Biological weapons,genetics, and social analysis: emerging responses,emerging issues—II

Recent terrorist attacks in the United States have generated significant attention in many countries to the threats posed by biological weapons. In response to these events and the specter of future attacks, bioscientists and professional organizations have begun or intensified asking questions about the possible malign applications of their research. Part II of this two-part article examines the emerging responses initiated by biomedical organizations and spokespersons in the US and the UK. In doing so it considers how scientific and medical research communities are defining and policing notions of professionalism, responsibility and accountability in the responses made. Through an examination of these issues, suggested lines for future social analysis are offered.     

Biological weapons, genetics and social analysis: emerging responses, emerging issues--I

Recent terrorist attacks in the USA have generated significant attention in many countries to the threats posed by biological weapons. In response to these events and the spectre of future attacks, bioscientists and professional organizations have begun or intensified asking questions about the possible malign applications of their research. As Part I of a two-part article, this paper surveys how genetics might contribute to the development of novel forms of weaponry. It is further argued that the dilemmas and difficulties facing bioscientists pose pressing and thorny questions for the hitherto agendas and orientations of those concerned with the social, ethical and political implications of genetics. Part II will examine the emerging responses initiated by biomedical organizations and spokespersons in the US and the UK. This will be done with a view to asking how scientific and medical research communities are defining and policing notions of professionalism, responsibility and accountability. On the basis of this, suggested lines for future social analysis will be offered.     

False alarms, real challenges--one university's communication response to the 2001 anthrax crisis

Considerable research exists on how government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels communicated during the fall 2001 anthrax attacks. However, there is little research on how other institutions handled this crisis, in terms of their response to potential anthrax contamination (aka "white powder scares") and their approach to disseminating important health and safety information. In this article, we investigate a major university's communication response to the anthrax crisis. First, we describe its communication experiences relating to a large white powder scare that occurred in October 2001. Second, we describe the university's broader communication efforts in terms of several important elements of risk communication research, including influence of source attributes, key messages, preferred channels, responses to information requests, and organizational influences. This study underlines that an institution does not have to be directly affected by a crisis to find itself on the communication "front lines." Moreover, other institutions may find it useful to learn from the experiences of this university, so that they may communicate more effectively during future crises.     

Characterising the impacts of emerging energy development on wildlife,with an eye towards mitigation

Global demand for energy is projected to increase by 40% in the next 20 years, and largely will be met with alternative and unconventional sources. Development of these resources causes novel disturbances that strongly impact terrestrial ecosystems and wildlife. To effectively position ecologists to address this prevalent conservation challenge, we reviewed the literature on the ecological ramifications of this dominant driver of global land‐use change, consolidated results for its mitigation and highlighted knowledge gaps. Impacts varied widely, underscoring the importance of area and species‐specific studies. The most commonly reported impacts included behavioural responses and direct mortality. Examinations of mitigation were limited, but common easements included (1) reduction of the development footprint and human activity, (2) maintenance of undeveloped, ‘refuge’ habitat and (3) alteration of activity during sensitive periods. Problematically, the literature was primarily retrospective, focused on few species, countries, and ecoregions, and fraught with generalisations from weak inference. We advocate future studies take a comprehensive approach incorporating a mechanistic understanding of the interplay between development‐caused impacts and species ecology that will enable effective mitigation. Key areas for future research vital to securing a sustainable energy future in the face of development‐related global change are outlined.     

Forest biotechnology: Innovative methods, emerging opportunities

Summary The productivity of plantation forests is essential to meet the future world demand for wood and wood products in a sustainable fashion and in a manner that preserves natural stands and biodiversity. Plantation forestry has enormously benefited from development and implementation of improved silvicultural and forest management practices during the past century. A second wave of improvements has been brought about by the introduction of new germplasm developed through genetics and breeding efforts for both hardwood and conifer tree species. Coupled with the genetic gains achieved through tree breeding, the emergence of new biotechnological approaches that span the fields of plant developmental biology, genetic transformation, and discovery of genes associated with complex multigenic traits have added a new dimension to forest tree improvement programs. Significant progress has been made during the past five years in the area of plant regeneration via organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis (SE) for economically important tree species. These advances have not only helped the development of efficient gene transfer techniques, but also have opened up avenues for deployment of new high-performance clonally replicated planting stocks in forest plantations. One of the greatest challenges today is the ability to extend this technology to the most elite germplasm, such that it becomes an, economically feasible means for large-scale production and delivery of improved planting stock. Another challenge will be the ability of the forestry research community to capitalize rapidly on current and future genomics-based elucidation of the underlying mechanisms for important but complex phenotypes. Advancements in gene cloning and genomics technology in forest trees have enabled the discovery and introduction of value-added traits for wood quality and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses into improved genotypes. With these technical advancements, it will be necessary for reliable regulatory infrastructures and processes to be in place worldwide for testing and release of trees improved through biotechnology. Commercialization of planting stocks, as new varieties generated through clonal propagation and advanced breeding programs or as transgenic trees with high-value traits, is expected in the near future, and these trees will enhance the quality and productivity of our plantation forests.     

