US regions with lax gun control laws bear brunt of firearm injury costs

Injuries and costs highest in the poorer South, but federal state programme coverage lowest; Tantamount to an “anti-poor policy,” insist researchers

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

US regions with lax gun control laws are bearing the brunt of firearm injury costs, with tax- funded dollars providing almost half of the total, finds research published in the open access journal Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open. 

Yet while firearm injuries and associated healthcare costs are highest in the poorer South, the federal state programmes, Medicare and Medicaid, cover only a third of these expenses, a situation that is tantamount to an “anti-poor policy,” insist the researchers.

Firearm injuries take a huge human and societal toll, amounting to an estimated US $229 billion every year in direct and indirect costs. Most (82%) of all those killed by firearms in high-income countries over the past decade lived in the United States. 

Firearm injury costs are affected by gun control laws, with policies varying by state. The researchers therefore wanted to find out the impact of gun control policies on costs and what proportion of these were covered by Medicare and Medicaid across the US.

They drew on data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for the years 2005 to 2015, to identify people admitted to hospital with firearm injuries.

The data were reported by region: Northeast; Midwest; West; and South. The Brady Gun Law Score was used to assess the effect of gun control laws by state. 

Between 2005 and 2015, 317,479 people were admitted to hospital with firearm injuries. Most (89%) were men; their average age was 31. Almost half of all those admitted were Black; more than 42% of admissions in the West were among people of Hispanic ethnicity. 

The South had the highest proportion—more than 42%---of hospital admissions; the Northeast had the lowest (17%). Comparable figures for the Midwest and West were 21% and 20%, respectively.

Firearm injuries cost US$7.77 billion in hospital admissions and readmissions between 2005 and 2015, with the US taxpayer stumping up a sizeable chunk (42%;US$3 billion) of the these costs.  

While just over a third of the US population lives in the South, this region generated over 41% (US$3.21 billion) of the total. On the other hand, the Northeast, where just under 18% of the population lives, contributed around 14% (US$1.98 billion) to the total. 

Medicare and Medicaid coverage, however, was lowest in the South: 34% compared with  56% in the Northeast, 40.5% in the Midwest, and 42% in the West. The South also had the highest proportion of self-paying patients. 

Southern states tend to be poorer and to have higher rates of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, suggesting that the costs of firearm injuries disproportionately fall on those least able to pay for them, point out the researchers.

“The policy implications of this are readily apparent: regions with the least stringent firearm policies incur greater financial costs related to firearm injury,” they insist.

The researchers acknowledge that it wasn’t possible to allocate costs to specific states or account for healthcare costs beyond hospital admissions, but their figures are likely to underestimate the long term costs of care, drugs, and lost productivity, they say.

“Government insurance programs are fundamental lifelines for seniors and the poor while providing a safety net, although an inadequate one, for health costs,” they write.

“Policies that enable higher levels of gun availability while simultaneously rejecting expansion of healthcare coverage for poor, uninsured, or underinsured residents represent an anti-poor policy,” they add. 

Policy makers need to think again about the links between gun control laws and taxpayer funding, they conclude. 

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JOURNAL

Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open

DOI

10.1136//tsaco-2021-000854 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

A decade of hospital costs for firearm injuries in the United States by region, 2005–2015: government healthcare costs and firearm policies

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-May-2022

Opioid overdose death toll has risen more than 5-fold among Indigenous Americans over past decade

Type of opioid involved might have changed, but not underlying social factors driving trends

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

The opioid overdose death toll has risen more than 5-fold among American Indian and Alaska Native communities over the past decade, finds one of the first studies of its kind published in the open access journal BMJ Open.

The type of opioid involved might have changed over the years, but many of the underlying social factors driving these patterns have remained the same, point out the researchers.

Drug overdose deaths have more than tripled in the US since the turn of the century, with American Indian and Alaska Native peoples disproportionately affected.

But it’s not clear what the overall trends have been in overdose deaths from opioids alone or in combination with other substances in these groups, say the researchers. 

To plug this knowledge gap, they drew on US death records data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spanning the period 1999 to 2019.

