GM pig feed, fluoride debate, Tuatara genome sequencing

SMC Heads-Up: GM pig feed, fluoride debate, Tuatara genome sequencing

GM pig feed study scrutinised

New research indicating GM soy and corn feed may cause stomach inflammation in pigs has been treated with caution by experts.

A study examining the long-term health effects in pigs of a diet containing genetically modified crops was published this week in the Journal of Organic Systems, an Australian journal funded by the Organics Federation of Australia.
The 168 pigs in the study were fed a diet of either GM or non-GM corn and soy over the course of their normal commercial lifespan (just over five months) at a pig farm in the United States.  

The study found evidence that stomach inflammation classified as 'severe' was higher in pigs fed the GM diet. It also found that pigs in the GM feed group had, on average, a heavier uterus. There were no other significant differences between the two groups of pigs in terms of disease, organ biochemistry, weight or mortality.

New Zealand experts contacted by the SMC, while not dismissive of the study, were unconvinced of the ultimate findings without further replication. 

Prof Peter Dearden, Director of Genetics Otago, said,

"There may be something in this paper, but it needs repeating, and a more robust study needs publishing in a high impact, international journal. That would encourage me to think that that the weak effects seen here are not just an artifact." 

Prof Thomas Lumley, University of Auckland, commented:

"The study should not change policy on its own, but it is worth taking seriously for future research. If the same results were found in a replication they might signal a harmful effect of high doses of the specific insecticidal proteins in these GM feed varieties."  

You can read further expert commentary on the Science Media Centre website. 

Gluckman: fluoride science settled

Sir Peter Gluckman waded into the fluoride debate this week with a strong statement backing the science supporting the fluoridation of water.

The Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister wrote that scaremongering around fluoride was a classic example of "science being a proxy for values debates".

"The fluoride debate is based in no small part on numerous examples of inappropriate extrapolation from what happens at hugely higher doses of fluoridation, combined with what is frankly scaremongering.

"Further, because the way one looks for side effects following population interventions requires particular epidemiological approaches, the language of evidence-based medicine can be confusing to the non-expert and easily exploited."

The Hamilton City Council last week voted 7-1 to stop fluoridating the city's water supply. Hamilton councillor Ewan Wilson, who is on the Waikato District Health Board and did not participate in the fluoride vote on legal advice, is now pushing for a binding referendum on fluoridation of the city's water.

On the science radar this week...   
Bad news for bees, cheetah success secrets, brainy gamers, social media snobbery and ancient iceman brain damage. 

Antarctic research funding top-up 
The New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute has announced its first wave of newly funded projects, with research teams from seven universities, three crown research institutes and two independent research organisations picking up funding.

Much of the research will focus on establishing how vulnerable Antarctica is to climate change.

The funded projects include:

- Assessing past, present and future polar amplification.
Professor Tim Naish, Antarctic Research Centre - Victoria University of Wellington
- Southern Ocean and Antarctic climate response to high atmospheric CO2 forcing
Dr Richard Levy, GNS Science and Dr Robert McKay, Antarctic Research Centre - Victoria University of Wellington
- A semi-empirical model of the stratosphere in the Antarctic climate system
Dr Greg Bodeker, Bodeker Scientific
- The adaptive capacity of Antarctic marine invertebrates to a warming and acidifying Southern Ocean
D. Miles Lamare, Department of Marine Science - University of Otago
- Response of Bindshadler and MacAyeal Ice Stream grounding zone to iceberg calving events and implications for future change in West Antarctica.
Professor Christina Hulbe, School of Surveying - University of Otago
- Whales, seals and penguins: Defining functional roles and trophic dependencies of key top predators in the Ross Sea
Dr Regina Eisert, Gateway Antarctica - University of Canterbury
- Assessing and Validating Biometrics for Change: Ecoforecasting for Terrestrial Antarctica  
Professor Craig Cary, ICTAR (International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research) - University of Waikato

The NZARI projects are funded by the Robertson Foundation and Air New Zealand.

Quoted: Stuff.co.nz

"Removing the patents on the building blocks of life ensures that scientific discovery and medical care based on insights into human DNA will remain freely accessible and widely disseminated, not hidden behind a vast thicket of exclusive rights." 

American Medical Association President Dr. Jeremy A. Lazarus on the US court decision to prevent the patenting of human genes.  

Sequencing the tuatara genome
Sciblogs welcomes a new blog to the fold penned by scientists seeking to unlock the genetic codes of one our most treasured native species - the tuatara.

Sequencing - the Tuatara Genome blog is edited by existing Sciblogger Dr David Winter. The sequencing project will be carried out by PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, many of them part of the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution.

