METAPHYSICAL: The principles underlying a particular subject or system of beliefs. (DM)

METASTASIS: (Greek meta 'change' + stasis 'standing'). The process by which malignant tumor cells are transported by the lymphatic and/or circulatory systems away from the primary tumor and implant in other nodes and organs of the body. The prospects of survival are significantly decreased after metastasis reinforcing the need for early tumor detection and treatment. (See CANCER). (IP+MP)

METHADONE: See METHADONE HYDROCHLORIDE.

METHADONE HYDROCHLORIDE: A synthetic narcotic belonging to the group of drugs known as opioids which are similar in chemical structure and action to morphine. Although its addictive qualities may make itself a drug of abuse, it has been successfully used in methadone programs as a substitute for the treatment of heroin and other opioids addictions. Its effect lasts much longer than heroin - a single dose is effective for approximately 24-hours compared with heroin's couple of hours. In treatment programs, methadone is usually given out in syrup form and drunk with cordial or fruit juice. Pregnant women who are dependent on opiates are encouraged to enter a methadone program as early as possible into their pregnancy as it is believed to result in fewer complications than the use of other opiates, such as heroin. However recent evidence indicates that methadone may be as damaging to the fetus as heroin. A person can only become a client of methadone treatment after being assessed by a doctor who is an approved methadone prescriber. (See HEROIN, JUNKIE). (IP)

METHYL ISOCYANATE (MIC): It is a poisonous gas involved in the Bhopal poisonous gas accident in 1985. It interferes with the mitochondrial electron transport chain, blocks cytochrome oxidase, stops the production of ATP and finally leads to death. (See BHOPAL) (JA)

METRIC UNITS: A system of units based on the meter and the kilogram that used multiples and sub-multiples of 10. All scientific work is done using the metric system of units. (See SCALE, SI UNITS, IMPERIAL UNITS, KILO-, NANO-, MEASUREMENT) (IP)

METROPOLIS: A major urban area and its cityscape, with one or multiple central business districts, including connecting suburbs, settlements and supporting infrastructure, typically with a population of several million ranging from 50,000 to tens of millions. (See SUSTAINABLE CITY, URBAN SPRAWL, MEGALOPOLIS, ECUMENOPOLIS) (MP)

MHC: See MAJOR HISTOCOMPATIBILITY COMPLEX.

MIC: See METHYL ISOCYANATE.

MICRO-: Standard SI Unit multiplier denoting one millionth, or ten to the power of minus six (micro: 10^-6) . This is the scale relevant to larger molecules, cells, unicellular organisms and microchip circuits. (See SCALE, NANO-, MEGA-, MACRO-, INTRA-) (MP)

MICROBIAL ECOLOGY: The study of the relationships among microorganisms and between microorganisms and their environment. Concerns of microbial ecologists include fluxes of biologically active substances (e.g., nutrients, metals, water pollution and toxic chemicals in the environment). (see BACTERIA; MICROORGANISMS). (IP+RW)

MICROBOT: (Microscopic + robot) Miniaturization of wireless, networked robotic technology at the millimeter or micro-scales, currently also known as ‘motes’. (See MOTES) (MP)

MICROCHIP: A microchip is a tiny set of integrated circuits on a semiconductor base such as silicon, designed to perform a set of electronic tasks. A microprocessor is a microchip which contains the whole central processing unit of a computer. (See MICROCHIP IMPLANTS) (MP)

MICROCHIP IMPLANTS: Miniature electronic devices which are implantable under the skin of animals to perform functions such as cybernetic communication or micro-tag identification. Investigations are beginning in human subjects such as cybernetic self-experimenter Kevin Warwick, whose internet-enabled implant can do things such as send message signals to his nervous system or activate light switches on his approach. (See CYBORG, CYBERNETICS, TELEPATHY, PSYCHOKINESIS) (MP)

MICROECONOMICS: The branch of economics which investigates economic policy in terms of individual decision-making, for example supply and demand, competition, capital flows, government and corporate finance, and income distribution. (See MACROECONOMICS, ECONOMY) (MP)

MICROCOSM: See MICROECOSYSTEM.

MICROECOSYSTEM: A miniature system with living organisms like bacteria growing in a culture tube - a miniature man made ecosystem or biospheres, = microcosm with regulators for the control of inflow and out flow of nutrients. (JA)

MICROHABITAT: Specific localized conditions in which an organism lives, such as a certain type of soil. Microhabitats reflect the non-uniform nature of the environment and the availability of many ecological niches within any habitat. A diversity of microhabitats may be required for the co-existence of species competing for overlapping niches. (See HABITAT) (MP)

MICROINJECTION: A technique used for the insertion of genes from one cell into another cell, in which highly purified copies of a specific gene of interest are injected into a cell. Copies of one specific gene of interest can be injected into a fertilized animal egg. The egg is then surgically implanted in a female animal's reproductive tract. (see I.C.S.I). (DM)

MICROORGANISMS: Minute, microscopic, or submicroscopic living organisms (e.g. bacteria, mycoplasma, and viruses). (DM)

MICROPROCESSOR: See MICROCHIP.

