Birds exposed to artificial lights at night nest up to a month earlier than those dwelling away from humanitys glow, according to a study published recently in Nature. But, perhaps counterintuitively, this disruption may actually benefit some birdsin part by helping them adjust as global warming alters the rhythms of the natural world.

The new paper offers a continent-wide, multispecies look at the impact of light and noise pollution on birds reproductive success, with the hope of giving land managers more concrete information to make conservation decisions. Using data gathered by citizen scientists through the Cornell Lab of Ornithologys NestWatch program, the studys authors analyzed more than 58,000 nest observations for 142 species in the contiguous U.S. between 2000 and 2014.

For birds living in temperate climates, lengthening days provide the chief cue that it is time to nest. Street lamps and other artificial lighting may trick avian brains into thinking days are longer than they are, so the researchers were not surprised to see birds nest earlier in areas with light pollution. Because nesting is timed to coincide with peak spring food availability, the scientists had anticipated that light-driven early nesting would disrupt this delicate synchrony and disadvantage the species involved. But we ended up finding the opposite, says study co-author Clinton Francis, an ecologist at California Polytechnic State University. For those nests that were exposed to light, they ended up having higher reproductive success.

The answer to this puzzle may be linked to another human-caused disturbance: climate change. In a warming world of premature springs, birds must somehow adjust to corresponding shifts in food availability. It is possible the artificial light cues have allowed these birds to catch up to the effects of climate change, which has caused their resources to essentially emerge earlier in the spring, Francis says.

There could be other explanations, though, says Jacob Socolar, a postdoctoral researcher at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, who has studied birds and climate change but was not involved with the new research. The one thats most obvious to me is that we know that some species are capable of foraging at night by artificial light, he says. The illumination could create a kind of 24-hour buffet for birds, better nourishing these species for breeding.

None of these hypotheses mean that light pollution is a good thing overall, though. Light might be helping birds in this one respect, Francis says, but we need to look at the bigger pictures of the lives of these animals and the ecological systems they live in. For example, light pollution has been shown to disrupt hormones and sleep in birds and other wildlife, to disorient migrating birds and to contribute to declines in insects that birds eat.

Light pollution and noise pollution are these pervasive, previously overlooked facets of global change, whose effects, we are increasingly learning, are big, Socolar says. Global light emissions are escalating at a rate of roughly 2 percent a year. Even in national parks, the glow of artificial lights has been detected from sources 200 miles away. Similarly, a 2017 paper in Science found that 63 percent of national parklands were exposed to significant human-caused noise.

Noise had a clearly negative impact on birds in the new study, particularly for those living in forests. When exposed to the rumble of airplanes or cars, for example, birds delayed nesting, and their clutch sizethe number of eggs in a nestshrank by 12 percent. One explanation is that noise pollution and the songs and calls of forest-dwelling birds tend to be low-frequency, so resulting interference could disrupt communication that is essential to mating.

With bird populations having declined by 29 percent in North America since 1970, according to a study published last year in Science, understanding how humans impact bird reproduction is crucial to conservation. Most research findings on the effects of noise and light pollution on birds involve behavioral changes, such as how the creatures alter their song in response to noise. These results can be difficult to translate to on-the-ground policy decisions, though, because it is not always clear how a changed behavior may affect a species survival prospects. One of the larger goals of the new research, which was partially funded by NASA and affiliated with the National Park Service, is to create a sensitivity index. This index could help park managers understand how new noise or light disturbances affect the breeding success of specific avian species of concern.

Compared with climate change, Francis believes the solutions to excessive noise and light are simpler. Technologies such as lights that turn off when not in use and low-tread, quiet tires are tools that individuals and local governments can employ to hush and darken our environment. Its certainly worth people thinking about these small changes that have collectively big impacts, he says. They can actually make a big difference for wildlife populations.

See original here:
Light Pollution Is Causing Birds to Nest Earlier--Which Might Not Be a Bad Thing - Scientific American

FRIDAY, Dec. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) -- Results from a long-term study of a gene therapy technique to prevent inherited mitochondrial disease show promise, researchers say.

Studies of the technique at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland show no adverse health effects in rhesus macaque monkeys and their offspring. The researchers said the technique could break the cycle of disease passed from mother to baby through mutations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

Though results of animal studies sometimes differ in humans, the findings bolster the scientific basis for mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) in human clinical trials, the study authors said.

But they added a key caveat: The study found varying levels of mtDNA from the mother that replicated and built up within some internal organs. It was not enough to cause health effects, they noted in a university news release.

"Our data show that MRT is compatible with normal development, fertility and aging in nonhuman primates without any detected adverse effects," the authors reported. "However, carry-over maternal or paternal mtDNA contributions increased substantially in selected internal tissues/organs of some MRT animals, implying the possibility of mtDNA mutation recurrence."

The findings were published online Dec. 8 in the journal Human Reproduction.

Mitochondria exist in nearly every cell of the body, according to the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. When they are unable to convert food and oxygen into energy throughout the body, organ systems begin to fail and even stop functioning.

The therapy under investigation replaces disease-causing mutations in a mother's egg with donor mitochondria.

The researchers said the first five monkeys born in 2009 at OHSU's Oregon National Primate Research Center with the aid of the technique all developed normally to adulthood. Their offspring did, too.

"It's reassuring that the monkeys appear to be healthy and fertile through generations," said co-author Dr. Paula Amato, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at OHSU School of Medicine. "It adds to a growing body of evidence that would support moving forward with clinical trials to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial disease."

The study offered insight about the amount of maternal mtDNA detected within organs -- a potential problem in cases where the technique is intended to prevent transmission of disease-causing mtDNA from mother to child. That's because as cells divide, this small remnant can preferentially replicate as the embryo develops, potentially causing the disease the therapy aims to prevent.

The investigators found varying amounts of mtDNA in cell samples, from 3% in blood, urine and skin cells to 16.6% in the small intestine. This is below the 60% level that would be considered disease-causing, they explained.

It is also irrelevant in cases where the technique is used to treat infertility instead of preventing disease transmission, the team noted.

The researchers also found paternal mtDNA in cells of two monkeys, which they called unusual but not unprecedented.

Shoukhrat Mitalipov, director of the OHSU Center for Embryonic Cell and Gene Therapy, said he is interested in learning more about why the minute level of mtDNA in sperm cells replicated exponentially as the embryos grew.

"The question was always there about the long-term safety of this technique," Mitalipov said. "We wanted to find out whether this procedure will somehow show negative effects later in life. We saw no adverse health effects across two generations."

Though clinical trials are ongoing in the United Kingdom and Greece, the U.S. Congress has barred the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from providing oversight for such trials in the United States.

More information

The National Human Genome Research Institute offers more on mitochondrial DNA.

SOURCE: Oregon Health & Science University, news release, Dec. 8, 2020

Read more:
Gene Therapy Shows No Long-Term Harm in Animals: Study - HealthDay News

British American Tobacco has moved a step closer to producing a vaccine for coronavirus using tobacco plants, as it won approval in the US to begin testing on humans.

The company behind cigarette brands including Lucky Strike, Rothmans and Benson & Hedges said the US Food & Drug Administration had given it clearance to begin a clinical study with adult volunteers.

While large pharmaceutical companies are already producing vaccines, BAT believes its own can be produced in six weeks, compared with the several months it takes using conventional methods.

This, the company claims, is because of proprietary technology that allows elements of the vaccine to gather quickly on tobacco plants.

BAT also says its vaccine is stable at room temperature, unlike the Pfizer/BioNTech jab being administered in the UK, which must be stored and transported at about -70C.

The vaccine has been developed by BATs biotechnology division, Kentucky BioProcessing (KBP), which has previously worked on a treatment for Ebola and is also developing a seasonal flu vaccine.

BAT said KBP had cloned a portion of the genetic sequence of coronavirus and developed a potential antigen, which is then inserted into tobacco plants for reproduction.

KBP, which is based in Owensboro, Kentucky, says it can turn tobacco plants into bio-manufacturing factories capable of producing proteins they would not otherwise produce.

Up to 3m can be grown, harvested and processed within six weeks, meaning the relevant proteins are produced faster than traditional methods, which KBP said could take months.

The company, which was bought by BAT in 2014, says it can also temporarily encode tobacco plants with the genetic instructions to produce specific target proteins.

