Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: Implications for land acquisition and population relocation

In response to the challenge of climate change, governments of developing countries are evolving adaptation and mitigation programmes for which they are seeking international financing. This paper presents the findings of a review of national action programmes and other interventions to assess their likely societal impacts with an emphasis on land-use change, future land acquisitions, population displacement and resettlement. Evidence presented suggests there is likely to be additional and large-scale resettlement related to adaptation and mitigation investments in the coming decades. It describes such climate change-related projects as infrastructure development projects and the population displacement they may generate as a form of development-created involuntary resettlement. The article considers the policy and development challenges such involuntary resettlement will pose and assesses the robustness of current governance arrangements to manage that resettlement. It is argued that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process presents opportunities for improving the national and international management of land acquisition and resettlement, particularly in least developed countries and small island states, but cautions that, at present, the financing arrangements do not prioritise the legal protection of affected populations

Computer trading and systemic risk: a nuclear perspective

Financial markets have evolved to become complex adaptive systems highly reliant on the communication speeds and processing power afforded by digital systems. Their failure could cause severe disruption to the provision of financial services and possibly the wider economy. In this study we consider whether a perspective from the nuclear industry can provide additional insights

Biomanufacturing Technologies for Engineering Biology

Engineering Biology seeks to apply engineering principles to design, modify, and produce customized biological components and systems. The recent advent of tools such as the CRISPR/Cas9 system for gene editing and gene regulation has sharply accelerated development in this exciting field. However, several challenges need to be addressed in order to transition laboratory-scale results to commercial-scale solutions. This report identifies emerging platform technologies that, if matured, will accelerate the growth in the rapidly changing field of Engineering Biology. The conclusions in the report are intended to guide stakeholders from government, industry and academia as they seek to further develop innovations in this field.The technologies that clearly met the selection criteria include: • The key platform technology—Standardized Verified and Tractable Host Cells or Strains for Biomanufacturing—will provide industries with host cells and strains that are amenable to engineering for scale-up or scale-out. The standardized and verified nature of these hosts will streamline regulatory processes and significantly de-risk aspects of the biomanufacturing process. • Several enabling tools are needed to fully realize the potential offered by the development of tractable host cells or strains. These tools will also enable more rapid Design-Build-Test-Learn (DBTL) cycles, which is critical for the development of new host cells or strains. These tools include: (i) High Throughput Omics; (ii) Low-Cost and Error Free DNA Elements and DNA Assembly; and (iii) Efficient, Host-Neutral Gene Editing.National Science Foundation, Grant No. 1552534https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144782/1/EngineeringBiology_Final.pdfDescription of EngineeringBiology_Final.pdf : Repor

Biomanufacturing Technologies for Regenerative Medicine

Regenerative Medicine has the potential to be a game-changer for patients who have damaged tissues or organs due to untreatable diseases, injuries, and congenital conditions. Lab-based innovations have shown great promise in restoring structure and function, but to deliver treatments to large numbers of patients in a clinical setting, new tools and technologies are needed. Regenerative Medicine is a new area of medical research that seeks to automate and scale-up the production and deployment of these groundbreaking solutions. The technologies discussed in this report are intentionally pre-competitive, meaning that the Federal Government may choose to play a role in additional growth via well-informed initiatives. Governmental support can come in the form of additional research & development (R&D) dollars that are magnified by private co-investment, or can be in the form of non-pecuniary actions such as modifications to the regulatory environment to better support this rapidly changing field. Ideally, a cooperative relationship between government and private industry will result in cross-industry, pre-competitive tools that decrease development cost and time while still respecting individual intellectual property ownership within a competitive environment. This report identifies promising biomanufacturing platforms that will provide a foundation for the automation and standardization of the processes associated with successful scale-up and scale-out. After evaluating a range of potential translational technology options according to their suitability for co-investment and cross-industry appeal, two platform technologies and two enabling tools were selected: Platform Technology #1: 3D Constructs, including Organoids, Scaffolds, and Printed Tissues; Platform Technology #2: Biomanufacturing Processes; Enabling tool #1: Scaled-up bioreactors for cell culture; Enabling tool #2: Improvements in cell harvesting, cell processing, and preservation technologies.National Science Foundation, Grant No. 1552534https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/144783/1/RegenMedicine_Final.pdfDescription of RegenMedicine_Final.pdf : Repor