Current challenges in viral safety and extraneous agent testing

There are three principal elements related to viral safety in the context of immunological veterinary medicinal products: the presence of extraneous agents in either raw material used for production or in the finished product, residual pathogenicity of live viruses used as active ingredients, and incomplete inactivation of inactivated viruses used as active ingredients. Although the approach to controlling these areas of risk has not substantially changed in the recent past, a number of events, combined with advances in science and changes in the regulatory approach, make it timely to review the requirements in this area. This article reviews the major areas of change and progress with respect to the viral safety of immunological veterinary medicinal products and identifies current challenges from the perspectives of both industry and regulators.     

Bringing Conservation Medicine into the Veterinary Curriculum: The Tufts Example

The Center for Conservation Medicine at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine (TuftsCCM), has helped to define the concept of conservation medicine as a new science that examines the interaction between human, animal, and environmental health. One the Center’s main objectives in pursuing this new science has been to incorporate conservation medicine and ecosystem health principles into the veterinary curriculum. Environmental influences on disease dynamics in animals has always had a place in veterinary medicine, but often has not been adequately explored. Many opportunities exist within a traditional veterinary curriculum to strengthen this perspective, and to bring depth and new meaning to the understanding of disease and the role of animals in ecosystem health. The Tufts program is designed to reach both the general veterinary student and the student interested in a career in conservation medicine through core teaching, elective opportunities, research opportunities, and extracurricular seminars and workshops. The core curriculum exposes every veterinary student to an ecosystem health perspective of veterinary medicine that helps them realize the impact that this approach can have on their professional lives, regardless of their chosen specialty. Committed conservation medicine students benefit from specialty courses, a wide range of experiential and field research opportunities and active mentoring. Future challenges call for development of more graduate opportunities, continued interdisciplinary collaboration with other educational institutions, and continued curricular integration of this new paradigm of health and disease into veterinary medical education.     

Co-evolution of physical and social sciences in synthetic biology

Emerging technologies research often covers various perspectives in disciplines and research areas ranging from hard sciences, engineering, policymaking, and sociology. However, the interrelationship between these different disciplinary domains, particularly the physical and social sciences, often occurs many years after a technology has matured and moved towards commercialization. Synthetic biology may serve an exception to this idea, where, since 2000, the physical and the social sciences communities have increasingly framed their research in response to various perspectives in biological engineering, risk assessment needs, governance challenges, and the social implications that the technology may incur. This paper reviews a broad collection of synthetic biology literature from 2000–2016, and demonstrates how the co-development of physical and social science communities has grown throughout synthetic biology’s earliest stages of development. Further, this paper indicates that future co-development of synthetic biology scholarship will assist with significant challenges of the technology’s risk assessment, governance, and public engagement needs, where an interdisciplinary approach is necessary to foster sustainable, risk-informed, and societally beneficial technological advances moving forward.     

The 'whole-animal approach' as a heuristic principle in neuroscience research

Neuroscience embraces a heterogeneous group of disciplines. A conceptual framework that allows a better articulation of these different theoretical and experimental perspectives is needed. A 'whole-animal approach is proposed as a theoretical and hermeneutic tool. To illustrate the potential of this point of view, an overview of the research that has been performed in the extinction of fear-conditioned responses from Pavlov to the present is discussed. This is an example of how a whole-animal-based approach may help to organize and integrate basic and clinical neuroscience research. Our proposal is in agreement with recent statements calling for more integrative approaches in biological and neuropsychiatric research.     

Drug resistance in veterinary helminths

At present, there is no effective alternative to chemical control of parasitic helminths where livestock are grazed intensively. Resistance to anthelmintics has become a major problem in veterinary medicine, and threatens both agricultural income and animal welfare. The molecular and biochemical basis of this resistance is not well understood. The lack of reliable biological and molecular tests means that we are not able to follow the emergence and spread of resistance alleles and clinical resistance as well as we need. This review summarizes some of the recent findings on resistance mechanisms, puts forward some recommendations for limiting its impact and suggests some priorities for research in this area.     

Disrupted seasonal biology impacts health,food security and ecosystems

The rhythm of life on earth is shaped by seasonal changes in the environment. Plants and animals show profound annual cycles in physiology, health, morphology, behaviour and demography in response to environmental cues. Seasonal biology impacts ecosystems and agriculture, with consequences for humans and biodiversity. Human populations show robust annual rhythms in health and well-being, and the birth month can have lasting effects that persist throughout life. This review emphasizes the need for a better understanding of seasonal biology against the backdrop of its rapidly progressing disruption through climate change, human lifestyles and other anthropogenic impact. Climate change is modifying annual rhythms to which numerous organisms have adapted, with potential consequences for industries relating to health, ecosystems and food security. Disconcertingly, human lifestyles under artificial conditions of eternal summer provide the most extreme example for disconnect from natural seasons, making humans vulnerable to increased morbidity and mortality. In this review, we introduce scenarios of seasonal disruption, highlight key aspects of seasonal biology and summarize from biomedical, anthropological, veterinary, agricultural and environmental perspectives the recent evidence for seasonal desynchronization between environmental factors and internal rhythms. Because annual rhythms are pervasive across biological systems, they provide a common framework for trans-disciplinary research.     