Dr David OReilly, BATs director of scientific research, said: Moving into human trials with both our Covid-19 and seasonal flu vaccine candidates is a significant milestone and reflects our considerable efforts to accelerate the development of our emerging biologicals portfolio.

It is our unique plant-based vaccine technology, which acts as a fast, efficient host for the production of antigens for a variety of diseases, that has enabled us to make this progress and respond to the urgent global need for safe and effective treatments and vaccines.

BATs vaccine remains some way behind those being produced by large drug companies such as Pfizer, which is administering doses in the UK and US, with AstraZeneca and Moderna not far behind.

But if it can produce doses quickly and in a stable format, it could aid a global vaccination process likely to last years, as well as burnishing the reputation of a company more used to fielding criticism for damaging peoples health.

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British American Tobacco wins approval to test Covid vaccine on humans - The Guardian

Lego will be replacing its plastic packaging with paper bags to make the company more sustainable. Lego plans to invest $400M into its sustainability efforts. Video Elephant

More bad news about plastic.

According to a scientific report issued Tuesday, the plastics we commonly usecontain and leach hazardous chemicals, including some that threaten human health, especially the body's endocrine system.

"Many of the plastics we use every day at home and work are exposing us to a harmful cocktail of endocrine-disrupting chemicals," the reports lead author, Jodi Flaws of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said in a statement.

The endocrine system is a series of glands that produce and secrete hormones the body uses for a wide range of functions, according to the Endocrine Society, which co-produced the report. The hormones control many bodily functions, including respiration, reproduction, sensory perception, growth, movement and sexual development.

According to the report, which was based on hundreds of studies, endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) mimic, block or interfere with those hormones. More than 1,000manufactured chemicalsin use are EDCs.

These chemicalscan cause cancer, diabetes, reproductive disorders and neurological impairments of developing fetuses and children. The report says there are direct cause-and-effect links between the toxic chemical additives in plastics and specific health impacts to the endocrine system.

The additives are meant to make plastics more pliable or durable, more fire-resistant or antimicrobial, more UV-resistant or simply more colorful. Many of these additives disturb hormonal systems in humans and animals by leaching into liquids, food and the environment, the report says.

Forget acid rain: Plastic rain is falling across the USA

Endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure is not only a global problem today, but it poses a serious threat to future generations,report co-author Pauliina Damdimopoulouof the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, said in a statement. When a pregnant woman is exposed, EDCs can affect the health of her child and eventual grandchildren. Animal studies show EDCs can cause DNA modifications that have repercussions across multiple generations.

Plastic containing EDCs is used extensively in almost every aspect of our lives, includingin packaging, construction, flooring, food production and packaging, cookware, health care, childrens toys, leisure goods, furniture, home electronics, textiles, automobilesand cosmetics.

The report says the need for public policy to protect people'shealth from EDCs in plastics is all the more urgent given the industrys dramatic growth projections.

Hundreds of millions of metric tons of plastic areproduced each year.

This report clarifies that the current acceleration of plastic production, projected to increase by 30%-36% in the next six years, will greatly exacerbate EDC exposures and rising global rates of endocrine diseases," said Pamela Miller, International Pollutants Elimination Networkco-chair.

"Global policies to reduce and eliminate EDCs from plastic and reduce exposures from plastic recycling, plastic waste and incineration are imperative," Miller said.

The report was produced by theInternational Pollutants Elimination Networkwith the Endocrine Society.

Here is some information from the Endocrine Society about how to choose the least harmful plastics based on their recycling symbol and other useful tips about endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

'Choked, Strangled, Drowned': Report lays out severity of plastic harming endangered marine life

Good news? Earth's carbon dioxide emissions had record drop this year during the pandemic

Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/12/16/plastics-threaten-human-health-leach-chemicals-report/3905027001/

Continued here:
'A serious threat': Plastics we use every day are leaching hazardous chemicals, report says - USA TODAY

Lead is a naturally occurring metal found in ore with silver, zinc, and copper and is extracted together with these metals, but native lead is rare in nature. This bluish-white lustrous metal is resistant to corrosion, malleable, ductile but is soft and a poor conductor of electricity. These qualities have made lead useful since the Roman Empire era as water pipes. Its current uses are in lead-acid car batteries, as a component of glass in computer and television screens, as weight in sports equipment, and as a container of corrosive liquids. It is also used in some solders and some grades of petrol (gasoline).

However, as useful as this element may seem, lead is also a dangerous and toxic metal. It has caused various health issues that may date back to its first widespread use. Even now, lead poisoning and toxicity are still significant issues that need to be addressed. Here, well discuss the harmful effects of lead poisoning and how you can avoid it.

Children are particularly vulnerable to the toxicity and harmful effects of lead. Compared to adults, children absorb lead 4-5 times more from a given source. Lead can enter the human body through the intake of food, water, and air. Lead is a cumulative toxicant, meaning its concentration increases after regular and repeated ingestion. Thus, at high levels of exposure, lead poisoning can cause convulsions, coma, or death. Low to moderate lead exposure levels in children can cause changes in cognition and behavior such as reduced attention span, increased antisocial behavior, and decreased intelligence quotient (IQ). Health symptoms include renal impairment, weakened immune system, anemia, and hypertension.

Many countries have taken steps to reduce lead contamination by lowering or eliminating lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers of food and food items and removing the lead content from gasoline and aviation fuel. Leaded paints are also being phased out due to health and environmental reasons. However, different countries have varying progress regarding programs eliminating or reducing the adverse health effects of lead.

Even in the United States, the water piping systems across the country are not fully updated, and there are still some communities that use old lead water pipes or pipes with leaded welding solder and fittings. If you live in an old house, especially one that was built earlier than 1986, there is a high chance that it may still be using lead pipes or metal pipes with lead solder or pipe fittings. The plumbing fixtures may also contain lead, which is why you need the best water filter for lead removal to safeguard yourself and your family, especially your children. Lead contaminates drinking water through the corrosion of pipes. This usually happens when the pH level of water is slightly acidic. Public water treatment facilities are applying pH-adjustment in addition to filtration measures to ensure that water from your faucet is safe to drink. As an added measure of protection, installing a water filter system at home filters out not just impurities but also heavy metal contaminants such as lead.

When lead is ingested in the body, it is distributed to different organs, particularly the kidney, liver, bones, and brain. At low concentrations, the symptoms of lead poisoning cannot be felt or noticed immediately. As you continue to ingest lead particles into your body, they accumulate in the different organs of the body and slowly deteriorate their functions. You may notice an early onset of high blood pressure, unexplained weakness, anemia, and kidney damage.

Some mild symptoms such as constipation, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, memory loss episodes, headaches, and pain or tingling in the hands or feet may surface. However, these symptoms share the same features as other ailments, diseases, and conditions, making them easily overlooked and mistaken for a different condition. If you suspect that the symptoms you are experiencing are caused by lead exposure, you can consult your doctor and have your blood tested.

Blood testing is a reliable way of measuring and assessing human exposure to lead. When you experience a recurrence of the symptoms mentioned above, even if you feel relatively fine or healthy and recall being exposed to sources of lead exposure, have your blood tested as soon as possible. Various diseases and conditions, including lead exposure, can be detected from testing your blood samples, which is why it pays to err on the side of caution when it comes to your health. Early detection can help mitigate the physiological effects of lead poisoning, but the neurological and behavioral effects of lead poisoning are difficult to reverse or even irreversible.

Fortunately, lead exposure is preventable. There are many ways you can keep yourself, your family, and the people around you safe from the adverse health effects of lead poisoning by educating yourself and coordinating with your doctor and individuals advocating lead regulation and banning.

Another significant cause of concern when it comes to lead exposure is its adverse effects on human reproduction. We mentioned earlier, the capability of lead to be transported and distributed to different organs of the body and the human reproductive system isnt safe either. Lead poisoning deteriorates the reproductive organs and their functions, causing infertility in both males and females, miscarriages, and stillbirths.

There is also a connection between the accumulation of lead in the bone and congenital disabilities in children whose mothers have been exposed to lead. Lead in the bone is circulated in the blood during pregnancy and crosses the blood-placenta barrier, affecting the fetus. Fetal exposure to lead causes damage to the nervous system and brain of the unborn child. As no known blood lead concentration is considered safe or does not have harmful effects, even low-level lead exposure in a developing fetus can have cognitive and behavioral outcomes.