Pathogen genomic surveillance elucidates the origins,transmission and evolution of emerging viral agents in China

In the past twenty years, numerous novel zoonotic viral agents with pandemic potential have emerged in China, such as the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) coronavirus and, more recently, the avian-origin influenza A/H7N9 virus, which have caused outbreaks among humans with high morbidity and mortality. In addition, several emerging and re-emerging viral pathogens have also been imported into China from travelers, e.g. the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus and Zika virus (ZIKV). Herein, we review these emerging viral pathogens in China and focus on how surveillance by pathogen genomics has been employed to discover and annotate novel pathogenic agents, identify natural reservoirs, monitor the transmission events and delineate their evolution and adaption to the human host. We also highlight the application of genomic sequencing in the recent Ebola epidemics in Western Africa. In summary, genomic sequencing has become a standard research tool in the field of emerging infectious diseases which has been proven invaluable in containing these viral infections and reducing burden of disease in humans and animals. Genomic surveillance of pathogenic agents will serve as a key epidemiological and research tool in the modern era of precision infectious diseases and in the future studies of virosphere.     

Mitochondrial proteolysis: Its emerging roles in stress responses

Background

Mitochondria are multifunctional organelles that not only serve as cellular energy stores but are also actively involved in several cellular stress responses, including apoptosis. In addition, mitochondria themselves are also continuously challenged by stresses such as reactive oxygen species (ROS), an inevitable by-product of oxidative phosphorylation. To exert various functions against these stresses, mitochondria must be equipped with appropriate stress responses that monitor and maintain their quality.

Scope of review

Interestingly, increasing evidence indicates that mitochondrial proteolysis has important roles in mitochondrial and cellular stress responses. In this review, we summarize current advances in mitochondrial proteolysis-mediated stress responses.

Major conclusions

Mitochondrial proteases do not only function as surveillance systems of protein quality control by degrading unfolded proteins but also regulate mitochondrial stress responses by processing specific mitochondrial proteins.

General significance

Studies on the regulation of mitochondrial proteolysis-mediated stress responses will provide the novel mechanistic insights into the stress response research fields.     

Genetic architectures of psychiatric disorders: the emerging picture and its implications

Psychiatric disorders are among the most intractable enigmas in medicine. In the past 5 years, there has been unprecedented progress on the genetics of many of these conditions. In this Review, we discuss the genetics of nine cardinal psychiatric disorders (namely, Alzheimer's disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, alcohol dependence, anorexia nervosa, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, nicotine dependence and schizophrenia). Empirical approaches have yielded new hypotheses about aetiology and now provide data on the often debated genetic architectures of these conditions, which have implications for future research strategies. Further study using a balanced portfolio of methods to assess multiple forms of genetic variation is likely to yield many additional new findings.     

US policies on human embryonic stem cells

The United States is a federal union with separate state jurisdictions. In part owing to the sometimes heated debate about public support for human embryonic stem-cell (ESC) research, there has been restricted federal support and little central regulation of this research to date. Instead, guidelines developed by scientific organizations have set principles for oversight and good practice for this research. These guidelines are functioning well, have influenced developing state regulations and, one hopes, will affect any future federal regulation.     

