A new, deeper understanding of how the breeding structure of species affects their genetic diversity is giving conservationists better tools for saving animals. In March 2018 at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, surrounded by his devoted keepers, Sudan the northern white rhino breathed his last. He wasn’t the only remaining northern white rhino because three females in protective captivity survived him.
But Sudan’s death ended any hope of those females breeding naturally and rendered the northern white rhino effectively extinct. The moment made headlines, and the world lamented the high-profile extinction. But it wasn’t a true species extinction event. Northern white rhinos are just a distinct subset, or subspecies, of white rhino. More than 10,000 white rhinos are still left in the southern subspecies. White rhinos as a species aren’t even endangered.
Nevertheless, ever since Sudan’s death, Cynthia Steiner, an associate director in conservation genetics for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and her colleagues have gone to great lengths to try to reboot the northern subspecies. They’re working to turn stem cells collected from the remaining females into embryos for in vitro fertilization. They want more northern white rhinos, and mixing in genes from southern white rhino males just won’t do.
“Before, people would say, we need to save the species,” Steiner explained. “But that’s not enough if you think about it. When you talk about species, you’re not considering the whole evolutionary potential of all the different groups that make up that species. That’s why the new notion is: We really want to save the genetic structure of the species, these different populations — subspecies — that have unique characteristics at the genomic level.”
In recent years, biologists have developed a deeper understanding of how the relationship between genetic diversity and population structure can influence the fate of a species. They’ve long understood how geography and ecological variations often partition species into subspecies or other small distinct populations of individuals who are more closely related to one another than to outsiders.
Now, with the help of better tools and techniques for studying the genomes of creatures in the wild, researchers are discovering the full extent of how much the genetic dynamics within and among those populations can affect how resiliently a species can evolve and adapt to changing conditions over time………..
Plants protect themselves from environmental hazards like insects, drought and heat by producing salicylic acid, also known as aspirin. A new understanding of this process may help plants survive increasing stress caused by climate change.
UC Riverside scientists recently published a seminal paper in the journal Science Advances reporting how plants regulate the production of salicylic acid. The researchers studied a model plant called Arabidopsis, but they hope to apply their understanding of stress responses in the cells of this plant to many other kinds of plants, including those grown for food.
“We’d like to be able to use the gained knowledge to improve crop resistance,” said Jin-Zheng Wang, UCR plant geneticist and co-first author on the new study. “That will be crucial for the food supply in our increasingly hot, bright world.”
Environmental stresses result in the formation of reactive oxygen species or ROS in all living organisms. Without sunscreen on a sunny day, human skin produces ROS, which causes freckles and burns. High levels of ROS in plants are lethal.
As with many substances, the poison is in the amount. At low levels, ROS have an important function in plant cells. “At non-lethal levels, ROS are like an emergency call to action, enabling the production of protective hormones such as salicylic acid,” Wang said. “ROS are a double-edged sword.”
The research team discovered that heat, unabated sunshine, or drought cause the sugar-making apparatus in plant cells to generate an initial alarm molecule known as MEcPP.
Going forward, the researchers want to learn more about MEcPP, which is also produced in organisms such as bacteria and malaria parasites. Accumulation of MEcPP in plants triggers the production of salicylic acid, which in turn begins a chain of protective actions in the cells.
“It’s like plants use a painkiller for aches and pains, just like we do,” said Wilhelmina van de Ven, UCR plant biologist and co-first study author.
The acid protects plants’ chloroplasts, which are the site of photosynthesis, a process of using light to convert water and carbon dioxide into sugars for energy.
“Because salicylic acid helps plants withstand stresses becoming more prevalent with climate change, being able to increase plants’ ability to produce it represents a step forward in challenging the impacts of climate change on everyday life,” said Katayoon Dehesh, senior paper author and UCR distinguished professor of molecular biochemistry.
“Those impacts go beyond our food. Plants clean our air by sequestering carbon dioxide, offer us shade, and provide habitat for numerous animals. The benefits of boosting their survival are exponential,” she said.
Without the ability to feel pain, life is more dangerous. To avoid injury, pain tells us to use a hammer more gently, wait for the soup to cool or put on gloves in a snowball fight. Those with rare inherited disorders that leave them without the ability to feel pain are unable to protect themselves from environmental threats, leading to broken bones, damaged skin, infections, and ultimately a shorter life span.