Lead is one of the harmful heavy metals that can gravely affect our health. Its a cumulative toxicant, and most of the time, you notice the symptoms when the level of exposure is already high. Nevertheless, lead poisoning is preventable, and there are many precautions you can take to avoid exposing yourself and your family to the harmful effects of lead. Keep yourself well-informed about lead and its sources and effects and use products that are free of lead. With these small steps, you are safeguarding your health and well-being.

Continued here:
The Harmful Effects Of Lead Poisoning - Emagazine.com - E/The Environmental Magazine

WASHINGTON The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice today of its intent to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to assess harms to endangered species before nearly tripling the levels of dangerous cadmium pollution that are allowed in U.S. waters.

The heavy metal, which bioaccumulates at all levels of the food chain, is toxic to plants and animals, including people at very low levels.

In 2016 the EPA approved a 188% increase in the allowable chronic freshwater exposure to the heavy metal, despite warnings from the National Marine Fisheries Service that it would potentially be harmful to endangered species.

Cadmium is extremely toxic, so it makes no sense to weaken the safeguards against it, said Ashley Bruner, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. This was a poisonous mistake that needs to be corrected right away by President-elect Biden. Itll help prevent the extinction of endangered species like sea turtles, sturgeon and freshwater mussels.

Elevated levels of cadmium have been identified in all three of those aquatic animals. Cadmium can cause a range of harms, affecting growth, reproduction, immune and endocrine systems, development and behavior. Its also highly toxic to fish: It disrupts the endocrine functions of Atlantic salmon and those of protected salmonids in the Pacific Northwest, which, in turn, reduces prey species for protected Southern Resident killer whales.

The EPAs habit of ignoring the risks that toxic pollution in our environment pose to endangered species is helping to drive some seriously imperiled animals closer to extinction, said Bruner. The agency has left us with no choice but to launch this lawsuit to protect vulnerable wildlife from this dangerous heavy metal.

Cadmium pollution is widespread in both fresh and marine waters. Human activities are the source of more than 90% of the total cadmium found in surface waters. The combustion of fossil fuels like coal contributes approximately 40% of the pollution, while between 33% and 56% of the pollution is released by phosphate fertilizers.

The EPA is required to set water-quality criteria under the Clean Water Act, which set benchmarks for states to follow when they develop water-quality standards.

Since the EPA updated its cadmium criteria in 2016, 18 states, territories and tribes have both started to develop and proposed, updated water-quality standards for cadmium for approval by the EPA. In every case the states used the EPAs water-quality criteria, and the EPA approved them without changes.

Originally posted here:
Lawsuit Launched Against EPA to Protect Endangered Aquatic Species From Cadmium Pollution - Center for Biological Diversity

December 14, 2020

Editor's note:This story is part of a series of profiles ofnotable fall 2020 graduates.

Before attending the Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU, Makenna Flynn had already started developing a global mindset and empathy skills through her work at a local refugee resettlement office. Thunderbird graduate Makenna Flynn plans to pursue her masters in management in the schools 4+1 program. Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now Download Full Image

She expanded her worldview by listening to the stories of struggle, triumph and tragedy shared there by refugees and employees. Flynn learned about the adversity that caused them to flee their home countries, places such as Iraq, Myanmar, Afghanistan, El Salvador and Somalia where poverty and violence have turned many citizens into refugees in recent years.

When Flynn relayed to her adviser at Paradise Valley Community College how she felt hearing these stories, he suggested a Thunderbird at ASU program. Flynn did some research on the school and says she immediately felt connected. She chose ASU with the goal of earning a Thunderbird masters degree after completing her undergraduate studies.

As a first-generation college student, Flynn was elated with the expanded learning opportunities outside the classroom. She spent a month in Argentina immersing herself in the culture and gathering more stories from residents. She saw the impact of globalization on a traditional culture, allowing her to contextualize what she was learning in the classroom and deepening her understanding of the dynamics of the global economy.

Flynn is a recipient of an ASU Young Alumni Scholarship, APS Scholarship and a Lentz Scholarship. She will continue her studies at ASU after graduation to earn her Master of Global Management in one year instead of two through Thunderbirds 4+1 program.

She hopes to work in storytelling marketing in a social enterprise or business that makes a positive impact in its communities. Flynn will continue to collect and share stories about people from all over the world, narratives that she believes create the new human connections needed to build inclusive, sustainable prosperity in international communities through global cooperation.

Question: What was your aha moment, when you realized you wanted to study the field you majored in?

Answer: In high school, I participated in a leadership program called the Hugh OBrian World Leadership Congress (WLC). During this weeklong congress, one of the days was spent learning about major global issues. I heard professors speak about the right to an education and learned more about the global refugee crisis. After the mini courses, I felt the need to educate myself further and find out how to make a positive difference. And the more I researched, the more I realized the opportunities available for businesses to be that difference in the world.

Q: Whats something you learned while at ASU in the classroom or otherwise that surprised you or changed your perspective?

A: I have learned the importance of knowing how to manage stress. For a while, I would overload myself with extra coursework, part-time jobs and extracurricular activities without ever really taking time for myself. This past year, I have spent more time doing the activities that I love like hiking, exploring Arizona with friends, playing basketball or holding a movie night with my family. Setting aside this time to recharge has allowed me to focus more fully on my academics and professional development than before.

Q: Which professor taught you the most important lesson while at ASU?

A: My communications professor, Professor Kenneth Kunkel, taught me the importance of not tying my sense of self-worth to my grades. When I entered his class, I would be so focused on trying to get the A that I would often miss out on the creative side of public speaking. It wasnt until my advanced public speaking class where I realized my strength as a speaker lies in creating unique content, not simply following the rubric and adding no personal material.

Q: Whats the best piece of advice youd give to those still in school?

A: Explore various interests, especially in your undergraduate degree. While my major was global management, I spent my electives exploring world philosophies, developing my public speaking skills, learning about astrology and other hobbies of mine. This interdisciplinary education gave me a much richer perspective in my core business coursework.

Q: What was your favorite spot on campus, whether for studying, meeting friends or just thinking about life?

A: My favorite spot to study is at the West campus on the grassy area outside of the Casa de Oro residential hall. I love to roll out a blanket, turn some music on and spend the afternoon studying and hanging out with friends.

Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem on our planet, what would you tackle?

A: I would invest $40 million into producing alternatives to unsustainable development. Dams, mines and tourist attractions (among other industries) often displace Indigenous communities and negatively impact the environment. Finding more sustainable solutions will have positive impacts across sectors and for most stakeholders.

Written by Joanna Furst

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How and why microbes promote and protect against stress - ASU Now

As the hope and promise of winter rain grows, I look forward to the season of mushroom hunting. While the semi-arid climate of southern California isnt as famous for mushroom hunting as the lush rainforests of the Pacific Northwest or the rainy redwoods of Northern California, there are still plenty of fungal treasures to discover in the oak woodlands and coastal sage scrub of the front range once rain arrivesif you practice a keen eye and patience.

Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of underground mycelial webs which knit the world together. They are the visible, often delicious aboveground manifestation of subterranean fungal networks comprised of threadlike, hollow tubes called hyphae. Mushrooms emerge briefly, triggered by rain and humidity, to cast fungal spore into the wind for reproduction. Even after mushrooms release their spore to the wind and disappear the fungal webs from which they came persist for generations, sending up new fruiting bodies every rainy season.

Despite their reliance on humid climates, fungi thrive throughout the world from the Arctic Circle to the Mojave Desert. In fact, fungal networks are a critical component to the soil ecology of arid landscapes, including those of inland California. Fungi are long-lived and can grow to enormous proportions. The largest known organism on Earth is a honey mushroom in Oregon whose mycelial web underpins almost 2400 acres of the Malheur National Forest.

Fungi are essential to life on Earth. They are primary decomposers of decaying matter, recycling spent, dead and dying material into organic, fertile soil capable of growing carbon-storing forests, lush river valleys and rich fields for human agriculture. Because of their ability to break things down, fungi play a central role in the growing science of bioremediation, as humans begin to confront and repair ecosystems damaged with plastic litter, agricultural poisons, nuclear waste and chemical and oil spills. Fungi show incredible promise in returning these intractable-seeming waste streams into harmless environmental elements. Amazingly, in one recent experiment scientists grew oyster mushrooms out of plastic waste in just a few short months, reducing waste volume by 80% while producing edible oyster mushrooms.