They looked specifically at overdose deaths for opioids alone, when combined with any other drug, and those related to opioids; for combinations of opioids and alcohol or methamphetamine or cocaine or benzodiazepines; and for specific types of opioids among American Indians and Alaska Natives aged 12 and older.

Analysis of the data showed that between 1999 and 2019, overdose deaths from opioids alone more than quintupled from 2.8 to 15.8 per 100,000 of the women and from 4.6 to 25.6 per 100,000 of the men. 

Overdose deaths in which opioids were involved increased steeply from 5.2 to 33.9 per 100,000 in total, and from 3.9 to 26.1 among the women and from 6.5 to 42.1 among the men. 

Overdose deaths due to opioids plus alcohol or benzodiazepines or methamphetamine also rose sharply among both the men and the women (respectively, 1.1 to 4.2, 1.1 to 2.6, and  0.6 to 6.7) while those for opioids plus cocaine rose substantially only among the men (1.2 to 3.2). 

Analysis of death rates attributable to specific types of opioid showed that those caused by heroin, natural and semi-synthetic (prescription) opioids (oxycodone, hydrocodone), and synthetic opioids (fentanyl, tramadol) other than methadone increased significantly as well.

Death rates due to synthetic opioids other than methadone, in particular, have soared in recent years, rising from 1.5 per 100,000 in total in 2013 to 12.5/100,000 in 2019, with rates in the men rocketing from 1.5 to 16.5 during this period.

Overdose deaths peaked among 25 to 44 year olds for opioids alone and when combined with any other drug. These rates were as high, or even higher, than those among other ethnic groups, although most recently there are signs that these patterns might be changing. 

Aside from increasing the risk of an overdose, using opioids plus other substances is associated with higher rates of relapse, emphasising the need to tackle the root causes of such polysubstance use, say the researchers.

“These findings highlight existing inequities in drug related deaths and may point to broader systemic factors that disproportionately affect members of [American Indian and Alaska Native] communities,” who continue to grapple with poorer prospects, racism, and the legacy of colonisation, while still facing significant challenges in access to good quality treatment, they point out. 

“While the type of opioid driving these trends has changed over the years, many underlying social factors that drive these patterns have not,” write the researchers.

“Interventions for [American Indian and Alaskan Native] populations with substance use disorders will be more impactful if they are comprehensive, culturally centred, and address social determinants of health, including socioeconomic factors and racial and ethnic discrimination,” they conclude.

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JOURNAL

BMJ Open

DOI

10.1136/bmjopen-2021-053686 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Epidemiological trends in opioid-only and opioid/polysubstance-related death rates among American Indian/Alaska Native populations from 1999 to 2019: a retrospective longitudinal ecological study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-May-2022

NEOLIBERAL HEALTHCARE

The policy dominance of Universal Health Coverage

Researchers trace the history and growing influence of Universal Health Coverage as a policy that does not assure equal access to health services

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

(Boston)—What policy is the best approach for developing health systems in low- and middle-income countries?

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the University of New Mexico report that Universal Health Coverage (UHC), has come to dominate discussions around how best to reform low- and middle-income countries’ (LMIC) health systems.

The researchers believe these findings are important because UHC reforms don’t necessarily entail equal and equitable access to services for the entire population regardless of ability to pay, as is the case in other possible health system reforms such as National Health Services that provide care without insurance companies involved or copayments that block access.

The study examined the history of UHC and found its popularity stemmed from the concerted efforts of multiple institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Health Organization.

“The roots of UHC can be traced to policies enacted by international financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund during the latter half of the twentieth century that caused the debt of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) to rise precipitously and public sector services to become underfunded,” explains corresponding author Daniel Smithers, a fourth-year medical student at BUSM.

According to Smithers, these same institutions and others such as the World Health Organization (WHO) then advocated for UHC as a method for reforming the health systems of LMICs. Generally, UHC implies a financial reform in which health insurance is expanded in varying degrees to segments of a population and can entail the involvement of private for-profit corporations in the provision of health insurance.

Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, the researchers found that UHC was mentioned in the health policy literature far more frequently than other health policy options that entail public funding and delivery of health services. When UHC was mentioned in a publication, more than 40 percent of the time the definition used by the authors was sufficiently vague that the definition could be open to misinterpretation or misunderstanding by less informed readers.

The study looked at not only whether UHC was defined in a paper, but also how it was defined. Greater than 40 percent of definitions mentioned finances with respect to UHC, and definitions focused almost entirely on individual-level financial issues. However, these discussions did not suggest that individuals should face no out-of-pocket costs, such as copayments, nor did they touch on other financial aspects of health system reforms such as global budgeting or socialization of health insurance. Over a quarter of definitions also discussed tiering of benefits which could entail differing benefits for the poor and non-poor.

“When a policy such as UHC predominates in the literature to this extent, it’s very important to examine its history critically, how it’s defined, and who’s involved in pursuing it. Policy isn’t crafted in a political, economic or social vacuum,” added Smithers, who in June will start his internal medicine residency in Boston at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

“There are many other organizations advocating for equitable health system reforms in LMICs beyond the dominant transnational organizations such as the World Bank and WHO,” said senior author Howard Waitzkin, PhD, MD, a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of New Mexico. “The People’s Health Movement, the Latin American Social Medicine Association (ALAMES), and Physicians for a National Health Program in the United States are organizations that advocate for alternative health system reforms such as Health Care for All, a single national health program in which access and services don’t differ for any groups in a population. It’s imperative that arguments for UHC not detract attention from these more fundamental and equitable ways to assure universal access to care.”  

These finding appear online in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

Smithers DJ, Waitzkin H. Universal health coverage as hegemonic health policy in low- and middle-income countries: A mixed-methods analysis. Social Science & Medicine, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114961

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JOURNAL

Social Science & Medicine

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

ARTICLE TITLE

Universal health coverage as hegemonic health policy in low- and middle-income countries: A mixed-methods analysis

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

2-May-2022

Research exposes long-term failure of Russian propaganda in Ukraine’s Donbas region

Reports and Proceedings

UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE

A study of thousands of stories from media outlets churning out propaganda in Ukraine’s Donbas in the years after Russia’s first invasion suggests that the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign has long neglected any coherent or convincing messaging to foster support for Russia in the war-torn region.

After 2014, when news media in the so-called “People’s Republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk that make up much of Donbas were forcibly taken over by Russian-backed insurgents, efforts to instil a pro-Russian “identity” were lazy and half-baked, and dwindled to nothing within months.

This is according to University of Cambridge researcher Dr Jon Roozenbeek, who says that – based on his analysis of over four years of media content – such limited efforts likely had little effect on the consciousness of Russian-speaking Ukrainians in Donbas.

For example, Vladimir Putin has long trumpeted the idea of “Novorossiya”, or ‘New Russia’, in an attempt to resurrect terminology once used to describe Donbas during the reign of Catherine the Great, when it temporarily sat within the Russian Empire, and claim the region belongs in Russia.

While waves of propaganda demonised Ukraine’s government, the study shows that “Novorossiya” was hardly mentioned, and Russian disinformation lacked any real “in-group” story, the ‘us’ to oppose a ‘them’ – a fundamental flaw in any attempt to generate lasting division, says Roozenbeek.

Instead of identity-building, almost the entire Russian propaganda effort relied on portraying the leadership in Kyiv as fascistic – the basis of outlandish “denazification” claims – to create what psychologists call an “outgroup” on which to focus hostility.

However, as Russia shifts its war onto Donbas, Roozenbeek cautions that it may turn to spreading Novorossiya-style propaganda narratives in the region and far beyond to justify land seizure and war atrocities, and claim that these actions are supported by local populations.

He calls for a pre-emptive global debunking – or ‘pre-bunking’ – of the notion that ideological projects such as ‘Novorossiya’ have deep roots in the region, and that the people of Donbas have ever bought into these myths.

Otherwise, he says, we risk such falsehoods taking hold in the West via pundits and politicians who tow the Kremlin line. Roozenbeek’s findings are publicly available for the first time today on the University of Cambridge website.

