Ruth Müller
Biographic Data
| ID | 3652104 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ruth Müller |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ruth |
| FAMILY NAME | Müller |
| SIGNATURE | MÜLLER R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Goethe University Frankfurt |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-3909-3876 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 25 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 88 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The evolution of ACEs: From coping behaviors to epigenetics as explanatory frameworks for the biology of adverse childhood experiences
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have become a topic of public and scientific attention. ACEs denote a range of negative experiences in early life, from sexual abuse to emotional neglect, that are thought to impact health over the life course. The term was coined in the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study, an epidemiological study that surveyed 17,421 adults about ACEs and correlated the responses with participants' current health records. Shortly after the…
Relations as Immunity: Building Community Resilience
Resilience-a term that originated in mathematical ecology-now commonly refers to the ability to thrive in the face of trauma and adversity. This Position Piece reflects on both the charisma and political lability of resilience in the early 21st century. On the one hand, resilience is easily compatible with neoliberal discourses that demand that individuals protect themselves in the absence of state or community support. On the other hand, resilie…
Wege zum nachhaltigen Umgang mit Kunststoffen: Kernbotschaften sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschung
Weltweit wächst der Eintrag von Kunststoffen in die Umwelt. Da die bestehenden Regulierungen zur Eindämmung des Problems nicht ausreichen, muss die ständig steigende Kunststoffproduktion und -nutzung insgesamt reduziert werden. Es bedarf eines systemischen Ansatzes, der alle Akteure in die Verantwortung nimmt, die Kunststoffprodukte und -verpackungen produzieren, nutzen, recyceln und entsorgen sowie damit handeln. Die Politik muss den nötigen Par…
A Doomed Technology? On Gene Editing in Bavarian Livestock Agriculture, Policy Field Conflicts and Responsible Research and Innovation
The emergence of CRISPR-Cas9 has recently, for the first time, rendered the large-scale genetic modification of livestock animals such as cows, pigs, and chickens possible. Novel editing targets range from genes that curb disease vulnerabilities, increase muscle mass, or convey hornlessness, to the development of transgenic pigs for medical use. In this article, we discuss the efforts of a transdisciplinary research consortium in Bavaria, Germany…
Pathways linking biodiversity to human health: A conceptual framework
Biodiversity is a cornerstone of human health and well-being. However, while evidence of the contributions of nature to human health is rapidly building, research into how biodiversity relates to human health remains limited in important respects. In particular, a better mechanistic understanding of the range of pathways through which biodiversity can influence human health is needed. These pathways relate to both psychological and social process…
A Risky Object? How Microplastics Are Represented in the German Media
Microplastics are increasingly populating the environment and human and nonhuman bodies. Their presence has invoked concerns about potential environmental and health effects, resulting in increasing research and media reporting. Here, we explore how the German print media reported on microplastics between 2004 and 2018. We find three distinct phases of reporting in which microplastics are introduced, stabilized, and destabilized as a “risk object…
A Science of Hope? Tracing Emergent Entanglements between the Biology of Early Life Adversity, Trauma-informed Care, and Restorative Justice
The biology of early life adversity explores how social experiences early in life affect physical and psychological health and well-being throughout the life course. In our previous work, we argued that narratives emerging from and about this research field tend to focus on harm and lasting damage with little discussion of reversibility and resilience. However, as the Science and Technology Studies literature has demonstrated, scientific research…
Zero Waste––Zero Justice
Plastic is slowly covering the earth, accumulating in oceans, soil, air, and human and non-human bodies. In the face of this catastrophe, zero waste activists call upon us for action, detailing, how we, too, can change our lifestyle to eliminate plastic waste and save the planet. Yet, who it is that is called upon, who speaks, and whose voices and lived realities might be ignored? In this contribution, we explore the social politics of the zero w…
High Particulate Matter Burden of Cigarettes from the United Arab Emirates and Germany: Are There Country-Specific Differences