Fungi are one of the most mysterious kingdoms of life on Earth. Scientists estimate that at least 90% of fungus species remain unknown and undocumented, despite their everyday importance in our lives. One of the most interesting developments in mycology (another word for fungus) research is that of mapping communication networks spanning the underground webs of fungal organisms and trees and plants within forest communities.

Recent research reveals that fungi are constantly communicating via electrical and chemical signals, and that different branches of the same fungal network spread over a vast space are capable of sharing nutrients with depleted areas of the network. Fungi also seem to facilitate a similar sharing of resources within separate, distinct trees and plants in old-growth forest communities. For example, scientists have shown through peer-reviewed field experiments that forest trees warn one another of insect pests, herbivore predations and toxic shifts in the physical environment, allowing surrounding trees to mount chemical defenses. In addition, mature trees dying of old age will share their remaining nutrient stores with younger, smaller trees nearby before their demise. Scientists speculate that much of this communication and chemical sharing is enabled by the fungal networks that span healthy, diverse forests, connecting trees to one another.

This research is groundbreaking because it calls into question one of the basic premises of evolutionary biology: survival of the fittest or the belief that life on Earth is a constant battle for limited resources. While the critical science of this work is still emergent, early conclusions drawn from decades of fieldwork provide a hopeful and helpful alternative moral compass for our human community as well, predicated on communication, resource-sharing and cooperation for the betterment of the whole.

This work underlines how little we still understand about the complexity and interdependence of old-growth habitats.

Much of the recent work on mycelial webs within forests was triggered by foresters who realized that the replanting of logged forests with a single species of trees wasnt working. Despite extra water and care, young trees were unable to survive in clear cut landscapes. Current scientific thought points to the fact that logged landscapes often cause the erosion and degradation of the recently-exposed soil surface, which damages or kills the fungal network partly responsible for feeding and nurturing young trees, to the detriment of replanted monocultures.

I wrote an article this September on the Forest Services proposal to log old growth pine forests in our backcountry backyard along the Pine Mountain ridgeline. Perhaps sciences growing recognition of the interconnection and interdependence of seemingly disparate wild lives is another caution against such a proposal.

Alena Steen is coordinator of the Carpinteria Garden Park, an organic community garden located at 4855 5th St., developed by the citys Parks and Recreation Department.Community members rent a plot to grow their own fresh produce. For more information, visit carpinteria.ca.us/parks-and-recreation or contact Alena at alenas@ci.carpinteria.ca.us.

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The world of mushrooms | Opinion | coastalview.com - Coastal View News

Authors and former io9 majordomos Annalee Newitz and Charlie Jane Anders have a fortnightly podcast called Our Opinions Are Correct, which covers all sorts of nerd culture and science-related topics. In the December 3 episode, "Birth Control of the Future," Newitz and Anders discuss reproductive and contraceptive technologies, both real and imagined, and the various ramifications they might have on society.

There's a lot of interesting ground here, from artificial wombs to morning after pill vending machines to the impact of coronavirus (and potentially other pandemics) on child-rearing responsibilities. Also the fact that human penises are curiously not designed for aggression, unlike many other mammal phalluses. But Newitz and Anders offer two observations over the course of the 45-minute podcast that really stood out for me.

First, in terms of language. For the sake of both clarity and simplicity, the hosts deliberately refer to "People with Eggs" and "People with Sperm," rather than by sex or gender. Because sex and gender are complicated; basic reproductive requirements, less so. "Male/female" and "man/woman" have always been frustratingly opaque termsnot just because the words have such a binary dependent relationship with each other, but also, because of how we define them. Despite what some people think, "biological sex" (for lack of a better term) has been determined solely by an X or Y chromosome; that's true for humans as well as other animals. Hell, humans are as likely to be intersex as they are to have red hairit's a minority, sure, but it's something most of still encounter on a fairly regular basis (when not in quarantine). When you're specifically talking about people in terms of reproductive functioningand you need a shorthand, catch-all way to broadly refer to them"People with Eggs" and "People with Sperm" is inclusive, and efficient.

I was also struck by this notiondiscussed throughout the podcastthat while technological advancements in birth control can shape the future of our societies, it's just as important to change the ways that we currently view and think about sex and reproduction. Our perceptions are inherently limited by our pre-existing assumptions about these things, and that frames how we approach issues like healthcare (read: abortion). It made me think about an article I wrote in 2016 about a male birth control pill study that was cancelled, sending the internet into a furor. The details that got picked up (and mocked) in the headlines were the fact that the study was cancelled, and that some of the men involved had reported PMS-like symptoms. The joke, as it were, was that this was a clear case of masculinity-so-fragilethat these people with sperm couldn't handle something that people with eggs dealt with on a regular basis.

While I certainly understood the Schadenfreudic satisfaction there, the problem was: it wasn't true. The study was cancelled was because it was a shit study that neglected to control for things like diet, culture, and pre-existing mental health conditions. And of the few hundred people involved in the study, some were permanently sterilized, some of them died by suicide, and some of them tried to die by suicide. It reached a point where there was simply nothing else that be gained, learned, or achieved by continuing a study that also risked harming people.

Where it gets even messier, however, is the fact that the invention of birth control for people with eggs was just asif not moreinhumane than that 2016 birth control study for people with sperm.

Theshort versionof the story: Puerto Rican women and asylum inmates were forced to participate in early trials for female birth control pills in1955. In fact, in Puerto Rico, where contraception and abortion were legal and available butforced sterilizationwas also occurring, the researchers specifically sought out the "ovulating intelligent" in medical school, where the trials became a required part of their curriculum. If they dropped out or refused to participate, they'd be expelled from school.

Later, when the drug was tested underslightlymore humane circumstances,there were still some big problems:The researchersenticed womenwith the "no pregnancy" part while conveniently leaving out the details about the potential side effects of the pills.If the recent male trial that got everyone up in arms was bad by modern standards (which it was), then these adverse effects weremonstrous:17% of participants had serious complaints, three people may or may not havediedas a result, and one of the researchers even straight up admitted that there were "too many side reactions to be generally acceptable."

This, I think, represents a good microcosm about why our pre-existing assumptions about reproductive and contraception cloud the way that we approach them in the future. First, there's how we actually conduct our studies. As I wrote in 2016:

TheFood and Drug Administrationrequires20,000 menstrual cycles' worth of safety data for women.But since men don't cycle, no one has determined how long men's birth control would need to be tested to be deemed safe.

Coupled with the difficulty of establishingplacebo controlsfor contraceptives (giving someone a sugar pill and telling them it's fine to have unprotected sex isgenerallyfrowned upon), the potential rewards of thisparticularstudy were really, really unreliable.

In other words: our current regulatory framing of "birth control pills" is inherently gendered, in a way that does not translate to people with sperm. In order to create a birth control pill for those people, we need to completely eradicate and reconstruct that framework. We can't use the past to build a better future.

There's also the fact that the OG birth control pill for people with eggs was a byproduct of violent eugenics that exploited people because of their race, class, and gender. But hey, it all worked out in the end, right? With a largely positive outcome for everyone else who wasn't involved in those trials? Sure. Maybe. But if we're going to use that same oppressive foundation to address birth control for people with sperm, then what are we really gaining by building a "better" future on a pile of corpses?

Anyway. Check out the podcast. You can also checkout the hosts' new books. Annalee Newitz's upcoming nonfiction book, Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, comes out in February 2021. Charlie Jane Anders released a novel titled The City in the Middle of the Night last year, and has the first book in a new YA series, Victories Greater Than Death, coming in April 2021.

Birth Control Of The Future [Our Opinions Are Correct]

I looked into the backstory of male birth control. Turns out, it's a racist, sexist mess. [Thom Dunn / Upworthy]

Image: Ceridwen/Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 2.0)

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How Birth Control Can Help Us Reimagine The Future - Boing Boing

Although errors in the IVF lab are reportedly few, their consequences may be catastrophic for both patients and clinic. A well attended online Campus meeting in November heard how they may occur and how prevented.

Some errors in the ART lab are more significant than others, a well attended online Campus meeting in November was told. Near misses wont cause harm, whereas implanting the wrong embryo has catastrophic consequences for both patient and clinic.