“Eight years of Russian propaganda have failed to provide a convincing alternative to Ukrainian nationhood in eastern Ukraine,” said Roozenbeek.

“The Kremlin's decision to favour outgroup animosity over in-group identity building, and its vast overestimation of the extent to which its lies about non-existent Ukrainian ‘fascists’ promoted pro-Russian sentiment, are key reasons why the invasion has been a strategic and logistical disaster.”

“If the nonsense of Novorossiya or other half-baked ideological narratives start to spread in the West, it could end up being used to pressure Ukraine into relinquishing large swathes of its territory, as a drawn-out war in the Donbas causes the global community’s nerves to fray,” he said.  

For his PhD research, Roozenbeek used ‘natural language processing’ to algorithmically comb through over 85,000 print and online articles from 30 local and regional media outlets across Luhansk and Donetsk between 2014 and 2017, charting the patterns of content through use of key words and phrases in the wake of the first Russian invasion of Ukraine.

While half the coverage in print media remained “business as usual” – sport, entertainment, etc – some 36% was dedicated to the “shaping of identity” via propaganda. Much of this was done through parallels to World War II: the Donbas war as an attack by Ukrainian “neo-Nazis”.    

Only one newspaper paid any attention to Putin’s adopted concept of “Novorossiya”. Obvious opportunities to leverage history for identity-building propaganda were missed, such the fact that part of Donbas declared itself a Soviet republic in 1918, or indeed any mention of the Soviet Union.

“Description of an in-group identity that situated Donbas as part of the ‘Russian World’ were almost entirely absent from the region’s print media,” said Roozenbeek.

This pattern was largely replicated in online news media, which were arguably more ferocious in attempts to demonise the “outgroup” Kyiv government – including using English language to try and spread propaganda internationally – while ignoring a pro-Russian “this is us” identity. 

Roozenbeek found a handful of stories covering “patriotic” cultural events organised by the Kremlin-owned leadership in Luhansk, but even here the in-group identity was “lazily assumed”, he says, rather than established.          

All this despite the fact that a “blueprint” strategy for propaganda in Donbas explicitly called for the image of a benevolent Russia to be cultivated by emphasising the “Russian World” philosophy.

This strategy, leaked to German newspapers in 2016, is widely believed to be the work of Vladislav Surkov, the Kremlin’s former propagandist-in-chief, often dubbed Putin’s puppet master. It describes the need to construct and promote an ideology of “cultural sovereignty” in Russian-occupied Donbas, one that can act as a stepping stone to statehood.

“Despite the importance given to constructing identity and ideology after the Russian-backed takeover in Luhansk and Donetsk, including as directed by the Kremlin, very little in-group identity was promoted,” said Roozenbeek.

“What identity-building propaganda I could find in Donbas after 2014 was vague, poorly conceived, and quickly forgotten. Political attempts to invoke Novorossiya were cast aside by the summer of 2015, but such weak propaganda suggests they didn’t stand much chance anyway.”

“Putin has severely underestimated the strength of Ukrainian national identity, even in Donbas, and overestimated the power of his propaganda machine on the occupied areas of Ukraine.”        

Roozenbeek’s research was conducted for his PhD between 2016 and 2020, and will feature in his forthcoming book ‘Influence, Information and War in Ukraine’, due out next year as part of the Society for the Psychology Study of Social Issues book series Contemporary Social Issues, published by Cambridge University Press.

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METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Media and Identity in Wartime Donbas, 2014-2017

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-May-2022

Disclaimer: AAAS 

Lessons from the Tuskegee experiment, 50 years after unethical study uncovered

Research regulations will never substitute for the conscience of the investigator, says Dr. Martin Tobin, author of new paper in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN THORACIC SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: DR. MARTIN TOBIN REVISITS THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS STUDY WITH A FRESH, NEW PERSPECTIVE. view more 

CREDIT: ATS

LIVE PRESS EVENT:  Join Dr. Tobin for a Q & A on this paper at 1:00 p.m. ET on April 28. Register now.

