| 1. |
- Munthe, Christian, 1962
(författare)
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Precaution and Ethics: Handling risks, uncertainties and knowledge gaps in the regulation of new biotechnologies
- 2017
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This volume outlines and analyses ethical issues actualized by applying a precautionary approach to the regulation of new biotechnologies. It presents a novel way of categorizing and comparing biotechnologies from a precautionary standpoint. Based on this, it addresses underlying philosophical problems regarding the ethical assessment of decision-making under uncertainty and ignorance, and discusses how risks and possible benefits of such technologies should be balanced from an ethical standpoint. It argues on conceptual and ethical grounds for a technology neutral regulation as well as for a regulation that not only checks new technologies but also requires old, inferior ones to be phased out. It demonstrates how difficult ethical issues regarding the extent and ambition of precautionary policies need to be handled by such a regulation, and presents an overarching framework for doing so.
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| 2. |
- Sandin, Per, et al.
(författare)
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Technology neutrality and regulation of agricultural biotechnology
- 2018
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Ingår i: Professionals in food chains: ethics, rules and responsibility. EurSafe 2018, Vienna, Austria 13 – 16 June 2018 / edited by: Svenja Springer, Herwig Grimm. - Wageningen, Netherlands : Wageningen Academic Publishers. - 9789086863211
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Agricultural biotechnology, in particular genetically modified organisms (GMOs), is subject to regulation in many areas of the world, not least in the European Union (EU). A number of authors have argued that those regulatory processes are unfair, costly, and slow and that regulation therefore should move in the direction of increased ‘technology neutrality’. The issue is becoming more pressing, especially since new biotechnologies such as CRISPR increasingly blur the regulatory distinction between GMOs and non-GMOs. This paper offers a definition of technology neutrality, uses the EU GMO regulation as a starting point for exploring technology neutrality, and presents distinctions between variants of the call for technology neutral GMO regulation in the EU.
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| 3. |
- Sattar, Muhammad Naeem, et al.
(författare)
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Cotton leaf curl disease - an emerging threat to cotton production worldwide
- 2013
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Ingår i: Journal of General Virology. - : Microbiology Society. - 0022-1317 .- 1465-2099. ; 94, s. 695-710
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cotton leaf curl disease (CLCuD) is a serious disease of cotton which has characteristic symptoms, the most unusual of which is the formation of leaf-like enations on the undersides of leaves. The disease is caused by whitefly-transmitted geminiviruses (family Geminiviridae, genus Begomovirus) in association with specific, symptom-modulating satellites (betasatellites) and an evolutionarily distinct group of satellite-like molecules known as alphasatellites. CLCuD occurs across Africa as well as in Pakistan and north-western India. Over the past 25 years, Pakistan and India have experienced two epidemics of the disease, the most recent of which involved a virus and satellite that are resistance breaking. Loss of this conventional host-plant resistance, which saved the cotton growers from ruin in the late 1990s, leaves farmers with only relatively poor host plant tolerance to counter the extensive losses the disease causes. There has always been the fear that CLCuD could spread from the relatively limited geographical range it encompasses at present to other cotton-growing areas of the world where, although the disease is not present, the environmental conditions are suitable for its establishment and the whitefly vector occurs. Unfortunately recent events have shown this fear to be well founded, with CLCuD making its first appearance in China. Here, we outline recent advances made in understanding the molecular biology of the components of the disease complex, their interactions with host plants, as well as efforts being made to control CLCuD.
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| 4. |
- Lindskog, Cecilia, et al.
(författare)
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The human cardiac and skeletal muscle proteomes defined by transcriptomics and antibody-based profiling
- 2015
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Ingår i: BMC Genomics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2164. ; 16
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: To understand cardiac and skeletal muscle function, it is important to define and explore their molecular constituents and also to identify similarities and differences in the gene expression in these two different striated muscle tissues. Here, we have investigated the genes and proteins with elevated expression in cardiac and skeletal muscle in relation to all other major human tissues and organs using a global transcriptomics analysis complemented with antibody-based profiling to localize the corresponding proteins on a single cell level. Results: Our study identified a comprehensive list of genes expressed in cardiac and skeletal muscle. The genes with elevated expression were further stratified according to their global expression pattern across the human body as well as their precise localization in the muscle tissues. The functions of the proteins encoded by the elevated genes are well in line with the physiological functions of cardiac and skeletal muscle, such as contraction, ion transport, regulation of membrane potential and actomyosin structure organization. A large fraction of the transcripts in both cardiac and skeletal muscle correspond to mitochondrial proteins involved in energy metabolism, which demonstrates the extreme specialization of these muscle tissues to provide energy for contraction. Conclusions: Our results provide a comprehensive list of genes and proteins elevated in striated muscles. A number of proteins not previously characterized in cardiac and skeletal muscle were identified and localized to specific cellular subcompartments. These proteins represent an interesting starting point for further functional analysis of their role in muscle biology and disease.