In these contexts, pain is much more than a sensation: It is a protective call to action. But pain that is too intense or long-lasting can be debilitating. So how does modern medicine soften the call?
As a neurobiologist and an anesthesiologist who study pain, this is a question we and other researchers have tried to answer. Science’s understanding of how the body senses tissue damage and perceives it as pain has progressed tremendously over the past several years. It has become clear that there are multiple pathways that signal tissue damage to the brain and sound the pain alarm bell.
Interestingly, while the brain uses different pain signaling pathways depending on the type of damage, there is also redundancy to these pathways. Even more intriguing, these neural pathways morph and amplify signals in the case of chronic pain and pain caused by conditions affecting nerves themselves, even though the protective function of pain is no longer needed.
Painkillers work by tackling different parts of these pathways. Not every painkiller works for every type of pain, however. Because of the multitude and redundancy of pain pathways, a perfect painkiller is elusive. But in the meantime, understanding how existing painkillers work helps medical providers and patients use them for the best results.
Anti-inflammatory painkillers
A bruise, sprain, or broken bone from an injury all lead to tissue inflammation, an immune response that can lead to swelling and redness as the body tries to heal. Specialized nerve cells in the area of the injury called nociceptors sense the inflammatory chemicals the body produces and send pain signals to the brain.
Common over-the-counter anti-inflammatory painkillers work by decreasing inflammation in the injured area. These are particularly useful for musculoskeletal injuries or other pain problems caused by inflammation such as arthritis.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), naproxen (Aleve), and aspirin do this by blocking an enzyme called COX that plays a key role in a biochemical cascade that produces inflammatory chemicals. Blocking the cascade decreases the amount of inflammatory chemicals, and thereby reduces the pain signals sent to the brain. While acetaminophen (Tylenol), also known as paracetamol, doesn’t reduce inflammation as NSAIDs do, it also inhibits COX enzymes and has similar pain-reducing effects.
Prescription anti-inflammatory painkillers include other COX inhibitors, corticosteroids, and, more recently, drugs that target and inactivate the inflammatory chemicals themselves.
Because inflammatory chemicals are involved in other important physiological functions beyond just sounding the pain alarm, medications that block them will have side effects and potential health risks, including irritating the stomach lining and affecting kidney function. Over-the-counter medications are generally safe if the directions on the bottle are followed strictly.
Corticosteroids like prednisone block the inflammatory cascade early on in the process, which is probably why they are so potent in reducing inflammation. However, because all the chemicals in the cascade are present in nearly every organ system, long-term use of steroids can pose many health risks that need to be discussed with a physician before starting a treatment plan.
Topical medications
Many topical medications target nociceptors, the specialized nerves that detect tissue damage. Local anesthetics, like lidocaine, prevent these nerves from sending electrical signals to the brain.
The protein sensors on the tips of other sensory neurons in the skin are also targets for topical painkillers. Activating these proteins can elicit particular sensations that can lessen the pain by reducing the activity of the damage-sensing nerves, like the cooling sensation of menthol or the burning sensation of capsaicin.
Because these topical medications work on the tiny nerves in the skin, they are best used for pain directly affecting the skin. For example, a shingles infection can damage the nerves in the skin, causing them to become overactive and send persistent pain signals to the brain. Silencing those nerves with topical lidocaine or an overwhelming dose of capsaicin can reduce these pain signals.
Nerve injury medications
Nerve injuries, most commonly from arthritis and diabetes, can cause the pain-sensing part of the nervous system to become overactive. These injuries sound the pain alarm even in the absence of tissue damage. The best painkillers in these conditions are those that dampen that alarm.
Antiepileptic drugs, such as gabapentin (Neurontin), suppress the pain-sensing system by blocking electrical signaling in the nerves. However, gabapentin can also reduce nerve activity in other parts of the nervous system, potentially leading to sleepiness and confusion.
Antidepressants, such as duloxetine and nortriptyline, are thought to work by increasing certain neurotransmitters in the spinal cord and brain involved in regulating pain pathways. But they may also alter chemical signaling in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to an upset stomach.
All these medications are prescribed by doctors.
