Category Archives: Genetic Engineering

Robert Sheasby, CEO of the AIC, the voice of the UK feed and the agri-supply sector, said:

The AIC warmly welcomes the launch of this government consultation on gene editing in crops and livestock. We have long sought to support sustainable modern commercial agriculture in the UK, and this is the opportunity for our members to put forward their views on this development in technology. We would encourage the industry at large to respond.

EU legislation controlling the use of GMOs was retained in the UK at the end of the transition period, after December 31, 2020. This retained legislation requires that all GE organisms are classified as GMOs irrespective of whether they could be produced by traditional breeding methods.

The UK's Department of Food, Rural Affairs and the Environment (Defra) said it is its view that organisms produced by GE or by other genetic technologies should not be regulated as GMOs if they could have been produced by traditional breeding methods.

Leaving the EU provides an opportunity to consult on the implications of addressing this issue. We recognize there is a spectrum of opinions on these topics, and we are consulting to provide an opportunity for all views to be shared."

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference, where the consultation was launched, UK environment secretary, George Eustice, said:

Gene editing has the ability to harness the genetic resources that mother nature has provided, in order to tackle the challenges of our age. This includes breeding crops that perform better, reducing costs to farmers and impacts on the environment, and helping us all adapt to the challenges of climate change.Its potential was blocked by a European Court of Justice ruling in 2018, which is flawed and stifling to scientific progress. Now that we have left the EU, we are free to make coherent policy decisions based on science and evidence. That begins with this consultation.

Consulting with academia, environmental groups, the food and farming sectors and the public is the beginning of this process that, depending on the outcome, will require primary legislation scrutinized and approved by the UK parliament, stressed Defra.

Professor Robin May, the chief scientific officer of the UKs Food Standards Agency (FSA), also welcomed the review, saying:

The UK prides itself in having the very highest standards of food safety, and there are strict controls on GM crops, seeds and food which the FSA will continue to apply moving forward. As with all novel foods, GE foods will only be permitted to be marketed if they are judged to not present a risk to health, not to mislead consumers, and not have lower nutritional value than existing equivalent foods. We will continue to put the consumer first and be transparent and open in our decision-making. Any possible change would be based on an appropriate risk assessment that looks at the best available science.

Sir David Baulcombe, professor of botany in the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge, said the overwhelming view of public sector scientists is that the Nobel Prize winning methods for gene editing can accelerate the availability of crops and livestock for sustainable, productive and profitable agriculture.

The UK National Pig Association (NPA) said that gene editing technology could potentially deliver long-term benefits for pig production.

In the NPA's response to the Nuffield Council of Bioethics call for evidence on genome editing in September 2019, its senior policy adviser, Rebecca Veale, identified the potential value of gene editing tools in improving the efficiency of pig production.

"The opportunities for application are long. We might be in a better place to tackle diseases such as ASF and PRRS and we might be able to reduce emissions in pig production or exploit nutritional availability in feed better.

"Afew countries have made small steps to utilizing this technology, but these have been limited. Our industry cannot be disadvantaged by a lack of access to such a tool and any future policy must be clear not to breach ethical boundaries, but to have flexibility to allow the use of the technology to be exploited to its full potential. Any future developments are reliant on support for the research required to explore the opportunities available, she added.

Responding to the consultation, the director of anti-GM campaign group, GM Freeze, Liz ONeill said:

"People have many concerns about the use of genetic engineering in food and farming so public engagement is vital but it has to be done well. Unfortunately this consultation has started very badly. Its been launched in the midst of an unprecedented health crisis; it has a clear bias in favour of removing vital safeguards; and the text of the consultation grossly misrepresents the nature of highly experimental new GM techniques.

"Instead of working with people to understand their concerns, Defra is pushing the high-tech, quick-fix agenda favoured by industrial farming corporations. GM Freeze will, of course, be submitting evidence and we encourage everyone who wants to know what they are eating to do the same, but the government should be doing much more to protect our food, our farms and the natural environment."

Aside from gene editing, the consultation will also begin a longer-term project to gather evidence on updating the UK approach to genetic modification by gathering information on what controls are needed and how best to deliver them, said Defra.

Read more:
UK feed and pig industries welcome UK consultation on gene editing - FeedNavigator.com

Scientists have created a living material made from microbes that can respond to stimuli from their surrounding environment. It is hoped the material could find diverse applications in contaminant detection, highlighting damage, for example, to packaging, delivering nutrients or therapeutics and even in creating living photographs.Biological systems are able to assemble and arrange tissues and structures, building in changes that reflect external stimuli, in ways beyond the capability of man-made materials. Consequently, the development of materials with these capabilities is highly desirable for monitoring purposes. Engineered living materials (ELMs) such as these have been created previously, however, the stringent growth conditions required for the microbes used have restricted their use to trained personnel. Scaling up production to facilitate their use as a technology has also consequently proved challenging. This latest research, published today in Nature Materials, however, overcomes these problems by taking its inspiration from the fermented drink kombucha.

Kombucha is a fermented culture of yeast and bacteria used to make a tea drink thought to have beneficial health properties. The kombucha mother culture from which the tea is made normally contains one or two strains of bacteria and at least two strains of yeast that live in symbiosis.

Scientists from Imperial College London and Massachusetts Institute of Technology combined genetically engineered bakers yeast - the yeast typically found in kombucha is hard to engineer - with cellulose-producing bacteria to create a mutually beneficial symbiotic culture. The Komagataeibacter rhaeticus bacteria used was isolated from a kombucha mother culture and produces large quantities of cellulose that acts as a scaffold to support multi-functional enzymes produced by the yeast.

The researchers were able to engineer the yeast according to the needs of their system, for example to produce enzymes that fluoresced or that broke down target molecules. The systems for genetically engineering bakers yeast are well established and fast, meaning that new strains with particular desired characteristics can be created quickly. The simple growth conditions required by the kombucha-style culture also mean that any new combination can quickly be established and bulked up ready for use. Both of these features make this a favorable ELM system.