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| 5. |
- Mascher, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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A chromosome conformation capture ordered sequence of the barley genome
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 544:7651, s. 427-433
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Cereal grasses of the Triticeae tribe have been the major food source in temperate regions since the dawn of agriculture. Their large genomes are characterized by a high content of repetitive elements and large pericentromeric regions that are virtually devoid of meiotic recombination. Here we present a high-quality reference genome assembly for barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). We use chromosome conformation capture mapping to derive the linear order of sequences across the pericentromeric space and to investigate the spatial organization of chromatin in the nucleus at megabase resolution. The composition of genes and repetitive elements differs between distal and proximal regions. Gene family analyses reveal lineage-specific duplications of genes involved in the transport of nutrients to developing seeds and the mobilization of carbohydrates in grains. We demonstrate the importance of the barley reference sequence for breeding by inspecting the genomic partitioning of sequence variation in modern elite germplasm, highlighting regions vulnerable to genetic erosion.
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| 6. |
- Lillie, Mette, et al.
(författare)
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Genomic signatures of 60 years of bidirectional selection for 8-week body weight in chickens
- 2018
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Ingår i: Poultry Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 0032-5791 .- 1525-3171. ; 97:3, s. 781-790
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sixty years, constituting 60 generations, have passed since the founding of the Virginia body weight lines, an experimental population of White Plymouth Rock chickens. Using a stringent breeding scheme for divergent 8-week body weight, the lines, which originated from a common founder population, have responded to bidirectional selection with an approximate 15-fold difference in the selected trait. They provide a model system to study the genetics of complex traits in general and the influences of artificial selection on quantitative genetic architectures in particular. As we reflect on the 60th anniversary of the initiation of the Virginia body weight lines, there is opportunity to discuss the findings obtained using different analytical and experimental genetic and genomic strategies and integrate them with a recent pooled genome resequencing dataset. Hundreds of regions across the genome show differentiation between the 2 lines, reinforcing previous findings that response to selection relied on standing variation across many genes and giving insights into the haplotype complexity underlying regions associated with body weight.
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| 7. |
- Ek, Weronica, et al.
(författare)
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Mapping QTL affecting a systemic sclerosis-like disorder in a cross between UCD-200 and red jungle fowl chickens.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Developmental and comparative immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1879-0089 .- 0145-305X. ; 38:2, s. 352-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Systemic sclerosis (SSc) or scleroderma is a rare, autoimmune, multi-factorial disease characterized by early microvascular alterations, inflammation, and fibrosis. Chickens from the UCD-200 line develop a hereditary SSc-like disease, showing all the hallmarks of the human disorder, which makes this line a promising model to study genetic factors underlying the disease. A backcross was generated between UCD-200 chickens and its wild ancestor - the red jungle fowl and a genome-scan was performed to identify loci affecting early (21 days of age) and late (175 days of age) ischemic lesions of the comb. A significant difference in frequency of disease was observed between sexes in the BC population, where the homogametic males were more affected than females, and there was evidence for a protective W chromosome effect. Three suggestive disease predisposing loci were mapped to chromosomes 2, 12 and 14. Three orthologues of genes implicated in human SSc are located in the QTL region on chromosome 2, TGFRB1, EXOC2-IRF4 and COL1A2, as well as CCR8, which is more generally related to immune function. IGFBP3 is also located within the QTL on chromosome 2 and earlier studies have showed increased IGFBP3 serum levels in SSc patients. To our knowledge, this study is the first to reveal a potential genetic association between IGFBP3 and SSc. Another gene with an immunological function, SOCS1, is located in the QTL region on chromosome 14. These results illustrate the usefulness of the UCD-200 chicken as a model of human SSc and motivate further in-depth functional studies of the implicated candidate genes.