Opioids
Opioids are chemicals found or derived from the opium poppy. One of the earliest opioids, morphine, was purified in the 1800s. Since then, medical use of opioids has expanded to include many natural and synthetic derivatives of morphine with varying potency and duration. Some common examples include codeine, tramadol, hydrocodone, oxycodone, buprenorphine and fentanyl.
Opioids decrease pain by activating the body’s endorphin system. Endorphins are a type of opioid your body naturally produces that decreases incoming signals of injury and produces feelings of euphoria—the so-called “runner’s high.” Opioids simulate the effects of endorphins by acting on similar targets in the body. Although opioids can decrease some types of acute pain, such as after surgery, musculoskeletal injuries like a broken leg, or cancer pain, they are often ineffective for neuropathic injuries and chronic pain.
Because the body uses opioid receptors in other organ systems like the gastrointestinal tract and the lungs, side effects and risks include constipation and potentially fatal suppression of breathing. Prolonged use of opioids may also lead to tolerance, where more drug is required to get the same painkilling effect. This is why opioids can be addictive and are not intended for long-term use. All opioids are controlled substances and are carefully prescribed by doctors because of these side effects and risks.
Cannabinoids
Although cannabis has received a lot of attention for its potential medical uses, there isn’t sufficient evidence available to conclude that it can effectively treat pain. Since the use of cannabis is illegal at the federal level in the US, high-quality clinical research funded by the federal government has been lacking.
Researchers do know that the body naturally produces endocannabinoids, a form of the chemicals in cannabis, to decrease pain perception. Cannabinoids may also reduce inflammation. Given the lack of strong clinical evidence, physicians typically don’t recommend them over FDA-approved medications.
Matching pain to drug
While sounding the pain alarm is important for survival, dampening the klaxon when it’s too loud or unhelpful is sometimes necessary.
No existing medication can perfectly treat pain. Matching specific types of pain to drugs that target specific pathways can improve pain relief, but even then, medications can fail to work even for people with the same condition. More research that deepens the medical field’s understanding of the pain pathways and targets in the body can help lead to more effective treatments and improved pain management.
A new report has exposed how five of the world’s wealthiest nations are threatening the chance to tackle the climate crisis by claiming leadership on the issue yet continuing to pump vast sums of money into fossil fuels.
“The Fossil Fuelled 5,” a research paper from the non-profit Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, charges that the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Norway and Australia hold the distinction of being wealthy fossil fuel-producing countries “with high levels of historic responsibility for the climate crisis, and low levels of dependence on fossil fuels for economic development.”
The paper claims that the five nations have provided $150 billion in taxpayer-funded support for fossil fuel production and consumption through the duration of the coronavirus pandemic. It further makes the case that there is a “widening gap” between the countries’ rhetoric and their real-world behaviour when it comes to fossil fuel use, which undermines their claims of leadership on climate action.
“There’s an alarming gap between what wealthy nations are saying and what they are doing,” said Freddie Daley, the report’s lead author and a research associate at the University of Sussex in the U.K. “You would expect these five nations to provide the leadership needed to move the global economy away from fossil fuels and reduce emissions to zero. However, they seem to be quite content to make pledges and promises with one hand, while expanding and subsidizing fossil fuel production to the tune of billions on the other.”
Among its highlights, the report notes that the U.S. is responsible for 20% of all global historical greenhouse gas emissions, making it the largest polluter in world history. Despite being home to just 4.28% of the world’s population, the country’s share of annual global greenhouse gas emissions stands at about 14.5%. In spite of this, the U.S. still intends to expand its oil and gas industries by 17% and 12% respectively by 2030.
The U.K., which is currently hosting the COP26 climate summit, is the second largest oil and gas exporter in Europe after Norway, and has pledged some $40 billion for fossil fuel production and consumption during the coronavirus pandemic. In spite of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s worthy words at COP26, the current government continues to support new oil and gas projects including the controversial Cambo oil field in the North sea, containing an estimated 255 million barrels of crude oil.
Elsewhere, the report shows that Canada aims to increase oil and gas production by 17% and 18% respectively by 2040; Australia is the world’s largest gas exporter and plans to continue to expand its coal, oil and gas industries; and that 42% of the value of Norway’s exports comes from oil and gas.