In a press release, senior author Professor Tom Ellis from Imperial College London said, The genetic toolbox for engineering these bacteria is underdeveloped compared to the number of tools available for manipulating yeast DNA. That is why we chose to use this division-of-labor strategy so we could first focus on engineering the yeast cells and explore the possibilities of various living functional materials."

The malleable nature of the yeast engineering system gives it utility in many areas opens doors to adapting the system to many purposes. In the study, the team incorporated yeast capable of sensing estradiol, a hormone found as an environmental pollutant, but this is just one example of the many possible applications. The team foresee that it could even be used to deliver essential nutrients or release therapeutics in response to stimuli.

Although we are still far from a future in which people can cheaply grow their own biological sensors, our new system moves us forward by creating materials that are scalable and therefore more likely to be useful in the real world, commented Dr Charlie Gilbert, one of the studys authors.

ReferenceGilbert C et al. Living materials with programmable functionalities grown from engineered microbial co-cultures. Nat. Mater. (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-020-00857-5

The rest is here:
Kombucha Inspires Creation of a Microbial Living Material - Technology Networks

A bold, but divided new Krypton reveals itself in House of El Book 1: The Shadow Threat. Stemming from DC's blooming YA line and headlined by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray and cult-favorite illustrator Eric Zawadzki, House of El introduces readers to the world beyond the world we think we know - before the birth of Superman.

Zahn and Sera are two Kryptonians who couldn't be more different. Zahn is a member of the upper crust of Krypton, on track to become one Krypton's lawmaking caste moving then into rule amongst his wealthy and affluent family members who make up one of the planet's most powerful. Sera is a soldier, undergoing missions for the government and restricted to only certain parts of the planet befitting her 'station.'

But when the two become aware of a secret the ruling families of the planet have kept hidden, a secret two Kryptonian scientists by the name of El are struggling to bring to light, they together are thrust into an adventure that has seismic repercussions for the planet and it's strict caste-based society that has driven them to this point.

Newsarama recently got a chance to talk to the creative team of House of El, discussing the process by which the series came about, the design elements of the book, and how the work of creating this Elseworlds-esque new Krypton actually went down. Join us as we enter this new House of El.

Newsarama: How did House of El first come about? Was it something commissioned by the Superman editorial office or was it something independently pitched?

Claudia Gray: Somewhere in-between, I think. I pitched something else, and while they didn't want to go in that direction, they liked the pitch enough to want to talk more about how we might work together. They had a very rough idea for a story about original characters set on Krypton before the explosion and let me run with it.

Nrama: How much design work was done from there? I would assume a large amount of character work was first up to nail down, but how was the look and feel of this particular Krypton developed?

Gray: My starting point for the look of Krypton was the Superman symbol itself - it's a Kryptonian design, so what could that tell me? So, I worked with a lot of angularity, enclosed lines, stronger colors.

And this is a planet that has gotten very far away from nature in every possible sense of the world, one that has ceased to be grounded - so that led to a take on Krypton as a hyper-industrialized, overbuilt planet where people largely live in towers and walkways far above the surface.

Everything after that is thanks to Eric Zawadzki, the brilliant artist who took those few elements and ran with it, creating something that surpassed my most optimistic hopes.

Nrama: Which brings us to Eric actually! Eric, how did your involvement with House of El start?

Eric Zawadzki: The original editor on the project, Alex Carr, had read an indie book of mine, Eternal. He seemed impressed enough with it to reach out to me about getting involved with House of El. Fortunately, I was winding down on Heart Attack at Skybound/Image Comics, so I jumped at the chance.

Nrama: Krypton itself has had a number of visual touchstones and tonalities over the years. How important was it for you that House of El stand out among them?

Zawadzki: Generally speaking, Krypton isn't shown much in media. It's usually the first five pages in a comic or the first 20 minutes of a movie before we move on to the main story. So, I thought it was a pretty big deal to do an entire trilogy of graphic novels devoted to Krypton.

So, I would say that I was very intimidated!

Nrama: Switching back to you, Claudia, we are provided a very divided Krypton in House of El. Both in the lead characters, one representing an "academic, noble house of Krypton" and the other providing a look into a lower born, more tactile Kryptonian life, but in the scene settings as well as readers will see both affluent and unsupported sections of Krypton.

How important was it to explore this dichotomy and was there any push/pull to make either side seem 'right'?

Gray: The dichotomy was essential. This is a planet whose people have completely lost the ability to communicate with each other outside of their houses and castes - the paths in life they're genetically programmed to follow.

Sera and Zahn should never have had any but the most glancing interactions, but the events of the story throw them together and, in the process, give them each a viewpoint on their world they'd never imagined.

There was definitely no need to make one side or another be 'right', because by this point in Krypton's history, every single side is wrong. Only a handful of individuals, from different houses, are able to see beyond the rigid structure of the society they're born into.

Nrama: Krypton also has a very distinct sense of fashion, but with House of El, you Eric bring a whole new level of sartorial chicness to the costumes, but one still clearly rooted in 'classic Kryptonian looks.' Can you talk a little about the process of costuming the cast?

Zawadzki: I found that in a lot of interpretations of Krypton, artists really leaned into the spandex approach, inspired by Superman's iconic costume. I have a little bit of that in this series, but I wanted to find some distinctive clothing themes to make this series different from everything before it.

Also, I was presented with the challenge of making sure the lower and upper castes were distinctive from each other. Generally speaking, I made sure the lower caste wore more functional, plain-looking outfits, while the upper castes tended to wear more outrageous, haute couture-inspired clothing.

Nrama: Claudia, how much research was done prior to starting active development?

I would imagine there would be some desire to make sure you don't overwrite anything already established by Kryptonian society, but at the same time House of El reads and feels so wholly like its own thing, I was curious to see if there were any major influences there.

Gray: My DC editors strongly encouraged us not to rely on past influences. They wanted us to write it as though it hadn't been written before. I'm so grateful for that--not only for the trust they showed in us, but also because, if I'd spent too much time looking at so many brilliant previous takes on it, I'd probably have been intimidated into a fatal case of writer's block.

