King's academics to advise House of Lords on LGBTQ+ policy

The Global Cultures Institute’s Queer@King's research centre to lead on new initiative with the House of Lords to address the policy needs of LGBTQ+ communities in the UK.

 28 February 2024

LGBTQ+ Policymaking in the UK, a new initiative funded by the Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account, is an interdisciplinary network of academics, policymakers and civil society organisations working together to address the policy needs of the UK’s LGBTQ+ population. It will function as a research-to-policy advisory group, in close collaboration with Baroness Ruth Hunt.

The House of Lords is rightly considering a range of issues that impact on LGBT people. With so much information available, on so many platforms, it isn’t always easy to identify high-quality research. This partnership with King's will help members of the House of Lords focus on the evidence and base our policy on that evidence.

Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green

The project will bring together Parliamentarians, civil society organisations, and academics working across health inequalities, health and social care, law, digital inclusion, media, policy, education, and sociology, to consider how research about queer lives can be used to inform policymaking that affects those lives.

Through a series of workshops, the project will identify how academics and policymakers can effectively collaborate and ensure that academic research about LGBTQ+ communities is made accessible to government stakeholders. The network will use the workshop findings to produce a report and a set of policy briefs to help support evidence-based policymaking in Parliament.

On the operations front, the project is led by Queer@King's in the Global Cultures Institute here at King’s.

This project presents a vital opportunity to foster long-term collaboration between academics and policymakers committed to the rights of LGBTQ+ communities. We understand that Parliamentarians and their staff have limited time and limited resources, which means they can't seek out the latest peer-reviewed journal articles about every issue impacting queer life outcomes. But the peer-reviewed research exists and this project is a way of making that research and all the expertise surrounding it accessible and useful to Parliamentary stakeholders able to make a difference to queer life outcomes.

Dr Zeena Feldman, Director of Queer@King's and the project’s Principle Investigator

The project will showcase the considerable LGBTQ+ research expertise running across King’s.

The Global Cultures Institute, which houses Queer@King's, is designed to facilitate interdisciplinary, cross-cultural, transnational dialogue. Together with academics working across social sciences, arts and humanities, and health and life sciences, we are proud to use King’s innovative research in gender, sexuality and queerness to help address intersectional inequalities. In seeking to support the diversity of the UK LGBTQ+ community, this project will have important ramifications both locally and globally.

Professor Daniel Orrells, Chair-Director, Global Cultures Institute

To ensure the project’s sustainability, King’s Digital Lab will work with the project team to scope out a public-facing digital platform providing access to headline findings from peer-reviewed LGBTQ+ research.

In this story

Dr Zeena Feldman

Senior Lecturer in Digital Culture

Professor Daniel Orrells

Professor of Classics

Bill to enshrine abortion in constitution goes to a vote in French Senate

None of France’s major political parties oppose the right to abortion, which was decriminalized in 1975

Associated Press
Published February 28, 2024 


Live Action President Lila Rose, Moms for Liberty founding member Karen Frost and PragerU Kids outreach director Jill Simonian on how abortion and education will impact the upcoming general electionFrance’s Senate is voting on a bill meant to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the French Constitution.
The National Assembly previously approved the proposal in January by a significant margin.
If the Senate adopts the same version of the bill as the National Assembly, final approval requires a three-fifths majority in a joint parliamentary session.

France's Senate is to vote on Wednesday on a bill meant to enshrine a woman’s right to an abortion in the constitution, a measure promised by President Emmanuel Macron following a rollback on rulings in the United States.

Wednesday's vote comes after the lower house, the National Assembly, overwhelmingly approved the proposal in January.

A majority of senators appear to be in favor of the constitutional change, but some conservatives have criticized its wording, casting doubt over the outcome of the vote.

MACRON CRITICIZES SUPREME COURT RULING DESPITE FRANCE'S STRICT ABORTION LIMITS

Macron’s government wants Article 34 of the constitution amended to specify that "the law determines the conditions by which is exercised the freedom of women to have recourse to an abortion, which is guaranteed."

