Article
Genetics & Heredity
Gabriel Lazaro-Munoz, Laura Torgerson, Stacey Pereira
Summary: Psychiatric genetics researchers generally support returning various results to patient-participants, but they lack adequate knowledge and guidelines.
GENETICS IN MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
M. Grace Trinidad, Kerry A. Ryan, Chris D. Krenz, J. Scott Roberts, Amy L. McGuire, Raymond De Vries, Brian J. Zikmund-Fisher, Sharon Kardia, Erica Marsh, Jane Forman, Madison Kent, David Wilborn, Kayte Spector-Bagdady
Summary: The selection of genetic databases by researchers has scientific, regulatory, and ethical implications. Ease of access is the most important factor in database selection, and data features such as size and available phenotype are also important. Consideration of demographic diversity in database selection is limited.
GENETICS IN MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Taylorlyn Stephan, Shawn M. Burgess, Hans Cheng, Charles G. Danko, Clare A. Gill, Erich D. Jarvis, Klaus-Peter Koepfli, James E. Koltes, Eric Lyons, Pamela Ronald, Oliver A. Ryder, Lynn M. Schriml, Pamela Soltis, Sue VandeWoude, Huaijun Zhou, Elaine A. Ostrander, Elinor K. Karlsson
Summary: Genomics research has primarily focused on humans and a limited number of species, resulting in a lack of understanding about the genomes of the majority of species. However, a broad view that encompasses the vast diversity of life is necessary to comprehend how genomes function and how genetic variation shapes phenotypes. Integrating comparative genomics with other fields is crucial for scientific discovery and the protection of ourselves and our world.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Maira Schobert, Marco Krueger, Friedrich Gabel, Kati Orru, Tor-Olav Naevestad, Alexandra Olson, Abriel Schieffelers
Summary: This article provides an example of integrating ethics into inter- and transdisciplinary research and emphasizes the importance of reflecting on ethical issues in disaster research.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DISASTER RISK REDUCTION
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Sara Nawaz, Terre Satterfield
Summary: This paper explores the notion of naturalness and its impact on the perception of genetic engineering. It argues that 'naturalness' should not be dismissed as irrational and proposes a systematic review of scholarly interpretations to give weight to the concept. The study finds that '(un)naturalness' is not just a quality of an object, but rather a characteristic of ecological, social, cultural, and spiritual relationships.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & POLICY
(2022)
News Item
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Smriti Mallapaty
Summary: Concerns about excessive interference are overshadowing the proposal for protecting children whose genomes were edited.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Robert K. Robbins, Qian Cong, Jing Zhang, Jinhui Shen, Julia Quer Riera, Debra Murray, Robert C. Busby, Christophe Faynel, Winnie Hallwachs, Daniel H. Janzen, Nick Grishin
Summary: The research team found that the evolution of cycad feeding and conspicuous coloration in Eumaeus was accompanied by little genomic change. After its origin, Eumaeus split into two fast-evolving lineages instead of forming a clump of close relatives. This indicates parallel evolution among the two lineages of Eumaeus.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Article
Cultural Studies
Tess Doezema
Summary: Scientific knowledge and authority play a central role in addressing biodiversity loss and climate change. The Human Genome Project and the Earth Biogenome Project have demonstrated the potential benefits of advancing science and technology, but also highlight the need for ethical considerations and the negotiation of human-environment relationships. These projects contribute to the construction of environmental ethics and biodiversity while institutionalizing practices for ordering the world accordingly.
SCIENCE AS CULTURE
(2023)
News Item
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Heidi Ledford
Summary: This sentence points out that there are still technical obstacles while society is grappling with the social and ethical implications of heritable genome editing.
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Annabel Whibley
Summary: The global threat to biodiversity is increasing, but recent advances in sequencing and assembly technologies have brought about a golden age for biodiversity genomics. Researchers reported a high-quality draft genome assembly of the endangered vaquita, whose population has sharply declined due to bycatch, in a recent issue of Molecular Ecology Resources.
MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES
(2021)
Review
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Shawn Peng, Donald M. Broom
Summary: The practice of keeping pet birds is harming wild bird populations and bird welfare, with many pet birds suffering from inadequate housing and poor health. More efforts should be made to educate prospective bird owners on proper care and needs of birds, as well as enforce laws to prohibit unethical practices such as taking birds from the wild.
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Ge Peng, Mildred Cho
Summary: This article presents a mixed-methods protocol for developing and testing the implementation of a stewardship maturity matrix (SMM) for repositories that manage access to human genomic data in the cloud. The protocol combines Delphi survey methods with SMM modeling to develop an impact assessment tool for data stewardship. The article discusses the strengths and limitations of the mixed-methods design and offers considerations for handling quantitative and qualitative data.