The report bolsters the case put forward by youth activists that the climate promises of wealthy nations are little more than hot air, and that while countries continue to support fossil fuels, any talk of climate action amounts to empty rhetoric.
The report arrives the same week as the establishment of a new global alliance to end oil and gas production. The Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance (BOGA) was launched at COP26 by the governments of Denmark and Costa Rica, joined by core members France, Greenland, Ireland, Quebec, Sweden and Wales. BOGA members have signed up to “set an end date for their oil and gas exploration and extraction” in alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Notably, COP26 host the U.K. has refused to join the alliance, despite the inclusion of Wales, which joined thanks to the work of Senedd Cymru member Lee Waters. The U.S., Canada, Australia and Norway are also conspicuous by their absence.
“Not only are these wealthy nations jeopardizing their own futures and the futures of their citizens through this continued expansion, but they are condemning communities in the global south to a state of perpetual crisis which they did nothing to create,” Daley said. “If these nations want to be climate pioneers, it is time they addressed the elephant in the room: fossil fuels.”
According to the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report, fossil fuels like oil and gas are the source of 86% of carbon dioxide emissions released over the last decade. To stay on course with keeping global temperature increases to within 1.5 degrees Celsius this century—a target the scientific community says must be adhered to in order to avoid the most dangerous climate impacts—the international community needs to cut its emissions by at least 55% by 2030.
At present, climate commitments made by all nations will lead to emissions reductions of just 7.5% by 2030, meaning action on slashing emissions must be increased by a factor of five. Yet according to the Stockholm Environment Institute, the oil and gas industry is expected to invest $1.4 trillion into new fossil fuel projects between 2020 and 2024, “creating emissions equivalent to building 1,200 new U.S. coal-fired power stations.”
Climate campaign groups around the world have given the report a warm welcome. Tessa Khan, founder of energy transition campaign group Uplift U.K. said: “The U.K. government has invested a lot in trying to persuade people that it is taking action to tackle the climate crisis, but while it is still opening up new oil and gas fields we can discount most of it as hot air. We know that there can’t be any fossil fuel developments if we want a liveable climate and yet the U.K. government wants to open 30 new oil and gas fields in the North Sea, starting with Cambo. And all the while subsiding fossil fuel companies to the tune of billions.”
Meanwhile, Collin Rees, U.S. program manager for the advocacy group Oil Change International, said: “The United States is the poster child for climate hypocrisy—the world’s largest historical emitter claiming the mantle of climate leadership while pouring fuel on the fire of the climate crisis. Joe Biden’s words will ring hollow until he cancels deadly fossil fuel expansion projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline or the dozens of proposed oil and gas export terminals awaiting approval from his administration.
This new report makes it clear the U.S. remains a massive driver of oil and gas expansion, and that won’t change until our leaders commit to a managed phase-out of fossil fuel extraction that truly protects communities, workers, and the climate.”
“Call it a Climate Crisis”. ActionNetwork.org. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 26 July 2019. Earliest Wayback Machine archive is May 17, 2019.
Rosenblad, Kajsa (December 18, 2017). “Review: An Inconvenient Sequel“. Medium (Communication Science news and articles). Netherlands. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. … climate change, a term that Gore renamed to climate crisis
“Climate Change: The Facts”. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC Australia). August 2019. Archived from the original on November 11, 2019.
Restaurant patrons who’ve grown accustomed during the pandemic to whipping out their phones to access menus using QR codes should understand the implications for their personal data, say privacy and cyber-security experts.
That’s especially important given some restaurant owners are finding electronic menus efficient and cost effective, and that they may hold onto the practice even after COVID-19 is more contained.
It’s not the QR code itself that collects customer data, said Dustin Moores, a privacy lawyer with nNovation LLP in Ottawa.
“What the QR code does is it sort of acts as a web link to a web page. So when you scan a QR code on your phone, in all likelihood it is going to send you to either the restaurant’s website, or to the website of a service provider that’s being used by the restaurant,” he told Cost of Living producer Jennifer Keene.
“What’s happening is we’re replacing a very sort of innocuous object, a restaurant menu, with a website that comes with all the sort of tracking technologies that you see in modern e-commerce today.”
