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Natural selection, the evolutionary process that guides which traits become more common in a population, has been acting on us for the past 3,000 years, right up to the modern day, new research suggests.

And it seems to be acting in surprising ways on complex traits encoded by multiple genes, such as those tied to intelligence, mental illness and even cancer.

In natural selection, genes that confer some sort of survival or reproductive advantage get passed down and persist in a population, while those that lead to lower survival or fewer offspring become less common. There's no question that natural selection shaped the evolution of humans in our more distant past. But the impact of natural selection in the recent past is a much more controversial question.

The new research suggests that natural selection is indeed an important factor in modern times, though the methods used in the study have led to missteps before, said John Novembre, a computational biologist at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the new research. This means the findings should not be taken as the final word in modern-day natural selection.

Related: How would Earth be different if modern humans never existed?

The new study focuses on traits that emerge from a combination of multiple gene variants, such as intelligence and skin pigmentation. The complex genetics of these traits makes unraveling the action of individual genes difficult. To find these subtle effects, researchers conduct genome-wide association studies (GWAS), in which they scan for genetic markers across the entire genome to find short genetic sequences that are more common in certain traits than in others.

These results can be challenging to interpret even comparing people at a single point in time. Newer studies up the ante by looking not only for genes associated with complex traits, but also for signs of natural selection on these traits. In essence, genes that become more common over time are under positive selection: They're beneficial in some way and are thus likely to be passed down. Genes that become less common with time are under negative selection. They're somehow harmful to survival or reproduction, and thus are less likely to be passed down.

"There is quite a lot of controversy about whether GWAS is ready for this type of application," Novembre told Live Science.

In their study, published Nov. 15 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, the researchers found a total of 755 traits showing signs of selection in the last 2,000 to 3,000 years.

For the modern samples, the researchers used data from people of European ancestry in the U.K. BioBank, a repository of genetic and health data from 500,000 participants. To look deeper into history, the researchers also used three datasets of ancient human DNA from the pre-Neolithic, Neolithic and after the advent of agriculture in the Near East, comprising a total of 512 individuals. The researchers looked in three timeframes: The modern era, the past 2,000 to 3,000 years, and up to about 100,000 years ago. The oldest data is the most unreliable, said study leader Guan Nin Ling, a professor in the school of biomedical engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

While the researchers had detailed health and lifestyle information from the U.K. BioBank, they had only partial genetics to go on for the older samples, and no direct information about things like how many children a person had or what they ate. Thus, they used the genes themselves to infer traits. If a gene known to be involved in height increased in frequency over time, the researchers took that as a signal that height might have been under positive natural selection.

The traits that seemed to be under selection ranged from skin traits such as "ease of tanning" to various body measurements. Somewhat surprisingly, genes associated with some seemingly undesirable traits increased in prevalence over time, including genes associated with conditions like skin cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and anorexia nervosa. This suggests that some of these disorders arise as side effects of genes that are beneficial for other reasons, the researchers suggested.

"If one variant elevates the risk of one disease but decreases the risk of another, natural selection would have little power to eliminate this variant," Lin told Live Science.

Ling and his colleagues were most interested in the question of why disorders with complex genetics, such as schizophrenia or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), persist despite natural selection.

But GWAS can be a tricky tool for trying to unravel natural selection, Novembre told Live Science. One of the biggest problems is something called "stratification." Differences between two populations can appear genetic, when they are actually environmental. Because GWAS can't show that a gene causes a trait, only that they're associated, the results can get weird, fast. To use a classic example from a 1994 paper, chopstick skills are clearly not a gift of DNA: They're a matter of practice from a young age. But a GWAS study in a diverse population like San Francisco might very easily turn up evidence of genes associated with chopstick skills simply by revealing genes that are more common in East Asian populations than in European populations.

This mistake has actually happened. In the last decade, a number of papers came out claiming that height-conferring gene variants are more prevalent in Northern Europe than in Southern Europe and that natural selection was pushing Northern Europeans to become taller, on average, according to research published in 2012 in the journal Nature Genetics.

But it turned out the impact of these genetic variants was overestimated, Novembre said. When looking at those same genetic variants in less diverse populations (a strategy for reducing the stratification problem), the evidence for natural selection vanished. The study had been picking up on so-far-unknown environmental differences between northern and southern Europeans and mistaking them for something purely genetic. Researchers had to completely rethink the results and are still uncertain about whether natural selection has anything to do with height differences across Europe, according to a 2019 paper in the journal eLife.