A comprehensive overview of what can go wrong, why and the consequences was provided by Theofano Bounartzi, deputy of the SIG Ethics & Law, who organised this half day course, and Alessandra Alteri, deputy of the SIG Safety & Quality in ART. However, they left the 170-strong audience in no doubt that humans should not always be blamed for medical mistakes. The fault can lie with the systems behind the procedures, which are relied on with increasing frequency for successful outcomes and satisfied patients.

Nevertheless, the frequency of adverse incidents at fertility centres is low less than 1% of treatment cycles carried out according to the database of the HFEA and are graded from minimal (near miss) to major (eg, embryo mix up). With detailed illustrations, Bounartzi outlined a series of scenarios involving patient misidentification, equipment failure/malfunction, and operator error. Cryostorage failings, she said, caused by lack or misuse of quarantine storage tanks, for example, could lead to cross-contamination of the stored samples, while complications presented by the current coronavirus pandemic might raise additional problems for ART labs.(1) Other errors with serious outcomes would include poor registration data triggering a break in chain-of-custody protocols between clinics.

So the low incidence of errors shouldnt be an excuse for complacency, Alteri warned. Beware the embryologist who says theres never a problem in their lab, she said, while pointing out that its often the conditions that staff work under which need changing, not the individuals themselves. There might be many explanations for a dropped petri dish, for example.

Safety errors can arise from either active failures or latent conditions, as identified by a risk analysis approach - such as the swiss cheese model, the slices representing an organisations barriers against failures and the holes its weaknesses.(1) Active failures are (usually brief) human lapses in judgement, and latent conditions arise from poor strategic decisions. Adverse medical events usually combine latent and active, but system-led problems such as insufficient training or understaffing can be resolved before errors occur. Explained Alteri: So we find good people working in bad systems, and therefore the systems must be made safe.

If a serious adverse event does occur, a gamete mix-up, for example, what are the legal implications? Greek lawyer Theodoros Trokanas analysed prominent cases in common law, concluding that the courts do not regard the birth of a healthy child from an ART error as a compensation for loss or damage. Judges in Singapore, for example, recently awarded costs to parents who wrongly received donor sperm.

1. Perneger T. The Swiss cheese model of safety incidents: are there holes in the metaphor?BMC Health Serv Res 2005; 5: 71. doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-5-71

Read the original:
Mishaps and their prevention in the IVF lab - ESHRE

The 1997 science fiction film Gattaca is set in a dystopic future in which the practice of eugenics selective breeding designed to pass on desired genetic traits is the norm.

In this society, couples who want to have children pursue technological reproduction rather than natural procreation. This allows them to pick which of their embryonic children they want to bear after surveying their genomes.

The moral imperative is for parents to conceive and bear the best possible child, not only with preferred physical traits or predispositions for particular talents, but also free from hereditary disease and disability.

To roll the dice and welcome whatever child you get is seen as irresponsible: Not only would you be knowingly disadvantaging your child, you would also be risking reintroducing undesirable genes back into the gene pool.

Sadly, what was science fiction just a few years ago has become a reality.

In the cover story of the December issue of The Atlantic, reporter Sarah Zhang visits Denmark, a country considered moral pioneers in the field of prenatal genetic testing, diagnosis, and decision-making.

In her conversations with families and experts, Zhang uncovers a devastating trend: more than 95% of pregnancies that have a test result showing a likelihood of Trisomy 21, known more commonly as Down syndrome, end in abortion. The phenomenon of selective abortion is gaining traction despite the fact that some results are false positives, and the fact that persons with Trisomy 21 have excellent survival rates and life expectancies.

Persons with Trisomy 21 have varying symptoms (and varying degrees of severity of symptoms), including intellectual disabilities and muscular-skeletal issues. They are more susceptible to heart problems, gastrointestinal abnormalities, and speech issues. Severe cases require significant intervention, therapy, and resources.

Yet others with Down syndrome go to college, find employment, live independently, and get married. Just like any person, their particular challenges and strengths become evident over time, in part due to their genetic makeup as well as the environment in which they develop.

Within hours of the 8,000-word articles publication online, some were praising Zhangs reporting for humanizing and giving a voice to people with Down syndrome. Others, including pro-lifers, expressed outrage: For instance, one writer at The Federalist accused the author of seeking to create sympathy and understanding for eugenics and a modern-day genocide.

But beyond the pieces implications for the pro-life and pro-choice movements, Zhang identifies an uncomfortable, telling paradox one that signals the dawn of what has been called the genetic information age. She writes:

In wealthy countries, it seems to be at once the best and the worst time for Down syndrome. Better health care has more than doubled life expectancy. Better access to education means most children with Down syndrome will learn to read and write. Few people speak publicly about wanting to eliminate Down syndrome. Yet individual choices are adding up to something very close to that.

Put in other words, the article is an invitation for the world to ask itself: How can a society that celebrates diversity, inclusion, and tolerance allow its members who have genetic differences to be systematically, surgically extracted from its population?

During an amniocentesis, a doctor punctures the abdominal wall of a pregnant woman to withdraw the fluid. The fluid is then analyzed for various chromosomal abnormalities. Today, that information can be gleaned from a mothers blood sample by the 10th week of pregnancy. (Shutterstock)

Three overlapping factors have created new moral questions around child-bearing: 1) reproductive technologies, originally designed to assist couples struggling with infertility, have proliferated in type and availability; 2) the project to map the human genome, completed in 2003, has given scientists and doctors a window into the genes of their patients as well as their patients gametes; and 3) prenatal genetic testing has become a routine part of obstetric care.

While originally developed to assist couples who were unable to conceive children through natural procreation, artificial reproductive technologies (ART) now comprise a booming fertility industry. Services like in vitro fertilization are now cheaper, less riskier to women, and more likely to be covered by insurance and thus more widely available.

Because marriage and child-bearing are increasingly delayed in wealthier nations, both infertility and the risk of chromosomal abnormalities are on the rise. This makes in vitro fertilization, now paired with genetic testing, a more desirable method of reproduction: From a consumer standpoint, getting the healthiest possible child is the best investment in terms of time, cost, and risk.

But even if a woman gets pregnant naturally, she is likely to be offered prenatal screening for major chromosomal abnormalities. In the U.S., prenatal testing was generally offered to women over 35 or those with high-risk pregnancies. As of 2019, more than 60% of OBGYNs had offered it as part of their standard care to all patients.

In Denmark, nearly all pregnant women choose to have their developing children screened for genetic abnormalities.

Prenatal testing used to be done later in the second trimester if an ultrasound revealed atypical development, or if parents knew they were carriers for genetic conditions. Today, that information as well as the sex of the baby can be gleaned from a mothers blood sample by the 10th week of pregnancy.

Genetic counselors are supposed to present findings with value neutrality, meaning their language and affect is not supposed to sway patients decision-making. But Zhang spoke to advocates for persons with Down syndrome who were actively lobbying health care providers to change their language, for fear that the increase in selective abortion was correlated to language that increased parental fear.

Even shifting language from risk to probability could help open parents up to choosing life, they argued.

In many of the cases Zhang learned about, the children were originally wanted sometimes desperately so but in one catastrophic moment, they became unwanted. Parental fears about their childs quality of life as well as disappointment over losing the family that they had hoped for swayed them toward abortion.

Suddenly, Zhang writes, a new power was thrust into the hands of ordinary people the power to decide what kind of life is worth bringing into the world.

The world that The Atlantic article describes is one shaped by what Notre Dame law and political science professor O. Carter Snead calls expressive individualism in his new book What It Means to Be Human: The Case for the Body in Public Bioethics (Harvard University Press, $39.95).

This philosophy equates being fully human with finding the unique truth within ourselves and freely constructing our individual lives to reflect it, writes Snead. It considers human relationships as transactional, formed by agreements, promises, and consent for the mutual benefits of the parties involved.

Such a philosophy, he argues, leaves us without a coherent vision of our moral obligations to one another, especially the most vulnerable. This is illustrated in Zhangs piece by a series of moral quandaries that selective abortion poses.

Pope Francis kisses Peter Lombardi, 12, of Columbus, Ohio, after the boy rode in the popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in 2018. (Catholic News Service/Vatican Media)

If reproductive decision-making is an individual choice, what should a society do when thousands (or millions) of individual choices result in massive demographic or sociological changes?

Is a eugenic movement brought about by a societys own choosing any less problematic than one which is forced on a people, such as the campaign to eradicate persons with disabilities designed by the Nazis or the current campaign by the Chinese government to eliminate its Uyghurs population?