MICROPROPAGATION: A form of plant breeding commonly called propagation, used in modern horticultural technology, using the regenerative powers of individual cells and tissues to produce numerous independent plants from a single parent plant. (JA)

MICROSATELLITE: Short repeated sequence made up of two to four nucleotides, present on average every 50kb (kilo base pair) in the genome. The most common (from 35.000 to 1500.000 in the whole genome) are clusters of di-nucleotide sequences (CA)n or (GT)n, where the number (n) of the CA/GT units at a given locus can vary from one individual to the other. Due to their repetitive structure, microsatellites undergo frequent slippage events during replication of DNA, giving rise to a high polymorphism of these sequences. This feature has made them very a useful tool in linkage analysis, population studies (phylogenetic and evolutionary studies) and forensic DNA analysis (see STR) (GK)

MIDDLE WAY: In Buddha’s philosophy, his ‘Middle Way’ ( Madhyamika ) is a life which does not follow extremes of pleasure on the one hand, or extreme asceticism on the other. Buddha’s Middle Way to enlightenment is a union of all reality, and involves moderation, contentment, compassion and follP)

MIDRASH: (from the Hebrew root d.r.sh., meaning "to seek", "to inquire") The word Midrash refers both to a method of allegorical interpretation of scripture and to a group of texts which interpret the Old Testament in allegorical manner. Two major types of Midrash collections are: Midrash Halacha (see Halacha) and Midrash Aggada. The Midrash Halacha collections deal with Halacha applications of the text. Midrash Aggada collections include a more extensive elaboration verse by verse, of allegorical interpretation of the Old Testament, especially its narrative sections. In the Midrash collections, it is possible to find views of ancient Jewish sages on life, human society, interpersonal relations, human beings and the universe, creation, and many other topics. Due to the allegorical nature of Midrash, at times animals are portrayed as speaking, and through this it is possible to learn of attitudes of these ancient sages towards other species. (AG)

MIGRATION CORRIDORS: See HABITAT CORRIDORS.

MILESTONE: A significant event, indicator or mark in the passage of time and progress through life or human history. (MP)

MILL, JOHN STUART: (1808-1873) Mill followed Jeremy Bentham in developing UTILIARIANISM (Q.V.) as a philosophy of ethics. He also distinguished himself in ethics by his book, On the Subjection of Women , an important source in the women's rights movement. In pure philosophy, he wrote a book on logic in which he argued that mathematics is an empirical science like any other, simply describing facts in the world. This means that we know that 5 plus 7 equals twelve, because every time we have observed 5 things plus 7 things, we have found there to be 12 things. But if this is merely a statement of observation, it will not therefore follow that the next time we see 5 things plus 7 things, there will necessarily be twelve of them. The philosopher and mathematician, Gottlob Frege fiercely attacked Mill, arguing that unlike empirical observations, mathematics are necessarily, absolutely and eternally true. Frege and RUSSELL (q.v.) tried to develop axiom systems to prove mathematics as absolute truths. But since the completeness of axiom systems was questioned by Kurt Godel in 1931, it has become clear that we are still far from understanding the truth about this debate.(FL)

MILTON, J: (1608-1674) John Milton is best known for his religious poetic works like Samson Agonistes, On his Blindness, and Paradise Lost. In the latter work, there is the idea of the fallen angel, the daemon Satan, deceiving humans into doing unethical things. And in the philosophical works of his French contemporary, Rene Descartes, there is the idea of an evil daemon, deceiving people into intellectual error.

So it must have been an age preoccupied for some reason with bad angels. Milton's greatest influence on the history of ethics, however, was through his many political pamphlets. He was on the side of Cromwell, the Protestant reformist revolutionary who defeated the Stuart monarchy and killed King Charles the First. Cromwell defended the regicide. But over the ensuing years, kings and politicians have succeeded in convincing people that although all murder is a sin against the sanctity of human life, the lives of kings and politicians are a little holier. In his pamphlet, On the Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, Milton argued, on the basis of Bible and philosophy, for the idea of a contractual relationship between a people and its ruler. This is a relationship in which the ruler gets all his or her authority from the consent of the people. And the people, as in the revolt of the Biblical Ten Tribes of Israel, have the right to break the contract whenever the ruler does not fulfil his or her obligations. This concept of a social contract, which was embodied in the American Declaration of Independence, is often credited to Thomas Hobbles, John Locke or Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Milton's original contributions to this basic idea of modern democracy is usually ignored. (FL)

MINERAL AND VITAMIN DEFICIENCY: Deficiencies may result due to an inability to use one or more of these elements essential in nutrition because of lack of that item in the diet, malabsorption or genetic defect. Deficiency symptoms vary according to the function of the substance in promoting growth and maintenance of health. Vitamin and mineral requirements are especially important in health care for infants, children, adolescents and the sick and elderly because the demand for these essentials is higher per unit of body weight compared with more stable times. (See NUTRITION, VITAMIN A, VITAMIN B complex, VITAMIN B, VITAMIN C, VITAMIN D, VITAMIN E, VITAMIN K, MINERALS) (IP)

MINERALS: (Latin minera 'mine'). Inorganic substances with characteristic chemical compositions and structures - typically crystalline - occurring naturally in the earth's crust. Minerals are constituents of all body tissues and fluids, and they are essential in the maintenance of physiological processes acting as catalysts in nerve transmission, muscle contraction and metabolism of nutrients in foods. Our supply of minerals comes almost exclusively through the food chain. Plants take them from the ground and incorporate them into organic compounds that we consume by eating either plants or animals that ate the plants. The main exception is table salt (sodium chloride or NaCl) which provides sodium and chloride in inorganic form. The minerals calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, sulphure, copper, iodine, iron, manganese, cobalt, molybdenum, selenium and zinc are all essential in animal and, therefore, human nutrition. (See NUTRITION, BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE, VITAMINS, MINERAL AND VITAMIN DEFICIENCY). (IP)

