Biosafety of Genetically Modified Organisms: Mexican Experience

Presentation at the Controlling Dangerous Pathogens Project Regional Workshop on Dual-Use Research, Teresopolis, Brazi

Rediseño de distribución en planta para reducir el costo de movimiento de materiales en la Empresa de Calzado Paola Della Flores

El presente trabajo de investigación, tiene como finalidad proponer un rediseño de la distribución de instalaciones, que permita reducir el costo del movimiento de materiales en el proceso productivo de la empresa fábrica de calzado “Paola della Flores”. La realización de este proyecto, empieza a partir del estudio y análisis de todo el proceso de fabricación, partiendo de la observación de cada una de sus estaciones de trabajo, identificando oportunidades que permitan la realización de nuestro propósito: reducir los costos generados por las distancias recorridas por materiales. A partir de la información recolectada, se evaluó el sistema de trabajo en el departamento de producción, haciendo uso de los procedimientos y teorías de la Distribución de planta – SLP. El presente estudio, tiene como propósito conocer las distancias y el costo actual de recorrido para efectuar las operaciones y el número actual de cargas interdepartamentales; de esta manera proponer un rediseño de planta que reduzca la congestión del material en proceso. Se detalla una serie de técnicas e instrumentos de recolección de datos empleadas, además de los formatos de matriz “desde-hasta”, diagramas de flujos de procesos, diagrama de operaciones del proceso, diagrama de relaciones y formatos del diagrama de recorrido y distancias. La eficacia de la propuesta, se demostrará a partir de la comparación de los resultados del total del costo de recorrido actual, y el valor final del costo por recorrido en la propuesta basada en la ingeniería de métodos.The present research work has the purpose of proposing a design of the distribution of facilities, which allows to reduce the cost of the travel of materials in the production process of the footwear factory ""Paola della Flores"". The realization of this project begins with the study and analysis of the entire manufacturing process, based on the observation of each of its workstations, identifying opportunities that allow us to achieve our goal: to reduce costs generated by distances Covered by materials. From the information collected, the work system was evaluated in the production department, making use of the procedures and theories of the workshop - type distribution. The present study aims to know the distances and the current cost of travel to carry out the operations and the current number of interdepartmental loads; In this way to propose a plant design that reduces the congestion of the material in process. It details a series of data collection techniques and instruments used, in addition to the ""from-to"" matrix formats, process flow diagrams, process operations diagram, relationship diagram and path diagram formats and distances. The effectiveness of the proposal will be demonstrated by comparing the results of the total cost of the current route and the final value of the cost per route in the proposal based on the method engineering.Tesi

A concept for international societally relevant microbiology education and microbiology knowledge promulgation in society