New York, NY – April 28, 2022 – This year marks 50 years since it came to light that the nation’s leading public health agency, the Public Health Service, conceived an unethical “research study” - the Tuskegee Experiment – that lasted for 40 years. The participants? Black men in a rural community in the South who existed in a state of quasi-slavery, making them extremely vulnerable and the agency’s treatment of them that much more sickening.

In “Fiftieth Anniversary of Uncovering the Tuskegee Syphilis Study: The Story and Timeless Lessons,” Martin Tobin, MD, former editor of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (AJRCCM), revisits this dark period in American history, expertly illustrating how present-day health disparities have roots in the racism that made the Tuskegee study possible.

The inhumane treatment doctors inflicted on the 400 men who participated in the study only ended after a social worker shared his discovery with the media in 1972. Subsequently, the government took measures to protect patients enrolled in research. Those measures are not enough, argued Dr. Tobin: “All of the research regulations in the world will never substitute for the conscience of the investigator.”

In the paper, published in the AJRCCM, Dr. Tobin stressed “the three central lessons of the Tuskegee Study for researchers (and for people in every walk of life):  the importance of pausing and examining one’s conscience, having the courage to speak, and above all the willpower to act.”

He added, “It is easy to articulate these steps but carrying out the steps requires a willingness to place oneself in jeopardy – a willingness to risk getting into trouble with supervisors and even losing one’s job.”

 Whether you are a student embarking on a career in medicine or a seasoned professionals in health care, one could argue that the Tuskegee experiment is an exceptional way to learn about research ethics.

“Readers can acquire a better understanding of research ethics by reading about the Tuskegee Study than by reading about abstract principles of research integrity in a bioethics textbook,” pointed out Dr. Tobin. “The story provides a vivid narrative with real live characters – victims, villains and a hero– and readers can relate these characters to people they encounter in their daily lives.”

While there are no published studies showing a correlation between the Tuskegee Experiment and the erosion of public trust, particularly among African Americans, it is tempting to think there is.

 The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare the discrepancies in health care access as well as the staggering difference in mortality rates between Black and white individuals in the U.S. Social media communities are rife with rhetoric lambasting scientists and defending their refusal to get vaccinated.  There is no peer review process on social media platforms, making them ideal places for conspiracy theories and misinformation to proliferate.

“A considerable portion of vaccine hesitancy, however, reflects a real decrease in trust in physicians and scientists – and especially in physicians with links to government,” said Dr. Tobin.

Science is at its best when it invites critical thought and makes room for meaningful dialogue and self-examination. Silence can be deadly. And, when scientists around the world failed to criticize the Tuskegee Study’s methods or question the integrity of the lead investigators, they jeopardized the integrity of the entire medical profession, contributed to the deaths of the participants and extended the suffering of family members.

“Medical societies, including the ATS, can educate members about research integrity and health equity by publishing articles pertinent to these topics and by featuring these topics at their major meetings,” said Dr. Tobin.

At the upcoming ATS 2022 International Conference May 13-18, attendees can attend presentations that address health equity and disparity and engage colleagues on these issues in relation to their practice and research interests.

“ATS is strongly committed to creating a just and equitable future,” said ATS President Lynn Schnapp, MD, ATSF. “As a medical society, we must always question how our own biases, whether conscious or unconscious, impact our activities and prevent us from keeping the needs of our patients front and center. We must actively work towards dismantling the structural racism that allowed studies like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to begin and persist.”  

Contact for Media:
Dacia Morris
dmorris@thoracic.org

About the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

The AJRCCM is a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Thoracic Society. The Journal takes pride in publishing the most innovative science and the highest quality reviews, practice guidelines and statements in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. With an impact factor of 21.4, it is one of the highest ranked journals in pulmonology.

About the American Thoracic Society

Founded in 1905, the American Thoracic Society is the world's leading medical society dedicated to accelerating the advancement of global respiratory health through multidisciplinary collaboration, education, and advocacy. Core activities of the Society’s more than 16,000 members are focused on leading scientific discoveries, advancing professional development, impacting global health, and transforming patient care. Key areas of member focus include developing clinical practice guidelines, hosting the annual International Conference, publishing four peer-reviewed journals, advocating for improved respiratory health globally, and developing an array of patient education and career development resources.  Please visit our website to learn more.