The use of data from people of only European ancestry helps limit the stratification problem, Novembre said. But there are still opportunities for the stratification problem to arise, he warned.

Among the hundreds of traits the researchers found might be under natural selection, a few stood out. When focusing on modern-day data, the researchers found that higher IQ was associated with having more sexual partners but fewer children. Meanwhile, ADHD and schizophrenia were both associated with having more sexual partners. These two conditions are examples of traits that might be a challenge in daily life, yet improve mating success, Lin told Live Science.

When looking back over more than 100,000 years of human history, the researchers found that traits having to do with skin tone and body measurements were the most common to show selection pressure. These included things like facial measurements, height and torso length. For example, genes associated with face shape and size were apparently under natural selection over the past 100,000 years, the researchers found, which might have to do with changes to the jaw and skull associated with diet and brain growth.

Looking back as far as 3,000 years ago, the researchers found that inflammatory bowel disease seemed to be favored by natural selection. This could be an example of a trait that is helpful in one context and harmful in another, Lin said.

"We hypothesize that in ancient times with poor hygiene conditions, a highly activated immune system in the intestine would protect us from infection," he wrote in an email to Live Science. "However, a highly activated immune system in modern society only causes our intestine to attack itself."

But it can be very hard to show why a particular trait relates to evolutionary success. To use height as an example, being tall might benefit reproduction by making someone more appealing to potential sexual partners. Or maybe height is just a side effect of an efficient metabolism, which improves survival rates, and that increased likelihood of surviving to reproductive age could lead to the genes getting passed down to the next generation. If genes tend to vary together and many do natural selection could be acting on a totally different trait than the one that seems most intuitive. For example, Novembre said, the variants that made skin tanning easier, which showed up as highly selected in the new research, are likely related to a lot of other traits, like rates of skin cancer, freckling and hair color. It's hard to know what path, exactly, leads to someone reaching reproductive age, attracting a fertile mate, and having lots of babies, and which genes are just lucky hangers-ons in that process.

Making matters more complicated, there are times when the genetics of a trait may be completely swamped by the environment. Something like this could theoretically happen with human intelligence. IQ is partially hereditary, so if it's true that higher-IQ people do have fewer children, that would arguably push the collective IQ of the population downward over time. But if the environment became more conducive to brain development better nutrition, reductions in lead or other pollutants the population might well become brighter.

"Just because the apparent genetic basis for something is changing doesn't mean the population has even been evolving in that direction," Novembre said.

One approach to nailing down natural selection would combine large-scale GWAS with studies on the genomes of single families, Novembre said. Family members, especially siblings, usually grow up in fairly similar environments, so it's easier to tell when genes are affecting any given trait. These family studies could be used to ground-truth claims from large GWAS samples, teasing out which genes still show impacts when you remove as much of the environment as possible from the equation.

Lin and his colleagues plan to conduct family studies to learn more about the genetics of complex conditions like schizophrenia. They're also working to quantify genetic variants that can give rise to both beneficial and harmful effects simultaneously, he said. The findings of the new study are a starting point, Lin said, and a reminder that natural selection is still a force in human biology.

"It is simply not true that humans have stopped evolving by natural selection, even given our capacity to change the environment towards facilitating and reducing physical tasks, minimizing the energetic costs to get better food, and better health care system," Lin said.

Originally published on Live Science

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Natural selection has been acting on hundreds of human genes in the last 3,000 years - Livescience.com

Growth of Animal Genetics Market is attributed to rise in production of porcine and increase in pork consumption across the globe. The same segment is likely to register highest CAGR in the global animal genetics market during the forecast period.

PUNE, India, Nov. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- According to The Insight Partners study on "Animal Genetics Market to 2027 Global Analysis and Forecast by Animal Genetic Material, Genetic Material and Service" the animal genetics market was valued at US$ 4,778.67 million in 2019 and is projected to reach US$ 7,705.23 million by 2027; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.3% during 20192027. The growth of the market is attributed to the growing preference for animal derived proteins supplements and food products and rising adoption of progressive genetic practices such as artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer. However, limited number of skilled professionals in veterinary research and stringent government regulations for animal genetics is expected to hinder the market growth.

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The North American region holds the largest market share of this market and is expected to grow in forecasted years. The growth in North America is characterized by the presence of new market players, various product launches and increasing government initiatives.