MINISATELLITE: Discovered by A. Jeffreys in 1985, these dispersed repetitive elements of the human genome have shown to be very polymorphic and were therefore introduced as the first tools for human identification purposes in forensic cases. They contain a short repeated element, whose core sequence is very similar to bacterial chi sequences. (See also VNTR and FORENSIC DNA). (GK)

MINORITY GROUPS: Small groups within a population whose ethnicity, culture or religion are under-represented by a state’s democratic processes, and who may be the subject of racism or human rights violations at the hands of systems reflective of the majority view and neglectful of the diversity. (See AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, ACTIVISM, EMPOWERMENT) (MP)

MINORS: Persons who have not attained the age at which full civil rights are accorded. (DM)

MIRAGES: Lie in the uncertain twilight zone between the real and the unreal. They are caused by refraction; that is, a change in direction of light rays when they move from one transparent medium to another of different density, such as from air to water or vice versa. Mirages are illusions because the observer’s  brain mistakenly thinks the light is traveling in a straight line so the observer sees real objects displaced from their true positions (see RAINBOW & HALOES). (IP)

MIRV: A Multiple Independently Targeted Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) is a missile which carries a payload of multiple separate smaller missiles. Each sub-missile is a self-contained weapon, sometimes released along with decoys, and independently targeted at a range of military, transport and communications facilities. The MIRV developed from the Multiple Re-entry Vehicle (MRV), a missile which opened up to spray non-targeted extra missiles over a wider area to increase the chances of a strategic hit. (See MISSILES, ICBM, SLBM) (MP)

MISCONDUCT: Violation of laws, regulations, or professional standards. (See FRAUD, CONFLICT OF INTEREST, MALPRACTICE, MORAL COMPLICITY). (DM)

MISHNA: The Mishna is a Jewish holy book, next in authority after the Bible. It is believed that when God gave the Tora (the first five books of the Bible) to the Israeli people through Moshe, God gave it in two forms: written and oral. The oral Tora is the explanation of the written one. Moshe passed the explanation on to Yehoshua-ben-Nun (Joshua), from whom it was passed on from generation to generation, until the present day. This interesting story is told in the very readable Mishnaic Treatise of the Fathers , which has been translated into English and many other languages. The explanation was never written down until the time of the Roman occupation of the Land of Israel. But the Romans were making is very difficult for people to learn Tora, and it was in danger of being forgotten altogether. So Rabbi Yehuda-ha-Nasi broke the tradition and wrote down what he had received of this tradition. The Mishna later became part of the TALMUD (q.v.) Probably the Mishnaic passage best known to bioethicists comes from the treatise Ohalot , in which clear permission is given to perform an abortion when the mother is in danger because, as the Mishna states: "her life comes before its life". This passage marks a clear distinction between Judaism and Christianity on the abortion issue. Subsequent discussion has centred on the question of how much danger the mother must be in before abortion is permitted. (FL)

MISINFORMATION: Making general claims on the basis of partial knowledge. (IP)

MISOXENIA: (from the Greek "mis-"= hate, "xene"= foreigner) Hatred of foreigners. The term xenophobia was clumsily applied to take this meaning. However, the term "xenophobia" is confusing, as its name indicates fear of foreigners, rather than hatred of them. While it is true that often feelings of fear may be accompanied by feelings of hate, the two are different emotions. Arachnophobia is fear of spiders, not hatred of spiders. Acrophobia is a fear of high places, not hatred of them. One who is acrophobic does not seek to destroy high places, but rather to avoid coming into contact with them. It is understandable how misoxenia can form, because in contact with outsiders, one easily forms stereotypes after meeting a few members of a group of outsiders. If the stereotype contains some negative aspects (and many stereotypes do), this plants the seeds of hatred, which can grow if encouraged by political speeches and demagoguery. It can also be encouraged by difficult economic conditions, when people are likely to search for simple reasons for economic troubles, and a foreign scapegoat is a common reason to be found. While fear of the foreigner can be overcome to some extent by positive contact with members of the foreign society, hatred of the foreigner is more difficult to overcome, especially when it has the cumulative effect of several generations. (AG)

MISSILES: Missiles include anything projected or fired at a target, such as arrows and bullets, with current usage commonly referring to rocket-propelled explosive weapons used in warfare. Explosive missiles include the grenade (hand-thrown bomb), mortar (portable ground-launched bomb), rocket launcher (portable or fixed), SAM (Surface-to-Air Missile), MRBM (Medium-Range Ballistic Missile), IRBM (Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile), ICBM (Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile), SLBM (Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile), MIRV (Multiple Independently-targeted Re-entry Vehicle), Cruise Missiles, Autonomous ('smart') Missiles, Nuclear Missiles and Antimissiles. The proliferation of missile technology and global unease about nuclear and biochemical weapons have contributed to the development of regional arms races and expensive new weapons in space proposed to protect allied countries from incoming ICBMs. The SALT (Strategic Arms Limitations Talks/Treaty), ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) and Non-Proliferation Treaties serve as imperfect examples of the international attempts required to regulate and reduce this explosive proliferation. (See ICBM, SLBM, MIRV, CONVENTIONAL WEAPONS, AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, EXPLOSIVES, BALLISTICS, MISSILE DEFENSE) (MP)

