New BlueBio project: SeaSoil - Value creation and ecosystem services of European seaweed industry by reducing and handling potentially toxic elements (PTE) from breeding to soil

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Individual variation and intraclass correlation in arachidonic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid in chicken muscle

Chicken meat with reduced concentration of arachidonic acid (AA) and reduced ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids has potential health benefits because a reduction in AA intake dampens prostanoid signaling, and the proportion between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids is too high in our diet. Analyses for fatty acid determination are expensive, and finding the optimal number of analyses to give reliable results is a challenge. The objective of the present study was i) to analyse the intraclass correlation of different fatty acids in five meat samples, of one gram each, within the same chicken thigh, and ii) to study individual variations in the concentrations of a range of fatty acids and the ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acid concentrations among fifteen chickens. Fifteen newly hatched broilers were fed a wheat-based diet containing 4% rapeseed oil and 1% linseed oil for three weeks. Five muscle samples from the mid location of the thigh of each chicken were analysed for fatty acid composition. The intraclass correlation (sample correlation within the same animal) was 0.85-0.98 for the ratios of total omega-6 to total omega-3 fatty acids and of AA to eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). This indicates that when studying these fatty acid ratios, one sample of one gram per animal is sufficient. However, due to the high individual variation between chicken for these ratios, a relatively high number of animals (minimum 15) are required to obtain a sufficiently high power to reveal significant effects of experimental factors (e.g. feeding regimes). The present experiment resulted in meat with a favorable concentration ratio between omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. The AA concentration varied from 1.5 to 2.8 g/100 g total fatty acids in thigh muscle in the fifteen broilers, and the ratio between AA and EPA concentrations ranged from 2.3 to 3.9. These differences among the birds may be due to genetic variance that can be exploited by breeding for lower AA concentration and/or a more favorable AA/EPA ratio to produce meat with health benefits

Policies to promote breeding for lice-resistant salmon – incentives designed for resilient and sustainable growth in aquaculture?

Sea lice represent a persistent and growing problem, challenging the resilience and growth of the salmon aquaculture industry. In this Norwegian case study, we studied and discuss how the absence of policy instruments directed at stimulating breeding for lice resistance (LR) might be explained. We found well-documented opportunities for selection progress for LR. Hence, breeding on LR appears with an untapped potential. We discuss how market-based, legal, institutional, and interest-based factors can explain this. Methodologically, we obtained data from document and literature studies and interviews with key players (salmon breeders, farmers, NGOs and governmental bodies in Norway). First, LR is a polygenic trait, that makes it poorly suited for patenting. Furthermore, if only a small proportion of fish farmers choose seeds with higher LR, other operators can easily take on the free-rider role, because they will not suffer from reduced gain in growth performance, as a result of a much stronger emphasis on LR in the breeding goal. The market is thus hardly expected to stimulate stronger selection for LR in Norwegian salmon breeding. Second, neither genetic engineering (e.g. gene editing), still struggling with consumer acceptance, nor the uncertainty associated with possible changes in the Norwegian Gene Technology Act stimulate investment in LR via e.g. CRISPR technology. Thirdly, public policy instruments in their entirety have targeted other types of innovations against salmon lice, and none have so far been used to stimulate breeding companies to emphasize LR more strongly in their breeding programs. From a political point of view, it seems that breeding has been left to the market and the private sector. However, neither the NGOs nor the public seem to be aware of, or pay significant attention to the breeding potential to improve LR and fish welfare. Fragmented management of the aquaculture sector can camouflage the close ties between political and business interests. The industry is hesitant to invest significantly in long-term breeding targets such as significantly higher genetic LR. This may strengthen the assumption that strong economic interests will reduce the role of science in knowledge-based management. As farmed salmon are increasingly being exposed to stressful delousing treatments, mortality and associated welfare problems have increased significantly. For instance, large fish die more often from CMS (cardiomyopathy syndrome). The result is growing demand for CMS-resistant salmon. This gives rise to a paradoxical situation: increasing treatments with high mortality and fish welfare issues in farmed salmon, while the lice threat to wild salmon persists.Policies to promote breeding for lice-resistant salmon – incentives designed for resilient and sustainable growth in aquaculture?publishedVersio

