Environmental release of transgenic trees in Canada — potential benefits and assessment of biosafety

1998 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Mullin ◽  
S. Bertrand
Keyword(s):  
Tree Breeding ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Transgenic Trees ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Regulatory Oversight ◽  
Novel Traits ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Plants With Novel Traits ◽  
Potential Benefits

The release of new genetic materials into forest ecosystems, regardless of the method used to develop them, should be done in an environmentally responsible manner. Canada is participating with the OECD in efforts to harmonize regulatory control of products derived from biotechnology, including forest trees. Prepared under contract to the Canadian Forest Service, the purpose of this document is to facilitate a discussion within the forestry community, leading to improved direction of research and contributing to the harmonization of regulatory oversight of genetically engineered forest trees. While the focus of the paper is on transgenic trees, many of the issues raised are equally applicable to all novel products from tree breeding. Key words: biotechnology, environmental impact, genetic engineering, plants with novel traits, regulations, risk assessment, transgenic trees, tree breeding

scholarly journals The European Green Capital Award—Is It a Dream or Reality for Belgrade (Serbia)?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6182
Author(s):  
Marijana Pantić ◽  
Saša Milijić
Keyword(s):  
Urban Transformation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Transmission Of Knowledge ◽  
Current State ◽  
Transitional Countries ◽  
Great Hope ◽  
Environmentally Responsible ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
The City ◽  
Insight Into

An agreement of cooperation and transmission of knowledge regarding the nomination for the European Green Capital Award (EGCA) was signed between the mayors of Belgrade and Ljubljana (EGCA 2016 winner) in September 2018. The candidacy of Belgrade was finally realized in October 2019. Great hope was placed in this endeavour because internationally recognized awards, such as the EGCA, represent enormous capital for both the city and the state. The EGCA requires serious preparation and significant fulfilment of preconditions. Many economically strong and environmentally responsible cities competed for the award, but did not win. On the other hand, the capital of Serbia does not appear to be an obvious winning candidate, especially as it is differentiated from the previous winners by being a non-EU city and by the fact that it is still undergoing an intense urban transformation, characteristic of transitional countries. Therefore, the main aim of this article is to present a review of the current state of Belgrade’s environmental qualities and its comparison with the EGCA criteria and with Grenoble as one of the winning competitors. The article gives a full overview of the EGCA requirements with certain details on required indicators, gives relevant insight into the procedure, which could be of use for any future candidacy, and discusses potential benefits for winners, losers and repeat candidacies.

Real-World Evidence in the Real World: Beyond the FDA

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 161-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan H. Krause ◽  
Richard S. Saver
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care System ◽  
Real World ◽  
Regulatory Oversight ◽  
The Real ◽  
Health Care Fraud ◽  
Fda Approval ◽  
Real World Evidence ◽  
Potential Benefits ◽  
Care System

The 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”) relies on the concept of real-world evidence (“RWE”) to improve the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) approval process. This has amplified interest and furthered momentum in applying RWE more broadly, beyond FDA regulation. In this article, we discuss the understandable appeal of RWE's pragmatic application and its many potential benefits. But we also caution that claims about RWE's wide-ranging, ameliorative impact on the health care system are likely overstated.The real world of RWE is messy and uncertain. Successfully incorporating RWE into regular health care system decision-making, beyond the FDA, faces considerable obstacles and limitations. We review the reasons to be wary about RWE as a game-changer. These concerns including data reliability, insufficient incentives for stakeholders to generate and engage with high-quality RWE, and lack of comprehensive regulatory oversight. In addition, the push for RWE may impact the enforcement of the health care fraud and abuse laws, perhaps not in necessarily positive ways. Increased reliance on RWE may have significant implications for off-label fraud enforcement, further conflating the distinction between claims that are false for reimbursement rather than for scientific purposes.

A HIGLY EFFICIENT PROCEDURE FOR GENERATING CARNATION PLANTS WITH NOVEL TRAITS

2000 ◽  
pp. 49-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Ovadis ◽  
A. Zuker ◽  
T. Tzfira ◽  
E. Shklarman ◽  
G. Scovel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Efficient Procedure ◽  
Novel Traits ◽  
Plants With Novel Traits

scholarly journals Toward a rational and ethical sociotechnical system of autonomous vehicles: A novel application of multi-criteria decision analysis

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256224
Author(s):  
Veljko Dubljevic ◽  
George List ◽  
Jovan Milojevich ◽  
Nirav Ajmeri ◽  
William A. Bauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Analysis ◽  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Regulatory Control ◽  
Sociotechnical System ◽  
Multi Criteria Decision Analysis ◽  
Reliable Assessment ◽  
The Status ◽  
Potential Benefits