Nrama: Eric, you also provide House of El a very dense, intricate architectural design. How did you even start to tackle the buildings and vehicles?

Zawadzki: There was a bit of a guidepost given to me by Claudia in how the city is built. (which you'll see in book 2) So I used that as a jumping-off point. The planet is built around hierarchy, so I challenged myself to do something different than what I'd seen many times in other media depicting a similar society.

I ended up designing the city as a series of platforms stacked on top of each other, with various walkways and stairs uniting them. Because Krypton has technology that creates and repairs these structures, I wanted a kind of uniform look where there are patterns of overlapping planks of metal that wrap around and grow on top of these structures. And, overall I just wanted to depict a vast, detailed city that feels alive.

Nrama: Claudia, how was this first volume scripted?

We know that this is the opening of a larger House of El series that readers will get to experience eventually, but was this first book written in a 'vacuum' to be enjoyed as its own start to finish story or was it all written into one longer sequence?

Gray: To me it feels very much like the first part of a trilogy - the last page should leave you wondering what happens next. It's such a huge thing to ask of readers, but hopefully they'll come along for the ride.

Nrama: With House of El being an original trilogy, was there any desire to make them all a followed through narrative? Meaning, was there any drive to add in little bits and bobs of story in Vol. 1 to pay off in later volumes, or was it more internally focused as you tackled each volume?

Gray: Honestly, it's one big story, told in three episodes that hopefully each feel like a complete adventure on their own. But the links and payoff are definitely both within each book and among all three of the books.

Nrama: Eric, you've also been paired up here with the wonderful colorist Dee Cunniffe, did you find yourself giving them a little visual 'runway' in the way you laid out various pages?

Zawadzki: I've worked with Dee several times in the past, so I was happy to have him on board. I always feel like he saves me, making my work look better than it actually is. I generally try to get out of his way and let him do his thing. He developed some new skills and a new style specifically for this project and I couldn't be happier with it!

Nrama: Though this series is an original, out-of-continuity take on Krypton, did you find yourself taking any visual cues from other Superman or Krypton based stories? I personally saw a lot of P. Craig Russell and Jerry Ordway in your artwork.

Zawadzki: I'm honored to be compared to such artistic heavyweights! I was very intimidated in the beginning and I like to be prepared, so when I was hired for the project, I saw it as my responsibility to do my research and view as many artistic interpretations of Krypton as possible.

I particularly enjoyed what John Byrne and Gene Ha visualized. But when I sent some early sketches to editorial, they made it very clear to me that they preferred that I made this as unique as possible and make it 100% my own. So from that point on, I stopped my research. I think it's a smart approach, being beholden to nothing from the past, as it provides an antithesis to the continuity-heavy main DC line of books.

Nrama: Claudia, let's talk about your leads. We are introduced early to Zahn (a member of the Scholar/Law Class) and Sera (a Kryptonian soldier), both working strictly within their casted assignments on Krypton, but how were they conceptualized at first?

Did you come at them first from their ideological standpoints first or was it a matter of thinking what Kryptonian youth would feel/act like?

Gray: They both sprang out of the core concept of genetic engineering, of a society that essentially bred its children to be exactly what their parents expected, exactly what their parents were themselves. So that meant both characters very much needed to be exemplars of a very certain type of programming, something that would be instantly relatable to the reader.

From that, it became, okay, which segments of society should they belong to in order to best further the story? I needed people in dramatic positions - and I also needed to create links to the canonical characters of Jor-El, Lara, and Zod. So, Zahn became a relative of Lara's, and Sera became a minion of Zod's.

Nrama: As with most Krypton related stories, House of El carries a heavy sense of dread throughout the whole first volume. Was this intentional or just a happy accident since you were already dealing with DC's most famous doomed planet?

Gray: It's definitely intentional. Zahn and Sera are discovering just how much genetic engineering has wounded their society - and, inevitably, that's going to lead to the ultimate expression of that, i.e., Krypton's inability to understand that it's doomed in time to save its people.

Nrama: Eric, you also wonderfully parse the rapidly changing climate and look of the environment of Krypton. Did you have to set these pages or sequences apart from the 'main' action of the piece or just take it on as the pages arrived?

Zawadzki: I was given a 180-page completed script when I signed on to the project, which is unlike anything I've worked on prior. Usually, I'm only given 20 or so pages at a time. This allowed me to prepare for sequences months in advance of working on them.

Unfortunately, there's just never enough time. Especially when you're designing an entire world and culture! So I basically take it page by page and do my best. If it were entirely up to me, I'd probably still be doing design and prep work to make things much better. And the books would never come out! Which is why deadlines are good for me.

Nrama: So with this being the opening of the House of El trilogy, what else can we expect at least visually from the rest of the volumes? No Spoilers, of course!

Zawadzki: Expect to see more destruction and see more of how Krypton works. And I have to say, I had a lot of fun on book two illustrating our two leads getting to know each other better. Lots of great acting opportunities given to me by my brilliant partner in crime, Claudia Gray!

Nrama: Claudia, early on in Book 1, Sera is faced directly with the caste system and her "inferior" station on the planet compared to "the elite" society of Krypton, but displays almost a radical empathy and almost pity toward the people she protects, calling herself the "shield that protects Kryptonians from everything".

To me, this sounds VERY Superman but with a stronger sense of civic pride. Were there moments throughout the scripting of this series where you thought "What would Kal-El do or think?" in these situations?

Gray: No, I didn't think too much about that--because, as Jor-El and Lara make clear (spoilers ahoy!), Superman does not share the genetically programmed elements of Krypton. They conceived him naturally. So while he obviously has some of his parents' traits, he would be as much of a misfit on Krypton as Zahn is. What we see as Superman's virtues would there be seen as Kal-El's weaknesses.

I agree that he'd share that sense of protectiveness and empathy toward the people of Krypton, but he'd be mocked for it and would be denied most opportunities to act on that feeling. And that isolation might have led to a very different personality than the one we know and love as Superman.