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Likewise, Mexico is likely to offer attractive business opportunities for livestock genetics. Over the last decades, Mexico's beef, pork, and dairy productions have undergone valuable developments. Mexican generators in the expanding livestock intensive systems are frequently using modern genetic improvement technologies such as artificial insemination and embryo transfers.

In North America, the US is the largest market for animal genetics market. Livestock groups provide consumers with different products and services, including meat, milk, eggs, fiber, and draught power. The genetic variation within livestock communities produces the raw material for evolving through natural selection in answer to changing conditions and human-managed genetic improvement plans. As per the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), animal genetics is one of the livestock development support. It is a wide field, ranging from characterization to conservation to genetic development. According to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), there have been dramatic improvements in animal production yields and efficiencies. Therefore, the ever-increasing demand for dietary protein in the United States has been observed. These demands are achieved by one the best Animal breeding is one strategy by which these improvements may be performed. NIFA, with the help of scientists from universities and research organizations and food animal industries, provides national leadership and funding opportunities to conduct basic, applied, and integrated research to increase knowledge of animal genetics and genomics.

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The COVID-19 outbreak has disturbed various trades and businesses across the world. The incidence of corona virus or COVID 19 has not yet been registered the animals. Also, there is no evidence that companion animals are the prime source of the spreading epidemic in humans. However, various studies have been conducted to check the spread of disease from animals to humans. In many cases, zoonotic diseases were found in humans due to interaction with animals. Therefore, government bodies are taking more precautions and safety measures to prevent the spread of corona virus in the animals. The measures are widely carried out for companion animals as they frequently come in contact with their owners. Also, it is essential to report the cases to a veterinary authority. For instance, in the region, to report the cases of detection of COVID-19 is done to OIE through WAHIS, in accordance with the OIE Terrestrial Animal Health Code as an emerging disease.

The OIE is actively working by providing assistance to research for their on-going research and other implications of COVID-19 for animal health and veterinary public health. The assistance is also providing risk assessment, risk management, and risk communication. Also, the OIE has put in place an Incident Coordination System to coordinate these activities. In addition, OIE is also working with the Wildlife Working Group and other partners to develop a long-term work program. The aims are to provide better understandings, dynamics, and risks around wildlife trade and consumption. Also, it aims to develop strategies to reduce the risk of future spillover events.

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Additionally, various product and service launches have been initiated, which is helping the US market to grow. For instance, The Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has launched an updated and advanced website along with several new tests for veterinary community. As the VGL is one of the foremost genetic testing laboratories in the world, the new site and tests will bring yet another level of global impact to the top-ranked veterinary school. Thus, the consistent support for combating addiction in the country undertaken by various organizations likely to augment the growth of animal genetics market during the forecast years.

The Asia Pacific region is expected to be the fastest-growing region among all other regions. The growth of the market in the region is majorly due to countries like China, India and Japan, which drives the major consumption of animal derived products. Moreover, growing preference for animal derived proteins supplements and food products, and rising adoption of progressive genetic practices such as artificial insemination (AI) and embryo transfer are also likely to contribute to market growth. On the other hand, significant investment by government in various breeding programs is supporting the growth of market. For instance, the central and local governments have invested more than RMB 5 billion to build breeding or multiplier farms and conservation farms for breed improvement programs and the building of centers for testing the quality of breeding stock, semen, and embryos.

Based on product, the animal genetics market is segmented poultry, porcine, bovine, canine, and others. The porcine segment accounted for more than 35.84% of the market share in 2019. In terms of genetic material, the animal genetics market is segmented into semen, and embryo. The embryo segment held the largest share of the market in 2019. In terms of service, the animal genetics market is segmented into DNA typing, genetic trait tests, genetic disease tests, and others.The DNA typing segment held the largest share of the market in 2019.

Rising Adoption of Progressive Genetic Practices Such as Artificial Insemination (AI) and Embryo Transfer in Animal Genetics Market:

Growing focus on developing superior animal breeds using genetic engineering to obtain high reproduction rates for large-scale production of modified breeds is expected to drive animal genetics market during the forecast period. Animal genetics emphasizes the inheritance and genetic variations in wild and domestic animals. This science is used at a commercial level for services such as testing genetic disorders, screening genetic traits, and typing DNA. For identifying genetic hybridizations, animal genetics uses various genetic practices, such as artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and cytological studies. Moreover, artificial insemination (AI) can reduce various risks involved in animal breeding and disease transmission. It is found that female offspring cattle born through artificial insemination yield more milk than normal offspring. Additionally, the use of antibiotic-containing semen extensors is effective in preventing bacterial infectious diseases. Therefore, the entire AI process is considered hygienic than natural mating.