FRONTIERS IN GENETICS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Mara K. N. Lawniczak, Richard Durbin, Paul Flicek, Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, Xiaofeng Wei, John M. Archibald, William J. Baker, Katherine Belov, Mark L. Blaxter, Tomas Marques Bonet, Anna K. Childers, Jonathan A. Coddington, Keith A. Crandall, Andrew J. Crawford, Robert P. Davey, Federica Di Palma, Qi Fang, Wilfried Haerty, Neil Hall, Katharina J. Hoff, Kerstin Howe, Erich D. Jarvis, Warren E. Johnson, Rebecca N. Johnson, Paul J. Kersey, Xin Liu, Jose Victor Lopez, Eugene W. Myers, Olga Vinnere Pettersson, Adam M. Phillippy, Monica F. Poelchau, Kim D. Pruitt, Arang Rhie, Juan Carlos Castilla-Rubio, Sunil Kumar Sahu, Nicholas A. Salmon, Pamela S. Soltis, David Swarbreck, Francoise Thibaud-Nissen, Sibo Wang, Jill L. Wegrzyn, Guojie Zhang, He Zhang, Harris A. Lewin, Stephen Richards
Summary: The Earth BioGenome Project (EBP) is a global international initiative that requires agreement and coordination on standards. To ensure rapid progress towards its goals, EBP has established five technical standards committees and made the current versions of the standards documents available on its website.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Marta Liber, Isabel Duarte, Ana Teresa Maia, Hugo R. Oliveira
Summary: This study investigates the evolutionary history and domestication process of lentils using genotyping-by-sequencing and archaeological information, identifying 87,647 SNPs and confirming the phylogeny and domestication of lentils. Two domesticated gene pools of lentils emerged in Southwest Asia region, with some alleles related to domestication and climate adaptation identified. The results have implications for plant domestication, genetic diversity distribution, and gene targeting in breeding programs.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Review
Computer Science, Information Systems
Anto Cartolovni, Ana Tomicic, Elvira Lazic Mosler
Summary: This comprehensive review highlights the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of AI in healthcare. It identifies key issues surrounding AI algorithms, physicians, patients, and healthcare in general, including patient safety, algorithmic transparency, lack of regulation, liability and accountability. While AI shows potential in improving patient care, it is important to address the complex ELSI concerns before implementation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INFORMATICS
(2022)
Article
Health Care Sciences & Services
Kevin P. Weinfurt, Juli M. Bollinger, Elizabeth May, Gail Geller, Debra J. H. Mathews, Stephanie R. Morain, Lorrie Schmid, Diane L. Bloom, Jeremy Sugarman
Summary: This study investigated the reactions of respondents to a letter communicating background collateral findings. The results indicated that the signatory and level of detail about the findings did not significantly impact people's intentions to contact their doctor. The decision of whether to include a description of the pragmatic clinical trial involves a trade-off between transparency and complexity of understanding.
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Amber Hartman Scholz, Jens Freitag, Christopher H. C. Lyal, Rodrigo Sara, Martha Lucia Cepeda, Ibon Cancio, Scarlett Sett, Andrew Lee Hufton, Yemisrach Abebaw, Kailash Bansal, Halima Benbouza, Hamadi Iddi Boga, Sylvain Brisse, Michael W. Bruford, Hayley Clissold, Guy Cochrane, Jonathan A. Coddington, Anne-Caroline Deletoille, Felipe Garcia-Cardona, Michelle Hamer, Raquel Hurtado-Ortiz, Douglas W. Miano, David Nicholson, Guilherme Oliveira, Carlos Ospina Bravo, Fabian Rohden, Ole Seberg, Gernot Segelbacher, Yogesh Shouche, Alejandra Sierra, Ilene Karsch-Mizrachi, Jessica da Silva, Desiree M. Hautea, Manuela da Silva, Mutsuaki Suzuki, Kassahun Tesfaye, Christian Keambou Tiambo, Krystal A. Tolley, Rajeev Varshney, Maria Mercedes Zambrano, Joerg Overmann
Summary: Open access to sequence data is crucial for biology and biodiversity research, but it has caused tension under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Finding a practical solution to ensure international benefit-sharing without jeopardising open sharing is a major challenge for the CBD and other UN negotiations.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Editorial Material
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
R. Michael Roberts, Harris A. Lewin
ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANIMAL BIOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Kunal Sanghavi, Betty Cohn, Anya E. R. Prince, W. Gregory Feero, Kerry A. Ryan, Kayte Spector-Bagdady, Wendy R. Uhlmann, Charles Lee, J. Scott Roberts, Debra J. H. Mathews
Summary: Consumer interest in genetic and genomic testing is growing, leading commercial vendors to expand their customer base by selling genetic testing services to employers for workplace wellness programs. The ethical, legal, and social implications of workplace genetic testing are being addressed, and it is important to develop governance based on data.