Although the big tobacco companies offer the same cigarette brands across countries, little is known about the potential regional differences of the particulate matter (PM) emissions of apparently equal brands. PM emissions of three cigarette brands (Marlboro Gold, Winston Red resp. Classic, Parliament Platinum resp. Night Blue) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany were analysed. Second-hand smoke was produced in a 2.88 m 3 measuring c…
Particulate Matter Emissions of Four Different Cigarette Types of One Popular Brand: Influence of Tobacco Strength and Additives
The inhalation of particulate matter (PM) in second-hand smoke (SHS) is hazardous to health of smokers and non-smokers. Tobacco strength (amount of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide) and different additives might have an effect on the amount of PM. This study aimed to investigate the influence of tobacco strength or additives on PM. Four cigarette types of the brand Marlboro with different strengths and with or without additives were analyzed in…
Knowledge and awareness of hepatitis B among households in Malaysia: A community-based cross-sectional survey
This study reveals a low level of knowledge and awareness of HepB among households in Malaysia. This finding highlights the need to improve public knowledge and awareness through well-designed programs targeting vulnerable groups in order to reduce hepatitis B virus transmission and achieve the governmental target of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health concern by 2030
Gender disparities in high-quality research revealed by Nature Index journals
BACKGROUND: The present study aims to elucidate the state of gender equality in high-quality research by analyzing the representation of female authorships in the last decade (from 2008 to 2016). METHODS: Based on the Gendermetrics platform, 293,557 research articles from 54 journals listed in the Nature Index were considered covering the categories Life Science, Multidisciplinary, Earth & Environmental and Chemistry. The core method was the comb…
Epigenetics and aging research: Between adult malleability and early life programming
Situating the biosocial: Empirical engagements with environmental epigenetics from the lab to the clinic
Mobile Measurements of Particulate Matter in a Car Cabin: Local Variations, Contrasting Data from Mobile versus Stationary Measurements and the Effect of an Opened versus a Closed Window
Air pollution of particulate matter (PM) from traffic emissions has a significant impact on human health. Risk assessments for different traffic participants are often performed on the basis of data from local air quality monitoring stations. Numerous studies demonstrated the limitation of this approach. To assess the risk of PM exposure to a car driver more realistically, we measure the exposure to PM in a car cabin with a mobile aerosol spectro…
Responsible Research? Dilemmata der Integration gesellschaftlicher und kultureller Perspektiven in naturwissenschaftliche Forschungsprogramme (Einleitung)
Von ‚Fehlanpassungen‘ und ‚metabolischen Ghettos‘: Zur Konzeptualisierung globaler Gesundheitsunterschiede im Feld der Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
On ‘Mismatch’ and ‘Metabolic Ghettos:’ The Conceptualization of Global Health Differences in Research on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease . Epigenetic approaches to human health have received growing attention in the past two decades. They allow to view the development of human organisms as plastic, i.e. as open to influences from the social and material environment such as nutrition, stress, and trauma. This has lent new credence …
Crafting a Career in STS: Meaning Making, Assessment, and Interdisciplinary Engagement
Drawing on her own biography, Ruth Müller opens her contribution by reminding us of the strong interdisciplinary roots and entanglements of STS as a field, as well as of its emancipatory political agenda. This rich history creates multiple valences for defining the worth of work in our field, ranging from scholarly excellence over successful interdisciplinary collaborative engagement to assembling matters of care and concern. Building on this, sh…
Of rats and women: Narratives of motherhood in environmental epigenetics
Particulate Matter in Second-Hand Smoke Emitted from Different Cigarette Sizes and Types of the Brand Vogue Mainly Smoked by Women
Indoor air pollution with harmful particulate matter (PM) is mainly caused by cigarette smoke. Super-Slim-Size-Cigarettes (SSL) are considered a less harmful alternative to King-Size-Cigarettes (KSC) due to longer filters and relatively low contents. We ask if "Combined Mainstream and Sidestream Smoke" (CMSS)-associated PM levels of SSL are lower than of KSC and thus are potentially less harmful. PM concentrations in CMSS (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1) a…
Agential Conversations: Interviewing Postdoctoral Life Scientists and the Politics of Mundane Research Practices
Science and Technology Studies (STS) projects often aim at understanding social problems and epistemic challenges in science and, more generally, in the technoscientific worlds we inhabit. However, it is often unclear if and how these projects can help address the problems they identify. Scholars such as Donna Haraway, John Law, and Karen Barad have argued that STS methods always interfere with the contexts they study. Combining this insight with…