The market players are focusing on partnerships, collaboration, and acquisitions to develop genetically modified breeds and maintain their market share. For instance, in August 2020, Cogent and AB Europe collaborated to launch a novel sexed semen service for sheep producers in the UK. In May 2018, Recombinetics entered into partnership agreement with SEMEX for the implementation of a precision breeding program, which is expected to improve animal health and well-being through hornless dairy cattle genetics. According to the Brazilian Association of Artificial Insemination, the number of commercialized doses of semen increased from 7 million in 2003 to ~14 million in 2017. Thus, rising adoption of genetic practices will support the market growth in coming years.

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Market: Segmental Overview

In terms of product, porcine segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Growing production of porcine and increase in pork consumption is likely to favor the growth of the market. Pork is the most consumed meat across the globe. In the US, pork production generates $23.4 billion output per year. Additionally, 26% that is around 2.2 million metric tons of pork and its products are exported to other countries. Despite of the challenges such as tariffs, labor and disease risks, the pork industry in US is still growing with around 66,000 sows in 2019. Also, developments by the major pork producers in the country is likely to grow the pork production industry. For instance, in 2017, 123-year-old Clemens Food Group partnered with 12 independent hog farmers to establish a new packing plant in Michigan. Thus, growing pork production industry is likely to favor market growth. In terms of genetic material, the animal genetics market is segmented into semen, and embryo. The embryo segment held the largest share of the market in 2019. In terms of service, the animal genetics market is segmented into DNA typing, genetic trait tests, genetic disease tests, and others.The DNA typing segment held the largest share of the market in 2019.

Animal Genetics Market: Competition Landscape and Key Developments

Neogen Corporation, Genus, Groupe Grimaud, Topigs Norsvin, Zoetis Services Llc, Hendrix Genetics Bv, Envigo, Vetgen, Animal Genetics Inc, Alta Genetics Inc. and among others are among the key companies operating in the animal genetics market. These players are focusing on the expansion and diversification of their market presence and the acquisition of a new customer base, thereby tapping prevailing business opportunities.

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In September 2020, Genus Plc and Tropic Bioscience entered into collaboration. Tropic Biosciences the pioneering agricultural-biotechnology company entered into collaboration with Genus in order to explore the application of Tropic's Gene Editing induced Gene Silencing (GEiGS) technology in porcine and bovine genetics.

In July 2020, Topigs Norsvin entered into strategic partnership with Acuity swine genetics company. This partnership will provide the opportunity for joint collaboration and expansion of technical expertise, commercial product testing and supply chain infrastructure in animal genetics market across the North America region.

In April 2020, Zoetis Animal Genetics and Angus Australia have entered into a strategic partnership that will aid Australian Angus breed stock and commercial breeders an additional benefit from genomic, or DNA-based technology. Zoetis have made a considerable investment in the expansion of the Angus genomic reference population through the provision of genotyping services and sponsorship.

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Animal Genetics Market Worth ($7,705.23 Mn by 2027) by (6.3% CAGR) with Impact of Coronavirus Outbreak and Global Analysis & Forecast by The...

Cannabis exerts its effects on the body by binding to cannabinoid receptors. These cannabinoid receptors also bind to endogenous cannabinoids that the body makes, called endocannabinoids.

Endocannabinoids are involved in the modulation of numerous biological processes, including metabolism, pain, inflammation, and transmission of information in the brain. The release of endocannabinoids, along with opioids, is also responsible for the feeling of euphoria that people generally experience after an intense workout.

A new study has shown that daily physical exercise is effective in lowering the levels of inflammation-related markers. Moreover, the study suggests that the endocannabinoid system may interact with gut microorganisms to produce such a reduction in inflammatory markers.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham led the research, which appears in the journal Gut Microbes.

Endocannabinoids bind to cannabinoid receptors present in the brain, peripheral nervous system, and immune system. The enteric nervous system, which controls the gut, also expresses cannabinoid receptors.

The dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system is associated with obesity and metabolic disorders.

