Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Consumer acceptance of cultured meat: some hints from Italy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the current literature on consumer acceptance of cultured meat and to investigate the main factors that might affect it. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from a sample of 490 consumers in Italy, using a webbased survey. The empirical analysis follows an exploratory approach based on the training and checking of a random forest model. Findings – An important finding of this study concerns the overall positive perception of cultured meat on the part of the interviewees in a country that is the fifth-largest meat producer at the European level. Age, environmental and ethical issues, and scepticism about new food technologies are the most important factors that guide consumer acceptance of cultured meat. The results suggest that in order to increase cultured meat acceptance it would be important to inform and educate consumers towards new food and new food production methods. Research limitations/implications – The sample analysed in this study is not representative of the whole national population, as it happens in most papers dealing with new food. Originality/value – Although the conclusions of this exploratory study cannot be over-generalized, the results provide interesting insights on how to increase cultured meat acceptance in view of the possible development of a new market for cultured meat

Market Opportunities for Hay Milk: Factors Influencing Perceptions among Italian Consumers

Central and South Italy are characterized by small-scale dairy farms and growing aban donment by farmers for other, better-paid, off-farm jobs. New marketing concepts for milk can be one solution to remunerate mountain farmers for their efforts. This study investigates the potential market for hay milk in Italy. In particular, we want to understand which variables drive the people’s willingness to consume hay milk, and if the European food quality certification schemes impact on people’s willingness to consume milk from hay-fed cows. Data were collected from a sample of consumers from Central and South Italy (n = 331) using a web-based survey. Later, a discrete choice probit model was applied. The main results indicate that aspects as curiosity, the production place of food, the local culinary traditions, label, and environmental issues play an important role in the people’s consumption intentions for milk from hay-fed cows. Moreover, the survey highlights that the respondents had positive opinion towards hay milk and highlighted some important marketing implications for the Italian milk sector. The study findings could encourage discussion about a niche market to boost local growth, initiating a process of improving livelihoods, certification of products, and use of the marketing tools addressed towards a specific milk consumer’s profile. In other words, the study could provide useful implications for food manufacturers and facilitate the design of marketing strategies for hay milk produced in Central and South Italy

Exploring consumers' willingness to eat insects in Italy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the main factors that may affect Italian consumers’ willingness to eat insects. Italy is a fairly special case among Western countries: in many Italian regions, there is old traditional food with insects. Design/methodology/approach – Data come from a sample of 456 consumers living in four Italian regions. The empirical investigation involves several steps: modification of class distributions to obtain a balanced sample; model estimation using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator; model evaluation using out-of-sample classification performance measures; and estimation of the “effect” of each explanatory variable via average predictive comparisons. The uncertainty associated with the whole procedure is evaluated using the bootstrap. Findings – The interviewed consumers are generally unwilling to eat insect-based food. However, factors such as previous experience, taste expectations and attitude towards both new food experiences and sustainable food play an important role in shaping individual inclination towards eating insects. Research limitations/implications – The sample analysed in this study is not representative of the whole national population, as it happens in most papers dealing with entomophagy. Originality/value – The paper revisits the issue using a relatively large sample and sophisticated statistical methods. The likely average effect of each explanatory variable is estimated and discussed in detail. The results provide interesting insights on how to approach a hypothetical Italian consumer in view of the possible development of a new market for edible insects

Young Consumers’ Preferences for Natural Wine: An Italian Exploratory Study

Although much has been written about sustainable wine con sumption, the topic of young consumers’ (age 18–39 years) preferences for natural wine in Italy has been poorly explored. Through an online survey of 640 Italian respondents, we investigate the characteristics that affect consumption of natural wine in Italy. First, a factor analysis was applied to reduce data to a smaller set of summary variables. A probit regression model was then used to explore the effects and evaluate the relative importance of identified factors on participants’ willingness to consume natural wine. The results reveal that being female, in the older age cohort (25–39 years), and being consumer of certified wine and/or biodynamic wine significantly increase the probability of drinking natural wine. The findings also showed that health benefits, natural product interest, previous experience with natural wine, and positive perception of natural wine also drive young consumers of natural wine

Absence of symbolic and sustainable aspects in recommendations for healthy eating: a qualitative analysis of food-based dietary guidelines

ObjectiveWas analyzed the contents of the main messages of food-based dietary guidelines to promote healthy eating, identifying nutritional, symbolic, and sustainable recommendations.MethodsFood-based dietary guidelines from 90 different countries were analyzed. These guidelines were selected from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization database. For data extraction, all messages were exported to the Nvivo software and, after repeated readings, were grouped into predefined categories and corresponding dimensions based on the literature. The categories were created according to the mixed model, that is, they were created before data analysis was performed, but modified if necessary.ResultsWas identified 1,982 messages grouped into the following dimensions: nutritional (n=73.9%); sustainable (3.2%); symbolic (3.3%), and others (19.7%). All food-based dietary guidelines addressed nutritional aspects, and the most frequent recommendation was regarding the consumption of fats, followed by the consumption of salt and vegetables and fruits, cited by at least 75 food-based dietary guidelines. Less than half (n=40) of the food-based dietary guidelines addressed sustainable or symbolic aspects of food and 13 of the food-based dietary guidelines addressed both aspects. However, these messages represented only 6.5% of the total messages in the documents.ConclusionThe recommendations for healthy eating in the food-based dietary guidelines are incipient in terms of sustainable and symbolic issues. Recommendations for adopting healthy diets need to consider the completeness of the food and its various combinations, dietary patterns, and the factors associated with their consumption, as well as the individual's relations with food, environment, and society