Flåttbåren sykdom og velferd hos sau

De største utfordringene for velferden på sau i beiteperioden er sjodogg, fluelarver, alveld og rovdyr (Norges Forskningsråd 2005, Norsk sau og geitavlslag 2001). Økte transportavstander og transporttid samt negativ økonomisk utvikling i saueholdet og en dreining mot mer ekstensive driftsformer gir også grunn til bekymring for velferden til sauen i norsk sauehold. I økologisk landbruk er et høyt nivå på dyrevelferd og god dyrehelse eksplisitte mål (Debio 2003). Muligheten til å utøve naturlig atferd er et viktig prinsipp, og beitedrift er derfor et viktig aspekt i økologisk landbruk. Utfordringene i både økologisk og konvensjonelt landbruk er ofte sammenfallende, men i økologisk landbruk legger en spesielt stor vekt på årsaksorientert problemløsing og forebyggende tiltak. Økologiske bønder ønsker for eksempel ikke å være avhengig av rutinemessig bruk av syntetisk fremstilte medisiner og preparat (Debio 2003) fordi det stilles spørsmål om slik gjentatt behandling er bærekraftig. Problemer med resistens mot slike medisiner er godt dokumentert (Wharton 1983). Utbredelsen av flått øker og utbredt bruk av flåttdrepende midler (acaricider) medfører derfor enda større bruk av slike midler på sikt. Det er derfor behov for alternative strategier for å kontrollere flåttinfeksjon. Prosjektet Improved welfare in sheep production – preventive measures, disease resistance and robustness related to tick-borne fever in sheep er et 4-årig prosjekt som skal se på forebyggende tiltak mot flåttbåren sykdom og produksjonstap i norsk sauehold

New Developments in Biotechnology and IPR in Aquaculture – Are They Sustainable?

The objective of this chapter is to give an overview and analysis of the current trends and developments in biotechnology in aquaculture research and management. The technological developments along with structural changes in the aquaculture sector may affect access and intellectual property rights (IPR) regimes. These issues will be discussed in a wide perspective involving both short and long-term biological effects, ethical and other social aspects (economic, legal and political issues), including their partly inherent contradictions needing compromising for sustainable development. The chapter will focus on current biological challenges within aquaculture as a growing food production sector, with less emphasis on external effects such as environmental effects. Cases from farmed salmon and cod in Norway in addition to shrimp and tilapia in Asia will be highlighted

Higher health literacy is associated with better glycemic control in adults with type 1 diabetes:a cohort study among 1399 Danes

Aim: Self-management of diabetes is influenced by a range of factors including the ability to access, understand, appraise, and use of health information in everyday life, which can collectively be called health literacy. We investigated associations between nine domains of health literacy and HbA1c level in people with type 1 diabetes.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 1399 people with type 1 diabetes attending a Danish specialist diabetes clinic. Health literacy was assessed using the nine-domain Health Literacy Questionnaire. The association between health literacy and HbA1c was analyzed using linear regression with adjustment for age, sex, educational attainment and diabetes duration. Results: Of the 1399 participants, 50% were women, mean age was 54 years, and mean HbA1c was 61 mmol/mol (7.8%). Higher health literacy scores were associated with lower HbA1c levels across eight of nine health literacy domains. This association remained significant after adjusting for educational attainment. Among the domains, \u27Actively managing my health\u27 had the strongest impact on HbA1c. This was in turn predicted by \u27Appraising health information\u27, \u27Having sufficient information to manage health\u27, and \u27Social support for health\u27. Conclusions: Higher health literacy levels are associated with lower HbA1c regardless of educational background. This study highlights the importance of healthcare provision to respond to the health literacy levels of people with diabetes and to the possible need to provide program designed to enhance health literacy

Loss-of-Function Variants in Cytoskeletal Genes Are Associated with Early-Onset Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, and it is associated with an increased risk of heart failure, stroke, dementia, and death. Recently, titin-truncating variants (TTNtv), which are predominantly associated with dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), were associated with early-onset AF. Furthermore, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) associated AF with other structural genes. In this study, we investigated whether early-onset AF was associated with loss-of-function variants in DCM-associated genes encoding cytoskeletal proteins. Using targeted sequencing, we examined a cohort of 527 Scandinavian individuals with early-onset AF and a control group of individuals free of AF (n = 383). The patients had onset of AF before 50 years of age, normal echocardiogram, and no other cardiovascular disease at onset of AF. We identified six individuals with rare loss-of-function variants in three different genes (dystrophin (DMD), actin-associated LIM protein (PDLIM3), and fukutin (FKTN)), of which two variants were novel. Loss-of-function variants in cytoskeletal genes were significantly associated with early-onset AF when patients were compared with controls (p = 0.044). Using publicly available GWAS data, we performed genetic correlation analyses between AF and 13 other traits, e.g., showing genetic correlation between AF and non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (p = 0.0003). Our data suggest that rare loss-of-function variants in cytoskeletal genes previously associated with DCM may have a role in early-onset AF, perhaps through the development of an atrial cardiomyopathy

Triploid Atlantic salmon in aquaculture - Consequences for fish health and welfare under farming conditions

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