Novel crops and other transgenics: how green are they?

The expanding universe of biotechnology products will broaden the range of environmental risks and controversies associated with biotechnology products. Innovative new regulatory approaches are one way in which our society may manage better those products that spur environmental controversies

Should the Development of Herbicide-tolerant Plants be a Focus of Sustainable Agriculture Research?

Public sector funding could help the development of weed control alternatives that, unlike herbicide-tolerant plants, the industry has not found potentially profitable

Optic nerve cupping in patients with retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration

Retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration (RTSD) refers to the atrophy of retinal ganglion cell layer (GCL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) following injury to corresponding post-geniculate neurons. RTSD in adults has recently been demonstrated using optical coherence tomography (OCT), but corresponding morphological changes in the optic disc have not yet been demonstrated. Optic disc cupping has been associated with periventricular leukomalacia in children and attributed to RTSD. We investigated the amplitude of RTSD in relation to latency since post-geniculate injury, and assessed cup size in patients with adult-onset RTSD

A serial study of retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration following post-geniculate injury

Retrograde trans-synaptic degeneration (RTSD) of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and the retinal ganglion cell layer (GCL) following post-geniculate injury in adult humans has recently been demonstrated using optical coherence tomography (OCT).The time course of RNFL degeneration has been elucidated; however, GCL thinning has been shown to be more sensitive in detecting RTSD. Here, we examine the time course of RTSD using serial OCT

Workshop reports

Workshops on technical risk assessment and regulations; public assessments of benefits and risks; public values: benefits and harms; public communication about risk. Reports and recommendations

Nature's subsidies to shrimp and salmon farming

Although many fisheries stocks have declined precipitously throughout the world, fish farming--and especially shrimp and salmon farming--has boomed. The increasingly large scale of these enterprises is now having unforeseen ecological consequences on ocean resources through habitat destruction, effluent discharge, exotic species introductions, and heightened fish catch for feed use. Ending unsustainable production practices will require reorienting regulatory policies and fiscal incentives in shrimp- and salmon-producing counties, and enhancing restrictions on environmentally unsound practices