Extraneous agent detection in vaccines--a review of technical aspects

The quality and safety of commercial vaccines have a profound importance. Contrary to all precautions and efforts the use of biological material in vaccine development and production may lead to potential contamination of the vaccines with known and unknown extraneous agents (EAs). In veterinary field official lists of EAs have been compiled as legal framework to describe the potential agents, which must be tested during manufacture of vaccines. Nevertheless, detection of known and unknown contaminants in vaccines is a common duty for manufacturers and authorities of both veterinary and human field sharing similar needs of special technical approaches. State-of-art molecular methods such as randomly primed PCR combined with massive parallel sequencing (MPS) or microarrays may open new perspectives in extraneous agent testing. The robustness and efficacy of this technical approach in vaccine control was clearly demonstrated on a human vaccine example when porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1) contamination was revealed in Rotarix, a human rotavirus vaccine. The consequences and implications are reviewed hereby from a veterinary regulatory point of view.     

后基因组时代的生物信息学

随着人类基因组计划的完成,不断积累的巨量的生物学数据和快速发展的信息学技术,给后基因组时代的生物信息学研究带来了新的挑战。该文对后基因组时代的生物信息学研究内容进行了比较全面的描述,分别就其研究对象和研究方向作了区别讨论,分析了生物信息学研究的现状和趋势,比较了国内外的研究发展情况和差距。针对我国在研究中所存在的主要问题,提出了建议并做了展望。     

Modelling livestock infectious disease control policy under differing social perspectives on vaccination behaviour

The spread of infection amongst livestock depends not only on the traits of the pathogen and the livestock themselves, but also on the veterinary health behaviours of farmers and how this impacts their implementation of disease control measures. Controls that are costly may make it beneficial for individuals to rely on the protection offered by others, though that may be sub-optimal for the population. Failing to account for socio-behavioural properties may produce a substantial layer of bias in infectious disease models. We investigated the role of heterogeneity in vaccine response across a population of farmers on epidemic outbreaks amongst livestock, caused by pathogens with differential speed of spread over spatial landscapes of farms for two counties in England (Cumbria and Devon). Under different compositions of three vaccine behaviour groups (precautionary, reactionary, non-vaccination), we evaluated from population- and individual-level perspectives the optimum threshold distance to premises with notified infection that would trigger responsive vaccination by the reactionary vaccination group. We demonstrate a divergence between population and individual perspectives in the optimal scale of reactive voluntary vaccination response. In general, minimising the population-level perspective cost requires a broader reactive uptake of the intervention, whilst optimising the outcome for the average individual increased the likelihood of larger scale disease outbreaks. When the relative cost of vaccination was low and the majority of premises had undergone precautionary vaccination, then adopting a perspective that optimised the outcome for an individual gave a broader spatial extent of reactive response compared to a perspective wanting to optimise outcomes for everyone in the population. Under our assumed epidemiological context, the findings identify livestock disease intervention receptiveness and cost combinations where one would expect strong disagreement between the intervention stringency that is best from the perspective of a stakeholder responsible for supporting the livestock industry compared to a sole livestock owner. Were such discord anticipated and achieving a consensus view across perspectives desired, the findings may also inform those managing veterinary health policy the requisite reduction in intervention cost and/or the required extent of nurturing beneficial community attitudes towards interventions.     

Changing Minds? Implications of Conceptual Change for Teaching and Learning about Biological Evolution

Learning about biological evolution presents particular challenges for students. Barriers to learning come in the form of students’ prior conceptions that conflict with the scientific perspective of biological change. Theory and research from developmental and educational psychology provide insight into these barriers. Helping students understand evolution is not simply a matter of adding to their existing knowledge, but rather, it means helping them to see the world in new and different ways. Theoretical perspectives on creating change in students’ conceptions have implications for teaching about biological evolution. The material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation: Grant #0635629 to all three authors, #0133446 to the second author, and #0540152 to the third author.     