This Dec. 11, 2014 file photo shows a general view of France's Senate. The Senate is to vote on a bill meant to enshrine a woman's right to an abortion in the French Constitution, a measure promised by President Emmanuel Macron following a rollback on rulings in the U.S. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)

If the Senate adopts the same version of the bill as the National Assembly, the constitutional change will require definitive approval by a three-fifths majority of a joint session of parliament, traditionally held at the Palace of Versailles.

If the Senate amends the proposal or reject it, the bill must return to the National Assembly for further debate.

None of France’s major political parties represented in parliament is questioning the right to abortion, which was decriminalized in 1975.

The government argued in its introduction to the bill that the right to abortion is threatened in the United States, where the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a 50-year-old ruling that used to guarantee it.

"Unfortunately, this event is not isolated: in many countries, even in Europe, there are currents of opinion that seek to hinder at any cost the freedom of women to terminate their pregnancy if they wish," the introduction to the French legislation says.

In Poland, a controversial tightening of the already restrictive abortion law led to protests in the country last year The Polish constitutional court ruled in 2020 that women could no longer terminate pregnancies in cases of severe fetal deformities, including Down Syndrome.

When biodiversity and human cuisine collide, even lentils and rice take a toll

Researchers painstakingly analyzed the biodiversity footprint of 151 dishes. They found that even the vegetarian ones can exact a high price.

By Warren Cornwall
February 28, 2024

What do Spanish lamb stew, Indian bean curry and Brazilian beef steak have in common?

While these dishes originate from around the globe and have very different ingredients, new research finds they all exact an outsized toll on global biodiversity.

Meat, particularly beef, has long been known to have a large environmental footprint. But the findings that such vegetarian mainstays as lentils and rice pose some of the biggest threats to biodiversity might come as a surprise.

It underscores the importance not just of what it takes to grow a particular kind of food, but also where it comes from. “Vegetarian dishes from highly biodiverse and under strong human pressure countries like India, can be also very detrimental for biodiversity,” said Roman Carrasco, a conservation scientist at the National University of Singapore who was involved in the new research.

The work takes a somewhat novel approach to scoring the environmental credentials of different kinds of food, one that reflects more clearly how people really eat. Rankings are often broken down by individual ingredient (for example, the carbon footprint of beef). But people usually don’t dine on single items. They combine them into meals.

So the scientists compiled a list of 151 of the most popular dishes from 25 countries with the world’s largest economies. They created the list based on “best of” articles about food from different parts of the world from CNN (Cable News Network), as well as Taste Atlas, a website that links foods to geographic locations.



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The surprising cultural drivers of our appetite for meat




With the dishes in hand, the researchers then dissected the recipes. They adjusted each one so that the portions added up to the same number of calories. Then they tried to gauge the effect each ingredient in a dish would have on biodiversity in the places where it is produced.

That’s no mean feat, given the number of potential ingredients and the difficulty of figuring out how each one translates to the fate of species. For each item, the scientists relied on maps showing where different crops are grown or animals are grazed, and on estimates of how much land it takes to produce a certain amount of that item. To translate this into biodiversity, they turned to work by other scientists who have studied how agricultural production overlapped with species habitats.

In the end, Carrasco’s team came up with six different scenarios, depending on whether the ingredients came from nearby or around the world and the particular kind of effect on biodiversity (for instance, whether the effect was on rare species or all species).

A few patterns stand out. A meat-heavy recipe generally poses a bigger threat to biodiversity. That’s particularly true for beef, which demands some of the most animal feed or pasture. Among the 20 dishes with the largest biodiversity footprint, seven contained beef, more than any other item, the scientists reported last week in PLoS ONE..

Recipes from countries with lots of biodiversity posed a bigger problem. That means Brazilian beef dishes, such as picanha and fraldinha, held many of the top spots. That’s in part because the country is home to the Amazon jungle and Cerrado grasslands, both species-rich habitats threatened by agricultural expansion.

