Archive for the ‘Linkposts’ Category
Science Policy Around the Web, November 04, 2021
By Dorothy Butler, PhD
To slow global warming, some researchers want to pull methane out of the air
This week, the United Nations Climate Change Conference has brought many nations together to discuss actions that can accelerate the goals of the Paris Agreement, which include limiting global warming to a 1.5°C rise above pre-industrial levels. Typically, carbon dioxide is the focal point of these conversations. However, at this summit, methane has some of the focus. Not only do researchers and advocates want to put less methane in the air, they also want to take methane out of the atmosphere.
Methane traps more heat than carbon dioxide but breaks down into carbon dioxide and water in about 10 years. Methane significantly contributes to global warming, and it is estimated than the amount of methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled since pre-industrial times. Sources of methane emissions include leaks from coal mines and oil and gas operations, cattle, landfills, and wetlands.
Several different strategies have been proposed for removing methane. One includes speeding up its natural oxidation through an iron-salt aerosol mixture to increase chlorine to help break down methane. Another is to use titanium dioxide paint as a catalyst in the presence of ultraviolet light to oxidize methane. This catalyst containing paint could be used on building or wind turbines.
Even though removing methane from the atmosphere could improve global warming, there are some hurdles to overcome while developing the technologies. Methane exists as levels of less than 200 times carbon dioxide, and some researchers liken removing methane to removing a needle from a haystack. And while it might help with the methane problem, it is unknown what spraying iron-salt mixtures will do to global atmospheric chemistry. Additionally, the amount of funding that has been directed towards methane removal technology is abysmal compared to the funding that has been directed at carbon dioxide.
While methane is just one greenhouse gas, informing policy makers and funders about its impact and how to reduce its emission or remove it entirely is an important step that some researchers are hoping will come out of the United Nations climate summit.
(Cathleen O’Grady, SCIENCE)
Science Policy Around the Web October 26, 2021
By Maria Disotuar, MPH, PhD
In a major scientific advance, a pig kidney is successfully transplanted into a human
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) defines xenotransplantation as any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion into a human recipient of either live cells, tissues or organs from a nonhuman animal source or human body fluids, cells, tissues or organs that have had ex vivo contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues, or organs.
On Saturday, September 25, 2021, doctors from NYU Langone Health transplanted the kidney from a genetically modified pig into a deceased woman. The woman’s organs could not be used in traditional organ donation and thus her family consented to keeping her on a ventilator while the doctors studied the kidney’s function. Xenotransplantation is not new and has been attempted since the 17th century but it wasn’t until the 20th century that scientists began to experiment transplanting organs from baboons into humans. The attempts were unsuccessful and due to public outcry scientists transitioned to using pigs. From an organ perspective, pig organs are similar to humans, they are large in size, pig heart valves have proven successful in humans, and pig skin grafts have been used successfully for burns. Importantly, pigs are farm animals, and a majority of the population views them as a food source which makes them less problematic from an ethical perspective.
In the study, the kidney was observed for 54 hours and urine production and creatinine levels were monitored. The results indicate all parameters were normal and importantly, there were no signs of rejection. Traditionally, rejection has been a major hurdle since pig cells contain alpha-gal, a sugar that would normally lead to organ rejection. The pig used in this study lacks the gene that produces this sugar and was engineered by a company called Revivicor. The FDA has now approved these genetically modified pigs as safe for use in medicine and food but they are requiring additional information and documentation before pig organs can be used for living humans.
Although various ethical concerns remain and the public may not be receptive to the idea of raising pigs for organ donation, experts stress that this is an important step forward in the field and, in the long-term, these results may help save thousands of lives each year.