MISSILE DEFENSE: The concept of a protective shield against nuclear or biochemical attack, in which incoming ICBMs are destroyed by land, ship or space-based defensive weapons. The first US initiative was the Zeus anti-missile missile, but Cold War paranoia during the Reagan administration sparked expensive and earnest attempts at missile defense, commonly dubbed the ‘Star Wars’ project. Despite the decline of the Soviet threat after the Cold War, the Bush Snr., Clinton and Bush Jr. administrations have revived the concept with projects known as the ‘Strategic Defense Initiative’ or ‘National Missile Defense’. Tests have been carried out to determine the effectiveness of “hit to kill” technology in which the kill vehicle intercepts and destroys incoming missiles in the upper atmosphere. These ‘simplified’ tests havgets. In addition, the initiative would have no effect against typical terrorist tactics, for example a ‘suitcase bomb’. Nevertheles likelihood os the development of multiple nuclear ‘bomblets’, and act as a cover for the development of offensive weapons in space. (See SPACE WARFARE, ICBM, NUCLEAR WEAPONS, NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION, HARD POWER) (MP)

MISTAKE: (Old Norse: mistaka ) An accidental wrong action or judgment having negative repercussions despite no original intention of harm. Although genuine mistakes should be forgivable, the issues of negligence and reparation may arise. Having to learn from your own mistakes is not as wise as learning from the mistakes of others. (MP)

MISTRESS: 1. a woman who has the power of controlling or disposing of authority; for example, head of household or authority over servants. 2. a woman who has a continuing sexual relationship with one man outside marriage (see COURTESAN). (IP)

MITOCHONDRIAL DNA: Circular DNA molecule embedded in the matrix of the mitochondrion. Its size in mammals is around 16kb, whereas in S. cerevisiae it is 84kb. The mtDNA molecule in humans is 16.569 base pairs long. One of the differences between both molecules is that the human mitochondrial genes do not posses introns, whereas two genes in the yeast have large introns (Cytb and CO1). There is also a considerable amount of yeast mtDNA that seems to be non-coding (25% stretches rich in AT). In humans, the two strands (H and L) differ in nucleotide content, the H (heavy) strand comprising mainly G and T residues ( 61%), whereas the L (light) strand contains mainly A and C bases. Mitoch; therefore, mtDNA does not show recombination. Since there are multiple same cell; these can be transmitted in a random way to the daughter cells. This phenomenon is called heteroplasmy. Mice show some degree of paternal transmission of mtDNA. (GK)

MITOCHONDRIAL DISEASES: Comprises a heterogeneous group of diseases affecting muscle and nervous system cells (see mitochondrial myopathies), as well as multiple internal organs. Therefore, these diseases have also been named mitochondrial cytopathies. They are characterized by enzymatic deficiencies of the respiratory chain, often accompanied by aberrant mitochondria, and abnormalities of the mitochondrial or nuclear genes encoding several proteins of the mitochondrial respiratory metabolism. mtDNA abnormalities consist of point mutations at particular positions, or deletions of varied locations and length. Multiple deletions have been sometimes found in a same patient. In some cases, other members of the family (i.e. the mother and sibs) may exhibit mtDNA deletions with varied degrees of clinical compromise, due to a threshold effect of the number of normal versus truncated mtDNA molecules, making genetic counselling a difficult issue. (GK)

MITOCHONDRIAL MYOPATHIES: Group of muscular diseases showing mtDNA abnormalities (see mitochondrial diseases). The name was coined in 1962 in the case of a patient whose muscle cells showed abnormal fibres under the microscope, termed ragged red fibres (RRF). Point mutations are responsible for MELAS, MERRF, NARP, Leber Optic Atrophy and Leigh syndrome, whereas External Ophthalmoplegia, Kearns-Sayre Syndrome and Pearson Syndrome are due to deletions ranging from 1.3-8kb. Mutations in nuclear genes have also been found in patients where an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance is evident. (GK)

MITOSIS: A type of cell division that produces daughter cells that typically have the same number of chromosomes as the originating cells. (DM)

MNEMONICS: See MEMORY ENHANCEMENT.

MO TZU: Mo Tzu lived in 6th century B.C. China , and had an opposing view to Confucius who believed that people should love their family first and other persons to lesser degrees.  Mo Tzu believed that human love should be modeled on the will of Heaven which he argued loves everyone equally.  Love should be extended to all persons everywhere without distinction, and condemned the ethic of family loyalty blaming it as a cause for social conflict and warfare.   He wrote Familial love "should be replaced by the way of universal love and mutual benefit...It is to regard other people’s countries as one’s own.  Regard other people’s families as one’s own. Regard other people’s person as one’s own. Conseque they will not ne each other, he poor, the hoe prevented fro filial piety, family love, implies, he believed that limits on caring only for one’s own had to be strictly enforced when it ceased to be beneficial for all. (DM)

MODE: (Latin: modus "measure" or "manner") 1. In statistics, the value in a data set which occurs with the greatest frequency. In a bimodal distribution, it may be more relevant to report two modes, rather than the mean or median which may lie between the peaks and be less likely to occur. (See MEAN, MEDIAN) 2. The manner in which things are done, as in the prevailing fashion or mode of operation. (MP, JA)