The penalty for food from biological hotspots also helps to explain why Indian recipes with legumes, such as dal, rajma and chana masala are more problematic than you might expect. Legumes and rice generally score very well, but the demands of feeding the world’s most populous country in a biologically rich area makes it a challenge. “The results show how hard it is to balance food production with a megadiverse country where 1.4 billion people live. It probably can’t be done much better and legumes are one of the best options to do so,” said Carrasco.

Many of the dishes that proved to be most benign in terms of biodiversity won’t win any awards from dietitians. The recipes are dominated by starchy vegetables such as potatoes and wheat, along with soybeans, corn, sugar and a variety of rather pedestrian fruits (apples, berries). Among the biodiversity champions are French fries, crumpets, baguettes and macarons.

That odd result is partly thanks to where these ingredients come from: temperate regions with lower levels of biodiversity.

There is also one big gap: seafood. Because of differences in how food production and biodiversity are measured on land and in the ocean, there are no fish dishes on the menu.

This new ranking could become another tool consumers can use to reduce at least some of the damage that comes from their appetite. Carrasco stopped eating beef several years ago because of the environmental effects. But the new research has him planning to forgo lamb for similar reasons.

While it would be wise not to let this new research be the sole guide to healthy eating, it could help eaters make meaningful changes, even by following some simple rules of thumb. It will have a familiar ring to those already trying to green their diets.

“Transitioning to a flexitarian, vegetarian or vegan diet is the most important recommendation,” to come from the research, said Carrasco. “Even simpler, I would avoid beef and lamb. That goes a long way.”

Cheng, et. al. “Biodiversity footprints of 151 popular dishes from around the world.” PLoS ONE. Feb. 21, 2024.

Image: ©Anthropocene Magazine

 

Scientists provide first detailed estimates of how much sediment is supplied to coral islands from the reef system

by Alan Williams, University of Plymouth

The island of Dhigelaabadhoo in the Maldives is the main field site of the ARISE 

programme, through which a series of extensive field tests—using state-of-the art coastal 

process research instrumentation and autonomous survey equipment—will be conducted

 between now and 2027. Credit: University of Plymouth

Scientists have produced the first detailed estimates of how much sediment is transported onto the shores of coral reef islands, and how that might enable them to withstand the future threats posed by climate change.

Coral reef islands are low-lying accumulations of sand and gravel-sized sediment deposited on coral reef surfaces.

The sediments are derived from the broken-down remains of corals and other organisms that grow on the surrounding reef. Therefore, the rate of supply of sediment from reefs is a critical control on island formation and future change.

The international team of researchers used data available for 28 reef islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, widely acknowledged to be among the world's most vulnerable environments to rising seas.

By identifying the amount of sediment present within reef islands, and comparing this against the known age of the islands, they were able to determine the average amount of sediment delivered to the islands from surrounding coral reefs over their histories.

They discovered that on average, for every meter of shoreline, around 0.1m3 (equivalent to around 100kg) of sediment is delivered to the islands per year.

It means that for an island with a perimeter of around 2,000m, just over 300 dumpy bags of reef-derived sediment are added to the island each year.

They also estimated that only a quarter of the sediment generated on reef surfaces actually reaches the island shoreline and is used for island-building, with the remainder staying within its reefs, or being transported into the ocean or lagoon.

Writing in Geophysical Research Letters, the study's authors say their findings could go some way to explaining a global observation that most of these islands have grown over the past few decades.

This is in spite of the perception that rising sea levels might erode their shorelines, and disregards artificial island expansion created by local populations.

The research was carried out by experts from the University of Plymouth and National University of Singapore, who have collaborated for many years to examine the threats posed to coastal communities by climate change.

They have previously published research suggesting that so-called island 'drowning," whereby remote islands will be flooded as sea levels rise, is not inevitable.