Zhang uncovers what she calls the most perverse moral problem in an exchange with a Danish woman who heads the National Down Syndrome Association. The woman, who is also a mother to 18-year-old son with Down syndrome, educates expectant parents about the condition.

During one of their conversations, the teenage boy leans over and looks at his mothers phone. The title of a controversial documentary called Death to Down Syndrome was displayed on the screen, and he immediately recoiled.

The reporter realized that he was cognizant of the fact that there are people who dont want people like him to be born. Moreover, his mother supports the right to abortion, even in cases like his.

The scene illustrates the ultimate conundrum for a society that supports the unrestricted right to abortion while claiming to uphold the equality of all human beings as a foundational moral principle: A woman must convince her child that his life is valuable, dignified, and worthy of living, while also supporting the rights of others to end the life of their child with his same genetic markers.

The response of a Catholic reader to the article would seem clear-cut: Because abortion is the taking of human life in its most vulnerable stage, it violates the fundamental right of all human beings to continue their life until natural death. Abortion, as well as any reproductive technology involving the creation, testing, and destruction of embryos, must be rejected.

But Catholic teaching does not stop at the moral evaluation of the technology or the act of abortion. The Gospel goes deeper it speaks to the heart of parents who receive a devastating diagnosis. It speaks to the vocation of health care workers and geneticists to heal when they can and offer comfort when they cannot. And it speaks to families about what it means to be open to the mystery of Gods design for family life.

In a 2019 speech, Pope Francis lamented the fact that thanks to modern prenatal testing techniques, even the suspicion of an illness, and especially the certainty of a disease, changes the experience of pregnancy and causes deep distress to women and couples.

The isolation and worry about the suffering that lies ahead, the pope said, is like a silent cry, a call for help in the darkness, when faced with an illness whose outcome cannot be foreseen with certainty.

In the face of fear and isolation, parents need support from a larger community, whether through their extended family, the parish, or others who have been in their situation. Support from a community is the first antidote to the individualism and isolation of reproductive choice.

When it comes to the issue of medical language, The Atlantic article notes that while genetic counselors and obstetricians are trained and required to present genetic information in as neutral a way as possible to patients, that doesnt always happen.

Pope Francis has admonished clinicians who use the phrase incompatible with life to describe genetic conditions that correspond with short lifespans or severe physical and cognitive impairments. For one thing, where there is a living human being, there is life.

Second, he says:

No human being can ever be unfit for life, whether due to age, state of health or quality of existence. Every child who appears in a womans womb is a gift that changes a familys history, the life of fathers and mothers, grandparents and of brothers and sisters. That child needs to be welcomed, loved and nurtured.

The fact that so many parents, when faced with a diagnosis of Down syndrome or other genetic anomalies, choose abortion tells Catholics a few things about why and where the Gospel is needed.

A society that reveres health and wellness is one that will have trouble in the face of sickness, aging, and death. It needs to hear the good news that suffering has been redeemed, and that it stretches the hearts of patients, caregivers, and the people they encounter.

A scene from the movie Gattaca. (IMDB)

Being mortals, bodily decay or dysfunction will come to all of us; some members of our human family experience it more acutely or earlier than others. They should receive more care, not more marginalization, because of it.

A materialist society that reduces people to their bodies and even microscopically, to their genetic material needs to know the truth that human beings have a body and a soul. The most important quality that children have and develop is their capacity to love, something that does not depend on their physical or cognitive ability.

A consumer-driven society, one that has become accustomed to customizable, curated lifestyles, is one that considers parenthood as a fulfillment of desires or a way to construct meaning and identity. Such a society which does not pause at the ways it commodifies its children needs to be reminded to protect the little ones. And a society that has unlimited access to information desperately needs wisdom.

The opening credits of Gattaca include a cautionary line from the Book of Ecclesiastes: Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what He has made crooked?

The answer to this rhetorical question should humble us. It should also help us to see all children not as something owed, but as gifts to be received as is, with all of their challenges and strengths.

Go here to see the original:
The Genetic Information Age is here. Are we ready? - Angelus News

There are a little over 1,000 Mountain Gorillas remaining on Earth, with about half of these living in Bwindi Impenetrable Rainforest. (Credit: Fredrick Mugira)

A UNESCO world heritage site, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest was gazetted as a game sanctuary in 1932 purposely to conserve the Mountain Gorillas.

CONSERVATION

In the shadows of giant trees, deep within the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, nature is at its rawest. The maze of green trees, dark and humid undergrowth shrouded in a smoky haze, makes its name impenetrable forest' very apt.

This is where Jackson Kyomukama, 46, spent the first 17 years of his life. An indigenous Batwa pygmy forest dweller, he lived in caves and tree branches, just like his ancestors.

"We derived our livelihood from the forest," recounts Kyomukama, whose ancestors were part of the ecosystem for Bwindi Impenetrable, Echuya, and Mgahinga rainforests in southwestern Uganda.

Also known as the Twa or the Pygmies, Batwa is one of the oldest surviving tribes in central Africa, living mostly within or close to the Congo Basin rainforest, the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world. They are part of about 60 million people living within this tropical rainforest that occupies about 200 million hectares of land.

But for the Batwa that lived in Bwindi Impenetrable, Echuya, and Mgahinga rainforests, their nomadic-like lifestyle - moving from place to place in search of forest resources, hunting wild animals and collecting honey - was cut short in 1991. The government of Uganda evicted them from these rainforests to pave the way to create conservation areas for the endangered Mountain Gorillas.

"Our lives were divorced from the forests by gorillas; we are struggling to live," narrates Kyomukama, a father of 10, and chairperson of Karehe Batwa group in Buhoma, Bwindi.

Only some 1,063 Mountain Gorillas remaining on Earth (2018 mountain gorillas survey) live in three countries: Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Half of these live within Bwindi Impenetrable Rainforest.

A UNESCO world heritage site, the forest was gazetted as a game sanctuary in 1932 purposely to conserve the Mountain Gorillas. The Ugandan government later upgraded it to national park status in 1991. It is home to over 160 species of trees, 100 species of ferns, 120 mammals, and some 350 bird species.

Jonathan Baranga, a professor of zoology and wildlife, also former director of Uganda National Parks (now Uganda Wildlife Authority), is one of the officials who campaigned for raising the conservation status of Bwindi.

He recounts that before the elevation, "people were busy mining gold and wolfram within the area and cutting down trees for timber, which was damaging the habitats of gorillas."

Fortress conservation

The approach used to conserve Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and several other forests worldwide has been described by researchers and advocates of indigenous people as "fortress conservation" and criticized for its adverse effects on the indigenous people.

The fortress conservation model involves creating protected areas to enable ecosystems to flourish in isolation from human disturbance.

Conserving Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for gorillas meant human activities in the forest had to be minimized; the reason why the status of the forest changed from multiple use of the resource to nature conservation.

And in nature conservation, argues Jeconeous Musingwire, an environmental scientist and manager for the national environment watchdog - NEMA in southwestern Uganda, "there is no human activity".

"Whenever there is an icon of biodiversity, which needs to be conserved, then it means human activities are minimized," he says.

Gorillas needed a quiet environment to flourish and reproduce. Regular contact with humans puts them at a significant risk because of their genetic similarity with humans, making them susceptible to diseases that affect humans.

"Humans share with gorillas over 98 percent genetic materials and can easily make each other sick," reveals Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a wildlife veterinarian and founder of Conservation Through Public Health.

The eviction from their ancestral lands has caused suffering in all measures - not to put it too expansive - to all 6,200 Batwa (2014 Uganda Population and Housing Census) in Uganda who now live on donated land in the margins of theirancestral forests, surviving on the charity of sympathizers.

For most of them, hopelessness defines their lives.

"Removing indigenous people from their land is unfortunately a consequence of so-called fortress conservation whose time is long past," argues Nicole Wendee, founder and director for Redemption Song Foundation, an organisation that supports Batwa in Bwindi.

"They (Batwa) can't go in and gather materials to make baskets. They can't get food like honey and medicinal plants," she laments.

Conservation triumphs

After almost 30 years of fortress conservation, more plants, mammals and birds are returning to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. And the Mountain Gorillas are no longer critically endangered.