Nrama: Finally, thank you both so, so much for taking the time to talk to us. I want to leave on, what do you hope readers take away from House of El?

Gray: Thanks for talking with me! I hope readers take away a new view of Krypton, and can actually imagine themselves there--and can recognize the few, but real, parallels between their mistakes and our own.

Check out Newsarama's list of the best DC stories of all time.

Continued here:
Building a House of El with Claudia Gray and Eric Zawadzki - GamesRadar

New information is published almost daily about the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been many thousands of articles and commentaries published on almost every imaginable aspect of the SARS-Cov-2 virus and the COVID-19 pandemic it has caused. They have appeared online, in journals, on preprint servers, in newspapers, and on blogs. As much as we might try to keep up, there will always be important facts or developments we might have missed, so below are a few that should help us understand some of the nuances of the pandemic.

#1 THERE APPEARS TO BE AN IMPORTANT DIFFERENCE IN EFFICACY BETWEEN THE Pfizer-BioNTech AND Moderna COVID-19 VACCINES.

The difference pertains to the efficacy across different demographic groupsspecifically, people of different ages. According to theFDAs analysisof the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in the clinical trials on almost 44,000 subjects, it was 95.0% effective in persons aged 16-55, and 93.8% effective in those over age 55that is, essentially the same. By contrast, regulatorsreviewof the clinical studies with the Moderna vaccine found a pronouncedage-dependent difference: The [Vaccine Efficacy] in participants 65 years of age appears to be lower than in younger adults 18 to <65 years (86.4% compared to 95.6%) (emphasis added).

That is shown in the indicated portion of this table, from anarticlein the New England Journal of Medicine that reported the results of Modernas clinical trials:

Thus, of every hundred people under age 65 vaccinated with the Moderna vaccine, we can expect that about five will fail to develop an immune response after the two shots; among those 65 or over, about 14 will not be successfully immunized. (The failure rate for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was approximately five in a hundred for all age groups.) The numbers are small, but the bottom line is,if youre 65 or older and you have a choice, Id recommend that you get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

#2 VACCINES ABILITY TO PREVENT SYMPTOMATIC COVID-19 IS NOT THE SAME THING AS COMPLETELY PREVENTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF INFECTION (WHICH IS CALLED STERILIZING IMMUNITY).

Because of how the trials were designed, efficacy was defined as a positive test for the SARS-CoV-2 virus genetic material (RNA) and at least one symptom, such as fever, cough, fatigue, or loss of taste or smell. But that doesnt rule out the possibility that people who are successfully vaccinated (no positive test for the virus and no symptoms) could become infected and spread the virus to other people. Given that possibility, and also (as discussed above) the reality that fewer than 100% of people given the shots will be protected,it is essential that we continue to practice the non-pharmaceutical preventive measures: masking, social distancing, frequent handwashing, and avoiding crowds in enclosed spaces.

Going forward, we will need to know about the impact of vaccines on virus transmission, but for that, we will need new clinical studies with contact tracing to monitor the spread from vaccinated and unvaccinated participants. (One suggestion, by biostatistician Natalie Dean, is to design such a study using college students, because they arent prioritized for [receiving vaccine under the Emergency Use Authorizations], and transmission is higher in congregate settings.)

#3 CORONAVIRUS VACCINES ARE NOT NEW.

Coronavirus infections are common in companion animals and economically important livestock andvaccines to prevent these infections have been widely employedin veterinary medicine for many years. They have been administered to dogs, cattle, pigs, and poultry. (The animal coronaviruses are sufficiently different from SARS-CoV-2 that the veterinary vaccines would not prevent COVID-19 in humans.) Themore than a dozen veterinary vaccineslicensed in North America have been developed with an array of technologies and platforms, including genetic engineeringbut none, as yet, with the messenger RNA technology (mRNA) used for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

#4 THE NOVEL TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE THE APPROVED COVID-19 VACCINES ISNT FUNDAMENTALLY NEW.

Many reporters and commentators have dutifully noted that vaccines have traditionally been composed of killed or attenuated (weakened) viruses so that they can elicit an immune response without causing disease. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, however, are made with a genetic engineering technology called messenger RNA (mRNA), which acts in anovel way. When injected into a persons muscle, the mRNA is read by the cells protein-synthesizing machinery and gives rise to numerous copies of a version of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein, which is on the surface of the virus and plays a key role in attaching to the hosts cells.

An understanding of this continuum of approaches to vaccination should help to demystify COVID-19 vaccines for the considerable number of people who may be hesitant about taking a novel vaccine developed and approved in record time.

Those proteins elicit an immune response, so that if the person who has been injected subsequently comes into contact with the infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus, the bodys antibodies and immune cells are prepared to neutralize it.

However, theres a link missing in that narrative about the continuum from traditional vaccine development techniques to mRNAnamely, subunit vaccines, which are conceptually similar to using mRNA for vaccines. A good example is Mercks hepatitis B vaccineRecombivax, which has been around for more than 30 years. What is injected and stimulates the immune response in that case is a non-infectious viral protein that is synthesized in genetically engineered bakers yeast grown in huge fermentation vats. The protein, which is analogous to the coronavirus spike protein, is purified and used as the active substance in the vaccine.

A similar example is GlaxoSmithKlines shingles vaccineShingrix, which contains a glycoprotein (a protein linked to a carbohydrate) that is a component of the varicella zoster virus, and which is synthesized in genetically engineered Chinese hamster ovary cells.

There is also a COVID-19 vaccine using this technology being developed by Maryland-based Novavax. It containsproteins produced in genetically engineered insect cellsthat resemble the spike proteins found on the surface of the coronavirus, and which elicit an immune response after being injected.

The Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Novavax subunit vaccines are something of an intermediate approach between the killed or attenuated vaccines and the mRNA ones because the antigen injected is a protein, whereas the mRNA vaccines cause a protein to be synthesized in the vaccine recipient after injection. An understanding of this continuum of approaches to vaccination should help to demystify COVID-19 vaccines for the considerable number ofpeople who may be hesitantabout taking a novel vaccine developed and approved in record time.