Professor Gerd Masselink, Professor of Coastal Geomorphology at the University of Plymouth, who led the study said, "These results will help us to predict more accurately how coral reef islands will adjust to sea-level rise. The conventional thinking is that these islands will drown over the next century as the effects of climate change are felt more strongly, but an alternative view is that enhanced flooding due to sea-level rise can help raise the island elevation."

"The ability of reef islands to naturally adapt to sea-level rise by raising their elevation critically depends on how much sediment they receive each year from the living coral reef system."

Study co-author Professor Paul Kench, Professor of Tropical Coastal Change from the Department of Geography at the National University of Singapore, has investigated reef island dynamics and evolution for over three decades. He added, "Sediment generation and supply to islands is one of the critical controls on how islands have formed in the past, but also how they will continue to change with rising sea levels."

"Rates of sediment supply to islands are poorly understood. This research provides an important development in establishing long-term rates of sediment delivery to islands that will support their ongoing adjustment to changing environmental conditions."

The new study is the first to be produced through the ARISE program. The five-year project will include a series of extensive field tests—using state-of-the art coastal process research instrumentation and autonomous survey equipment—in both the Maldives and the Pacific between now and 2027.

There will also be laboratory experiments in the largest wave flume in the world—the Delta Flume at Deltares in the Netherlands—and combined, these tests will enable researchers to explore the impact of overwashing on the islands' beaches and any natural processes that are adding to their resilience.

The researchers also aim to work with communities and government bodies in the atoll island nations, enabling them to implement adaptation strategies that maximize opportunities for continued habitation.

More information: Baptiste Ainési et al, Meta‐Study of Carbonate Sediment Delivery Rates to Indo‐Pacific Coral Reef Islands, Geophysical Research Letters (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2023GL105610

Provided by University of Plymouth First reports of severe coral bleaching this summer as the Great Barrier Reef warms up

Virus-resistant gene-edited pigs could soon be slaughtered for supermarket shelves

A UK company has already been successful with experimenting on gene-editing pigs in a bid to battle the deadly virus known as Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome

By Adam Cailler

Journalist

28 FEB 2024


Genetically modified virus-resistant pigs could be set to fill supermarket shelves soon, experts have claimed.

A UK company is behind a gene editing experiment of pigs with the hope of eliminating the impact of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome that kill thousands of pigs per year.

And having so far proven to be relatively successful, it could soon mean that the gene-edited swines might be heading towards our shelves soon – with an eye on other livestock being used in a similar way in the near future.

Gene-edited pigs could soon be on our supermarket shelves (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Genus PLC – which sells genetically superior breeding pigs and semen to farmers so they can breed commercial pigs with desirable characteristics for pork production – is now waiting for the United States Food and Drug Administration to formally approve the pigs for widespread human consumption, which it's hoped will happen this year.

A new study from the company claims that they have “produced healthy pigs that resisted PRRS virus infection as determined by macrophage and animal challenges”. They added: ”This founder population will be used for additional disease and trait testing, multiplication and commercial distribution upon regulatory approval.

“Gene editing holds great promise for combating disease and improving both human and animal health. Crop and livestock breeders can now incorporate . . . a tool to address present and emerging diseases and ensure food security. This is a ground-breaking accomplishment in agriculture toward improving animal health, reducing waste, lowering production costs, and potentially reducing antibiotic use on the farm.

Testing has so far proven to be successful (stock) (Image: Getty Images)

“Further, applying these learnings to eliminate other livestock diseases that are not only harmful to animals (African Swine Fever) but also to humans (swine influenza) would be a major step to benefit consumers, society, and the environment.”

Alison Van Eenennaam, an animal geneticist at the University of California told Science.org: “There’s no point having a pig getting sick and dying if there’s an approach to genetically prevent it from doing so.”

It is thought that should FDA approval come this year, then the meat could be available to by in the US and UK soon after. The Daily Star has reached out to several UK supermarkets to see if they would be willing to see gene-edited pork products.

