Development of community of practice to support quantitative risk assessment for synthetic biology products: contaminant bioremediation and invasive carp control as cases

Synthetic biology has the potential for a broad array of applications. However, realization of this potential is challenged by the paucity of relevant data for conventional risk assessment protocols, a limitation due to to the relative nascence of the field, as well as the poorly characterized and prioritized hazard, exposure, and dose–response considerations associated with the development and use of synthetic biology-derived organisms. Where quantitative risk assessment approaches are necessarily to fulfill regulatory requirements for review of products containing genetically modified organisms, this paper reviews one potential avenue for early-stage quantitative risk assessment for biosafety considerations of synthetic biology organism deployment into the environment. Building from discussion from a March 2018 US Army Engineer Research and Development Center workshop on developing such quantitative risk assessment for synthetic biology, this paper reviews the findings and discussion of workshop participants. This paper concludes that, while synthetic biology risk assessment and governance will continue to refine and develop in the coming years, a quantitative framework that builds from existing practice is one potentially beneficial option for risk assessors that must contend with the technology’s limited hazard characterization or exposure assessment considerations in the near term.     

Observed and predicted impacts of climate change on the estuaries of south-western Australia,a Mediterranean climate region

Regional Environmental Change - Regions with a Mediterranean climate are generally predicted to become warmer and drier with climate change. Estuaries in these regions are influenced by a broad...     

Disconnected futures: exploring notions of ethical responsibility in energy practices

This article aims to explore people's connections to or disconnections from the future and the implications of this for their perspectives on equity, justice and ethical issues related to energy consumption. Everything people do is embedded and extended in time across the modalities of past, present and future, making time an inescapable aspect of our existence, yet one that often remains invisible and intangible. Debates about energy and environmental equity have raised questions about the extent to which people today should bear responsibility for the consequences of their behaviour for future generations. Seemingly intractable difficulties have been identified, however, in people's abilities to connect their present actions with their potential future consequences and thus take on such responsibilities. Drawing on data from interviews about energy consumption practices, this article explores whether people's living temporal extensions through younger generations of their families influence their views and practices around energy use in both the present and anticipated future. Through exploring these issues we offer a contribution to the ethical debate around responsibility for future generations.     

Using the Price Equation to partition the effects of biodiversity loss on ecosystem function

Species loss can impact ecosystem functioning, but no general framework for analyzing these impacts exists. Here I derive a general partitioning of the effects of species loss on any ecosystem function comprising the summed contributions of individual species (e.g., primary productivity). The approach partitions the difference in ecosystem function between two sites (a "pre-loss" site, and a "post-loss" site comprising a strict subset of the species at the pre-loss site) into additive components attributable to different effects. The approach does not assume a particular experimental design or require monoculture data, making it more general than previous approaches. Using the Price Equation from evolutionary biology, I show that three distinct effects cause ecosystem function to vary between sites: the "species richness effect" (SRE; random loss of species richness), the "species composition effect" (SCE; nonrandom loss of high- or low-functioning species), and the "context dependence effect" (CDE; post-loss changes in the functioning of the remaining species). The SRE reduces ecosystem function without altering mean function per species. The SCE is analogous to natural selection in evolution. Nonrandom loss of, for example, high-functioning species will reduce mean function per species, and thus total function, just as selection against large individuals in an evolving population reduces mean body size in the next generation. The CDE is analogous to imperfect transmission in evolution. For instance, any factor (e.g., an environmental change) causing offspring to attain smaller body sizes than their parents (imperfect transmission) will reduce the mean body size in the next generation. Analogously, any factor causing the species remaining at the post-loss site to make smaller functional contributions than at the pre-loss site will reduce mean function per species, and thus total function. I use published data to illustrate how this new partition generalizes previous approaches, facilitates comparative analyses, and generates new empirical insights. In particular, the SCE often is less important than other effects.     