NPJ GENOMIC MEDICINE
(2022)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer, Anne W. T. Muigai, Simplice Nouala, Bouabid Badaoui, Mark Blaxter, Alan G. Buddie, Erich D. Jarvis, Jonas Korlach, Josiah O. Kuja, Harris A. Lewin, Roksana Majewska, Ntanganedzeni Mapholi, Suresh Maslamoney, Michele Mbo'o-Tchouawou, Julian O. Osuji, Ole Seehausen, Oluwaseyi Shorinola, Christian Keambou Tiambo, Nicola Mulder, Cathrine Ziyomo, Appolinaire Djikeng
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Marco Corbo, Joana Damas, Madeline G. Bursell, Harris A. Lewin
Summary: This study used high throughput chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C) to investigate the evolutionary stability of chromatin conformation at the chromosomal level in 11 species from three carnivore families. The results showed that chromatin conformation is conserved during carnivore evolution and can be accurately identified through Hi-C contact maps analysis. The study also discovered significant differences in chromatin conformation for the X chromosome and the red fox genome.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2022)
Article
Ecology
Georgia G. Hernandez, Timothy M. Perez, Oscar M. Vargas, W. John Kress, Ramon Molina-Bravo, Roberto A. Cordero, Jeffrey R. Seemann, Carlos Garcia-Robledo
Summary: Tropical wet forest plants usually experience stable temperatures, but tropical forests consist of various habitats with different temperatures. When exotic species are introduced to new communities, their previous adaptation to high temperatures may give them a competitive advantage, and increasing temperatures can be an environmental filter affecting community assembly. This study examines heat tolerance in Zingiberales species and finds that heat tolerance is influenced by evolutionary history and habitat, and exotic species have slightly higher heat tolerance than native species.
FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Aline da Silva Soares Souto, Carlos Roberto Sobrinho do Nascimento, Carla de Oliveira Rosas, Marilia Martins Nishikawa, Maria Helena Simoes Villas Boas, Manuela da Silva
Summary: The objective of this study was to establish Cryptococcus neoformans and Cryptococcus gattii as certified reference materials (CRMs) for the diagnosis of cryptococcosis. The CRMs were found to be stable and homogeneous, and their quantitative and qualitative characterization was conducted. The assigned property values and uncertainties for each CRM were determined.
ACCREDITATION AND QUALITY ASSURANCE
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Chenxi Zhou, Shane A. McCarthy, Richard Durbin
Summary: YaHS is a user-friendly command-line tool that constructs chromosome-scale scaffolds from Hi-C data. It requires minimal input from users (an assembly file and an alignment file), can be run with a single-line command, and provides assembly results in multiple formats, enabling rapid and accurate construction of high-quality genome assemblies.
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Manuela da Silva, Philippe Desmeth, Stephanus N. Venter, Yogesh Shouche, Andrey Yurkov
Summary: Restrictions imposed by countries like India, South Africa, or Brazil on the distribution of biological material prevent the use of strains as type material for validating or publishing prokaryotic species names. This issue extends beyond prokaryotic taxonomy and has implications for other areas of biological research.
TRENDS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ethics
Jill O. Robinson, Amira Daoud, Janis Geary, Vasiliki Rahimzadeh, Juli Bollinger, Christi J. Guerrini, Robert Cook-Deegan, Amy L. McGuire, Mary A. Majumder
Summary: Sharing cancer gene variant data and addressing issues of financial sustainability, equity, incentives, privacy/security, and data quality are crucial to advance cancer genomics. Evidence-based policy options, especially stable funding for trusted entities, can facilitate data sharing and interpretation of cancer-associated genomic variants. Expert stakeholders favored policy options focused on action by funders and were skeptical of options involving legislative actors and data resources. These findings provide valuable inputs for policymakers to enable sharing of cancer gene variant data and improve health outcomes.
JOURNAL OF LAW AND THE BIOSCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Ethics
Patricia Deverka, Janis Geary, Charles Mathews, Matan Cohen, Gillian Hooker, Mary Majumder, Zuzana Skvarkova, Robert Cook-Deegan
Summary: Germline genetic testing has shifted to multi-gene panel tests, which detect more pathogenic variants but also more variants of uncertain significance (VUSs). Data sharing among laboratories is critical to addressing the VUS problem, but barriers and lack of incentives limit contributions to the ClinVar database. Payers can play a crucial role in expanding knowledge and effectiveness of genetic testing but current policies create challenges. Mandating data sharing and incentivizing quality in payment contracts can help close knowledge gaps and improve patient outcomes.
JOURNAL OF LAW AND THE BIOSCIENCES
(2023)
