Los señores de la soja : la agricultura transgénica en América Latina

En el año 2005, el Programa Regional de Becas de CLACSO realizó el concurso Los impactos socioculturales y económicos de la introducción de la agricultura transgénica en América Latina y el Caribe. Desde diferentes ángulos, los/as ganadores/as de este concurso abordaron la problemática de la soja transgénica en América Latina. Esta publicación recoge los trabajos presentados por Ana Lucía Bravo (IEE , Ecuador), Hugo Florencio Centurión Mereles (CERI , Paraguay), Javier Leonel Rodríguez (II GG-UBA, Argentina), Diego Ignacio Domínguez y Pablo Sabatino (II GG-UBA, Argentina), que, aunque refieren principalmente al Cono Sur, tienen una importante proyección para el resto de la región. Hablar de cultivos transgénicos significa en gran medida hablar de soja, porque la soja RR , o soja con resistencia al herbicida glifosato, es el cultivo transgénico más extendido en el mundo1. Y significa además hablar del Cono Sur, que es la zona de mayor expansión de este cultivo.Índice María Elizabeth Bravo Introducción 9 Diego Ignacio Domínguez y Pablo Sabatino La muerte que viene en el viento La problemática de la contaminación por efecto de la agricultura transgénica en Argentina y Paraguay 31 Hugo Florencio Centurión Mereles Avance de la agricultura transgénica Impactos socioculturales y económicos en comunidades campesinas e indígenas del Este paraguayo, entre la pervivencia y el ocaso 123 Javier Leonel Rodríguez Consecuencias económicas de la difusión de la soja genéticamente modificada en Argentina, 1996-2006 155 Carla Mariela Poth El modelo biotecnológico en América Latina Un análisis sobre las posturas de los gobiernos de Lula y Kirchner en torno a los organismos genéticamente modificados y su relación con los movimientos sociales 261 Ana Lucía Bravo Política de ayuda alimentaria y organismos transgénicos: impactos en los países receptores Los casos de Ecuador y Guatemala 30

Ototoxicity in cystic fibrosis patients receiving intravenous tobramycin for acute pulmonary exacerbation: Ototoxicity following tobramycin treatment

Aminoglycosides are commonly used to treat infections in CF patients and are highly ototoxic. The incidence of tobramycin-induced hearing loss, tinnitus, vertigo or dizziness (ototoxicity) varies widely from 0 to 56% secondary to variation in patient enrollment, dosing, audiometry, and ototoxic criteria. The aim of this study is to determine the incidence of ototoxicity after one course of once-daily IV tobramycin in CF patients. Adult CF patients with acute pulmonary exacerbations were enrolled on IV tobramycin (10 mg/kg/d, ≥10 days). Pure-tone audiometry was performed for standard and extended high frequencies in the sensitive range for ototoxicity (SRO). American-Speech-Language-Hearing-Association cochleotoxicity criteria were applied. Distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) and the words-in-noise-test (WINT) were assessed. Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI) and Vertigo Symptoms Scale (VSS) were used. Eighteen CF patients, mean age 31.1 (18-59), were enrolled. The incidence of cochleotoxic change from baseline at 2 and 4 weeks post-treatment was 89% and 93%. For DPOAE, a measure of outer hair-cell function, the incidence of ≥5 dB decrease was 82% and 80%. For WINT, a measure of word recognition, the incidence of ≥10% decrease was 17% and 40%. For TFI, the incidence of ≥10pt increase was 12% and 8%, and for VSS, the incidence of ≥6pt increase was 0% and 8%. One course of IV tobramycin was sufficient to cause hearing loss and other ototoxic symptoms four weeks after treatment ended. Audiometric measures were more sensitive to ototoxic change than TFI & VSS. Age and duration of tobramycin treatment were not obvious factors for predicting ototoxicity

RNA Toxicity from the ALS/FTD C9ORF72 Expansion Is Mitigated by Antisense Intervention

A hexanucleotide GGGGCC repeat expansion in the noncoding region of the C9ORF72 gene is the most common genetic abnormality in familial and sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The function of the C9ORF72 protein is unknown, as is the mechanism by which the repeat expansion could cause disease. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-differentiated neurons from C9ORF72 ALS patients revealed disease-specific (1) intranuclear GGGGCCexp RNA foci, (2) dysregulated gene expression, (3) sequestration of GGGGCCexp RNA binding protein ADARB2, and (4) susceptibility to excitotoxicity. These pathological and pathogenic characteristics were confirmed in ALS brain and were mitigated with antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapeutics to the C9ORF72 transcript or repeat expansion despite the presence of repeat-associated non-ATG translation (RAN) products. These data indicate a toxic RNA gain-of-function mechanism as a cause of C9ORF72 ALS and provide candidate antisense therapeutics and candidate human pharmacodynamic markers for therapy