In 2018, the then critically endangered Mountain Gorillas were down-listed on the IUCN Red List to endangered species after their population increased from 680 in 2008 to 1,004 in 2018. And more are being born.

"Ten gorilla babies were born during the COVID-19 lockdown (March to June 2020)," says Bashir Hangi, the communications manager for Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), who adds that "protection of gorillas is a matter of imperative."

Haven't the Mountain Gorillas made Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, which in turn made them at the expense of the indigenous Batwa? Did the Gorillas steal the guardianship of Bwindi from the Batwa? And have they maintained it?

Stuart Maniraguha, the director for plantations development at National Forestry Authority (NFA), knows the answers.

He says the approach taken by the government of Uganda facilitated the creation of an environment for the gorillas to flourish, to reproduce, and contribute to the restoration of Bwindi.

"Conserving gorillas in a way contributes to conservation of the forest," says Maniraguha, elaborating that "when trees are missing, the gorillas will not be there because you have deprived them of their home () their food sources () and their privacy, and therefore they will not mate and their reproduction will go down."

He further relates that "there are some tree species whose seeds may not germinate unless they have gone through the alimentary canal of animals [gorillas in this case]."

But Maniraguha acknowledges the fact that apart from the gorillas, several other factors have helped to preserve Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and mitigate the impacts of forest loss. These include afforestation in neighboring communities, benefits sharing and stakeholder engagement.

In Uganda, like in many tropical countries, rainforests are subject to increased changes. Increased population, industrialization, road construction, urbanization, commercial agriculture, and changing climate are shrinking the once-blooming forests.

For example, in the Hoima district, a sugar factory has been blamed for deforesting part of the Bugoma Central Forest Reserve to grow sugarcane to produce sugar.

However, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and some other protected forests have continued to bloom amid such threats, according to Maniraguha.

He states that in 1990, Uganda had a 24% forest cover, with protected forests accounting for 30% and the remaining 70% outside protected areas. And by 2015, Uganda's forest cover had shrunk to 9%.

But, "of the 9%, [in 2015] the area where we had 70 % [in 1991] had lost up to 35% [in 2015]. Where we had 30% in the protected areas [in 1991] now the forest cover goes to 65% [in 2015]," explains Maniraguha.

Some researchers keen on rainforests and indigenous people believe that Bwindi Impenetrable National Park's value is the presence of the Mountain Gorillas in particular and its biodiversity in general. And this has contributed to the maintenance and the care conservationists bestow to the park, according to Eliode Bakole, a Batwa and rainforests researcher and DR Congo country programme manager for IDEAS For Us (IDEAS).

"Gorillas were not evicted from the park, but the Batwa were," he says.

And emphasizes that this shows the "importance accorded to the animals (gorillas), which has been positive on the one hand for forest conservation and for generating revenues, but on the other hand, it has impacted on the Batwa."

What if the forest's status wasn't upgraded?

Prof. Jonathan Baranga, the architect of the move to upgrade Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to national park status, shudders thinking about what would have happened if the forest had not been upgraded.

"I know very many government officials and businessmen were not only selectively cutting Mahogany (trees) from Bwindi and other areas, but there was a lot of encroachment. There was a lot of gold mining," he says.

This is corroborated by a study that looked at regeneration in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and found that before 1991, many large trees were cut for timber by pit-sawyers.

One of the people who have lived close to the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for over 80 years is Eliphaz Ahimbisibwe, who is 85 and lives in Buhoma, Bwindi.

He says as part of the programme for upgrading the status of the forest, neighboring communities were in the 1990s taught to plant their trees, and now they do not need to cross into the woods for firewood and timber.

Without this option, Ahimbisibwe believes, "the forest would be no more because people would have cut it down and the gorillas would not be there because people had by the 1960s started hunting them for various products."

But Amos Ngambeki, a father of four and a Mutwa of Buhoma in Bwindi, disagrees. He insists that amid increased intrusion of the outside world into indigenous people's communities and lives, Batwa people would still be guardians of Bwindi.

According to Ngambeki, with their "rich indigenous knowledge of conserving forests," coupled with "government empowerment," the Batwa would have been able to preserve Bwindi Impenetrable Forest up to now and in the years to come.

The weight of the knowledge indigenous people possess is enough to maintain the ecosystems more naturally and sustainably, according to Bakole, who underlines that the Batwa have experience in park management in their traditional ways.

"For instance, during my pilot study conducted in Nkuringo in Bwindi, a Mutwa man declared that they are not allowed to hunt or trap pregnant animals and/or babies. Whenever they fall into our traps, we have to release them."

According to Bakole, this idea is backed up by another Mutwa he interviewed in the Mikeno sector in DR Congo as he collected data for his Masters dissertation on Batwa.

Bakole cites what he was told, that according to "our culture, we cannot kill a gorilla because it resembles a human being, it resembles us". Basing on this statement and several others he gathered in the field, Bakole concludes that "the presence of Batwa in conservation matters because they understand well the dos and don'ts in biodiversity conservation".

According to studies by the World Resources Institute, deforestation levels are "2.8 times lower in tenure-secure" indigenous people's communities.

Dispossessed and damned lives

Although there may be increasing numbers of mammals, birds and tree species in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest as indeed there are several the Batwa people, who were once part of this ecosystem, haven't recovered from the effects of loss of their lands. They are concerned they still own no land, are slowly losing their culture and knowledge systems, and are living in abject poverty.

"We have no proof that the land we live on now is ours. We can be evicted again any time," says Gad Shemanjeeri, a Mutwa pygmy and executive director of Batwa Development Organisation in Echuya, Rubanda district.

And for Jackeline Musiime, a Mutwa and mother of four, all she wants is unrestricted access to the forest to pick medicinal herbs for her children. "We have no money to take them to hospital," she says.

Several Batwa in Uganda are losing the value of being called guardians of the rainforests. And it is easy to understand why: modern society is imposing on them a lot of hardships.

Take, for instance, Bakole's latest research conducted on Batwa of the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of the questions in his study wanted to determine whether the current socio-economic conditions can pull Batwa to support the conservation efforts.

"Out of 87 Batwa interviewed, over 60 showed that they would never support conservation efforts because they are abandoned, marginalized, and sometimes arrested by rangers," says Bakole.

He further quotes one of the interviewees, as saying: "We are poor, we keep on begging and picking leftovers in other communities' gardens. How, then, will I conserve the biodiversity?"

The results of this study are still being analyzed.

Building effective partnerships

It is evident that the impoverished Batwa people in Uganda may turn into poachers of the resources they once protected unless issues such as lack of land, the repression over them, and the lack of involvement in the conservation efforts are fixed.

They are incapable of defending the forests, which were once their home and source of livelihood, against illegal encroachments and damaging exploitation.

Although they know they cannot be allowed back into the rainforests, the Batwa people demand "resettlement; benefits from the presence of gorillas and the park and active involvement" to facilitate conservation of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

This can then be coupled with tapping and preserving their traditional ecological knowledge and marrying it with the modern experience for the management of rainforests.

[Reporting for this article was funded by Pulitzer Center'sRainforest Journalism Fund(RJF)]

Link:
How Gorillas Stole A Ugandan Forest From Humans, Bloomed It As It Bloomed Them - New Vision

My own experience of over 60 years in biomedical research amply demonstrated that without the use of human beings, it would have been impossible to acquire the important knowledge needed to prevent much suffering and premature death among humans. Albert Sabin

Albert Sabin, the medical researcher best known for developing the oral polio vaccine, highlights the importance of biomedical research in his quotation mentioned above.

This importance has not diminished with time. The opposite is true. With the arrival of new diseases caused by viral infections, cancers, and other conditions such as kidney disease, the only way to improve human life and help people combat these diseases is through biomedical research.

While the COVID-19 illness caused by the zoonosis, SARS-CoV-2, is not directly related to this discussion; it is a useful and relevant example of how scientific research plays a pivotal role in answering the questions asked by the virus as it continues to rampage its way through the worlds populations. Understanding the viruss behavior, epidemiology, etiology, genotype, and phenotype will help medical professionals combat the disease, reduce the reproduction (or R) rate, and prevent people from dying. Biomedical research is also playing a primary role in the development of a vaccine.

What is biomedical research?

Biomedical research is defined as the broad area of science that looks for ways to prevent and treat diseases that cause illness and death in people and in animals.

Researchers utilize biotechnology techniques such as the use of human plasma samples to determine whether the studys stated hypothesis is correct or not.

