Including Public Perspectives in Industrial Biotechnology and the Biobased Economy

Industrial (“white”) biotechnology promises to contribute to a more sustainable future. Compared to current production processes, cases have been identified where industrial biotechnology can decrease the amount of energy and raw materials used to make products and also reduce the amount of emissions and waste produced during production. However, switching from products based on chemical production processes and fossil fuels towards “biobased” products is at present not necessarily economically viable. This is especially true for bulk products, for example ethanol production from biomass. Therefore, scientists are also turning to genetic modification as a means to develop organisms that can produce at lower costs. These include not only micro-organisms, but also organisms used in agriculture for food and feed.The use of genetic modification for “deliberate release” purposes, in particular, has met great opposition in Europe. Many industrial biotechnology applications may, due to their scale, entail deliberate releases of GM organisms. Thus, the biobased economy brings back a familiar question; is it ethically justifiable, and acceptable to citizens, to expose the environment and society to the risks associated with GM, in order to protect that same environment and to sustain our affluent way of life? For a successful innovation towards a biobased economy, its proponents, especially producers, need to take into account (take responsibility for) such issues when developing new products and processes. These issues, and how scientists can interact with citizens about them in a timely way, are further explored in projects at Delft University and Leiden University, also in collaboration with Utrecht University.     

OLAND生物脱氮系统运行及其硝化菌群的分子生物学检测

采用两阶段限氧自养硝化 -反硝化生物脱氮系统 (oxygen limitedautotrophicnitrificationanddenitrificationsystem ,以下简称OLAND)处理高氨氮、低COD的废水 .应用内浸式多聚醚砜中空膜 ,实现了污泥的完全截留 ,阻止了生物量的大量洗脱 ,并通过控制溶氧在 0 .1～ 0 .3mgL-1之间 ,实现了硝化阶段出水中氨氮与亚硝态氮浓度的比例达到最适值〔1 (1.2± 0 .2 )〕 ,从而为第二阶段的厌氧氨氧化提供理想的进水 ,进而获得较高的脱氮率 .同时应用荧光原位杂交技术对硝化阶段不同时期硝化菌群的变化进行分子生物学检测 ,揭示了随溶氧浓度的降低 ,氨氧化菌的数量基本保持恒定、亚硝酸氧化菌的数量略有减少的变化规律 ,并且发现 ,在两阶段限氧自养硝化 -反硝化生物脱氮系统中氨氮的氧化主要是由Nitrosomonassp .完成 ,亚硝酸的氧化主要由Nitrobactersp .完成 .图 4表 2参 2 2     

Vocalizations reveal body condition and are associated with visual display traits in great frigatebirds (Fregata minor)

Acoustic displays are known to advertise aspects of male quality and to affect female choice of mates in a variety of birds, including not only songbirds but some seabirds as well. Male great frigatebirds (Fregata minor) produce a rapid warble vocalization that forms a prominent part of their courtship display. We investigated the relationships between aspects of this vocalization and male quality and pairing success in 103 great frigatebirds from a population in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. We found that across males, frequency bandwidth of the display was negatively related to repetition rate, enabling us to use deviation from the upper bound regression of bandwidth on rate (??vocal deviation??) as one measure of vocal performance. We used vocal consistency, defined as the coefficient of variation of the time interval between successive peaks in the warble, as a second measure of performance. Vocal deviation was significantly positively associated with body condition of male great frigatebirds, but vocal consistency was not. We found that peak frequency of the warble was not significantly associated with body size but was negatively associated with size of the gular pouch, the most prominent visual ornament. Male great frigatebirds showed significant individual differences in all three vocal measures??peak frequency, vocal deviation, and vocal consistency??but none of these measures was a significant predictor of pairing success in our study population. These results suggest that vocalizations provide honest information about male body condition and gular pouch size in great frigatebirds but do not influence male success in pairing with females.     

The diagnostic performance of cytogenetic investigation in amniotic fluid cells and chorionic villi

First-trimester chorionic villus sampling has not reached the popularity of second-trimester amniocentesis in prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis, in contrast to initial expectations. We investigated whether a difference inthe diagnostic performances of cytogenetic investigation in amniotic fluid (AF) cells and chorionic villi in favour of AF-cells might justify this. Diagnostic performance was measured as laboratory failure rate, karyotype quality (G-band score, rate of follow-up samples, rate of wrong diagnoses), and karyotype representativity (rate of follow-up samples, rate of wrong diagnoses). From 1993–1999, 11 883 AF-samples were investigated (AF-cells). In chorionic villi, short term culture preparations solely were karyotyped from 1993–1996 (n=3499) (STC-villi), short and long-term culture preparations simultaneously provided a sufficient amount of tissue being available from 1997 onwards (n=1829) ((STC+LTC)-villi). Laboratory failure rates were the same after amniocentesis (0.40%) and chorionic villus sampling (0.50%). G-band scores (mean±SD) were equal in AF-cells (373±38.1) and LTC-villi (364±32.6) but significantly lower in STC-villi (311±34.6) (p=0.001). Follow-up sampling rates because of quality reasons were the same in AF-cells (0.14%), STC- villi (0.13%) and (STC+LTC)-villi (0.11%). Two wrong diagnoses turned up among AF-cells. Follow-up sampling rates because of representativity reasons differed significantly between AF-cells (0.10%), (STC+LTC)-villi (1.31%), and STC-villi (1.99%) (p<0.001). However, the ratios of the total numbers of follow-up samples and uncertain or abnormal cytogenetic results in STC, and (STC+LTC)-villi at cytogenetic risks ⩾3% (0.132 and 0.160, respectively) were equal to that in AF-cells at risks <3% (0.155). Two wrong diagnoses were made in STC-villi. Diagnostic performance improved in the rank order of STC-villi, (STC+LTC)-villi and AF-cells. At cytogenetic risks ⩾3%, (STC+LTC)-villi showed a diagnostic performance equal to that in AF-cells. This might justify a selective use of chorionic villus sampling. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Good Life of Creatures with Dignity Some Comments on the Swiss Expert Opinion

The notion of Dignity of Creatures has been voted into the Swiss Federal Constitution by a plebiscite. Philipp Balzer, Klaus-Peter Rippe, and Peter Schaber have given an expert opinion for the Swiss government to clarify the notion of Dignity of Creatures. According to them, by voting this notion into the Swiss constitution, the Swiss have chosen for a limited biocentric approach towards biotechnology. In such an approach genetic engineering of non-human beings is only allowed insofar that their own good is not impaired. It is, however, not clear when the good of a non-human being is impaired. I defend the position that – even if we confine ourselves to animals – their good goes beyond their well being.