"The tuatara has a unique position in New Zealand culture," said Dr. Winter.

"It is considered a taonga or treasure by Maori and is an important part of a natural heritage that for which all New Zealanders are justifiably proud. Given the spiritual and cultural importance of tuatara, we thought it was important that its genome be sequenced in New Zealand and with the help of those iwi who have special relationships with the species."

The sequencing project will be a major job, and each step of the process will be documented on Sciblogs.

"The tuatara is an endangered species, and learning more about its biology may help us protect it," said Dr Winter.

"Populations with lots of genetic diversity are better able to overcome threats, such as climate change and disease, which may put species at greater risk in the future."

Read Sequencing - the tuatara genome on Sciblogs.

New from the SMC

Experts Respond: 

GM Pig feed: Experts respond to new research indicating GM feed causes inflammation in farmed pigs.
Reflections on Science:

Gluckman on Fluoridation: The PM's Chief Science Advisor, Prof Sir Peter Gluckman adds his voice to the discussion on water fluoridation. 
blogs highlights
ohe highlights from this week's posts:

It's Not Robots, It's You! A family discussion with Darcy Cowan about robots clears up a few things about the existence of robots.
pticon

Alcohol: sleep aid or hindrance? Contrary to popular opinion, a quick nightcap might not be the key to a good nights sleep, writes Karyn O'Keeffe.
Sep on it

McKibben: NZ needs to move away from oil and coal - Gareth Renowden interviews long time climate campaiugner Bill MicKibben from 350.org, who is currently touring New Zealand.
Hot Topic

Research highlights

Please note: hyperlinks point, where possible, to the relevant abstract or paper. 

Superbug gonorrhoea:  Last-line antibiotics are increasingly ineffective against gonorrhoea, but prescribing changes could help delay spread of untreatable disease, according to a UK study that analysed lab samples from patients. While the prevalence of resistant strains has sky-rocketed over the last decade, prescribing practices introduced in 2011 have hampered their spread in recent years, say the authors. Antibiotic resistant strains of gonorrhoea were first reported in New Zealand two years ago.
Lancet Infectious Diseases

Fossil teeth reveal tropical Queensland: Chemical analysis of tooth enamel from an ancient kangaroo and other extinct marsupials reveal that southeastern Queensland 2.5-5-million-years ago was a mosaic of tropical forests, wetlands and grasslands and much less arid than previously thought. The result also offer clues regarding the habits of these prehistoric marsupials and how they became extinct.
PLOS One

Sober drivers not-so-sober: They may volunteer to be the one to get their friends home safely, but "designated drivers" often drink -- even to a level that impairs them behind the wheel, according to new US research. The study of more than 1,000 bar patrons found that approximately 40 percent of designated drivers had been drinking alcohol. What's more, most of those drinkers had blood alcohol levels that could impair driving.
Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Preventing post-operative infections: Previous research has shown that 85 percent of staph infections after surgery come from patients' own bacteria. Now US a group of clinicians is recommending guidelines that will cut the infection rate by 71 percent. They say that testing patients for certain type of bacteria before surgery and applying antibacterial nose ointments will drastically reduce the incidence of post-operative infections.
BMJ

Bottom melt on Antarctic ice shelves: Conventional wisdom has held that ice shelves around Antarctica (covering 1.5 million square km) lose mass mostly by iceberg calving, where chunks of ice simply break off from the floating ice. However A new survey drawing on satellite observations and modelling of ice formation has discovered that ice shelf calving is not the dominant process of ice removal. Rather, ice melting from the bottom of the shelf due to warming oceans actually accounts for as much shrinkage as calving.
Science

Policy updates
Some of the policy highlights from this week:   

Swine games:  NZ officials will be observing and assisting the  the UK government's animal disease exercise which will simulate a national scale outbreak of swine fever.

Situation MPI: The Ministry for Primary Industries has released its annual Situation and Outlook report, which includes production, trade and pricing statistics for the current season and for three or four years out.

Hort antibiotic: The EPA is inviting people to have their say on an application for a new antibiotic, KASUMIN 2L, to be used on kiwifruit and some other horticultural crops, to treat bacterial diseases such as Psa.

Upcoming sci-tech events 
Making Wellington the natural capital: cats, rats and other predators - Talk from Gareth Morgan - 14 June, Wellington.  
Why students cheat and how to turn the problem into a 'teachable moment' - Seminar from Jason Stephens - 18 June, Auckland.
Understanding epigenetics through mathematics - Terry Speed -  18 June, Dunedin; 19, Christchurch; 20 Wellington.
KiwiNet Innovation Awards - 19 June, Auckland. 
For these and more upcoming events, and more details about them, visit the SMC's Events Calendar.

ENDS

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