In essence, biomedical researchers or scientists study biological processes and diseases with the ultimate goal of developing effective treatments and cures.

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): The need for research is ongoing

While COVID-19 is a primary global concern and will be for the foreseeable future, lets move away from this scenario and consider another disease that requires ongoing research, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), including the use of human plasma samples in the testing phase of related research studies.

As an aside, CKD is a risk factor for COVID-19 morbidity. Thus, it makes even more sense to find ways to manage the disease and its progression, especially under the current circumstances.

The medical journal article titled Kidney Disease: new technologies translate mechanisms to cure, notes that kidney disease is one of the worlds most prevalent conditions and is a frequent complication of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.

The introduction to this study goes on to state that recent advances in biomedical research and novel technologies have created opportunities to study kidney disease on a variety of platforms, applied to human populations.

Statistics reported by the CDC estimate that over 20 million Americans have CDK, of which 40% of sufferers are over 65 years of age. Secondly, it is estimated that the global prevalence of CDK is more than 10% of the worlds population.

Clearly, something must be done to treat this scourge.

It is also perhaps interesting to be mindful that a recent uniform definition of the term kidney disease altered the medical industrys perceptivity and outlook on CKDs impact on human health. Before the publication of this definition, the only kidney disease that was considered a significant health issue was the type that required a kidney transplant.

Fortunately, through continued biomedical research studies and heightened exposure to the overarching meaning of the phrase kidney disease, much has changed for the better. Researchers and medical professionals are now working together to understand the archetype Chronic Kidney Disease and its impact on human health and quality of life, especially within the COVID-19 paradigm.

The relationship between blood plasma and kidney disease

Finally, the question that begs is, what is the relationship between blood plasma and kidney disease. In other words, why are in-vitro human blood plasma samples an imperative in the study of the various parts to the all-encompassing term, chronic kidney disease?

By way of answering this question, lets consider the role that blood plasma plays in the human body, with particular reference to both kidneys.

Theprimary function of the human kidneysis to remove excess fluids and waste products from the body. A secondary role is to control the manufacture of red blood cells. Thus, in summary, it stands to reason that it is essential to take care of the kidneys, as with all other human organs, to ensure their optimal functioning.

The website, mcb.berkeley.edu reports that about 180 liters of fluids are filtered through the kidneys in a 24-hour period. The total blood plasma volume is only 3 liters, so it is filtered over 60 times a day.

Blood plasma, on the other hand, is an element of whole blood. Unfortunately, it is often the forgotten part of human blood. The other, more well-known elements are white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets.

Plasma is the largest part of human blood. It makes up more than 50% of the bloods overall content. And its primary role is to transport hormones, nutrients, and proteins to the parts of the body that need it. During the process where cells interact with the blood plasma, receiving the nutrients, they also return waste products to the plasma, which is then carried to the kidneys where it is extracted and processed into urine.

Apart from the hormones, nutrients, and proteins, plasma also contains critical components, including clotting factors, antibodies, and albumin and fibrinogen.

Chronic Kidney Disease negatively impacts many different functions of the human body, especially the production of red blood cells and the ability to filter out waste products from the blood plasma. It is vital that the waste products, including toxins, are removed rapidly and efficiently.

Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that it is a severe problem when the kidneys are no longer able to filter out the waste and toxins from the human blood plasma. Thus, the need for in-vitro blood plasma samples as a mechanism to develop a greater insight into CKD as well as new treatments for CKD. Succinctly stated, it is vital for human health and well-being.

Final thought

AtSolomon Park, we would not be able to provide research studies with the necessary blood plasma samples without human blood donations. Please consider donating blood today by consideringthe requirements to donate whole blood, which is then spun out into its individual components, including serum, plasma, and platelets.

And, if you are a biomedical research study manager or researcher, we have the right blood plasma samples to help you answer the questions asked by the studys hypothesis.

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Biomedical Research: Defining the relationship between Blood Plasma and Kidney Disease - MarylandReporter.com

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Bengaluru: A new study has found that the Himalayas generate large quantities of natural aerosols that may play an important role in cloud formation and the Earths climate.

The Himalayas act as a giant barrier to wind flow, facilitating the accumulation of aerosols that are then transported to high altitudes by mountain winds. Aerosols are airborne particles that are formed from both natural sources, such as gases released by plants, and pollutants emitted by human activities.

The study has shown that a large quantity of natural aerosols are transported by winds and pumped into the upper troposphere in the Himalayas. Knowing this is also likely to help scientists understand the quantity and effect of human-made aerosols in the future.

The study was aimed at understanding the formation of clouds and aerosols, as well as the levels of natural aerosol in the Himalayas. The observations were taken at the remote Nepal Climate Observatory Pyramid station, situated 5,079 m above the sea level and a few kilometres below the Everests summit.

The findings were published this month in Nature Geoscience journal.

Also read: Celestial fireworks tonight as Geminids meteor shower set to peak

Aerosols are microscopic solid, liquid, or mixed particles that remain suspended in the air. These form condensation nuclei particles on which water vapour condenses when they rise up the atmosphere, thus forming clouds.

However, since water content in the atmosphere doesnt change in relation to aerosol change, an increased quantity of aerosols hold on to smaller droplets that fall to the ground slowly. Understanding clouds and cloud formation also helps scientists in predicting climate changes.

The key process when studying aerosols and their cloud-forming properties is new particle formation (NPF), the process that is behind aerosol numbers in the atmosphere.

NPF is a two-step process. First, aerosols about the size of 1 nanometer are formed from liquids or gases (called precursors), and then they grow to larger sizes by condensation as they rise through the cool atmosphere. NPF events are typically observed at high altitude or mountain atmospheric observatories regularly.

At the Nepal Climate Observatory Pyramid, NPF was observed almost on a daily basis.

The international research team conducted observations from 28 November to 25 December 2014, after the monsoon, when there was no wind blowing from the Indo-Gangetic plains towards the Himalayas. The researchers noticed that there was a high frequency of NPF events, where particles wider than 1 nanometer and ions wider than 0.8 nanometer formed clusters quickly, and rapidly grew to sizes larger than 10 nanometers.

The researchers were able to tell, via wind direction, that the majority of nanoparticles came from southwesterly winds. An analysis of these particles and ions also indicated that a large fraction of the particles were organic, originating from plants.

Plants emit a variety of volatile organic compounds from leaves, flowers, and roots. These are released as a response to stress, during reproduction or pollination, or as defence against insects.

Owing to the nature of the winds, these organic aerosols are transported over large distances and to higher altitudes of the Himalayas. The researchers concluded that the Himalayas act as an free tropospheric aerosol factory, and discovered that natural aerosols could be the source of nearly half of the atmospheres cloud condensation nuclei in the region, and thus influence cloud properties.

When the Suns radiation and heat penetrates the Earths atmosphere, about a half of it reaches the surface. About a third gets scattered back to space, while the rest is absorbed within the atmosphere.

The land gets heated and this heat is then radiated back into space via the atmosphere. This heat is absorbed by greenhouses gases as well, further heating up the atmosphere.

The Earth remains in a radiation balance. It is exposed to tremendous amounts of heat and radiation from the Sun, which is balanced by the amount of heat and radiation escaping Earth. And this balance is important to maintain the planets climate.

When this natural balance gets affected, the phenomenon is known as radiative forcing. Understanding aerosol concentrations is important for monitoring radiative forcing.

When incoming radiation or trapped heat increases, there is positive forcing, and when the heat emitted into space increases, there is negative forcing.

Radiative forcing can be affected by many factors other than aerosols, and the global average of radiation absorption is about 240 watts per square metre.

It has been well established that when an imbalance in the radiation forces occur in the upper atmosphere, it is directly reflected as a change in surface temperature. Therefore, monitoring radiative forcing gives an approximate idea of the effects that could be seen on the surface.

Radiative forcing can be measured into the past, by looking at past aerosol records, and the effects of temperature on the surface. It is also useful for identifying new gases that humans may emit in future and the impact these would have on surface temperature, including assessing NPF.

The new study helps in understanding the effects of radiative forcing from the Himalayas and the extent of anthropogenic or human contribution to aerosols in the upper atmosphere.

Also read: Yale study finds why large mammals like elephants, tigers still exist in India

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There is a natural aerosol factory in the Himalayas and it affects climate, study finds - ThePrint