Robustness as a non‐localizable relational phenomenon

A current challenge in neuroscience, systems and theoretical biology is to understand what properties allow organisms to exhibit and sustain behaviours despite perturbations (behavioural robustness). Indeed, there are still significant theoretical difficulties in this endeavour due to the context‐dependent nature of the problem. Contrary to the common view of biological robustness as a phenomenon that emerges internally, this article discusses the hypothesis that behavioural robustness is rooted in dynamical processes that distribute between internal controls, the organism body and the environment. This review highlights the varied perspectives and how they have led to the current focus on robustness as a relational phenomenon. A new perspective is proposed in which robustness is better understood in the context of agent‐environment dynamical couplings, in which such couplings are not always the full determinants of robustness. The challenges and limitations of the proposed approach are identified.     

Genomic and genetic research on bursate nematodes: significance, implications and prospects

Molecular genetic research on parasitic nematodes (order Strongylida) is of major significance for many fundamental and applied areas of medical and veterinary parasitology. The advent of gene technology has led to some progress for this group of nematodes, particularly in studying parasite systematics, drug resistance and population genetics, and in the development of diagnostic assays and the characterisation of potential vaccine and drug targets. This paper gives an account of the molecular biology and genetics of strongylid nematodes, mainly of veterinary socio-economic importance, indicates the implications of such research and gives a perspective on genome research for this important parasite group, in light of recent technological advances and knowledge of the genomes of other metazoan organisms.     

Improving containment strategies in biopharming

This review examines the challenges of segregating biopharmed crops expressing pharmaceutical or veterinary agents from mainstream crops, particularly those destined for food or feed use. The strategy of using major food crops as production vehicles for the expression of pharmaceutical or veterinary agents is critically analysed in the light of several recent episodes of contamination of the human food chain by non-approved crop varieties. Commercially viable strategies to limit or avoid biopharming intrusion into the human food chain require the more rigorous segregation of food and non-food varieties of the same crop species via a range of either physical or biological methods. Even more secure segregation is possible by the use of non-food crops, non-crop plants or in vitro plant cultures as production platforms for biopharming. Such platforms already under development range from outdoor-grown Nicotiana spp. to glasshouse-grown Arabidopsis , lotus and moss. Amongst the more effective methods for biocontainment are the plastid expression of transgenes, inducible and transient expression systems, and physical containment of plants or cell cultures. In the current atmosphere of heightened concerns over food safety and biosecurity, the future of biopharming may be largely determined by the extent to which the sector is able to maintain public confidence via a more considered approach to containment and security of its plant production systems.     

我国兽用诊断试剂产业现状与未来趋势

兽用诊断试剂产业服务于动物疾病防控的技术需求,既是一个独立的产业,也是多学科交叉、技术密集、资金密集型产业。和国际兽用诊断试剂产业相比,我国兽用诊断试剂产业起步晚,底子薄,产品质量差距明显。通过对比和分析兽用诊断试剂产业的国内外现状,提出了我国兽用诊断试剂行业所面临的挑战,指出了未来的发展趋势,以期为我国兽用诊断试剂产业的发展提供有益的参考建议。     

Stem cell-based tissue engineering in veterinary orthopaedics

Regenerative medicine is one of the most intensively researched medical branches, with enormous progress every year. When it comes to translating research from bench to bedside, many of the pioneering innovations are achieved by cooperating teams of human and veterinary medical scientists. The veterinary profession has an important role to play in this new and evolving technology, holding a great scientific potential, because animals serve widely as models for human medicine and results obtained from animals may serve as preclinical results for human medicine. Regenerative veterinary medicine utilizing mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) for the treatment of acute injuries as well as chronic disorders is gradually turning into clinical routine. As orthopaedic disorders represent a major part of all cases in veterinary clinical practice, it is not surprising that they are currently taking a leading role in MSC therapies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to give an overview on past and current achievements as well as future perspectives in stem cell-based tissue engineering in veterinary orthopaedics.     

Psychopathology or adaptation? Genetic and evolutionary perspectives on individual differences and psychopathology

A greater understanding of psychopathology will be found in the integration of genetic and evolutionary perspectives on adaptation and function. Evolutionary theory proposes that adaptive traits are reproduced more successfully than maladaptive ones. However, some traits, while contributing to fitness in the ancestral environment, may contribute to fitness no longer. This is known as mismatch theory. Evolutionarily informed research into various "pathologies" has yielded interesting results, some based on this theory. This paper serves to distinguish between genetic and evolutionary perspectives on psychopathology as well as to examine some recent research on the selective forces that may be implicated in psychopathy, anorexic behavior, and ADHD. We suggest that research into psychopathy in general would benefit from an evolutionary perspective and an examination of the assumptions behind past research.     