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| 8. |
- Tengvall, Katarina, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Bayesian model and selection signature analyses reveal risk factors for canine atopic dermatitis
- 2022
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Ingår i: Communications Biology. - : Springer Nature. - 2399-3642. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Canine atopic dermatitis is an inflammatory skin disease with clinical similarities to human atopic dermatitis. Several dog breeds are at increased risk for developing this disease but previous genetic associations are poorly defined. To identify additional genetic risk factors for canine atopic dermatitis, we here apply a Bayesian mixture model adapted for mapping complex traits and a cross-population extended haplotype test to search for disease-associated loci and selective sweeps in four dog breeds at risk for atopic dermatitis. We define 15 associated loci and eight candidate regions under selection by comparing cases with controls. One associated locus is syntenic to the major genetic risk locus (Filaggrin locus) in human atopic dermatitis. One selection signal in common type Labrador retriever cases positions across the TBC1D1 gene (body weight) and one signal of selection in working type German shepherd controls overlaps the LRP1B gene (brain), near the KYNU gene (psoriasis). In conclusion, we identify candidate genes, including genes belonging to the same biological pathways across multiple loci, with potential relevance to the pathogenesis of canine atopic dermatitis. The results show genetic similarities between dog and human atopic dermatitis, and future across-species genetic comparisons are hereby further motivated.
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| 9. |
- Axelsson, Erik, et al.
(författare)
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The genetic consequences of dog breed formation-Accumulation of deleterious genetic variation and fixation of mutations associated with myxomatous mitral valve disease in cavalier King Charles spaniels
- 2021
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Ingår i: PLOS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7390 .- 1553-7404. ; 17:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Selective breeding for desirable traits in strictly controlled populations has generated an extraordinary diversity in canine morphology and behaviour, but has also led to loss of genetic variation and random entrapment of disease alleles. As a consequence, specific diseases are now prevalent in certain breeds, but whether the recent breeding practice led to an overall increase in genetic load remains unclear. Here we generate whole genome sequencing (WGS) data from 20 dogs per breed from eight breeds and document a similar to 10% rise in the number of derived alleles per genome at evolutionarily conserved sites in the heavily bottlenecked cavalier King Charles spaniel breed (cKCs) relative to in most breeds studied here. Our finding represents the first clear indication of a relative increase in levels of deleterious genetic variation in a specific breed, arguing that recent breeding practices probably were associated with an accumulation of genetic load in dogs. We then use the WGS data to identify candidate risk alleles for the most common cause for veterinary care in cKCs-the heart disease myxomatous mitral valve disease (MMVD). We verify a potential link to MMVD for candidate variants near the heart specific NEBL gene in a dachshund population and show that two of the NEBL candidate variants have regulatory potential in heartderived cell lines and are associated with reduced NEBL isoform nebulette expression in papillary muscle (but not in mitral valve, nor in left ventricular wall). Alleles linked to reduced nebulette expression may hence predispose cKCs and other breeds to MMVD via loss of papillary muscle integrity.
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| 10. |
- Kolseth, Anna-Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Influence of genetically modified organisms on agro-ecosystem processes
- 2015
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Ingår i: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. - Amsterdam : Elsevier BV. - 1873-2305 .- 0167-8809. ; 214, s. 96-106
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biotechnology offers extensive possibilities to incorporate new traits into organisms. Genetically modified (GM) traits relevant for agro-ecosystems include traits such as pest resistance and herbicide tolerance in crop plants, increased growth rate in fish and livestock, and enhanced nitrogen-fixation capabilities of soil microbes. In this review, we evaluated the direct and indirect trait-specific effects of GM plants, microbes, and animals on ecosystem processes and found that most of the effects of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on ecosystem processes are indirect and are the result of associated changes in management strategy rather than a direct effect of the GMOs. Conflicting results on the performance and effects of GMOs are frequently reported, especially regarding crop yield and impacts on soil organisms. This is partly because methods with different levels of resolution have been used in different ecological contexts. Overall, there is little evidence that the effects of GM traits on ecosystem processes act with different mechanisms from those of traits modified using conventional methods. However, little is known about trait-specific effects of GMOs on ecosystem processes even though GMOs have been used for more than three decades. In particular, studies linking genetically modified traits to ecosystem processes at longer time scales are rare, but needed for evaluating trait effects, especially in an evolutionary context. In addition, biotechnology may provide a unique tool for gaining insights into the links between traits and ecosystem processes when integrated into basic ecological research. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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