MODEL: A simplified representation of a system or the surrounding environment. Models are created from the following procedures: search for meaningful patterns and processes, selection of basic structures with stable form, establishment of function and connection, simplification to a manageable level of complexity, and transformation into a well defined set of information. As fundamental examples, scientific knowledge is based on mathematical models, words and definitions are models of reality transferred into language, and a paradigm is a conceptual model of the world. On paper, a model is like an architect’s blueprint or electrician’s diagram - a graphical re inputs/outputs, reservoir. (See MODELING, MEASUREMENT, INDICATOR, STATISTIC, CENSUS, SCIENTIFIC METHOD, SYSTEM, COMPLEXITY, EXPERT SYSTEM) (MP)

MODELING: There are many ways to categorize the numerous types and methods of modeling (UK/Australian spelling: ‘modelling’). One of the most useful ways of classifying models is by function or purpose:

Descriptive modeling measures and describes environmental states and structures at different scales (e.g. Definitions of words, Language, Mapping, Blueprints, Simulation Models, Descriptive Statistics, Systems Analysis, Systems Theory, Network Diagrams, Hierarchical Analysis, Geographical Information Systems, State of the Environment Reports etc).

Explanatory modeling determines the processes and flows (matter, energy, money) contributing to a problem and how can they be directed towards the objectives; to determine interactivity within the model, causes and effects, and tendencies for change. (e.g. Network Flowcharts, Process Modeling, Causal Modeling, Statistical Inference, Feedback Circuits, Cybernetics, Material Flux Analysis, Life Cycle Assessment etc).

Predictive modeling attempts to assess and predict the potential impacts of the options and preferred impacts/outcomes of the objectives (e.g. Risk Analysis, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Hypothesis Testing, Probability Analysis, Game Theory, Pressure/State/Response Model, Environmental Impact Assessment, Social Impact Assessment etc).

Prescriptive modeling defines and recommends policy or procedural conditions for the preferred outcomes, such as sustainable management procedures (e.g. Laws, Policy objectives, Strategic Environmental Assessment, Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems etc).

Evaluative modeling to test the model and monitor environmental changes (e.g. Monitoring, Indicators, Before/After Control/Impact Study, Sensitivity Analysis etc). (See MODEL, SYSTEMS THEORY, COMPLEXITY THEORY, ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES, STATISTICS, UNCERTAINTY, NETWORK, FEEDBACK, CYBERNETICS, BOOLEAN LOGIC, FUZZY LOGIC, GAME THEORY, SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS, GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS, PRESSURE/STATE/RESPONSE MODEL, ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT, RISK ASSESSMENT, LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT, STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, COMPUTER MODELING) (MP)

MODERNIZATION: In the past modernization has typically been seen as including aspects of growth, urbanization, industrialization, commercialization, capitalism, democracy, globalization, secularism, postmodern relativity, individualism and technological determinism. But modernization encapsulates that which is new, and now the meaning itself is modernizing with spreading realization of the limits to industrial development on Earth. In this century, modernization will indicate progress in sustainable development, science-based management, green technology, resource & energy efficiency, access to information & technologies, conflict resolution, tolerant pluralism, and increased health, literacy, wellbeing, leisure and ethics. (See GLOBALIZATION, WESTERNIZATION, DEVELOPMENT, PROGRESS, TECHNOLOGY) (MP)

MOLECULAR ASSEMBLER: See ASSEMBLER.

MOLECULAR COMPUTER: A potential future technology proposed by the science of molecular electronics. The molecular computer would be an extremely small, powerful, dense, heat-efficient computational device made up of various components of differing electrical properties being developed by the field. The molecular computer would largely be made up of carbon-based molecules - organic chemistry such as that of life. Molecular arrangements of DNA information storage mechanisms have been a source of inspiration, implying that the physics can be made to work if we could more efficiently manipulate the components. Separate concurrent lines of research are also developing and refining quantum computers and DNA computers. (See MOLECULAR ELECTRONICS, DNA COMPUTER, QUANTUM COMPUTING, NEURAL COMPUTING) (MP)

MOLECULAR ELECTRONICS: The science of arranging molecules to act as electronic circuits. Various arrangements of organic molecules have been manipulated to act like logic gates, switches, diodes, resistors, wires, and potentially also transistors. The supporting infrastructure of possible future molecular computers may include spherical (e.g. buckminsterfullerene), wire-like (e.g. special carbon-chains) and tubular (e.g. carbon nanotubes) organic molecules which have been developed and investigated for their electrical properties. Hexagonal carbon nanotubes conduct electricity when arranged in a straight line, and are an effective semi-conductor when arranged as a helix. The electrical properties of carbon in this form have aroused interest in computer researchers who foresee bottlenecks in the  miniaturization of silicon devices. Molecular electronics probably holds many of the keys to artificial life, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology, and as such also opens up a new paradigm of technological possibility and ethical concern. (See MOLECULAR COMPUTER, QUANTUM COMPUTING, ASSEMBLER, NANOTECHNOLOGY WEAPONS, ARTIFICIAL LIFE, NEURAL NETWORKS, FULLERENES, BUCKMINSTERFULLERENE) (MP)

MOLECULAR NANOTECHNOLOGY: See NANOTECHNOLOGY.