 I 💓 KEFIR

Kefir shows promise in improving gut health of ICU patients, study finds

By Vijay Kumar MalesuFeb 28 2024

Reviewed by Lily Ramsey, LLM

In a recent study published in BMC Medicine, a group of researchers assessed the safety, feasibility, and impact of kefir administration on the gut microbiome of critically ill adults in an intensive care unit (ICU) setting.

Study: Safety, feasibility, and impact on the gut microbiome of kefir administration in critically ill adults. Image Credit: Fascinadora/Shutterstock.com

Background 

Critically ill patients often face gut dysbiosis upon ICU admission, characterized by reduced beneficial microbiome diversity and increased pathogenic bacteria. This imbalance is linked to higher risks of hospital-acquired infections, organ failure, septic shock, and mortality.

The degradation of gut health in the ICU is aggravated by common treatments like antibiotics and steroids, which harm the commensal gut flora. Despite attempts, interventions like probiotics have not significantly improved outcomes.

Fermented foods, particularly kefir, offer a promising alternative due to their health benefits, including enhancing gut microbiome diversity.

Further research is needed to comprehensively understand kefir's effects on gut microbiome diversity and its potential clinical benefits in critically ill patients. 

About the study 

In the present study, an open-label phase I trial was initiated to explore the safety and feasibility of kefir administration in critically ill adults within an ICU setting, gaining approval from the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board (IRB) and deemed an investigational new drug by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Lifeway Foods® provided the kefir, aiming to investigate shifts in gut microbiome composition among ICU patients.

Aiming for at least 50 participants, adults with a functioning gastrointestinal (GI) tract expected to stay in the ICU for over 48 hours were eligible, excluding those with significant immunosuppression, compromised gut integrity, dairy intolerance, or a dire prognosis.

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Participants or their proxies consented to the study, which aligned with ethical standards and the Helsinki declaration. Lifeway Foods® Kefir, rich in beneficial bacteria and yeast, was chosen for its potential health benefits.

Administered in increasing doses, the kefir was given either orally or via a nasogastric tube, closely monitoring patient tolerance and adverse reactions.

The primary goals were to evaluate kefir's safety and the ability to deliver prescribed doses effectively. Stool samples were collected for gut microbiome analysis before and after kefir administration processed for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction and sequencing to assess microbial diversity and changes.

The study also measured the Gut Microbiome Wellness Index (GMWI) to gauge health improvements, applying rigorous statistical analyses to evaluate the impact of kefir on the gut microbiome. 

Study results 

Between July 2022 and February 2023, the health records of 722 ICU patients were reviewed for the study on kefir administration, resulting in 54 patients being enrolled based on specific inclusion criteria.

These patients had an average age of 64.6 years and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 34.9, with a predominance of white ethnicity (98%) and a high percentage receiving antibiotic treatments during their ICU stay. 

Kefir was administered to patients either orally or via a nasogastric tube, with a high adherence rate to the prescribed doses.

Despite challenges such as taste preferences leading to the introduction of flavored kefir, the study found kefir administration to be feasible and safe, with no severe adverse effects linked to its consumption.

The primary safety concern was diarrhea in two patients, which could not be conclusively attributed to kefir due to concurrent laxative use and the commonality of diarrhea in the ICU setting.

Stool samples collected before and after kefir administration showed significant changes in the gut microbiome of critically ill patients. Despite administering antibiotics, which likely influenced these changes, analysis revealed a decrease in microbial diversity.

However, specific microbial species associated with kefir showed varying presence in the patients' guts, indicating potential engraftment.

The study also explored the impact of kefir on the GMWI, finding a significant improvement in gut health among the ICU patients who received kefir.

This improvement, assessed through changes in the relative abundance of specific microbial species, suggests a positive shift in the gut microbiome composition towards a healthier state following kefir supplementation. 

Conclusions 

The study demonstrated that kefir administration is safe and feasible for critically ill ICU patients with functional gastrointestinal systems despite not significantly increasing gut microbial diversity.

An observed improvement in the GMWI suggests potential health benefits. Future work would refine kefir dosing, enhance sample collection, and incorporate control groups to more effectively evaluate kefir's benefits on gut health and patient outcomes in the ICU.