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JOURNAL

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

CRISPR CRITTERS

New technology offers fighting chance against grapevine killer

Taking aim at the glassy-winged sharpshooter

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - RIVERSIDE

 

IMAGE: GRAPEVINE INFECTED WITH PIERCE'S DISEASE, WHICH IS TRANSMITTED BY THE GLASSY-WINGED SHARPSHOOTER. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Scientists at UC Riverside have a shot at eradicating a deadly threat to vineyards posed by the glassy-winged sharpshooter, just as its resistance to insecticide has been growing.

When the half-inch-long flying insect feeds on grapevines, it transmits bacteria that causes Pierce’s Disease. Once infected, a vine is likely to die within three years — a growing problem for California’s $58 billion wine industry. Currently, it can only be controlled with quarantines and increasingly less effective chemical sprays.

New gene-editing technology represents hope for controlling the sharpshooter. Scientists at UC Riverside demonstrated that this technology can make permanent physical changes in the insect. They also showed these changes were passed down to three or more generations of insects. 

A paper describing the team’s work has been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Our team established, for the first time, genetic approaches to controlling glassy-winged sharpshooters,” said Peter Atkinson, entomologist and paper co-author.

For this project, the researchers used CRISPR technology to knock out genes controlling the sharpshooters’ eye color. In one experiment, they turned the insects’ eyes white. In another, the eyes turned cinnabar, a blood-red color. Then, the team demonstrated these eye color changes were permanent, passed along to the offspring of the modified parents. 

CRISPR is based on the immune systems of bacteria. During attacks by viruses, bacteria save pieces of DNA from their invaders. When the viruses return, the bacteria recognize, cut, and destroy the viral DNA.

Scientists use CRISPR like “molecular scissors” to target specific DNA sequences.

“This is a great technology because it can be so specific to one insect, and not cause off-target effects on other insects, animals or humans,” said Inaiara de Souza Pacheco, UCR entomologist and lead study author. “It’s a much more environmentally friendly strategy for insect control than using chemicals.”

One of the interesting discoveries the team made is that sharpshooter eye color genes are located on non-sexual chromosomes. All animals have two types of chromosomes: sex and autosomal, or non-sexual.

“Knowing that white and cinnabar genes are on autosomal chromosomes demonstrates that the inheritance of these genes is not related to the gender of the insect,” Pacheco said. “This is important for developing control strategies.”

For example, in mosquitoes, it is exclusively the females that transmit viruses to humans. Identifying genes on sex chromosomes that favor female mosquitoes is important for mosquito-control strategies. Conversely, it’s important to know when key genes are not on sex chromosomes.

To demonstrate that CRISPR-made mutations pass through to subsequent generations, the team also had to establish how to get the sharpshooters to mate in pairs. “That’s not always straightforward in entomology, because insects sometimes need more than one other insect to get stimulated for mating,” Atkinson explained.

CAPTION

Glassy-winged sharpshooters with CRISPR-modified eyecolor.

CREDIT

Inaiara de Souza Pacheco/UC

Now that the team has demonstrated that CRISPR can work in these insects, they have a new goal.

“We’re using CRISPR to try and modify the mouth parts of the sharpshooter so they can’t pick up the bacteria that causes Pierce’s Disease,” said Rick Redak, UCR entomologist and paper co-author. 

There is high likelihood the team will succeed in modifying the mouths, given the efficiency with which they were able to change the genes for the sharpshooters’ eye color. The team injected the CRISPR molecules into recently laid eggs, and in some experiments as many of 100% of the eggs became nymphs with altered eye color. 

“It’s absolutely amazing because the success rate in other organisms is often 30% or lower,” said Linda Walling plant biologist and paper co-author. “The high rate of gene editing success in glassy-winged sharpshooters bodes well for our ability to develop new methods of insect control, as well as understanding the basic biology of this devastating pest.”