MOLLUSCA: One of the oldest phyla of complex invertebrates; all major lines were already established during the Cambrian period. This phylum is characterized by a thick, muscular body wall; a muscular foot, generally used for locomotion; and several other characteristics that are usually, but not always present: non-segmented, the body secretes a shell that encloses a mantle cavity, a regionalized digestive tract, and a well developed circulatory system. Extant classes include the Polyplacophora, Gastropoda (snails), Bivalvia (bivalves), Cephalopoda (squids and octopuses). (RW)

MOMENTUM: The mass times the velocity of a moving object gives its momentum (p) in kilogram meters per second (kg.m/s). The more momentum, the more damage it can do and harder it is to stop. Change in momentum is called ‘impulse’. (See ENERGY, FORCE, WORK). (MP)

MONERA: One of the five taxonomic kingdoms (along with Animalia, Plantae, Fungi and Protista), the Monera include the Archaebacteria and Eubacteria including Cyanobacteria. The monera lack a membrane-enclosed nucleus. (See BACTERIA) (MP)

MONGOLISM: A common congenital malformation, with mangoloid eye folds. This term has now been replaced by Down's syndrome. (See DOWN SYNDROME). (JA)

MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES: Identical antibodies that recognize a single specific antigen and are produced by a clone of specialized cells. (DM)

MONOAMINE OXIDASE: A neurotransmitter which metabolizes adrenaline, the hormone that enables the body to meet a threat by either running away, standing ones ground or fighting - also called the flight/fight response. (IP)

MONOAMINE OXIDASE INHIBITORS: See ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS.

MONOCULTURE: The agricultural production of a single crop type, consisting of large tracts of land containing virtually only one species. Such a landscape is far removed from resembling natural habitat, and may be considered almost ecologically inert. This conventional style of agriculture "mines the land" of its fertility and ecology and is an underestimated environmental concern. To increase biodiversity across these extensive areas, monocultures should be replaced with polycultures and permaculture practices such as agroforestry. (See POLYCULTURE, PERMACULTURE). (MP)

MONOECIOUS: (Greek: mon 'single' + oikion 'house') Hermaphroditic organisms which produce both male and female gametes in the same individual; for example some plants like maize or animals like earthworms (Greek mon single oikion house) (see DIOECIOUS). (IP)

MONOGENIC DISORDER: Genes are involved in genetic disorders in human beings. If disorders are traced to a single gene then such disorders are called monogenic disorders e.g. sickle cell anemia, cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy. (JA)

MONOSOMY: One chromosome or a portion (partial monosomy) of it is missing. Monosomies lead to very severe phenotypes and do not survive to birth; therefore, the only one that is viable is Turner syndrome (XO monosomy). Somatic monosomy is sometimes observed in cancer tissues, leading to a hemizygotic genotype for a mutated oncogene. (GK)

MONOTHEISM: The doctrine or belief that there is only one God, the oneness of God, common to Judaism,Christianity and Islam. The first act that one does to embark on Islam is the deceleration of faith which means ,reiterates the necessity of the belief in the oneness of Allah (see ALLAH). (AB)

MONTANE: (Latin: montanus ‘mountain’) Existing on or pertaining to mountains or the mountain environment, especially the communities below the ‘tree line’, above which are snow-covered alpine altitudes. Many montane environments may qualify as ‘ecological hot-spots’ because mountains act to isolate ecosystems into biogeographically distinct evolutionary ‘islands’. (See ECOLOGICAL HOT SPOTS) (MP)

MONTREAL PROTOCOL: International successes towards the phasing out of CFCs as a result of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987) and its revisions (London 1990, Copenhagen 1992) are a potential model for dealing with other environmentally harmful chemicals. (See KYOTO PROTOCOL, OZONE HOLE) (MP)

MONOTREMES: See MARSUPIALS, EUTHERIAN MAMMALS.

MOOD: Mood is the balanced and consistent extension of emotion over time. For example, happiness is the mood resulting from consistent extension of the pleasure/joy emotion. Similarly, the mood disorder of depression is extension of sad emotions over a long time period. (See EMOTION, HAPPINESS, DEPRESSION, ANXIETY) (IP & MP)

MOORE, GE: (1873-1958) George Edward Moore was a colleague of BERTRAND RUSSELL (q.v.) at Cambridge. He opposed the idealist philosophies, which said that only our thoughts and sense experience exist, and that the world of material objects, time and space, are not real. He therefore developed a "philosophy of common sense", and thought that he could prove that material objects exist by holding up a hand and saying, "this is a hand". Those who would like to reply to Moore by saying that they do not see a hand but only sense experiences in their brains or souls, are dismissed as being in disagreement with "common sense". The later Ordinary Language Philosophy movement, which held that the way educated Englishmen, especially Oxonians, usually speak, has got to be right, was really a development of Moore's philosophy.