#5 THE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY DRUGS TO TREAT COVID-19 ARE GOING BEGGING.

In November, the FDA issued two Emergency Use Authorizations for monoclonal antibody drugs produced byEli LillyandRegeneron Pharmaceuticals, respectively, that treat mild to moderate cases of COVID-19 in adults and older pediatric patients at high risk for progressing to severe illness. They are expensive, and in short supply, but paradoxically, U.S. health officials are seeing a lack of demand for these drugs that can help to keep infected people out of the hospital.

If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, have symptoms, and qualify for these [monoclonal antibody] drugs, insist on getting them immediately.

Testing delays (they need to be infused intravenously within 10 days of the onset of symptoms), red tape, and shortages of staff for intravenous administration arepreventing many patientsfrom getting these drugs, which consist of laboratory-produced antibodies that mimic those produced in response to infection. ThisWall Street Journal headlinesays it all: Highly Touted Monoclonal Antibody Therapies Sit Unused in Hospitals.

There is an important news you can use message here:If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, have symptoms, and qualify for these drugs, insist on getting them immediately.

#6 THE NEW, MORE INFECTIOUS U.K. SARS-CoV-2 VARIANT (B.1.1.7) IS MORE DANGEROUS, EVEN IF NOT MORE VIRULENT.

Much of the reporting about this new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, B.1.1.7, which has quickly become the predominant strain in parts of the U.K. and has now been detected in about three dozen other countries worldwide, including in various parts of the United States, has characterized it asmore transmissible, but not more deadly. Preliminary analyses suggest it isin the range of 56%-70% more transmissiblethan other circulating SARS-CoV-2 strains. However, that characterization is misleading in two respects.

First, the more transmissible the virus is, greater numbers of people will be infected and will be hospitalized, and morein the sense of absolute numberswill die. Thus,although perhaps not more likely to kill a particular individual who becomes infected, overall, the death toll from the viral variant will be higher because of its ability to infect more people.

Second, as World Health Organization epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhovehas pointed out, The more of this virus circulates [because of greater transmissibility], the more opportunity it will have to change to something worse. She concluded, Were playing a very dangerous game here.

#7 WHEN SOMEBODY TELLS YOU THAT ITS SILLY TO IMPOSE LOCKDOWNS OR TAKE VACCINES BECAUSE OF AN ILLNESS WITH A SURVIVAL RATE OF 99.9%, YOURE ABOUT TO BE SOLD A BILL OF GOODS.

First of all, a conservative estimate of the death rate is not 0.1% (which would correspond to a survival rate of 99.9%), but probably well above 0.2%. That might not sound like a lot, but when applied to a huge number of cases, it can be catastrophicas it has been: COVID-19 haskilled 375,000 Americans, been diagnosed in over 22 million, and certainly infected several times that number.

Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Second, herd immunity, the point at which a sufficiently large fraction of the population is immune to infection because of natural infection or vaccination and causes the pandemic to wane, is thought to be upwards of80%in the case of COVID-19.In the absence of vaccines, achieving herd immunity would require the infection of approximately 264 million Americans, which would result in an unimaginable death toll.

Moreover, deaths and death rates are far from the whole story. The persistence of symptoms for months after recovery from the acute illness of COVID-19 is common, even in people who have suffered only mild cases of illnesses.According to the Mayo Clinic, the most common persistent signs and symptoms are fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, joint pain, and chest pain; and the virus can damage the lungs, heart, and brain, which increases the risk of long-term health problems.

We have come a long way in understanding COVID-19, but much remains unknown. As British Prime Minister Winston Churchill said about World War II, at the end of 1942, Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. As to the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific and medical communities in the public and private sector will continue to produce important new products and knowledge so we can get to the end as quickly as possible. In the meantime, it is more important than ever to heed their advice about taking precautions toflatten the curve.

This post originally appeared at https://humanevents.com/2021/01/11/critical-but-little-known-facts-about-the-covid-19-pandemic/ and is reposted with permission from the author.

See the original post here:
Critical but Little-Known Facts About the COVID-19 Pandemic - Physician's Weekly

The integrated Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia, oriTHRIV, a National Institutes of Health-funded Clinical and Translational Research Award hub, has awarded $200,000 in pilot funding to five multi-institutional research projects in Virginia.

Teams of physicians, researchers and engineers at the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Inova Health System and Carilion Clinic were awarded the funds as part of the iTHRIV NIH-NCATS award UL1TR003015. Support of these early phase research projects will help accelerate the discovery of potential treatment options for Parkinsons disease, celiac disease and epilepsy, as well innovation in the fields of telemedicine and pediatric heart transplant.

The awarded pilot projects include:

Sana Syed, an assistant professor in theUVA School of MedicinesDepartment of Pediatrics, and Suchitra Hourigan,Inova Childrens Hospitalsvice chair of research and innovation, seek to determine if machine learning is useful in diagnosing celiac disease sub-types.

Currently, treatment and management of celiac disease involves a gluten-free diet and is not intended to help assess the specific risk of patients developing other diseases. Syed and Hourigan will investigate gut tissue biopsies as well as genetic markers of patients with celiac disease and type 1 diabetes and/or hypothyroidism. They aim to determine whether biopsy or gene markers at the time of disease diagnosis can predict the risk of developing these diseases in the future.

The team will use machine learning algorithms to analyze multiple datasets. If successful, the team members hope that any patterns found will enable them to link biopsies and unique genes, paving the way for improved care for patients with celiac disease.

In most instances, how medications act on the brain to produce their therapeutic effect (for instance, pain relief) is not well understood. Aashit Shah, a professor of internal medicine at theVirginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, and Sujith Vijayan, an assistant professor in the Virginia Tech College of SciencesSchool of Neuroscience, will study patients with intractable epilepsy who have been implanted with electrodes to determine the region responsible for their seizures.