Atkinson also marvels how close the team is to its goal of creating insects that aren’t infectious. “Before CRISPR, generating specific mutations with such ease at such high frequencies was virtually impossible,” Atkinson said. “Now we are confident we can come up with ways to create insects unable to transmit this disease.”

“The outcome of this research is an example of the strength that the agriculture departments in UCR’s College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences bring to developing innovative pest control strategies,” he said.

In addition to scientists from UCR’s Department of Entomology, the research team included Walling from the Department of Botany & Plant Sciences and mycologist Jason Stajich from the Department of Microbiology & Plant Pathology. 

Their work was funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. 

The team is particularly encouraged by the results of their CRISPR experiments on sharpshooters, part of a class of insects for which other molecular control strategies have not previously been effective.

“It’s looking like sharpshooters will become a model organism for the Hemiptera, this big category of piercing, sucking insects,” said Redak. “Our model of using CRISPR for them could blow open our ability to control diseases they transmit to plants and possibly, to humans as well.”
  

CAPTION

Glassy-winged sharpshooter with cinnabar eye color.

CREDIT

Inaiara de Souza Pacheco/UCR

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JOURNAL

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-022-09990-4 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

ARTICLE TITLE

Efficient CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome modification of the glassy-winged sharpshooter Homalodisca vitripennis

Researchers discover overlooked Jurassic Park of lizards

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL

 

IMAGE: COLLARED LIZARD IN COLORADO view more 

CREDIT: PAHCAL123 UNDER CC BY-SA 4.0 LICENSE

New research published today in eLife by researchers from the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP) and the University of Bristol (UB) moves back the moment of the radiation of squamates ―the group of reptiles that includes lizards, snakes and worm lizards― to the Jurassic, a long time before current estimates.

Cerdanyola del Vallès, April 26, 2022.  The Squamata is the largest order of reptiles, including lizards, snakes and worm lizards. Squamates are all cold-blooded, and their skins are covered by horny scales. They are key parts of modern terrestrial faunas, especially in warmer climates, with an astonishing diversity of more than 10,000 species. However, understanding the evolutionary paths that forged their success are still poorly understood.

There is consensus that all the main squamate groups had arisen before the event that wiped out dinosaurs and other groups of reptiles at the end of the Mesozoic era. Before that global catastrophic event, through the Cretaceous, many terrestrial tetrapod groups like mammals, lizards and birds, apparently underwent a great diversification during the so-called Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution, triggered by the rise of flowering plants. The scarcity of fossil remains of squamates through the Jurassic suggested that the main burst of squamate evolution happened in the Cretaceous (between 145 and 66 Myr.), when their fossil record dramatically improves.

Now, a new paper published in eLife, led by Arnau Bolet, paleontologist at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont and the University of Bristol, however, challenges this view by suggesting a much earlier radiation of squamates. Along with colleagues from the University of Bristol Michael Benton, Tom Stubbs and Jorge Herrera-Flores, their research concludes that this group of reptiles probably achieved a diverse array of adaptations in the Jurassic (between 201 and 145 Myr.), long before previously thought. “Even though Jurassic squamates are rare, reconstructed evolutionary trees show that all the main specializations of squamates evolved then, and it’s possible to distinguish adaptations of geckoes, iguanas, skinks, worm lizards, and snakes some 50 million years earlier than had been thought”, explains Michael Benton, co-author of the research.

But how could the scarce Jurassic fossils suggest an early burst in evolution? The key is in their anatomy. The few Jurassic squamates do not show primitive morphologies as would be expected, but they relate directly to the diverse modern groups. “Instead of finding a suite of generalized lizards on the stem of the squamate tree, what we found in the Jurassic were the first representatives of many modern groups, showing advanced morphological features”, says Arnau Bolet, lead author of the article.

The observed times of divergence, morphospace plots and evolutionary rates, all suggest that the Jurassic was a time of innovation in squamate evolution, during which the bases of the success of the group were established. According to these results, the apparent sudden increase in diversity observed in the Cretaceous could be related to an improved fossil record, capable of recording a larger number of species, or to a burst of origins of new species related to the new kinds of forests and insects.