A marketing device
Bringing up an online menu on your phone doesn’t mean you’re handing data such as your birth date and banking details to bad actors on the internet.
The more immediate implication is that it gives your local pub, or the platform they use, new knowledge of your behaviours and preferences that it can use to better sell to you.
“If you’re a returning customer to to one of these restaurants that use the QR code technology, they might be able to say, ‘Hey, we know that Jennifer ordered the Caesar salad last time; let’s put it at the top of our menu this time because we know that she likes it,'” said Moores.
The restaurant could also use the information it has gathered to upsell customers, such as suggesting the customer add chicken to that salad, he said. Ot it could try to influence your choices by offering a discount on the dish you enjoyed last time.
Moore said it’s also likely that the QR code will take you to a website that uses third-party cookies that can be used to track your web browsing habits. “Let’s say it was a Hungarian restaurant that you visited. Well then other Hungarian restaurants in the area might start advertising to you all of a sudden,” he said.
An issue of consent
Moore said his biggest legal concern about the spike in use of QR code-enabled menus is consent.
“I think what might get lost on a lot of restaurant owners is that, like every other business in Canada, they’re subject to our privacy laws,” he said. “Whenever a business collects, uses or shares personal information in the course of commercial activities, they need to have people’s consent to do that.”
Cyber-security expert Yuan Stevens, policy lead for technology, cyber-security and democracy at Ryerson University’s Leadership Lab, said the security concerns related to QR codes remain “fairly hypothetical.”
“I have not yet found any cases in Canada of QR codes being used for stealing data or violating your privacy,” she said. “But I also think it is useful to keep in mind what concerns we should be aware of as technology becomes ubiquitous.”
Someone who wants to direct you to a malicious website could “fast track” that process using a QR code, said Stevens. “Phishing and scams are already happening. And QR codes would just be another conduit to that.”
She said some restaurants are using QR codes to gather contact tracing information as well as for menus.
With the drive to reduce contact with surfaces and each other, QR codes have increased in popularity during the pandemic, said Stevens, particularly in China, where their use increased six per cent between 2019 and 2020.
QR-code enabled vaccination verification systems are now in place in Manitoba and New Brunswick, and will be in Ontario as of Oct. 22.
Jenny Burthwright, owner of Jane Bond BBQ in Calgary, said her business introduced QR code menus in the fall of 2020 when they’d been “ripping through” paper menus while trying to keep COVID-safe.She plans to keep the higher-tech system in place post-pandemic.
“There’s a very obvious cost savings to it,” she said. “With the rising costs of everything, we considered that, and also environmentally just wanted to move away from that paper.
Restaurants are also finding it easier and faster to update an online menu than a printed one, said Olivier Bourbeau, a vice-president of Restaurants Canada, the industry association representing food-service employers.
Being able to quickly add or remove a menu item, or update the price of the dish, is particularly useful given the complexities of running a food-service business during this crisis, including rising food costs and supply-chain problems that delay delivery of ingredients.
Those advantages will likely mean many restaurants will keep the QR-code system in place, Bourbeau said.
Protective measures
To mediate the risks associated with leaving a digital trail every time you order a brisket sandwich or a poke bowl, there are some precautions consumers can take, according to cyber-security expert Stevens.
The same principles that you’d apply to avoiding phishing and other online scams generally also apply to using QR codes, she said.
“Be careful of offers that seem too good to be true. Don’t give sensitive information over email or phone to untrusted sources. Be careful what you click on.”
Treat a QR code with the same care as an email attachment, and keep your eyes peeled for printed QR codes that look like they’ve been duplicated — one stuck on top of another, said Stevens.
It’s worth taking the time to check with your host or server to make sure the QR code you’re about to use is legit, she said.
“You want to be really careful that the QR code you’re scanning is actually the restaurant’s, otherwise you could be misled. And that’s when you’d be scammed.
Samantha Mash for Quanta Magazine
Nevertheless, ever since Sudan’s death, Cynthia Steiner, an associate director in conservation genetics for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and her colleagues have gone to great lengths to try to reboot the northern subspecies. They’re working to turn stem cells collected from the remaining females into embryos for in vitro fertilization. They want more northern white rhinos, and mixing in genes from southern white rhino males just won’t do.