Microorganisms present in the gut, which people collectively refer to as the gut microbiota, also have a significant influence on metabolism. Changes in the composition of these microorganisms, including reduced diversity of gut microorganisms, are associated with obesity and other metabolic disorders.

Studies suggest that the endocannabinoid system interacts with the gut microbiota to influence metabolism and energy homeostasis.

For instance, gut microbiota composition can influence endocannabinoid and cannabinoid receptor levels in the intestine. Specifically, changes in gut microbiome composition in obesity occur alongside lower endocannabinoid levels.

Obesity and other metabolic disorders are also associated with chronic, low grade inflammation. Both endocannabinoids and gut microbiota are involved in the modulation of inflammation, including in the aforementioned conditions.

Certain gut bacteria species can break down dietary fiber to produce short-chain fatty acids. These short-chain fatty acids have a link with lower inflammation and may exert protective effects against obesity.

Similarly, the endocannabinoid system can limit inflammation, and changes in the endocannabinoid system are observed in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and obesity.

Scientists do not fully understand whether the short-chain fatty acids that gut microorganisms produce can interact with the endocannabinoid system to produce anti-inflammatory effects.

The present study reports that the endocannabinoid system may mediate, in part, the anti-inflammatory effects of short-chain fatty acids that the gut microbiota produces, and vice versa.

Exercise is associated with an increase in endocannabinoid levels and long-term anti-inflammatory effects. The researchers used a 6-week exercise intervention to investigate further the association between endocannabinoids, inflammation, and short-chain fatty acids produced by gut microorganisms.

The researchers found that physical exercise was associated with lower inflammation, which higher short-chain fatty acid and endocannabinoid levels accompanied.

The studys first author, Dr. Amrita Vijay, a research associate at the University of Nottingham, told Medical News Today:

The findings from the current study highlight that simple lifestyle interventions such as exercise can modulate endocannabinoids, and this is a timely discovery, especially in the time when there is increasing interest around the use of cannabidiol and other related supplements in reducing levels of inflammation.

The present study involved two cohorts. The first cohort consisted of 78 adults who were aged over 45 years, living with knee arthritis, and residing in a community setting.

The researchers examined the relationship between the endocannabinoid system, gut microbiota, and inflammation in this cohort at baseline. They then confirmed these results in a second cohort consisting of 35 individuals over 18 years of age.

The researchers also assessed the effects of a 6-week exercise intervention tailored to people with osteoarthritis on the relationship between the endocannabinoid system, inflammation, and gut microbiota in the first cohort. To do this, they divided the participants into a treatment group, consisting of 38 participants, and a control group, involving 40 individuals.

The researchers used blood samples from the participants to evaluate the serum levels of endocannabinoids, short-chain fatty acids, and inflammatory markers. The inflammatory markers included cytokines, a class of immune proteins that have either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory effects.

The team used stool samples and conducted DNA sequencing to assess the abundance of various gut microbiota species.

Before the onset of the exercise intervention in the first cohort, the researchers found that endocannabinoid levels had a positive correlation with gut microbial diversity, short-chain fatty acids levels, and levels of gut microbiota species that produce these short-chain fatty acids.

In contrast, higher endocannabinoid levels were associated with lower levels of Collinsella, a gut bacteria genus that is linked with increased inflammation.

Consistent with these results, endocannabinoid levels were positively correlated with anti-inflammatory cytokines levels but had a negative relationship with pro-inflammatory cytokine levels. These results from the first cohort were similar to those that the team obtained from the second cohort.

The researchers then estimated the contribution of endocannabinoids to mediating the anti-inflammatory effects of short-chain fatty acids. They used a statistical method called mediation analysis, which can help estimate the extent to which a third factor plays a role in mediating the relationship between two variables.

They found that endocannabinoids mediated roughly one-third of the effects of short-chain fatty acids on inflammatory markers. This suggests that other biological factors or pathways, in addition to the endocannabinoid system, may play a role in mediating the anti-inflammatory effects of short-chain fatty acids that the gut microbiome produces.

Likewise, the researchers investigated the extent to which short-chain fatty acids mediated the effects of endocannabinoids on inflammation. They estimated that short-chain fatty acids mediated about half of these effects.

However, the authors caution that such estimates, which they obtained using mediation analysis, do not imply causality.

Next, the researchers examined how the 6-week exercise intervention affected the association between endocannabinoids levels on one hand and short-chain fatty acid levels, gut microbiome composition, and inflammatory markers on the other.