Journal reference:

• Gupta, V.K., Rajendraprasad, S., (2024) Ozkan, M. et al. Safety, feasibility, and impact on the gut microbiome of kefir administration in critically ill adults. BMC Med. doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-024-03299-x. https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-024-03299-x 

Written by

Vijay Kumar Malesu

Vijay holds a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and possesses a deep passion for microbiology. His academic journey has allowed him to delve deeper into understanding the intricate world of microorganisms. Through his research and studies, he has gained expertise in various aspects of microbiology, which includes microbial genetics, microbial physiology, and microbial ecology. Vijay has six years of scientific research experience at renowned research institutes such as the Indian Council for Agricultural Research and KIIT University. He has worked on diverse projects in microbiology, biopolymers, and drug delivery. His contributions to these areas have provided him with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and the ability to tackle complex research challenges.    

This company makes wood products without trees

Foray Bioscience is opening up possibilities for biomanufacturing in forestry.

By Abdullahi Tsanni 

February 28, 2024

MIT

Ashley Beckwith, founder and CEO of Foray Bioscience

FORAY BIOSCIENCE

As she walks across Foray’s lab on the third floor of The Engine, Ashley Beckwith’s eyes brighten. Then, from an incubator, she pulls out petri dishes of wood-like cells that she and her team grew in the lab from black cottonwood plants. They envision turning those cells into wood-based perfumes, cosmetics, oils, and—someday—entire beams and planks that can be created without clearing any forested land.

The Engine is a coworking and shared lab space located in Building 750 on MIT’s campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where startups and technology entrepreneurs try to develop inventions that can tackle the world’s most challenging problems. Foray Bioscience, a company started by Beckwith, 32, recently joined the fold. Her company aims to disrupt traditional manufacturing of wood products—which involves harvesting lots of trees.

Growing up near Colorado’s expansive and beautiful forests, Beckwith spent a lot of time running in the woods. She witnessed how the construction of new housing developments encroached on forests, which sparked her interest in plant research. She founded Foray in 2022, after completing her PhD in mechanical engineering at MIT.

On a drizzly afternoon in November, inside Foray’s lab space, centrifuges hum and large beakers clink onto the benches, their bright yellow contents bubbling. Dressed in her lab coat, Beckwith explains how growing demand for wood products is driving the loss of natural forests—in the last 25 years, the world has lost about 500,000 square miles. With Foray she hopes to change that, using a technology platform she’s developed that combines cell culture and tissue engineering.

Foray’s process involves extracting live cells from the leaves of plants such as the black cottonwood, a popular species for making fiber products, which is used as a model plant for testing the company’s methods. Leaves are first cultured into a kind of liquid broth until the cells reproduce. Then cells are transferred into a gel containing two plant hormones, auxin and cytokinin, allowing researchers to coax the cells to grow into wood-like structures. In this phase, the cell cultures can also be tweaked to produce secondary products such as aromatics for making perfumes and embryos to generate seeds.

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In the lab, Foray has demonstrated the feasibility of making samples of fragrance products, and they’re working to refine their process to improve and scale production. But generating successful cell lines—finding the right recipe to turn on the production of target products in the cells—is especially challenging. And because fragrance products are largely derived from more than one compound, getting those in the correct proportions hasn’t been easy.

“We’re bringing biomanufacturing to forestry, and leveraging its tools to protect and restore forests,” says Beckwith. Applications could range from food and medical products to cosmetics and bioplastics. Trees are rich in useful chemicals with significant medicinal value: tree-sourced compounds serve as chemotherapeutics, vaccine adjuvants, and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Shawn Mansfield, a professor of forestry and tree biotechnology at the University of British Columbia, says he’s skeptical that the technology can have much impact in the big scheme of things. Mansfield, who has worked with cottonwoods and plant tissue techniques, says the production of specialty chemicals “will not offset the harvest of trees.” But Beckwith says that because she and her colleagues can grow tree cells in a controlled environment, they can grow the products up to “100x faster” with less land than what’s possible with traditional methods. This means they can harvest what the trees make without cutting any trees down.