Mapping the new molecular landscape: Social Dimensions of Epigenetics
Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the DNA itself. The field is rapidly growing and being widely promoted, attracting attention in diverse arenas. These include those of the social sciences, where some researchers have been encouraged by the resonance between imaginaries of development within epigenetics and social theory. Yet, sustained attention from science and technology studies (…
Collaborating in Life Science Research Groups: The Question of Authorship
Tentative (id)entities: On technopolitical cultures and the experiencing of genetic testing
Methadone maintenance treatment and HIV risk-taking behaviour among injecting drug users in Berlin
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine whether methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is effective in reducing the levels of HIV risk-taking behaviour (borrowing and lending of injection equipment, irregular condom use) among injecting drug users (IDUs), and to identify independent predictors of the borrowing of used syringes. DESIGN: Cross sectional study of IDUs in MMT and not in MMT, using standardised interviews for collection of sociodemographic and b…
Mapping the new molecular landscape: Social Dimensions of Epigenetics
Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the DNA itself. The field is rapidly growing and being widely promoted, attracting attention in diverse arenas. These include those of the social sciences, where some researchers have been encouraged by the resonance between imaginaries of development within epigenetics and social theory. Yet, sustained attention from science and technology studies (…
Agential Conversations: Interviewing Postdoctoral Life Scientists and the Politics of Mundane Research Practices
Science and Technology Studies (STS) projects often aim at understanding social problems and epistemic challenges in science and, more generally, in the technoscientific worlds we inhabit. However, it is often unclear if and how these projects can help address the problems they identify. Scholars such as Donna Haraway, John Law, and Karen Barad have argued that STS methods always interfere with the contexts they study. Combining this insight with…
A Science of Hope? Tracing Emergent Entanglements between the Biology of Early Life Adversity, Trauma-informed Care, and Restorative Justice
The biology of early life adversity explores how social experiences early in life affect physical and psychological health and well-being throughout the life course. In our previous work, we argued that narratives emerging from and about this research field tend to focus on harm and lasting damage with little discussion of reversibility and resilience. However, as the Science and Technology Studies literature has demonstrated, scientific research…
Collaborating in Life Science Research Groups: The Question of Authorship
A Risky Object? How Microplastics Are Represented in the German Media
Microplastics are increasingly populating the environment and human and nonhuman bodies. Their presence has invoked concerns about potential environmental and health effects, resulting in increasing research and media reporting. Here, we explore how the German print media reported on microplastics between 2004 and 2018. We find three distinct phases of reporting in which microplastics are introduced, stabilized, and destabilized as a “risk object…
Von ‚Fehlanpassungen‘ und ‚metabolischen Ghettos‘: Zur Konzeptualisierung globaler Gesundheitsunterschiede im Feld der Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
On ‘Mismatch’ and ‘Metabolic Ghettos:’ The Conceptualization of Global Health Differences in Research on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease . Epigenetic approaches to human health have received growing attention in the past two decades. They allow to view the development of human organisms as plastic, i.e. as open to influences from the social and material environment such as nutrition, stress, and trauma. This has lent new credence …
Methadone maintenance treatment and HIV risk-taking behaviour among injecting drug users in Berlin
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine whether methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) is effective in reducing the levels of HIV risk-taking behaviour (borrowing and lending of injection equipment, irregular condom use) among injecting drug users (IDUs), and to identify independent predictors of the borrowing of used syringes. DESIGN: Cross sectional study of IDUs in MMT and not in MMT, using standardised interviews for collection of sociodemographic and b…
Tentative (id)entities: On technopolitical cultures and the experiencing of genetic testing
Collaborating in Life Science Research Groups: The Question of Authorship
Mapping the new molecular landscape: Social Dimensions of Epigenetics
Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression caused by mechanisms other than changes in the DNA itself. The field is rapidly growing and being widely promoted, attracting attention in diverse arenas. These include those of the social sciences, where some researchers have been encouraged by the resonance between imaginaries of development within epigenetics and social theory. Yet, sustained attention from science and technology studies (…