Searching for microbial contribution to micritization of shallow marine sediments

Micritization is an early diagenetic process that gradually alters primary carbonate sediment grains through cycles of dissolution and reprecipitation of microcrystalline calcite (micrite). Typically observed in modern shallow marine environments, micritic textures have been recognized as a vital component of storage and flow in hydrocarbon reservoirs, attracting scientific and economic interests. Due to their endolithic activity and the ability to promote nucleation and reprecipitation of carbonate crystals, microorganisms have progressively been shown to be key players in micritization, placing this process at the boundary between the geological and biological realms. However, published research is mainly based on geological and geochemical perspectives, overlooking the biological and ecological complexity of microbial communities of micritized sediments. In this paper, we summarize the state-of-the-art and research gaps in micritization from a microbial ecology perspective. Since a growing body of literature successfully applies in vitro and in situ ‘fishing’ strategies to unveil elusive microorganisms and expand our knowledge of microbial diversity, we encourage their application to the study of micritization. By employing these strategies in micritization research, we advocate promoting an interdisciplinary approach/perspective to identify and understand the overlooked/neglected microbial players and key pathways governing this phenomenon and their ecology/dynamics, reshaping our comprehension of this process.     

Toward next-generation sequencing of mitochondrial genomes — Focus on parasitic worms of animals and biotechnological implications

Helminths (worms) include parasitic nematodes (roundworms) and platyhelminths (flatworms). These worms are abundant, and many of them are of agricultural, aquacultural, veterinary and medical importance and cause substantial socioeconomic losses worldwide. The genetic characterization of parasitic nematodes using advanced molecular tools is central to the diagnosis of infections and the control of parasitism. The accurate analysis of genetic variation also underpins studies of their taxonomy, epidemiology and evolutionary history. Although the nuclear genome contains suitable genetic markers (e.g., in ribosomal DNA) for the identification of many species, the large size and high variability of the mt genome consistently provides a rich source of such markers for informative systematic and epidemiological studies both within and among species. There is significant value in establishing a practical platform for the rapid sequencing, annotation and analysis of mt genomic datasets to underpin such fundamental and applied studies of parasitic worms (= helminths). In the last decade, there have been some important advances in the mt genomics of helminths, but next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies now provide opportunities for high throughput sequencing, assembly and annotation. In this article, we provide a background on mt genomics, cover technological challenges and recent advances, and provide a perspective on future mt genome research of parasitic helminths and its fundamental scientific and biotechnological implications.     

Cross-disciplinary approaches for better research: The case of birds and bats

Across a wide range of disciplines, mounting evidence points to solutions for addressing the global biodiversity and climate crisis through sustainable land use development. Managing ecosystem services offers promising potential of combining environmental, economic, and social interests in this process. Achieving sustainability, however, requires collaboration across disciplines, or in short “cross-disciplinary” approaches. Multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary approaches are often used as synonyms, although they are defined by different levels of integrating results and perspectives. We highlight challenges and opportunities related to these cross-disciplinary approaches by using research on bird- and bat-mediated ecosystem services as a case - with a focus on sustainable agricultural development. Examples from transdisciplinary collaborations show how more integrative and inclusive approaches promote the implementation of basic and applied ecological research into land use practices. Realizing this opportunity requires strong partnerships between science, practice and policy, as well as integration of diverse skills and perspectives. If appropriately funded and guided, this effort is rewarded by improved data quality, more targeted concepts, as well as improvement implementation and impact of sustainability research and practice. We outline a stepwise approach for developing these processes and highlight case studies from bird and bat research to inspire cross-disciplinary approaches within and beyond ecology.     

国内农业碳源/汇效应研究:视角、进展与改进

结构复杂、自然生态与社会经济过程交织、地域特征显著的农业碳源/汇效应存在基于内部结构、双重属性、区域尺度等多种研究视角。国内基于内部结构视角的农业碳源/汇效应研究多局限于种植业,且多以单一的碳源或碳汇研究为主;农业组分细化与组分关联的系统综合研究明显不足。在基于双重属性视角的研究中,自然生态视角侧重于碳吸收和直接碳排放,社会经济视角则聚焦于间接碳排放;由自然与经济相互割裂到相互融合的二元农业碳源/汇综合方法尚需深化。基于区域尺度视角的研究多集中在大中尺度和样地尺度,小尺度县域研究比较薄弱;农产品供应链关联的区域间碳流及减排值得关注。针对中国小规模家庭农场和种养关联的多种经营特征,农业碳源/汇效应研究应将农业产业组分、农产品碳源/汇构成解析与种养关联碳源/汇综合并重,发展和完善评估模型、提高参数本土化程度,追踪农产品生产、流通与消费等区域间碳流全过程。研究综述国内基于内部结构、双重属性和区域尺度等视角的农业碳源/汇效应研究进展,并提出基于我国农业经营特征的碳源/汇效应改进研究。