The team will study signals measured in epileptic patients undergoing intracranial electroencephalography. They will review intracranial electrical signals from various brain regions following administration of medications that work on the brain. Shah and Vijayan hope to improve the understanding of how and where these medications work.

They anticipate this can help in the development of new biomarkers for neuroactive drugs, which may improve development of medications in the future.

Della Williams, a neurologist atCarilion Clinicand an assistant professor of internal medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, has also partnered with Vijayan to study auditory therapy for patients living with Parkinsons disease. Their project seeks to better understand the disease progression and if it can be slowed by providing background noise to patients as they sleep.

Additionally, simple auditory stimulation during sleep may help to improve learning and memory processes.

Elham Morshedzadeh, an assistant professor of industrial design in Virginia TechsCollege of Architecture and Urban Studies; Andre Muelenaer, a professor ofbiomedical engineering and mechanicsin Virginia Techs College of Engineering and a professor of pediatrics for the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine; and Melinda Schriver, Carilions director of digital health, have proposed a study to design a successful and comprehensive telemedical encounter for infants and preschool children.

Theyll seek to provide a robust, feasible and affordable training program integrating augmented reality, online and hands-on learning experiences. The study aims to make telemedical encounters vastly more inclusive and efficient.

Heart transplantation is the standard of care for pediatric patients with end-stage heart failure or inoperable congenital defects, yet nearly 20% of patients die while on the waiting list.

To help increase the odds of successful pediatric heart transplants, Michael McCulloch, an associate professor and a pediatric cardiologist atUVA Childrens Hospital Heart Center, and Michael Porter, an associate professor of systems engineering inUVAs School of Engineering and Applied Science, will analyze donor echocardiographic data to identify which donor characteristics contribute to positive heart transplant recipient outcomes.

iTHRIV is a cross-state translational research institute which combines the expertise of clinical translational biomedical researchers and data scientists to create infrastructure and investigator resources for using data to improve health across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Partner sites include University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Carilion Clinic and Inova Health System.

For more information about the NIH CTSA program, seehttps://ncats.nih.gov/ctsa

For more information about iTHRIV, seehttp://ithriv.org/

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iTHRIV Distributes $200000 to Fund Innovative Medical Research Projects - UVA Today

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "2020 Growth Opportunities in Plastic Degradation, Self-Healing Concrete, Hydrogen Production, and Software Inspection Tools" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This edition of the Inside R&D Technology Opportunity Engine (TOE) covers development of novel devices that overcomes the traditional limitations of pressure sensors, design and development of low cost graphene filters for efficient capturing of waste gases from industrial exhaust stream, and the use of genetic engineering for the development of safer polio vaccines.

The TOE also features information on the design and synthesis of electro catalysts that can be used in rechargeable batteries and the utilization of hydrolysis process for enhancing the chemical degradation of polyester.

The Inside R&D TOE focuses on innovations associated with the use of novel neuro stimulation-based implants for treatment of chronic pain and the latest innovations enabling cost-effective use of bio-controls for minimizing pest attacks and crop diseases. The TOE additionally provides insights on the use of self-healing materials that enhance the durability and shelf life of concrete structures.

Key Topics Covered:

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/h6mmoy

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Growth Opportunities in Plastic Degradation, Self-Healing Concrete, Hydrogen Production, and Software Inspection Tools, 2020 Report -...

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y., Jan. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII), a leading plant-based, biotechnology company that is focused on tobacco harm reduction, very low nicotine content tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, announced today that the Company will significantly expand its growing program for VLN reduced nicotine content tobacco based on the Companys latest sales projections. This new planting for VLN tobacco is in addition to the Companys sizeable inventory of VLN tobacco, which is earmarked for the launch and initial sales of 22nd Centurys VLN reduced nicotine content cigarettes. 22nd Centurys Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) application for VLN cigarettes is currently in the final stage of review with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Once authorization is granted, 22nd Century will begin marketing its VLN cigarettes, which contain 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarette brands. Having the only combustible cigarette with a modified exposure claim authorized by the FDA could serve as a catalyst for 22nd Centurys commercial sales as capturing even a small fraction of U.S. tobacco sales could result in exponential growth in the Companys revenues and market capitalization.

We are prepared to launch our VLN cigarettes within 90 days after receiving marketing authorization from the FDA, said James A. Mish, chief executive officer of 22nd Century Group. There are more than 34 million smokers in the United States and research shows that a majority of these smokers are looking for alternatives. When shown samples of VLN, 60 percent of adult smokers in our studies indicated an interest in using VLN cigarettes. Additionally, in a 2019 U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey, 80 percent of U.S. smokers favored reducing nicotine levels in cigarettes. We believe adult smokers will be very interested in VLN, and this new crop of VLN tobacco will help us to fulfill the expected demand based on our latest sales projections.

Mish continues, In addition to introducing VLN to smokers in the U.S., we are absolutely committed to licensing our technology to every cigarette manufacturer, so that they can comply with the FDAs plan to make all cigarettes non-addictive. We look forward to the tobacco industry joining our efforts to truly reduce the harm caused by smoking and protect future generations from ever becoming addicted to cigarettes.

In partnership with select tobacco farmers, 22nd Century will plant this new VLN tobacco throughout the U.S. tobacco belt, thereby creating a new income stream for Americas struggling family farmers. The Companys proprietary, reduced nicotine content tobacco contains, on average, just 0.5 milligrams of nicotine per gram of tobacco - a remarkable reduction in nicotine versus conventional cigarette tobaccos which often contain 20 mg to 30 mg nicotine per gram of tobacco.

With 95 percent less nicotine than typical cigarettes, VLN cigarettes will serve as a vanguard for the FDAs ground-breaking Comprehensive Plan for Tobacco and Nicotine Regulation. Published in 2017, the plan aims to set a product standard for cigarettes that achieves minimally or non-addictive levels of nicotine. The FDA projects that within the first year of implementing a mandate, it will help more than five million adult smokers to quit smoking and will save more than eight million American lives by the end of the century.

