Knowing when to talk? Plant genome editing as a site for pre-engagement institutional reflexivity

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordCitizen and stakeholder engagement is frequently portrayed as vital for socially accountable science policy but there is a growing understanding of how institutional dynamics shape engagement exercises in ways that prevent them from realising their full potential. Limited attention has been devoted to developing the means to expose institutional features, allow policy-makers to reflect on how they will shape engagement and respond appropriately. Here, therefore, we develop and test a methodological framework to facilitate pre-engagement institutional reflexivity with one of the United Kingdom’s eminent science organisations as it grappled with a new, high-profile and politicised technology, genome editing. We show how this approach allowed policy-makers to reflect on their institutional position and enrich decision-making at a time when they faced pressure to legitimate decisions with engagement. Further descriptions of such pre-engagement institutional reflexivity are needed to better bridge theory and practice in the social studies of science.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC

Rapid single nucleotide polymorphism mapping in C. elegans

BACKGROUND: In C. elegans, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) can function as silent genetic markers, with applications ranging from classical two- and three-factor mapping to measuring recombination across whole chromosomes. RESULTS: Here, we describe a set of 48 primer pairs that flank SNPs evenly spaced across the C. elegans genome and that work under identical PCR conditions. Each SNP in this set alters a DraI site, enabling rapid and parallel scoring. We describe a procedure using these reagents to quickly and reliably map mutations. We show that these techniques correctly map a known gene, dpy-5. We then use these techniques to map mutations in an uncharacterized strain, and show that its behavioral phenotype can be simultaneously mapped to three loci. CONCLUSION: Together, the reagents and methods described represent a significant advance in the accurate, rapid and inexpensive mapping of genes in C. elegans

Impact of trade controls on price transmission between southern African maize markets

Maize is an important staple crop in southern Africa that has often been prioritised from a policy perspective, particularly in the imposition of export controls under periods of perceived uncertainty. This tendency has been particularly relevant in Zambia, which has also emerged as an important surplus producer in southern Africa in recent years. Its favourable transport differential and non-GM maize has helped Zambia grow its share in Zimbabwean maize imports at the expense of South Africa, but exports into Zimbabwe remains competitive between the two countries and particularly during periods of export control in Zambia, South Africa typically steps in to supply the deficit. This study therefore evaluates the extent of price transmission between Zambia, South Africa and Zimbabwe under two exogenous regimes defined by periods of open trade and trade controls imposed by the Zambian government. It uses secondary data of monthly white maize prices in these three markets to quantify the long and short run price relationships under different regimes. While several authors have noted that trade is not a prerequisite for price transmission between markets, this study finds evidence that the imposition of policies that inhibit trade also influences the rate and nature of price transmission between markets. Periods of open trade were characterised by efficient transmission of prices from Zambia to Zimbabwe, which is in line with typical trade patterns, but during periods of trade controls, no relationship was found between Zambian and Zimbabwean markets, with prices being transmitted from South Africa to Zimbabwe instead.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ragr202019-01-14hj2017Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Developmen

Impacts of retaliatory tariffs on farm income and government programs

Retaliatory tariffs imposed by trading partners have had major impacts on U.S. commodity markets. As detailed in other articles in this theme issue, these tariffs have reduced U.S. exports and resulted in lower domestic commodity prices. These changes have important implications for farmers, taxpayers, and others with a stake in U.S. agriculture. We use estimates of the commodity market impacts of retaliatory tariffs to estimate implications for farm income, government farm program outlays, and other indicators. The results highlight the importance of considering effects that extend across markets, such as how a change in soybean exports and prices may affect producers of corn, chickens, and other commodities. They also provide a reminder that the current suite of farm policies includes a mix of countercyclical and procyclical programs.The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief Economist, under Agreement #58-0111-18-024, and the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project number MO-HASS0024.https://www.jstor.org/journal/choicesam2020Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Developmen

Measurements of iron status and survival in African iron overload

No Abstract

Urban versus rural health impacts attributable to PM2.5 and O3 in northern India

Ambient air pollution in India contributes to negative health impacts and early death. Ground-based monitors often used to quantify health impacts are located in urban regions, yet approximately 70% of India's population lives in rural communities. We simulate high-resolution concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM) and ozone from the regional Community Multi-scale Air Quality model over northern India, including updated estimates of anthropogenic emissions for transportation, residential combustion and location-based industrial and electrical generating emissions in a new anthropogenic emissions inventory. These simulations inform seasonal air quality and health impacts due to anthropogenic emissions, contrasting urban versus rural regions. For our northern India domain, we estimate 463 200 (95% confidence interval: 444 600–482 600) adults die prematurely each year from PM2.5 and that 37 800 (28 500–48 100) adults die prematurely each year from O3. This translates to 5.8 deaths per 10 000 attributable to air pollution out of an annual rate of 72 deaths per 10 000 (8.1% of deaths) using 2010 estimates. We estimate that the majority of premature deaths resulting from PM2.5 and O3 are in rural (383 600) as opposed to urban (117 200) regions, where we define urban as cities and towns with populations of at least 100 000 people. These findings indicate the need for rural monitoring and appropriate health studies to understand and mitigate the effects of ambient air pollution on this population in addition to supporting model evaluation