Agential Conversations: Interviewing Postdoctoral Life Scientists and the Politics of Mundane Research Practices
Science and Technology Studies (STS) projects often aim at understanding social problems and epistemic challenges in science and, more generally, in the technoscientific worlds we inhabit. However, it is often unclear if and how these projects can help address the problems they identify. Scholars such as Donna Haraway, John Law, and Karen Barad have argued that STS methods always interfere with the contexts they study. Combining this insight with…
Particulate Matter in Second-Hand Smoke Emitted from Different Cigarette Sizes and Types of the Brand Vogue Mainly Smoked by Women
Indoor air pollution with harmful particulate matter (PM) is mainly caused by cigarette smoke. Super-Slim-Size-Cigarettes (SSL) are considered a less harmful alternative to King-Size-Cigarettes (KSC) due to longer filters and relatively low contents. We ask if "Combined Mainstream and Sidestream Smoke" (CMSS)-associated PM levels of SSL are lower than of KSC and thus are potentially less harmful. PM concentrations in CMSS (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1) a…
Crafting a Career in STS: Meaning Making, Assessment, and Interdisciplinary Engagement
Drawing on her own biography, Ruth Müller opens her contribution by reminding us of the strong interdisciplinary roots and entanglements of STS as a field, as well as of its emancipatory political agenda. This rich history creates multiple valences for defining the worth of work in our field, ranging from scholarly excellence over successful interdisciplinary collaborative engagement to assembling matters of care and concern. Building on this, sh…
Of rats and women: Narratives of motherhood in environmental epigenetics
Gender disparities in high-quality research revealed by Nature Index journals
BACKGROUND: The present study aims to elucidate the state of gender equality in high-quality research by analyzing the representation of female authorships in the last decade (from 2008 to 2016). METHODS: Based on the Gendermetrics platform, 293,557 research articles from 54 journals listed in the Nature Index were considered covering the categories Life Science, Multidisciplinary, Earth & Environmental and Chemistry. The core method was the comb…
Epigenetics and aging research: Between adult malleability and early life programming
Situating the biosocial: Empirical engagements with environmental epigenetics from the lab to the clinic
Mobile Measurements of Particulate Matter in a Car Cabin: Local Variations, Contrasting Data from Mobile versus Stationary Measurements and the Effect of an Opened versus a Closed Window
Air pollution of particulate matter (PM) from traffic emissions has a significant impact on human health. Risk assessments for different traffic participants are often performed on the basis of data from local air quality monitoring stations. Numerous studies demonstrated the limitation of this approach. To assess the risk of PM exposure to a car driver more realistically, we measure the exposure to PM in a car cabin with a mobile aerosol spectro…
Responsible Research? Dilemmata der Integration gesellschaftlicher und kultureller Perspektiven in naturwissenschaftliche Forschungsprogramme (Einleitung)
Von ‚Fehlanpassungen‘ und ‚metabolischen Ghettos‘: Zur Konzeptualisierung globaler Gesundheitsunterschiede im Feld der Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
On ‘Mismatch’ and ‘Metabolic Ghettos:’ The Conceptualization of Global Health Differences in Research on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease . Epigenetic approaches to human health have received growing attention in the past two decades. They allow to view the development of human organisms as plastic, i.e. as open to influences from the social and material environment such as nutrition, stress, and trauma. This has lent new credence …
Particulate Matter Emissions of Four Different Cigarette Types of One Popular Brand: Influence of Tobacco Strength and Additives
The inhalation of particulate matter (PM) in second-hand smoke (SHS) is hazardous to health of smokers and non-smokers. Tobacco strength (amount of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide) and different additives might have an effect on the amount of PM. This study aimed to investigate the influence of tobacco strength or additives on PM. Four cigarette types of the brand Marlboro with different strengths and with or without additives were analyzed in…
Knowledge and awareness of hepatitis B among households in Malaysia: A community-based cross-sectional survey
This study reveals a low level of knowledge and awareness of HepB among households in Malaysia. This finding highlights the need to improve public knowledge and awareness through well-designed programs targeting vulnerable groups in order to reduce hepatitis B virus transmission and achieve the governmental target of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health concern by 2030