Within 90 days of the FDAs authorization of its MRTP application, the Company plans to rollout VLN King and VLN Menthol King cigarettes to retail tobacco outlets in the U.S. The launch of VLN will be paired with a compelling marketing campaign to introduce adult tobacco smokers to the worlds lowest nicotine content cigarette.

About 22nd Century Group,Inc.22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) is a leading plant biotechnology company focused on technologies that alter the level of nicotine in tobacco plants and the level of cannabinoids in hemp/cannabis plants through genetic engineering, gene-editing, and modern plant breeding. 22nd Centurys primary mission in tobacco is to reduce the harm caused by smoking through the Companys proprietary reduced nicotine content tobacco cigarettes containing 95% less nicotine than conventional cigarettes. The Companys primary mission in hemp/cannabis is to develop and commercialize proprietary hemp/cannabis plants with valuable cannabinoid profiles and desirable agronomic traits.

Learn more atxxiicentury.com, on Twitter@_xxiicenturyand onLinkedIn.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsExcept for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically contain terms such as anticipate, believe, consider, continue, could, estimate, expect, explore, foresee, goal, guidance, intend, likely, may, plan, potential, predict, preliminary, probable, project, promising, seek, should, will, would, and similar expressions. Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are set forth in Risk Factors in the Companys Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 11, 2020 and in its subsequently filed Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Investor Relations & Media Contact:Mei KuoDirector, Communications & Investor Relations22nd Century Group, Inc.(716) 300-1221mkuo@xxiicentury.com

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22nd Century Group Expands VLN Tobacco Growing Program to Support Anticipated Demand of the Company's Reduced Nicotine Content Cigarettes -...

Newswise DALLAS Jan. 13, 2020 Benjamin Tu, Ph.D., a professor of biochemistry at UT Southwestern whose basic science research into cellular function could lead to greater understanding of diseases including cancer, has been named a recipient of the 2021 Edith and Peter ODonnell Award in Science, presented by The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST).

TAMEST presents the annual awards to recognize the achievements of early career Texas investigators in the fields of science, medicine, engineering, and technology innovation. This years awards were announced today during the final day of its annual conference, which was held virtually. The awards come with a $25,000 honorarium and an invitation to make a presentation before TAMEST members. Tu will make his virtual presentation Feb. 24.

Tu is the 15th scientist at UT Southwestern to receive the award since TAMEST initiated the ODonnell Awards in 2006.

Its an honor to be selected, Tu says of the prize. It was certainly welcome news during very challenging times.

The Edith and Peter ODonnell Awards are given to scientists for their contributions addressing the essential role that science and technology play in society, and whose work meets the highest standards of exemplary professional performance, creativity and resourcefulness, according to TAMEST.

We believe Dr. Tus research will lead to future therapeutic advancements for diseases, saysDavid E. Daniel, Ph.D. (NAE), 2021TAMESTboard president.As a pioneer in his field, we are honored to recognize him as the recipient of our 2021 ODonnell Award in Science and are grateful for the discoveries he is making here in Texas that will impact the rest of the world.

Margaret Phillips, Ph.D., professor and chair of biochemistry, nominated Tu for the award. Ben is an incredibly talented scientist, Phillips says. You could almost see him as a detective. He digs into the nuts and bolts of how cells are functioning and regulating themselves.

Tus research focuses on how metabolism regulates cellular functions. Two of his recent areas of investigation have obvious potential for future advances in clinical treatment.

In two 2019 studies, both published inCell, Tu reported that ataxin-2, a protein with a known link to ALS, or Lou Gehrigs disease, is necessary for cells to do the work of clearing out damaged or unneeded parts in a process known as autophagy. Without the protein, cells are more likely to die, he said

In a2011 study published in Molecular Cell, Tu described how the metabolite acetyl-CoA plays a key role in turning on the genes necessary for cell growth.

At the time, few scientists accepted the idea that a metabolite could have such an important role in regulating gene expression, says Tu. Historically, the field had thought that transcription factors (proteins involved in transcribing the genetic information contained in DNA) dictate what genes are turned on.

This new understanding of the importance of acetyl-CoA led to further research by Tu and a 2014Cellpaper that reported how the metabolite might be important for the survival and growth of liver cancer cells. His current research in mice will investigate if chemicals that inhibit acetyl-CoA might slow the growth of pancreatic cancer cells.

Tu came to UT Southwestern in 2004 after receiving masters and bachelors degrees in chemistry from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics from the University of California, San Francisco. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow under Steven McKnight, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, before joining the UTSW faculty as an assistant professor of biochemistry in 2007. Tu holds the Martha Steiner Professorship in Medical Research, and is a W.W. Caruth, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research.

His previous honors include the Norman Hackerman Award in Chemical Research from The Welch Foundation in 2014 and recognition as a three-time finalist for the prestigious Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists in 2017, 2018, and 2019. He is also a UT Southwestern Presidential Scholar.

TAMEST, founded in 2004 by then-U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and two Texas Nobel Laureates Michael Brown, M.D., of UT Southwestern, and Richard E. Smalley, Ph.D., of Rice University strives to bring together the states brightest minds. Members include the Texas-based members of the National Academies of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences; the Royal Society; and Texas 11 Nobel Laureates.

About UTSouthwestern Medical Center

UTSouthwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 17 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,500 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UTSouthwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 105,000 hospitalized patients, nearly 370,000 emergency room cases, and oversee approximately 3 million outpatient visits a year.

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Biochemist Benjamin Tu Honored With ODonnell Award From TAMEST - Newswise

From the Ag Information Network, Im Bob Larson with your Agribusiness Update.

**Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue announced a significant step in modernizing regulations of agricultural animals modified or produced by genetic engineering.

agwired.com reports, the USDA will move forward with an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to solicit public input on a regulatory framework that would update our system into a scientifically-sound, risk-based, and predictable process that facilitates the development and use of these technologies for farmers and ranchers.

http://agwired.com/

**The end-of-year spending package passed by both Chambers of Congress last week included ground-breaking provisions

U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, a Washington state Republican, introduced to maintain and update critical Bureau of Reclamation water supply infrastructure projects across the rural West.