Immunogenic cell death,DAMPs and anticancer therapeutics: An emerging amalgamation

Immunogenic profile of certain cancer cell death mechanisms has been transmuted by research published over a period of last few years and this change has been so drastic that a new (sub)class of apoptotic cancer cell death, redefined as ‘immunogenic apoptosis’ has started taking shape. In fact, it has been shown that this chemotherapeutic agent-specific immunogenic cancer cell death modality has the capabilities to induce ‘anticancer vaccine effect’, in vivo. These new trends have given an opportunity to combine tumour cell kill and antitumour immunity within a single paradigm, a sort of ‘holy grail’ of anticancer therapeutics. At the molecular level, it has been shown that the immunological silhouette of these cell death pathways is defined by a set of molecules called ‘damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs)’. Various intracellular molecules like calreticulin (CRT), heat-shock proteins (HSPs), high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) protein, have been shown to be DAMPs exposed/secreted in a stress agent/factor-and cell death-specific manner. These discoveries have motivated further research into discovery of new DAMPs, new pathways for their exposure/secretion, search for new agents capable of inducing immunogenic cell death and urge to solve currently present problems with this paradigm. We anticipate that this emerging amalgamation of DAMPs, immunogenic cell death and anticancer therapeutics may be the key towards squelching cancer-related mortalities, in near future.     

An evaluation of the status of living collections for plant,environmental, and microbial research

While living collections are critical for biological research, support for these foundational infrastructure elements is inconsistent, which makes quality control, regulatory compliance, and reproducibility difficult. In recent years, the Ecological Society of America has hosted several National Science Foundation–sponsored workshops to explore and enhance the sustainability of biological research infrastructure. At the same time, the United States Culture Collection Network has brought together managers of living collections to foster collaboration and information exchange within a specific living collections community. To assess the sustainability of collections, a survey was distributed to collection scientists whose responses provide a benchmark for evaluating the resiliency of these collections. Among the key observations were that plant collections have larger staffing requirements and that living microbe collections were the most vulnerable to retirements or other disruptions. Many higher plant and vertebrate collections have institutional support and several have endowments. Other collections depend on competitive grant support in an era of intense competition for these resources. Opportunities for synergy among living collections depend upon complementing the natural strong engagement with the research communities that depend on these collections with enhanced information sharing, communication, and collective action to keep them sustainable for the future. External efforts by funding agencies and publishers could reinforce the advantages of having professional management of research resources across every discipline.     

Herbivory-induced signalling in plants: perception and action

Plants and herbivores have been interacting for millions of years. Over time, plants have evolved mechanisms to defend against herbivore attacks. Herbivore-challenged plants reconfigure their metabolism to produce compounds that are toxic, repellant or anti-digestive for the herbivores. Some compounds are volatile signals that attract the predators of herbivores. All these responses are tightly regulated by a signalling network triggered by the plant's perception machinery. Several compounds that specifically elicit herbivory-induced responses in plants have been isolated from herbivore oral secretions and oviposition fluids. Elicitor perception is rapidly followed by cell membrane depolarization, calcium influx and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation; plants also elevate the concentrations of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and modulate phytohormone levels accordingly. In addition to these reactions in the herbivore-attacked regions of a leaf, defence responses are also mounted in unattacked parts of the attacked leaf and as well in unattacked leaves. In this review, we summarize recent progress in understanding how plants recognize herbivory, the involvement of several important signalling pathways that mediate the responses to herbivore attack and the signals that transduce local into systemic responses.     

Protein kinases in plant responses to drought,salt, and cold stress

Protein kinases are major players in various signal transduction pathways. Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses has become critical for developing and breeding climate-resilient crops. In this review,we summarize recent progress on understanding plant drought, salt, and cold stress responses, with a focus on signal perception and transduction by different protein kinases, especially sucrose nonfermenting1(SNF1)-related protein kinases(Sn RKs),mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK) cascades,calcium-dependent protein kinases(CDPKs/CPKs),and receptor-like kinases(RLKs). We also discuss future challenges in these research fields.     

Modeling panic disorder in rodents

Panic disorder (PD) is a subtype of anxiety disorder in which the core phenomenon is the spontaneous occurrence of panic attacks. Although studies with laboratory animals have been instrumental for the understanding of its neurobiology and treatment, few review articles have focused on the validity of the currently used animal models for studying this psychopathology. Therefore, the aim of the present paper is to discuss the strengths and limits of these models in terms of face, construct and predictive validity. Based on the hypothesis that panic attacks are related to defensive responses elicited by proximal threat, most animal models measure the escape responses induced by specific stimuli. Some apply electrical or chemical stimulation to brain regions proposed to modulate fear and panic responses, such as the dorsal periaqueductal grey or the medial hypothalamus. Other models focus on the behavioural consequences caused by the exposure of rodents to ultrasound or natural predators. Finally, the elevated T-maze associates a one-way escape response from an open arm with panic attacks. Despite some limitations, animal models are essential for a better understanding of the neurobiology and pharmacology of PD and for discovering more effective treatments.     