Microbes are all pervasive in their distribution and influence on the functioning and well-being of humans, life in general and the planet. Microbially-based technologies contribute hugely to the supply of important goods and services we depend upon, such as the provision of food, medicines and clean water. They also offer mechanisms and strategies to mitigate and solve a wide range of problems and crises facing humanity at all levels, including those encapsulated in the sustainable development goals (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations. For example, microbial technologies can contribute in multiple ways to decarbonisation and hence confronting global warming, provide sanitation and clean water to the billions of people lacking them, improve soil fertility and hence food production and develop vaccines and other medicines to reduce and in some cases eliminate deadly infections. They are the foundation of biotechnology, an increasingly important and growing business sector and source of employment, and the centre of the bioeconomy, Green Deal, etc. But, because microbes are largely invisible, they are not familiar to most people, so opportunities they offer to effectively prevent and solve problems are often missed by decision-makers, with the negative consequences this entrains. To correct this lack of vital knowledge, the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative–the IMiLI–is recruiting from the global microbiology community and making freely available, teaching resources for a curriculum in societally relevant microbiology that can be used at all levels of learning. Its goal is the development of a society that is literate in relevant microbiology and, as a consequence, able to take full advantage of the potential of microbes and minimise the consequences of their negative activities. In addition to teaching about microbes, almost every lesson discusses the influence they have on sustainability and the SDGs and their ability to solve pressing problems of societal inequalities. The curriculum thus teaches about sustainability, societal needs and global citizenship. The lessons also reveal the impacts microbes and their activities have on our daily lives at the personal, family, community, national and global levels and their relevance for decisions at all levels. And, because effective, evidence-based decisions require not only relevant information but also critical and systems thinking, the resources also teach about these key generic aspects of deliberation. The IMiLI teaching resources are learner-centric, not academic microbiology-centric and deal with the microbiology of everyday issues. These span topics as diverse as owning and caring for a companion animal, the vast range of everyday foods that are produced via microbial processes, impressive geological formations created by microbes, childhood illnesses and how they are managed and how to reduce waste and pollution. They also leverage the exceptional excitement of exploration and discovery that typifies much progress in microbiology to capture the interest, inspire and motivate educators and learners alike. The IMiLI is establishing Regional Centres to translate the teaching resources into regional languages and adapt them to regional cultures, and to promote their use and assist educators employing them. Two of these are now operational. The Regional Centres constitute the interface between resource creators and educators–learners. As such, they will collect and analyse feedback from the end-users and transmit this to the resource creators so that teaching materials can be improved and refined, and new resources added in response to demand: educators and learners will thereby be directly involved in evolution of the teaching resources. The interactions between educators–learners and resource creators mediated by the Regional Centres will establish dynamic and synergistic relationships–a global societally relevant microbiology education ecosystem–in which creators also become learners, teaching resources are optimised and all players/stakeholders are empowered and their motivation increased. The IMiLI concept thus embraces the principle of teaching societally relevant microbiology embedded in the wider context of societal, biosphere and planetary needs, inequalities, the range of crises that confront us and the need for improved decisioning, which should ultimately lead to better citizenship and a humanity that is more sustainable and resilient. The biosphere of planet Earth is a microbial world: a vast reactor of countless microbially driven chemical transformations and energy transfers that push and pull many planetary geochemical processes, including the cycling of the elements of life, mitigate or amplify climate change (e.g., Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2019, 17, 569) and impact the well-being and activities of all organisms, including humans. Microbes are both our ancestors and creators of the planetary chemistry that allowed us to evolve (e.g., Life's engines: How microbes made earth habitable, 2023). To understand how the biosphere functions, how humans can influence its development and live more sustainably with the other organisms sharing it, we need to understand the microbes. In a recent editorial (Environmental Microbiology, 2019, 21, 1513), we advocated for improved microbiology literacy in society. Our concept of microbiology literacy is not based on knowledge of the academic subject of microbiology, with its multitude of component topics, plus the growing number of additional topics from other disciplines that become vitally important elements of current microbiology. Rather it is focused on microbial activities that impact us–individuals/communities/nations/the human world–and the biosphere and that are key to reaching informed decisions on a multitude of issues that regularly confront us, ranging from personal issues to crises of global importance. In other words, it is knowledge and understanding essential for adulthood and the transition to it, knowledge and understanding that must be acquired early in life in school. The 2019 Editorial marked the launch of the International Microbiology Literacy Initiative, the IMiLI. HERE, WE PRESENT our concept of how microbiology literacy may be achieved and the rationale underpinning it; the type of teaching resources being created to realise the concept and the framing of microbial activities treated in these resources in the context of sustainability, societal needs and responsibilities and decision-making; and the key role of Regional Centres that will translate the teaching resources into local languages, adapt them according to local cultural needs, interface with regional educators and develop and serve as hubs of microbiology literacy education networks. The topics featuring in teaching resources are learner-centric and have been selected for their inherent relevance, interest and ability to excite and engage. Importantly, the resources coherently integrate and emphasise the overarching issues of sustainability, stewardship and critical thinking and the pervasive interdependencies of processes. More broadly, the concept emphasises how the multifarious applications of microbial activities can be leveraged to promote human/animal, plant, environmental and planetary health, improve social equity, alleviate humanitarian deficits and causes of conflicts among peoples and increase understanding between peoples (Microbial Biotechnology, 2023, 16(6), 1091–1111). Importantly, although the primary target of the freely available (CC BY-NC 4.0) IMiLI teaching resources is schoolchildren and their educators, they and the teaching philosophy are intended for all ages, abilities and cultural spectra of learners worldwide: in university education, lifelong learning, curiosity-driven, web-based knowledge acquisition and public outreach. The IMiLI teaching resources aim to promote development of a global microbiology education ecosystem that democratises microbiology knowledge.http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/mbt2hj2024BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologySDG-01:No povertySDG-02:Zero HungerSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-beingSDG-04:Quality EducationSDG-06:Clean water and sanitationSDG-07:Affordable and clean energySDG-08:Decent work and economic growthSDG-12:Responsible consumption and productionSDG-13:Climate actionSDG-14:Life below wate