They found that endocannabinoid and short-chain fatty acid levels increased in the exercise group but did not show any changes in the control group. At the same time, there was a decline in the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the participants in the exercise group.

Changes in the levels of the endocannabinoid anandamide correlated with the short-chain fatty acid butyrate after 6 weeks across the two groups. Moreover, the researcher found a positive correlation between the changes in endocannabinoid levels and the increase in the abundance of short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria.

On the other hand, changes in endocannabinoid levels were negatively correlated with the changes in the abundance of bacteria and cytokines associated with pro-inflammatory effects.

Lastly, the endocannabinoid levels were positively associated with the expression levels of the genes for the short-chain fatty acid receptor FFAR2 and the cannabinoid receptor CNR2.

The short-chain fatty acid receptor is associated with a lower risk of obesity, whereas CNR2 is associated with anti-inflammatory effects.

These results suggest that the anti-inflammatory effects resulting from physical exercise could potentially involve an interaction between endocannabinoids and short-chain fatty acids.

Highlighting the studys salience, Dr. Vijay said, The findings are novel, as we may have found a key link between how substances produced by gut microbes interact with the substances produced by our own bodies, which tell us how physical exercise reduces inflammation.

The authors note that their findings are observational and do not establish causation. Furthermore, Dr. Vijay added, The exercise intervention we carried out was performed in individuals with painful knee osteoarthritis and may not be directly relevant to other groups.

It would be interesting to test if different forms of exercise have different effects on our bodies in relation to the levels of these substances being produced and thereby influencing inflammation. It is also important to consider the effect of diet on these relationships.

Dr. Vijay

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Exercise may lower inflammation by increasing endocannabinoids - Medical News Today

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Nov. 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) will present at the 2021 Evercore ISI Healthcare Conference at 5:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Rob Lenz, M.D., Ph.D., senior vice president of Global Development at Amgen will present at the conference. Live audio of the conference call will be broadcast over the internet simultaneously and will be available to members of the news media, investors and the general public.

The webcast, as with other selected presentations regarding developments in Amgen's business given at certain investor and medical conferences, can be accessed on Amgen's website, http://www.amgen.com, under Investors. Information regarding presentation times, webcast availability and webcast links are noted on Amgen's Investor Relations Events Calendar. The webcast will be archived and available for replay for at least 90 days after the event.

About Amgen Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology.

Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential.

For more information, visit http://www.amgen.com and follow us on http://www.twitter.com/amgen.

CONTACT: Amgen, Thousand Oaks Megan Fox, 805-447-1423 (media)Trish Rowland, 805-447-5631 (media)Arvind Sood, 805-447-1060 (investors)

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It involves understanding human behaviour, addressing inequalities, optimising our communications. It brings in public health and how that interacts with animal health, and then there is the economics lurking behind that. In parallel, there is a whole gamut of aspects to do with education.

Whitelaw says that Scotland, and specifically the University of Edinburgh, is ideally positioned to take advantage of the One Health agenda because of its expertise in human and animal health and in data.

He adds: Edinburgh has a joint medical and vet medical college, a leading science and engineering college and the wonderful humanities, arts and social sciences in the third college. It is not individually that we can address One Health, it is by bringing all these together, by intertwining roles and ideas, that we will achieve success, or do One Health data better.

But how has the One Health approach of collaboration and data sharing between scientists, health practitioners and the wider academic community helped shape our efforts to understand and tackle the coronavirus pandemic? And, building on the achievements already made, how better prepared are we for another global virus outbreak?

Dr Sam Lycett, a genetics expert at the University of Edinburgh, uses phylodynamics to study the spread of viruses. She says: This technique makes use of the now large collections of virus genome sequence data and the fact that these viruses accumulate mutations over time.

She uses this information to look at who infected whom either at an individual level or group level, such as a city or region. Going deeper than this we can also estimate predictive factors for why we see the transmission patterns. Is it just distance, known host movement patterns or a change in environmental conditions?

During the coronavirus pandemic, the amount of available data has been huge, Lycett says. In this current pandemic, there has been a massive global and UK-specific Sars-CoV-2 sequencing effort for people there are almost four million genomes now, with almost one million just in the UK and close to 100,000 just for Scotland.

This is a really good surveillance sample roughly, we are sequencing one in five or six positive cases. We use this sequence data to calculate how individual lineages and mutations are being generated, imported, and growing and declining, in Scotland.