Beckwith and her team hope to commercialize Foray’s biomanufacturing technology and generate profit through the products that they’re developing. But it’s still early days; the company has yet to send any samples for external validation, and scaling the technology would require significant financial and research investment. They hope what they’re learning about the process could aid seed production to support forest restoration in the near future.

Foray’s vision is big, but Beckwith believes in what the future holds and isn’t afraid to fail. “We don’t see failure as a bad thing,” she says, “but as an essential tool to move us forward.”

POSTMODERN ALCHEMY

Goa mushrooms to turn into gold? New study discovers eco-friendly way of gold nanoparticles production

They also presented a draft roadmap for the Goa government, highlighting the vast economic and bioindustrial implications of this breakthrough for Goa.

Written by Annu Mandal

February 28, 2024 

The two researchers studied mushrooms of the Termitomyces species, also known as ‘roen olmi’ to produce gold nanoparticles. (Representative image)

Goan researchers have found out the sources of gold nanoparticles synthesised from a wild species of mushroom, popularly consumed by locals of the region, an Indian Express report said on Wednesday. The two researchers studied mushrooms of the Termitomyces species, also known as ‘roen olmi’ to produce gold nanoparticles.

The study reveals the successful cultivation of a specific mushroom species into a pure three-dimensional pelletized form, used for the production of gold nanoparticles. Titled ‘Biosynthesis and characterisation of AuNPs produced using Termitomyces heimii Pellets,’ the research was recently published in the Geomicrobiology Journal by Taylor and Francis.

On Tuesday, researchers Dr Sujata Dabolkar and Dr Nandkumar Kamat presented their findings to Aleixo Sequeira, Goa’s Environment Minister and chairman of the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB). They also presented a draft roadmap for the Goa government, highlighting the vast economic and bioindustrial implications of this breakthrough for Goa.

Dr. Kamat, who has been studying this mushroom variety for over three decades, emphasized that Goa possesses the largest species diversity and gene pool of the wild edible Termitomyces mushrooms. He stated, “For the first time, this species of mushroom has been brought in pure culture, grown as pellets, and used to produce gold nanoparticles. The breakthrough pioneers the use of an eco-friendly species for mass production of gold nanoparticles.”

Gold nanoparticles hold significant potential in global markets. Dr. Dabolkar noted, “In February 2016, a single milligram of gold nanoparticles cost around $80, which equates to $80,000 dollars per gram.”

The researchers emphasised the importance of conserving and responsibly utilizing these resources, in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol, to benefit both industries and local communities.

Why do people not prepare for disasters? A national survey from China

• Ziqiang Han & 
• Guochun Wu 

npj Natural Hazards volume 1, Article number: 1 (2024) Cite this article

• Article
• Open access
• Published: 28 February 2024

• 
  details

Abstract

Limited studies investigated the reasons for not adopting specific preparedness actions. This paper addresses this gap using national survey data from China. Seven disaster preparedness actions are used to measure preparedness behaviors, including “preparing food and water at home,” “paying attention to disaster-related information,” “making emergency plans,” “being aware of nearest shelters,” “being aware of building codes,” “participating in exercises or drills,” and “volunteering for emergencies.” The primary reasons for not adopting are “lack of awareness,” “not knowing where to buy or reach resources,” and “perceiving the action as unnecessary.” Other less chosen reasons ranking from high to low are the “financial cost,” “need for special knowledge,” “lack of time,” “need for collaboration with others,” “human energy consuming,” and “not feeling responsible.” Trust in government, relocation due to disasters, living in urban areas, and higher socioeconomic status are positively correlated with higher probabilities of adopting all seven preparedness activities. These findings emphasize the importance of community outreach by emergency management professionals to increase public awareness of disaster preparedness.

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Why do people not prepare for disasters? A national survey from China | npj Natural Hazards (nature.com)