Establishing the timing and mode of radiation of squamates is key for not only understanding the dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems in the Mesozoic, but also for deciphering how the group achieved an astonishing diversity of more than 10,000 species, only rivalled by birds among tetrapods.

Original article:

• Bolet, A., Stubbs, T.L., Herrera-Flores, J., Benton, M.J. (2022). The Jurassic rise of squamates as supported by lepidosaur disparity and evolutionary rates. eLife. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.66511

CAPTION

The fossil of Jurassic lizard Eichstaettisaurus

CREDIT

Jorge Herrera Flores

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JOURNAL

eLife

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

The Jurassic rise of squamates as supported by lepidosaur disparity and evolutionary rates

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-May-2022

New research reveals how the black rat colonised Europe in the Roman and Medieval periods

New ancient DNA analysis has shed light on how the black rat, blamed for spreading Black Death, dispersed across Europe – revealing that the rodent colonised the continent on two occasions in the Roman and Medieval periods.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF YORK

 

IMAGE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL BLACK RAT MANDIBLE view more 

CREDIT: EWAN CHIPPING, UNIVERSITY OF YORK

New ancient DNA analysis has shed light on how the black rat, blamed for spreading Black Death, dispersed across Europe – revealing that the rodent colonised the continent on two occasions in the Roman and Medieval periods.

The study - led by the University of York along with the University of Oxford and the Max Planck Institute  -  is the first ancient genetic study of the species (Rattus rattus), often known as the ship rat.

By analysing DNA from ancient black rat remains found at archaeological sites spanning the 1st to the 17th centuries in Europe and North Africa,  the researchers have pieced together a new understanding of how rat populations dispersed following the ebbs and flows of human trade,urbanism, and empires.

The study shows that the black rat colonised Europe at least twice, once with the Roman expansion and then again in the Medieval period - matching up with archaeological evidence for a decline or even disappearance of rats after the fall of the Roman Empire. 

The authors of the study say this was likely related to the break-up of the Roman economic system, though climatic change and the 6th Century Justinianic Plague may have played a role too. When towns and long-range trade re-emerged in the Medieval period, so too did a new wave of black rats.

The black rat is one of three rodent species, along with the house mouse (Mus musculus) and brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), to have become globally distributed as a result of its ability to live around humans by taking advantage of food and transportation.

Black rats were widespread across Europe until at least the 18th century, before their population declined, most likely as a result of competition with the newly arrived brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), the now dominant rat species in temperate Europe.

Dr David Orton from the Department of Archaeology said: “We’ve long known that the spread of rats is linked to human events, and we suspected that Roman expansion brought them north into Europe.

“But one remarkable result of our study is quite how much of a single event this seems to have been: all of our Roman rat bones from England to Serbia form a single group in genetic terms.”

“When rats reappear in the Medieval period we see a completely different genetic signature – but again all of our samples from England to Hungary to Finland all group together. We couldn’t have hoped for clearer evidence of repeated colonisation of Europe.”

Alex Jamieson, co-author at the University of Oxford, said “The modern dominance of brown rats has obscured the fascinating history of black rats in Europe. Generating genetic signatures of these ancient black rats reveals how closely black rat and human population dynamics mirror each other.”  

He Yu, co-author from the Max Planck Institute, said “This study is a great showcase of how the genetic background of human commensal species, like the black rat, could reflect historical or economic events. And more attention should be paid to these often neglected small animals.”

Researchers said that the study could also be used to provide information about human movement across continents.

 “Our results show how human-commensal species like the black rat, animals which flourish around human settlements, can act as ideal proxies for human historical processes,” added Dr Orton.

The research was a collaboration between York and partners including Oxford, the Max Planck Institute, and researchers in over 20 countries. 

Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history is published in Nature Communications.

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JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-022-30009-z 

ARTICLE TITLE

Palaeogenomic analysis of black rat (Rattus rattus) reveals multiple European introductions associated with human economic history

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

3-May-2022