The impacts of autonomous vehicles (AV) are widely anticipated to be socially, economically, and ethically significant. A reliable assessment of the harms and benefits of their large-scale deployment requires a multi-disciplinary approach. To that end, we employed Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis to make such an assessment. We obtained opinions from 19 disciplinary experts to assess the significance of 13 potential harms and eight potential benefits that might arise under four deployments schemes. Specifically, we considered: (1) the status quo, i.e., no AVs are deployed; (2) unfettered assimilation, i.e., no regulatory control would be exercised and commercial entities would “push” the development and deployment; (3) regulated introduction, i.e., regulatory control would be applied and either private individuals or commercial fleet operators could own the AVs; and (4) fleets only, i.e., regulatory control would be applied and only commercial fleet operators could own the AVs. Our results suggest that two of these scenarios, (3) and (4), namely regulated privately-owned introduction or fleet ownership or autonomous vehicles would be less likely to cause harm than either the status quo or the unfettered options.

scholarly journals Engineering Forest Trees with Heavy Metal Resistance Genes

2006 ◽  
Vol 55 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 263-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Merkle
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Environmentally Friendly ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Metal Resistance ◽  
Transgenic Trees ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Toxic Heavy Metals

Abstract Pollution of soil and water with heavy metals such as mercury, cadmium and arsenic, is a worldwide problem. Phytoremediation, the use of plants to remove, sequester or detoxify pollutants, including heavy metals, offers an environmentally-friendly alternative to engineering- based methods for remediation. Forest trees have multiple features that make them particularly useful for removal of toxic heavy metals, especially if they can be engineered with genes allowing them to handle high levels of these elements. Although still in its infancy, research with transgenic trees carrying genes allowing them to detoxify or sequester some heavy metals has already made promising progress. Most of the work to date has been performed using poplar species and hybrids, although other woody species could be equally as useful. Trees have been engineered with genes for the handling of mercury, cadmium, copper and arsenic following two main approaches, phytoextraction and phytotransformation/ phytovolatilizaton. In vitro studies have shown the transgenic trees to have enhanced abilities to tolerate and/or accumulate these metals, and preliminary results from field tests indicate that the trees are functioning. New combinations of genes involved in metal transport or conversion may further enhance the heavy metal remediation capabilities of the transgenic trees. Given the environmentally friendly application, forest trees engineered for phytoremediation may be some of the first transgenic forest trees approved for operational deployment.

scholarly journals Phenolic metabolites in the resistance of northern forest trees to pathogens — past experiences and future prospects

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 2711-2727 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanna Witzell ◽  
Juan A. Martín
Keyword(s):  
Defense Mechanisms ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Tree Breeding ◽  
Laser Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Confocal Laser ◽  
Forest Trees ◽  
Northern Forest ◽  
Phenolic Metabolites ◽  
Future Studies

Phenolic metabolites are frequently implicated in chemical defense mechanisms against pathogens in woody plants. However, tree breeding programmes for resistance to pathogens and practical tree-protection applications based on these compounds seem to be scarce. To identify gaps in our current knowledge of this subject, we explored some of the recent literature on the involvement of phenolic metabolites in the resistance of northern forest trees (Pinus, Picea, Betula, Populus, and Salix spp.) to pathogens. Although it is evident that the phenolic metabolism of trees is often activated by pathogen attacks, few studies have convincingly established that this induction is due to a specific defense response that is capable of stopping the invading pathogen. The role of constitutive phenolics in the resistance of trees to pathogens has also remained unclear. In future studies, the importance of phenolics in oxidative stress, cell homeostasis and tolerance, and the spatial and temporal localization of phenolics in relation to invading pathogens should be more carefully acknowledged. Possibilities for future studies using advanced methods (e.g., metabolic profiling, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and use of modified tree genotypes) are discussed.

Genetic Engineering

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 601-615
Author(s):  
Kevin Wilger ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Germ Line ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Human Person ◽  
Genetically Engineered ◽  
Human Embryos ◽  
Germ Line Cell ◽  
Engineering Research ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Potential Benefits

Genetic engineering is a rapidly evolving field of research with potentially powerful therapeutic applications. The technology CRISPR-Cas9 not only has improved the accuracy and overall feasbility of genome editing but also has increased access to users by lowering cost and increasing usability and speed. The potential benefits of genetic engineering may come with an increased risk of off-target events or carcinogenic growth. Germ-line cell therapy may also pose risks to potential progeny and thus have an additional burden of proof for safety. Persons responsible for evaluating the ethics of genetic-engineering research programs or clinical trials should do so in light of the nature, integrity, and totality of the human person. Recent news of the implantation and birth of genetically engineered human embryos is just one example of increased rogue science. Health care institutions should consider what steps can be taken to prevent or slow this trend.

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