(The Associated Press, NPR)
Science Policy Around the Web October 21, 2021
By Surangi Perera, PhD
Climate change: Fossil fuel production set to soar over next decade
The 2021 Production Gap Report – released by leading research institutes and the UN Environment Programme – has found that major economies in the world will more than double the amount of coal, oil and gas they produce by 2030, compared to 2019 levels. This is contrary to the pledges made by most of these countries in agreement with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming. The countries analyzed in the Production Gap Report include Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Paris Climate Agreement was signed in 2015 by almost 200 countries to hold countries accountable and take actions to limit global warming, the human-induced increase in Earth’s temperature. Impacts of global warming have been increasing at an alarming rate in the last few decades, with the burning of fossil fuels being a major culprit. Fossil fuels however remain the main sources of energy used by people across the globe, presenting a serious burden in combating global warming.
Authors of the report emphasize that “the research is clear: global coal, oil, and gas production must start declining immediately.” The findings of the Gap Report come at an important time, as world leaders and more than 25,000 people plan to gather for the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, UK later this month.
(Matt McGrath, BBC)
Science Policy Around the Web October 19, 2021
By Patience Kiyuka, PhD
WHO recommends groundbreaking malaria vaccine for children at risk
The World Health Organization (WHO) on October 6 approved the use of RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) malaria vaccine among young children in regions with moderate to high malaria transmission. Announcing the recommendation, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said “this is a historic moment. The long-awaited malaria vaccine for children is a breakthrough for science, and malaria control. Using this vaccine on top of existing tools to prevent malaria could save tens of thousands of young lives each year.”
Malaria is a complex parasite with a life cycle in two hosts: mosquito and human. And for so long, scientists have been looking for the elusive vaccine. The challenges that have hampered vaccine development include parasite diversity; the parasite can express many different proteins at different stages, making it difficult for scientists to determine which of the numerous proteins should be put into vaccine formulations. Second, epidemiological observations indicate that people who live in areas with constant exposure to malaria acquire resistance to malaria; however, this immunity is short-lived. Lastly, the acquired immunity is partially protective. Many people will still get infected, but they don’t necessarily become sick; they will carry the parasites but go on with their daily lives. Worth noting also is that immunity to severe life-threatening disease is acquired early in life, and children become older and develop immunity to a milder form of the disease.
The announcement of this approval was somewhat good news to researchers in the field. It means the vaccine has the potential to avert thousands of deaths that occur in young children in regions with lots of malaria. The vaccine which trades under the name Mosquirix is not only the first for malaria but for any parasitic disease. However, some scientists are skeptical. Clinical trials for Phase 3 indicated that the vaccine is only about 50% effective in the first year of life and the efficacy wanes with time. Although, should the vaccine be used in combination with other preventive measures such as chemoprophylaxis it can prevent severe diseases, deaths and hospitalization compared to if used alone.
Science Policy Around the Web October 14, 2021
By Katie Hudson, PhD
White House moves to restore key environmental review rules
Last week, the Biden administration announced that the White House Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ) would restore federal regulations in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that were weakened last year by the Trump administration. NEPA was signed into law in 1970 and is considered to be one of the most influential federal environmental laws, as it requires all federal agencies to first assess the environmental impacts of any major proposed actions.
The previous administration’s changes allowed agencies to exclude climate impact evaluations during project planning, removed restrictions on fossil fuel projects, and permitted many project categories to escape regulatory oversight by NEPA. Federal agencies will again be required to account for climate change and other environmental impacts of their proposed projects. This decision comes at a crucial time to mitigate climate change, as evidence shows that human activity over the past century has caused a global warming trend that, according to international experts, will lead to catastrophic events unless immediate action is taken.
The CEQ summarized their three major changes to the 2020 NEPA revision:
- Restore the requirement that federal agencies evaluate all the relevant environmental impacts of the decisions they are making.
- Restore the full authority of agencies to work with communities to develop and analyze alternative approaches that could minimize environmental and public health costs.
- Establish CEQ’s NEPA regulations as a floor, rather than a ceiling, for the environmental review standards that federal agencies should be meeting.