Synergistic activity of Bacillus thuringiensis toxins against Simulium spp. larvae

Species of Simulium spread diseases in humans and animals such as onchocerciasis and mansonelosis, causing health problems and economic loses. One alternative for controlling these insects is the use of Bacillus thuringiensis serovar israelensis (Bti). This bacterium produces different dipteran-active Cry and Cyt toxins and has been widely used in blackfly biological control programs worldwide. Studies on other insect targets have revealed the role of individual Cry and Cyt proteins in toxicity and demonstrated a synergistic effect among them. However, the insecticidal activity and interactions of these proteins against Simulium larvae have not been reported. In this study we demonstrate that Cry4Ba is the most effective toxin followed by Cry4Aa and Cry11Aa. Cry10Aa and Cyt1Aa were not toxic when administered alone but both were able to synergise the activity of Cry4B and Cry11Aa toxins. Cyt1Aa is also able to synergise with Cry4Aa. The mixture of all toxin-producing strains showed the greatest level of synergism, but still lower than the Bti parental strain. © 2014 Elsevier Inc

Analysis of binding of Cry toxins to BBMV from SfLab and SfBt populations.

<p>Panel A, Binding of Cry1Fa: Lane 1, binding of Cry1Fa to SfBt; Lane 2, binding of Cry1Fa to SfLab: <b>Panel B,</b> Analysis of binding of Cry1A toxins: Lanes 3 and 10, control of BBMV from SfLab without toxin incubation; Lanes 4 and 9, control of BBMV from SfBt without toxin incubation; Lane 5, binding of Cry1Aa to SfLab; Lane 6, binding of Cry1Aa to SfBt; Lane 7, binding of Cry1Ab to SfLab; Lane 8, binding of Cry1Ab to SfBt; Lane 11, binding of Cry1Ac to SfBt; Lane 12, binding of Cry1Ac to SfLab. Panel C, binding of Cry2A toxins: Lane 13, control of BBMV from SfBt without toxin incubation; Lane 14, control of BBMV from SfLab without toxin incubation; Lane 15 binding of Cry2Aa to SfBt; Lane 16, binding of Cry2Aa to SfLab; Lane 17, binding of Cry2Ab to SfBt; Lane 18, binding of Cry2Ab to SfLab. Binding of biotinylated toxins (10 nM) to BBMVs from <i>S</i>. <i>frugiperda</i> SfLab and SfBt populations was performed as described in material and methods. Numbers under the bands represent the percentage of each band on the blot calculated after scanning optical density of the bands with ImageJ program and using one band of similar size in the gel as 100% reference. Insert: Gel 12% SDS PAGE with BBMVs prepared from SfLab and SfBt populations. Lane 1, Rainbow molecular marker (GE); Lane 2, 10 μg of BBMV SfLab; Lane 3, 10 μg of BBMV SfBt</p