The provisions establish a first-of-its-kind Aging

Infrastructure Account to provide stability and flexibility for local water managers who maintain and operate BOR water infrastructure.

**A near-double digit gain in potato retail sales wasnt enough to offset a decline in foodservice sales during the 2019-20 marketing year.

Showing a 5% decline in the use of ALL potatoes, the domestic sales and U.S. potato report for July 2019 to June 2020 was released by Potatoes USA in December.

The report, according to thepacker.com, says despite the 9% increase in retail sales, the decline occurred due to the 13% decrease in foodservice sales and 2% decrease in exports.

https://www.thepacker.com/news/produce-crops/potato-utilization-dips-5-2019-20-marketing-year?mkt/

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Modernizing Genetic Engineering and BOR Provisions Passed - AG INFORMATION NETWORK OF THE WEST - AGInfo Ag Information Network Of The West

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased threats to food security around the world, underscoring the need for innovation to make agriculture and aquaculture more resilient and efficient. Fortunately, the biological innovations needed to do just that are quickly becoming competitive and scalable.

SAN FRANCISCO In November, the United Nations World Food Program and the International Organization for Migration warned of the unprecedented threat to food security brought about by COVID-19. The pandemics collateral damage could turn out to be even worse than the disease itself.

Most leading international institutions with an interest in food security have now called for action to prevent future outbreaks of infectious disease, and to make food systems more resistant to shocks. Biological innovation must factor into our thinking as we strive to meet the dual challenge of feeding a growing population and managing natural resources sustainably.

Even before the pandemic, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) warned that more than 820 million people did not have enough to eat. With the global population expected to grow by roughly two billion people by 2050, improving access to affordable and healthy food will be critical in reducing malnutrition and the associated health-care costs.

Innovation in farming and food production is as old as agriculture itself, yet it is sorely needed today. Recent research by the McKinsey Global Institute finds that biological innovation in agriculture, aquaculture, and food production could yield economic returns of up to $1.2 trillion over the next decade or two. To put that into context, the global food and agribusiness industry is worth about $5 trillion today.

What could deliver this growth? The most promising innovations include alternative proteins, marker-assisted breeding, genetic engineering of plant and animal traits, and microbiome mapping and modification. Consumer interest in alternative protein sources is increasing globally, owing to concerns about health, the environment, and animal welfare.

Plant-based meat substitutes are already widely sold, though the economics of their production needs to be improved. Plant-based milk, for example, accounts for 15% of retail milk sales in the United States and 8% in Britain. And companies like Clara Foods are using advanced yeast engineering and fermentation technologies to produce animal-free egg-white proteins.

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Likewise, cultured meat and seafood whereby muscle tissue grown from cells in the lab is made to mimic the protein profile of animal meat is on the horizon. Earlier this month, Singapore became the first government to approve the sale of lab-grown meat (cultured chicken created by the San Francisco-based company Eat Just). Over the next ten years, cultured meat and seafood could become cost competitive with conventional animal proteins.

Selective breeding of plants and animals is not new, but marker-assisted breeding has made the process cheaper and significantly faster, because it enables the selection of desirable traits even if the precise genes that generate them have not yet been identified or understood. The plunging cost of DNA sequencing means that thousands of potential markers can be detected simultaneously. Whereas developing new crop varieties previously could require 25 years, it now can be done in as few as seven. And because marker-assisted selection is not yet as prevalent in developing countries as it is in advanced economies, there are significant opportunities for growth.

Since the development of the first genetically engineered plant (tobacco) in the early 1980s, genetic engineering has become well established. But, again, the technology is still improving rapidly. New tools like CRISPR have made gene editing more precise, allowing for crops to be tailored much more effectively to local conditions such as temperature and soil type. CRISPR-edited produce could land on grocery store shelves in the US over the next ten years, starting with sweeter strawberries that have a longer shelf life.

Another promising area of innovation is portable DNA-sequencing devices, which could soon be used by farmers to diagnose plant diseases, possibly improving quality and yield while eliminating or reducing use of pesticides. Genetic editing to improve health and productivity in food animals such as dairy and beef cattle, swine, and poultry is still nascent, but interest in the field has soared since the 2019 outbreak of African swine fever.

Similarly, the mapping of the microbiome including bacteria, fungi, and viruses is helping researchers find ways to increase the resilience of crops, animals, and soil to drought and disease. Here, too, advances in computing and sequencing are accelerating the pace of discovery, such that the biotech company Novozymes is already offering genetically engineered microbes to use in place of yield- and quality-boosting chemicals.

Many of these biological innovations can help us address not only hunger but also resource depletion and broader climate risks. According to the FAO, raising livestock for meat, eggs, and milk generates14.5% of global greenhouse-gas emissions; and one-third of all cropland is used to produce animal feed. Agriculture is also the largest contributor to deforestation, occupying 43% of the worlds ice-free and desert-free land. The plant-based Impossible Burger embodies 89% fewer emissions than a traditional beef burger.

Climate change reinforces the need for biological innovations, such as crops that have been engineered to withstand severe weather, or to grow in new environments, including areas with extreme temperatures, high salinity, or frequent droughts.

Many innovations are already contributing to food security, and the full potential of affordable DNA sequencing and CRISPR technology will continue to be revealed over time. It will take longer for lab-grown meat to make inroads, but when it does, the impact is likely to be felt far and wide.

Regulation and public perceptions have long played a role both positive and negative in biological innovation. The first wave of commercially available genetically engineered products has not yet reached many countries, and 19 EU member states still support partial or full bans on their sale. In Africa, genetically modified food products are legal in only a tiny handful of countries.

Safety is clearly paramount. But if regulators and consumers concerns can be addressed, the bio-revolution could take us a long way toward tackling global challenges like food security and climate change.

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Long Live the Bio-Revolution by Michael Chui & Matthias Evers - Project Syndicate