A White House Council for Environmental Quality chairperson stated that “the basic community safeguards we are proposing to restore would help ensure that American infrastructure gets built right the first time and delivers real benefits – not harms – to people who live nearby. […] Patching these holes in the environmental review process will help reduce conflict and litigation and help clear up some of the uncertainty that the previous administration’s rule caused.” Senator Tom Carper (D-Delaware) of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee commended the CEQ’s decision, as he and others in Congress and the White House are currently working to pass major legislation to improve the country’s infrastructure that would inevitably lead to a flood of new projects under NEPA regulation. Carper commented that “at a time when we are on the precipice of passing a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation’s infrastructure, the changes proposed today will improve certainty to avoid project slowdowns and litigation.” Other members of his party, as well as environmental advocate groups, also praised the proposed NEPA changes.
CEQ will spend the next several months working on additional proposals for a second phase of changes to NEPA regulations, focusing on how the general public and local communities can best contribute to shaping the future federal environmental review process.
(Valerie Volcovici, Reuters)
Science Policy Around the Web October 12, 2021
By Somayeh Hooshmand, PhD
Youth E-Cigarette Use Remains Serious Public Health Concern Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Youth e-cigarette use among middle and high school students remains as a serious public health concern based on the data from the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that over 2 million U.S. middle (grades 6–8) and high (grades 9–12) school students reported currently using e-cigarettes in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and almost 85 percent of youths using e-cigarettes used flavored products. The most commonly used flavor types were fruit; candy, desserts, or other sweets; mint; and menthol.
Nearly all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, contain nicotine. There is nothing good about nicotine. Studies have shown that nicotine exposure during adolescence, can cause addiction and has harmful effects on the developing brain. It is critical to consider the implications of changing patterns of e-cigarette use among teens and young adults, who don’t fully understand the short- and long-term health effects of these products. E-cigarette use among this group is associated with increased risk of developing psychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment later in life.
What we do know is that use of e-cigarettes is increasing rapidly among young people who aren’t regular cigarette smokers and e-cigarette companies market their products with the multitude of appealing flavors and devices that are more attractive to this group. As a result, educating students and providing them with the knowledge and skills to become more aware of marketing that targets them can go a long way in helping them understand the dangers and long-term risks of e-cigarettes.
Science Policy Around the Web October 7th, 2021
By Enrica Calzoni, MD, PhD
A ‘Historic Event’: First Malaria Vaccine Approved by W.H.O.
So far, no approved human vaccine has existed against malaria, or, in general, against any parasitic disease. The first vaccine for Malaria, Mosquirix (the RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,s) malaria vaccine), the new and long-awaited vaccine by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), was approved by the World Heath Organization (WHO) on Wednesday, 6th October 2021 as result of more than 30 years of Research and Development by GSK in partnership with PATH (a non profit organization) and support from many African research centers. It is given to infants in three doses between 5 and 17 months of age, and a forth dose approximately 18 months later. More than 2.3 million doses have been administered in three countries (Kenya, Malawi and Ghana) showing a strong safety profile and high impact especially in children with a significant reduction (30%) in deadly severe malaria, the part of a population which is extremely vulnerable to the disease. The new vaccine is protective against Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest of the malaria parasites and most prevalent in Sub-Saharian Africa. The disease is very insidious, and can strike the same individual over and over. Each year, about 500,000 people, including 260,000 children under 5, die after contracting the disease. Prediction studies have shown that roll out of the vaccine in countries with high incidence of malaria could prevent more than 5 million cases and 23,000 death in children. The road to the perfect vaccine against malaria is not finished, but Mosquirix will help turn the tide.
Financing for the pilot program has been mobilized through an unprecedented collaboration among three key global health funding bodies: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and Unitaid. The Malaria Vaccine Implementation Program is coordinated by WHO and supported by in-country and international partners, including PATH, UNICEF and GSK, which is donating up to 10 million doses of the vaccine for the pilot.