Zero Waste––Zero Justice
Plastic is slowly covering the earth, accumulating in oceans, soil, air, and human and non-human bodies. In the face of this catastrophe, zero waste activists call upon us for action, detailing, how we, too, can change our lifestyle to eliminate plastic waste and save the planet. Yet, who it is that is called upon, who speaks, and whose voices and lived realities might be ignored? In this contribution, we explore the social politics of the zero w…
High Particulate Matter Burden of Cigarettes from the United Arab Emirates and Germany: Are There Country-Specific Differences
Although the big tobacco companies offer the same cigarette brands across countries, little is known about the potential regional differences of the particulate matter (PM) emissions of apparently equal brands. PM emissions of three cigarette brands (Marlboro Gold, Winston Red resp. Classic, Parliament Platinum resp. Night Blue) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Germany were analysed. Second-hand smoke was produced in a 2.88 m 3 measuring c…
Pathways linking biodiversity to human health: A conceptual framework
Biodiversity is a cornerstone of human health and well-being. However, while evidence of the contributions of nature to human health is rapidly building, research into how biodiversity relates to human health remains limited in important respects. In particular, a better mechanistic understanding of the range of pathways through which biodiversity can influence human health is needed. These pathways relate to both psychological and social process…
A Risky Object? How Microplastics Are Represented in the German Media
Microplastics are increasingly populating the environment and human and nonhuman bodies. Their presence has invoked concerns about potential environmental and health effects, resulting in increasing research and media reporting. Here, we explore how the German print media reported on microplastics between 2004 and 2018. We find three distinct phases of reporting in which microplastics are introduced, stabilized, and destabilized as a “risk object…
A Science of Hope? Tracing Emergent Entanglements between the Biology of Early Life Adversity, Trauma-informed Care, and Restorative Justice
The biology of early life adversity explores how social experiences early in life affect physical and psychological health and well-being throughout the life course. In our previous work, we argued that narratives emerging from and about this research field tend to focus on harm and lasting damage with little discussion of reversibility and resilience. However, as the Science and Technology Studies literature has demonstrated, scientific research…
Wege zum nachhaltigen Umgang mit Kunststoffen: Kernbotschaften sozialwissenschaftlicher Forschung
Weltweit wächst der Eintrag von Kunststoffen in die Umwelt. Da die bestehenden Regulierungen zur Eindämmung des Problems nicht ausreichen, muss die ständig steigende Kunststoffproduktion und -nutzung insgesamt reduziert werden. Es bedarf eines systemischen Ansatzes, der alle Akteure in die Verantwortung nimmt, die Kunststoffprodukte und -verpackungen produzieren, nutzen, recyceln und entsorgen sowie damit handeln. Die Politik muss den nötigen Par…
A Doomed Technology? On Gene Editing in Bavarian Livestock Agriculture, Policy Field Conflicts and Responsible Research and Innovation
The emergence of CRISPR-Cas9 has recently, for the first time, rendered the large-scale genetic modification of livestock animals such as cows, pigs, and chickens possible. Novel editing targets range from genes that curb disease vulnerabilities, increase muscle mass, or convey hornlessness, to the development of transgenic pigs for medical use. In this article, we discuss the efforts of a transdisciplinary research consortium in Bavaria, Germany…
The evolution of ACEs: From coping behaviors to epigenetics as explanatory frameworks for the biology of adverse childhood experiences
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) have become a topic of public and scientific attention. ACEs denote a range of negative experiences in early life, from sexual abuse to emotional neglect, that are thought to impact health over the life course. The term was coined in the CDC-Kaiser ACE Study, an epidemiological study that surveyed 17,421 adults about ACEs and correlated the responses with participants' current health records. Shortly after the…
Relations as Immunity: Building Community Resilience
Resilience-a term that originated in mathematical ecology-now commonly refers to the ability to thrive in the face of trauma and adversity. This Position Piece reflects on both the charisma and political lability of resilience in the early 21st century. On the one hand, resilience is easily compatible with neoliberal discourses that demand that individuals protect themselves in the absence of state or community support. On the other hand, resilie…
Medicine (13 works) · Sociology (13 works) · Political science (12 works) · Psychology (9 works) · Biology (8 works) · Environmental health (6 works) · Race, Genetics, and Society (6 works) · Computer Science (5 works) · Environmental ethics (5 works) · Environmental Science (5 works)