Dr Kenny Baillie, a senior clinical research fellow at the Roslin Institute, says viral sequence data is now converging with clinical and biological data from humans and being used to find treatments for Covid-19.

The Roslin Institute is leading the most powerful study of human genetics of Covid more powerful in terms of discovery power than all of the other genetics studies in the world put together, says Baillie. Most recently, we have reported25 genetic associations with critical illness in Covid, many of which lead us to promising therapeutic avenues.

Discoveries reported after only five months of Covid being in the UK included two genes which have led directly to treatments being included in large-scale clinical trials.

In the future, Baillie wants to be able to look at treatments even more quickly than the five months which was achieved in the pandemic. We can move towards doing this in real time there is a convergence between animal and human science which means the same statistical techniques are used for both livestock and human genetics. With computing power and the human resource that is being deployed, we can move towards close to real-time host and viral genetic studies.

The study of zoonotic pathogens those that can move from animal to a human is at the heart of discovering the way coronavirus spreads, both locally and globally.

Virologist Christine Tait-Burkard, a research fellow at the Roslin Institute, has been working on coronaviruses for more than 12 years. She says: Coronaviruses have an inherent potential for cross-species transmission as one of the properties they have is that they can swap large parts of their genome relatively easily, and that is a bit reminiscent of the most known zoonotic virus, the influenza virus.

International data accumulation and sharing has helped build understanding of coronavirus. Tait-Burkard says this includes looking at treatments for other diseases, such as cardiac conditions and cancer, which can help develop help with coronavirus we can harness that and also tackle coronavirus.

And she says the drugs needed should be taken as early as possible, not when a patient has had to be hospitalised. We really need a pill that people can take at home when they get the first symptoms.

Tait-Burkards work with international colleagues includes looking at the livestock, the wildlife and the human coronaviruses and finding the commonalities, taking all the data together so that we can get drugs that are there for any future pandemic.

We need to leverage lessons from Covid, says Professor Ross Fitzgerald, personal chair of molecular bacteriology at the University of Edinburgh. His work focuses on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), described as a slow pandemic and a huge public health threat, with estimates suggesting hundreds of thousands of deaths occur worldwide due to infections caused by resistant bacteria. This is a major health crisis that has taken a back seat since the pandemic, he says, warning that effective antibiotics could run out.

A lot of the work to find a solution to AMR surrounds data, says Fitzgerald faster diagnostics, more sequence information and real time surveillance of humans, animals and the environment on a global scale.

And he adds that the work on coronavirus can now help tackle AMR. We need to unite academia, industry, government and policy-makers so we are all working together, communicating the data effectively to address the impact of AMR.

Fitzgerald is concerned there is not sufficient volume of data to address AMR at the moment. We need more data, but to get the value from it we need to have really good descriptive information it is high-quality data that we need.

And he is a strong advocate of developing artificial intelligence and machine learning to harness that data. We know that it will allow us to track the emergence and spread of resistance and pathogens.

Professor Lisa Boden, chair of population medicine and veterinary public health policy at the University of Edinburgh, says that from a One Health perspective, there have been issues surrounding the way coronavirus has been dealt with.

She says: Covid-19 has really made visible different types of vulnerabilities in our institutions, our governance and our legal structures, and those are really due to entrenched health, social, racial, political and economic inequalities at different scales, at a local and international level.

Boden says there has been a lack of complete data particular for people living on the edges of society and those people who are living in communities which might be remote, rural and geographically isolated.

To change this, she advocates a non-linear approach which looks at both the causes of inequality as well as at a disease itself, using multi-sectoral datasets.

But with the experience of a vast amount of data collection, use and sharing surrounding the pandemic, some believe future outbreaks could look a lot different.

Lycett says: We will be able to predict and quantify the risk of having a pandemic. Whether we will be able to predict the exact time and place of the event itself is very variable. But certainly to predict risky areas and risky situations, it is possible.

Tait-Burkard agrees, saying: It is probably not all that easy to predict when the transmission is going to happen but what we can learn from this pandemic is to be better prepared. And we now have the facilities in place to do that preparedness, we will have to make sure there is money available to maintain these facilities.

This article first appeared in The Scotsmans Life Sciences 2021 supplement. A digital version can be found here.

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How experts have deployed data to tackle Covid-19 and plan for future pandemics - The Scotsman