Combination drugs, an emerging option for antibacterial therapy

The emerging and sustained resistance to antibiotics and the poor pipeline of new antibacterials is creating a major health issue worldwide. Bacterial pathogens are increasingly becoming resistant even to the most recently approved antibiotics. Few antibiotics are being approved by regulatory organizations, which reflects both the difficulty of developing such agents and the fact that antibiotic discovery programs have been terminated at several major pharmaceutical companies in the past decade. As a result, the output of the drug pipelines is simply not well positioned to control the growing army of resistant pathogens, although academic institutions and smaller companies are trying to fill that gap. An emerging option to fight such pathogens is combination therapy. Combinations of two antibiotics or antibiotics with adjuvants are emerging as a promising therapeutic approach. This article provides and discusses clinical and scientific challenges to support the development of combination therapy to treat bacterial infections.     

Small noncoding RNAs: Biogenesis,function, and emerging significance in toxicology

In recent years, the discovery of small ncRNAs (noncoding RNAs) has unveiled a slew of powerful riboregulators of gene expression. So far, many different types of small ncRNAs have been described. Of these, miRNAs (microRNAs), siRNAs (small interfering RNAs), and piRNAs (Piwi‐interacting RNAs) have been studied in more detail. A significant fraction of genes in most organisms and tissues is targets of these small ncRNAs. Because these tiny RNAs are turning out to be important regulators of gene and genome expression, their aberrant expression profiles are expected to be associated with cellular dysfunction and disease. In fact, an ever‐increasing number of studies have implicated miRNAs and siRNAs in human health and disease ranging from metabolic disorders to diseases of various organ systems as well as various forms of cancer. Nevertheless, despite the flurry of research on these small ncRNAs, many aspects of their biology still remain to be understood. The following discussion focuses on some aspects of the biogenesis and function of small ncRNAs with major emphasis on miRNAs since these are the most widespread endogenous small ncRNAs that have been called “micromanagers” of gene expression. Their emerging significance in toxicology is also discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 24:195–216, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jbt.20325     

香蕉生物技术研究进展

近50年来香蕉的生产得到了稳步的发展,同时正遭受越来越严重的病虫、霜冻和台风的侵害。鲜食蕉雌雄性高度不育的特性,使得传统的育种方法难以进行香蕉的遗传改良。这些现状迫切要求香蕉生物技术的不断发展和深入。近10年来,在香蕉体细胞胚胎发生、原生质体培养、基因克隆和序列分析以及基因转化等方面都取得了可喜的成果,并预计于2006年完成香蕉基因组的测序 。     

近年来出现的几类新概念动物疫苗

动物疫病流行广泛、传播迅速,严重危害养殖业的发展。疫苗接种是预防和控制动物传染病最有效的策略之一。目前,随着生物技术的发展和疫病防控的需要,安全、高效、广谱、用量少、具有标记特征的新型疫苗成为研发重点。文中就近年来出现的黏膜疫苗、长效与速效疫苗、嵌合疫苗、纳米颗粒疫苗等新概念动物疫苗的发展、应用及优缺点进行了评述,并提出了其发展方向,以期为动物疫苗的研发提供借鉴。     

Ecological consequences through responses of plant and soil communities to changing winter climate

Community processes are now undergoing substantial reconfiguration because of climate change. Although the effects of climate change on ecosystems are currently a major concern, the issues tightly associated with winter climate change have been underrepresented. Given the importance of winter climate variables and events for determining the spatial distribution of communities and their phenological and physiological responses, and the functional roles of each species, all of which are expected to substantially influence community dis/re-assemble in the future, this review focuses on the ecological responses and consequences of terrestrial communities to changing winter climate. In particular, the effects on processes supported by biological interactions are largely undetermined. In this context, focusing on plant–soil feedback as a major interactive multi-system is worthwhile; these interactions can be disentangled through careful evaluation of the functional roles of organisms involved in the feedback (i.e., plants and soil organisms). The underlying mechanisms are indeed complex because direct (i.e., changes in physical conditions) and indirect pathways (i.e., plant-mediated influences on soil-organisms and vice versa) from winter climate change influence the functionality of future ecosystems. To face these issues, the framework of response–effect-traits deserves research priority since this can define community re-organization as the accumulated responses of individual species, which determines the stability and performance of ecosystem functioning. Thus, research that quantifies functional responses and roles of organisms under a changing climate will continue to be essential for the issues of winter climate change, which may become more serious and significant in the near future.