In his influential book on ethics, Principia Ethica, Moore taught the doctrine of "Intuitionism", according to which "good" is a simple, intuitable quality like the colour yellow. Being simple, the quality of goodness cannot be defined, any more than can the quality of being yellow be defined. Just as we immediately see that something is yellow, so we can immediately see that something is good. It has been debated whether Moore's intuitionism can explain how some things may appear good to some people or societies, and bad to others. (FL)

MOOT: As in "a moot point" - a discourse of legislators on a point of law. (IP)

MORAL: 1. of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human actions and character; that is, pertaining to the discernment of good and evil 2. the lesson or principle contained in or taught by a fable, story, or event 3. rules or habits of conduct, especially sexual, with reference to standards of right and wrong. (see MORAL PHILOSOPHY, contrast with ETHICS) (IP)

MORAL COMPLICITY: Association with or participation in an act that is, or is perceived to be, immoral. (See CONSCIENCE, MISCONDUCT). (DM)

MORAL DEVELOPMENT: The process by which individuals internalize standards of right and wrong conduct (DM)

MORAL PHILOSOPHY: Designed to teach goodness or correctness of character and behavior; that is, instructive of what is good and bad according to an established code of behavior. (IP)

MORALITY: Generally accepted standards of right and wrong conduct. (DM)

MORBIDITY: An index in reproductive status of a population. Indicates the state of illness or sickness. The concept of "good health" changes from a culture to culture and its meaning changes over space and time. Definitions vary among researchers since it is highly subjective and based on perception and reporting of the state of illness. It measures the proportion of the total population who regard themselves as having become sick or diagnosed as sick, it deals with the prevalence and incidence of the sick in a population. (JA)

MORPHIC RESONANCE: A controversial but testable theory of morphogenesis, developed by Rupert Sheldrake based on the concept of morphogenetic fields. The easy emergence of form which already exists, contrasted with the difficult emergence of new form (e.g. a new idea, new chemical), is explained by the morphic resonance of the existing form. (See MORPHOGENESIS, TELEPATHY, HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE THEORY) (MP)

MORPHINE: (Greek Morpheus 'god of sleep') (C₁₇ H₁₉ NO₃ ). The principal alkaloid of opium contained in the dried juice of the heads of the oriental (white) poppy Papaver somniferum . Morphine acts on the central nervous system to produce both analgesia and euphoria but is also a depressant, particularly of the respiratory system. Morphine was isolated in 1803 by Sert_rner who, owing to its sedative properties, named it Morpheus after the God of Sleep. It is a most useful narcotic analgesic with powerful sedative properties making the drug apt for clinical use in the relief of persistent visceral pain, especially that associated with incurable diseases. It has also been used for serious anxiety states, as a pre-medication drug before surgery, and to produce euphoria in the dying. However, morphine is a strong addictive drug with severe withdrawal symptoms; therefore, addicted individuals are often transferred to methadone, which has less severe withdrawal symptoms. (See HEROIN, ADDICTION) (IP)

MORPHOGENESIS: The development of distinctive shape and form, for example cell differentiation into organ systems, stages of embryonic development, and growth of organisms. (MP)  

MORTALITY: The number of deaths in a given population during a given period of time or from a particular cause. (DM)

MORES: The accepted traditions, customs or code of behavior of a particular social group that is regarded to be an essential to its survival and welfare. (IP)

MORULA: (the Latin for mulberry) once the proliferating cells from the fertilized egg compact, they appear at the 12-16 cell stage like a mulberry. Hence the name is applied to the embryo about three days after fertilization. (DM) Since cells at this stage are still totipotent, the morula can be separated in two and give rise to monozygotic twins. They will be genetically identical, although epigenetic factors and de novo mutations may alter their phenotype. Morulas are used for pre-implantation screening during IVF processes: a blastomere is separated from the whole morula and used for genetic testing, without apparently affecting the subsequent development of the embryo. In particular cases, ethical issues relating to the possibility of mosaicism or chimerism of the blastomeres must be taken into account. (See IVF) (GK+DM)

MOSAICISM: It is of two kinds, somatic and germinal. Refers to the presence of cells with different genetic constitution in the same organism, such as genetic mutation in cancer cells that is not shared by other normal cells. It is a somatic mosaic condition. In germinal mosaicism there is autosomal dominant inheritance. (JA)

MOTES: Motes are the individual microchips or microprocessor units of sensor networks and ‘smart dust’. Spread a group they can have ‘swarm intelligence’, or wireless netwking, swimming, snOT, NANOBOT, ASSEMBLER, SWARM INTELLIGENCE) (MP)

MOTIVATION: See PROFIT MOTIVE, VESTED INTERESTS.

MOTHER FETUS RELATIONSHIP: The relationship between the fetus or embryo and the mother in which the embryo is gestating. (DM)

MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENT: See MONTANE.

MOXIBUSTION: Method of treatment involving the burning of moxa cones on the skin. Moxa is a plant substance, and this method is used in traditional Chinese medicine and related practices. (AG)

MRC: The Medical Research Council, for example of the United Kingdom.

MREC: Multi-centre Research Ethics Committee, United Kingdom.

MRI: short for magnetic resonance imaging. The procedure involves initiating a nuclear magnetic resonance in the body’s  hydrogen atoms by passing a restricted amount of high-frequency radiation through the tissues of a patient’s  body in the presence of a strong magnetic field. The computer can then convert this source of energy into a series of sectional pictures of the body’s  internal structure without exposing the patient to harmful radiation; therefore, since the late 1980s, MRI technology has become one of the most valg normal and abnormal brain function. By means of functional magnetic resonance imaging it is possible to see the brain of an awake human subject "lighphisticated tasks, simply by monitoring differential oxygen uptake as indicated by changes in magnetism caused by differential blood supply to the areaientists to further understanding of a variety of disparate functions including character change, depression, working memory and amnesia (see PET SCAN). (IP)

mRNA: Chemical (messenger ribonucleic acid) responsible for acting as the intermediary between DNA (q.v.) and PROTEINS (q.v.). (MR)

MSF: Médicins Sans Frontières (‘Doctors Without Borders’).