(Apoorva Mandavilli, The New York Times)
Science Policy Around the Web October 5th, 2021
By Trisha Tucholski, PhD
‘Unquestionably a game changer!’ Antiviral pill cuts COVID-19 hospitalization risk
Last Friday, pharmaceutical company Merck announced that their new antiviral pill, molnupiravir, cuts the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19 in half when administered early after infection with SARS-COV-2. The drug works by preventing the SARS-COV-2 virus from replicating its genome. Molnupiravir can be taken orally, while the other available antiviral COVID-19 treatments, remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies, must be given intravenously at a hospital. There were 775 non-hospitalized patients involved in the Phase 3 clinical trial for molnupiravir. Patients were enrolled within 5 days of symptoms and had at least one risk factor for developing severe disease. They were given a 5-day course of the antiviral drug. Originally, 1550 patients were to be enrolled in the trial, but an independent committee halted the study once it was clear the drug was effective. It is important to note that molnupiravir was not found to be effective in patients already hospitalized with severe COVID-19. Already, the U.S. government has purchased 1.7 million doses, which cost $700 per 5-day course. Experts agree the results of the study represent an important milestone in the treatment of COVID-19, but that it comes at too high a cost. Merck put out a statement that it plans to apply for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as soon as possible.
(By Robert F. Service and Kai Kupferschmidt, Science)
Science Policy Around the Web September 30th, 2021
By Anika V. Prabhu, PhD
How to stop ‘helicopter research colonization’
A recent paper in the journal PLOS Computational Biology is promoting ten rules to avoid ‘helicopter research’ – a practice where researchers from wealthier countries utilize collaborations, samples, and skills from researchers in countries with less STEM funding without appropriate acknowledgement.
Also known as ‘neo-colonial research’, the study argues that helicopter research often arises due to power imbalances. For example, researchers from high-impact STEM countries may often set the research agenda based on the priorities of their funding agencies, which typically dwarf the grant funding available in other countries. Subsequently, co-authorship is often not offered to their collaborators despite their essential contributions that may include project planning, knowledge of local biodiversity, and access to samples.
Briefly, the ten rules outlined in this study include:
- Establish “win-win” collaborations and equal partnerships
- Actively reach out to initiate collaborations [with underfunded international researchers]
- Establish collaborations that are synergistic
- Abide by local written and unwritten rules
- Recognize and embrace differences in working culture
- Instill non-colonial collaborative research practices early on
- Use local infrastructure
- Incorporate a capacity building component
- Be ethical and fair about publications and authorship
- Make your research available through local dissemination
Increasingly, research institutes, communities representing indigenous populations, and journals are recognizing and taking steps to avoid the unfair practices involved in helicopter research. For example, PLOS recently announced a new policy to improve transparency and inclusivity in studies performing global research. Potential authors can be asked to complete a questionnaire to identify and acknowledge contributions more accurately. As stated by Adriana Romero-Olivares – the senior author of this study – “Putting an end to helicopter research means that you’re also contributing to the strengthening of science in [underfunded countries]”.
(Helen Mendes, SciDev.Net)
Science Policy Around the Web September 28th, 2021
By Nicholas William Ashton, PhD
Unleashing Science: Delivering Missions for Sustainability
The International Science Council has this week launched a new report, outlining science policies and priorities the members of the council have identified as necessary to meet the immediate challenges of the 21st century. Released to coincide with the 76th General Assembly of the United Nations, the report is intended as an updated guide for Member States, to support their efforts in meeting their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the coming decade.
As a co-organizing partner of the UN Scientific and Technological Community “Major Group”, the International Science Council is tasked with engaging the scientific community to develop the science policies necessary to achieve sustainable development within the context of the UN’s “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”. The 2030 Agenda was unanimously agreed upon by all 193 UN member states in September 2015 and represents a broad and universal aim to end poverty, fight inequality, and ensure environmental protections.
Despite world-wide commitment to the 2030 Agenda, assessments at the 2021 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and the SDG Moment 2021 have highlighted that the world is currently not on track to meet these obligations, leading to calls for all actors to urgently redouble their implementation efforts. In agreeance with these forums, the ‘Unleashing Science” report recognizes that society is far off-track to deliver on the SDGs. The report calls for urgent realignment of most countries priorities and resources to deliver action and funding within science systems, to address food and water security, energy production, climate change, health and wellbeing, and responsible urban development.
(Scientific Advisory Group, International Science Council)
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