Carnivore-Caused Livestock Mortality in Trans-Himalaya

The loss of livestock to wild predators is an important livelihood concern among Trans-Himalayan pastoralists. Because of the remoteness and inaccessibility of the region, few studies have been carried out to quantify livestock depredation by wild predators. In the present study, we assessed the intensity of livestock depredation by snow leopard Uncia uncia, Tibetan wolf Canis lupus chanku, and Eurasian lynx Lynx l. isabellina in three villages, namely Gya, Rumtse, and Sasoma, within the proposed Gya-Miru Wildlife Sanctuary in Ladakh, India. The three villages reported losses of 295 animals to these carnivores during a period of 2.5 years ending in early 2003, which represents an annual loss rate of 2.9% of their livestock holdings. The Tibetan wolf was the most important predator, accounting for 60% of the total livestock loss because of predation, followed by snow leopard (38%) and lynx (2%). Domestic goat was the major victim (32%), followed by sheep (30%), yak (15%), and horse (13%). Wolves killed horses significantly more and goats less than would be expected from their relative abundance. Snow leopards also killed horses significantly more than expected, whereas they killed other livestock types in proportion to their abundance. The three villages combined incurred an estimated annual monetary loss of approximately $USD 12,120 amounting to approximately $USD 190/household/y. This relatively high total annual loss occurred primarily because of depredation of the most valuable livestock types such as yak and horse. Conservation actions should initially attempt to target decrease of predation on these large and valuable livestock species.     

Testing the navigational abilities of ocean migrants: displacement experiments on green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas)

Like many animals migrating through the oceans, sea turtles face difficult navigational tasks when they have to reach distant, specific sites. The paradigmatic case of Brazilian green turtles (Chelonia mydas), which nest on the tiny Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, has often been the subject of hypotheses concerning their navigational mechanisms. To investigate their nature, we displaced 18 females from Ascension and tracked them by satellite after release from eight different points in the ocean, 60-450 km away from the island. Four turtles moved to Brazil soon after the release, 4 moved in various directions before heading to Brazil, and 10 reached the island. All the successful trips, bar 1, were winding but ended with a final straight segment of variable length, as if the turtles were searching for a sensory contact with the island which they obtained at various distances. The approach to Ascension mostly occurred from the direction opposite to the trade wind, suggesting a navigational role of wind-borne information originating from the island.     

Karyotypes found in the population declared at increased risk of Down syndrome following maternal serum screening

Of the 65 328 pregnancies of South Australian mothers screened by the South Australian Maternal Serum Antenatal Screening (SAMSAS) Programme between 1 January 1991 and 31 December 1997, 3431 (5.25%) were declared at increased risk of fetal Down syndrome. Fetal or neonatal karyotype was determined in 2737/3431 (79.8%) of these pregnancies, including 16 with early fetal loss. Interrogation of the database of the South Australian Neonatal Screening Service showed 643 live-born infants whose phenotype was not subsequently questioned among the 694 pregnancies whose karyotype was not determined. Of the remaining 51/3431 pregnancies, 19 ended in early fetal loss without karyotyping and no newborn screening or other records could be found for 32 cases. The 129 instances of abnormal karyotype found were Down syndrome (84), trisomy 18 (four), trisomy 13 (three), triploidy (two), female sex chromosome aneuploidy (six) and male sex chromosome aneuploidy (five), inherited balanced rearrangements (19), mosaic or de novo balanced abnormalities (four) and unbalanced karyotypes (two). In the pregnancies declared at increased risk of fetal Down syndrome, only the karyotype for Down syndrome occurred with a frequency greater than that expected for the general, pregnant population. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A rare inherited euchromatic heteromorphism on chromosome 1

Extra genetic material that is euchromatic is generally regarded to be associated with phenotypic abnormalities. However, recent studies suggest that this is not always the case. Chromosome analysis was performed on amniotic fluid cells from a 37-year-old phenotypi-cally normal patient referred for advanced maternal age. All the cells analysed showed a karyotype of 46, XY, 1p-K The 1p+ chromosome had extra genetic material of uncertain origin in chromosome band region 1p21 →31. Chromosome analysis on the father revealed a normal 46, XY male karyotype. The mother's karyotype showed the same 1p+ chromosome. C and Q banding, as well as silver staining studies, in both the mother and the fetus support the interpretation that the extra chromosomal material was euchromatic in nature. This 1p + chromosome may be characterized as a euchromatic heteromorphism. Euchromatic hetero-morphisms not associated with phenotypic abnormalities have been reported for chromosomes 9 and 16. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report involving this type of cytogenetic anomaly on chromosome number 1 in a phenotypically normal mother and infant.