MUCOVISCIDOSIS: French name for cystic fibrosis. It refers to the predominant phenotype of a group of diseases which have in common a high viscosity of the mucous secretions, and mutations in the same locus, the CFTR gene. (See also CYSTIC FIBROSIS). (GK)

MULTI-: Combining prefix indicating more than one, multiples, multiplication, from Latin multus meaning ‘many’, ‘much’. (See META-, TRANS-, INTER-, INTRA-, MACRO-, ANTI-) (MP)

MULTICULTURALISM: A term emphasizing the diversity and cultural plurality of a melting-pot such as for example Australia, which contains indigenous Aboriginal groups, immigrants from the United Kingdom (1788-present), USA and China (gold rushes), Europe (WWII), South East Asia (Vietnam War) and the Middle East. The term has been criticized for emphasizing difference and encouraging an atmosphere of pluralism, but of course multicultural diversity is actually a desirable source of innovation, variety and exchange. (See CULTURE, CULTURAL PLURALISM, SBS) (MP)

MULTIDISCIPLINARY: (Multi- "many") Involving the input of information from many different academic disciplines and professions in collaboration to solve a particular management or development problem. (See TRANSDISCIPLINARY, INTERDISCIPLINARY, INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT) (MP)

MULTIFACTORIAL DISORDERS: Genetic disorders arising out of changes in several genes or in combination of with other environmental factors. Disorders whose genetic components are not the sole cause, but which work with other often environmental factors in determining a disease outcome. Multifactorial disorders include many cardiovascular diseases, most Alzheimer’s  Disease of old age and some forms of diabetes. See POLYGENIC DISORDERS. (JA)

MULTILATERAL: Involving multiple parties or nations, as in a multilateral human rights agreement or trade association. (MP)

MULTIMEDIA: The combination of many types of digital media (e.g. text, pictures, audio, video, animation) into one application. Often the product is interactive software (e.g. CD-Rom or website), allowing users to determine their own pathways through information for their entertainment or training. The multimedia revolution is seeing the merging of media and communications industries into multimedia conglomerates able to deliver multiple services through internet and digital TV channels. Awareness of such trends in global media may be important for those wishing to disseminate accessible bioethical information. (See MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION, INTERNET) (MP)

MULTIMODAL COMMUNICATION: Methods of communication which simultaneously employ several semiotic modes to deliver the message. The brain analyses our senses in this way naturally, but modern media and communications technology are increasingly using multimodal formats to deliver interactivity, garnish the message, supplement meaning, intersect cultural barriers, create advertising niches and increase the speed, flexibility and attractiveness of communications. The parallel delivery of several related messages may enhance the likelihood of comprehension across divisions of language and culture, but the trade offs may be simplification and loss of precision. (See MULTIMEDIA, SEMIOTICS) (MP)

MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES: Companies with business operations in multiple countries. The assets of major Multinational Companies (MNCs) are greater than some countries. (DM)

MULTIPLE PREGNANCY: A pregnancy with more than one embryo or fetus. The risks to the fetus increase the greater the number of fetuses in the same pregnancy.  (DM)

MULTIPLE-USE AREAS: See MARINE PROTECTED AREAS.

MUMMIFICATION: A method of preserving the human body after death by means of special processes of drying and application of chemicals which prevent decay. This method was important to several ancient peoples who held that the body must be preserved whole in order for the spirit to survive in the spirit world. The most notable example of the practice of mummification is ancient Egypt, although examples of mummified human bodies have also been found in the Qadisha Valley in Lebanon, in the Andes, and in Takla Makan. Although most examples of mummified bodies in Egypt were human, the Egyptians also practiced mummification on certain animals which had special religious significance. (AG)

MUTAGEN: An agent (e.g. Ultraviolet light, X-rays, certain chemicals) that increases the frequency or extent of mutation. (DM)

MUTAGENESIS: A process that results in modification of a DNA sequence. (JA)

MUTATION: Any change in DNA sequence that results in a new characteristic that can be inherited. A term coined by Hugo De Vries during 1900s to indicate that individual plants and animals occasionally mute to give rise to new traits in the progeny. The term comes from a Latin word meaning "to change" which occurs in any gene and at random, heritable changes. Compare POLYMORPHISM, see TERATOGEN. (JA)

MULTIPLE PERSONALITY DISORDER: See DISSOCIATION.

MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE EVENTS: See SET THEORY.

MUTUALISM: An associative relationship between two species in which there is mutual benefit to both partners, often simply referred to as symbiosis. An example of a mutualistic symbiosis is the interaction between algae and fungi to form lichens. (See SYMBIOSIS, COMMENSALISM, PARASITE). (MP)

MYCORRHIZA: Fungal endosymbionts of plant roots that facilitate plant access to resources (usually limiting) like dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Mycorrhiza of legumes reduce atmospheric di-nitrogen, thereby making it available for biological activity. (RW)

MYCOLOGY: A branch of botany, the study of the biology of fungi. (JA)

MYTHOLOGY: the collective body of tales belonging to ancestral peoples portraying predominantly supernatural characters or events. For example, in Greek mythology the loves, marriages and couplings of the Gods such as Zeus, Poseidon, Aphrodite, produced generations of demigod heroes, who were then enlisted in the struggles for good which became both idea and symbolism for morality. (IP)

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