Could a dietary fiber supplement offer long-awaited treatment for food allergy sufferers?

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

A study from the University of Michigan has identified a potential new treatment for food allergies in inulin, a naturally occurring plant fiber commonly used as a supplement, a prebiotic in soda, a replacement for sweeteners and for other products and purposes.

 

In what appears to be a major advancement that offers the promise of relief to food allergy sufferers around the world, the paper published in Nature Materials describes inulin gel-based oral immunotherapy's success in stopping allergic reactions in mice by, in part, targeting bacteria in the gut. The gel prevented severe allergic reactions during and even after being administered, including reactions to common triggers such as peanuts, egg white and milk.

 

The research, conducted by an international team of scientists in pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical and chemical engineering, internal medicine and other specialties, proposes that inulin gel addresses the root cause of food allergies, rather than just managing symptoms. 

 

The research was led by James Moon from U-M's College of Pharmacy. He has  studied inulin's potential to treat disease for years. He said inulin gel-based therapy holds great promise due to its safety profile and potential for large-scale production.

 

"Inulin, a widely consumed dietary fiber recognized as safe by the FDA, forms the basis of the gel, making it a feasible and translatable option for clinical use," said Moon, whose lab develops drug delivery technologies combined with pharmaceutics and engineering to identify ways for  the body to fight disease. Moon is the J. G. Searle Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

 

While further research and clinical trials are needed to test the findings, the study, which emphasized the role of the small intestine's microbiota and metabolites in food allergy regulation, opens potentially life-changing new avenues for therapeutic interventions, he said. Other, newer treatment options have seen low uptake due to adverse reactions and spotty effectiveness.

 

As many as 1 in 3 adults and more than 1 in 4 children have food allergies, a life-altering condition that is getting harder to manage as allergens can be hidden in a variety of foods and drinks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

Food allergies have become a significant concern globally, especially in developed nations, as accidental exposure to allergens can trigger severe reactions, including death.

 

The research found that inulin gel, specifically formulated with an allergen, normalized the imbalanced intestinal microbiota and metabolites in allergic mice. This normalization led to the establishment of allergen-specific oral tolerance, effectively suppressing allergic reactions to various food allergens. 

 

"The therapy showed long-lasting protection even after the cessation of treatment, indicating its potential for sustained relief from food allergies," said Fang Xie, a graduate student who also led the studies.

 

Inulins are a group of polysaccharides and natural storage carbohydrates in more than 36,000 plant species, including wheat, onion, asparagus and chicory, which is most often used to manufacture supplements.

 

The fiber is also the subject of research and clinical trials investigating its role in treating or leading to better understanding of cancerous tumors, gastrointestinal illnesses, diabetes and other diseases. 

 

The researchers whose work went into the study represent institutions around the world, including the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center,  Dongguk University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, Michigan State University, the University of Washington and WPI Immunology Frontier Research Center, Osaka University, Japan. Additionally, researchers from the University of Michigan represent the Biointerfaces Institute, the departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Internal Medicine and the Mary H. Weiser Food Allergy Center.

 

Disclaimer: Moon declares financial interests for board membership, as a paid consultant, for research funding, and/or as an equity holder in EVOQ Therapeutics and Saros Therapeutics, and U-M has a financial interest in EVOQ Therapeutics, Inc. The other authors declare no competing interests.

 

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-024-01909-w

 

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JOURNAL

Nature Materials

DOI

10.1038/s41563-024-01909-w 

 

Global database reveals large gaps in our knowledge of four-footed animals

Database will enable more accurate biodiversity research

PLOS

 

IMAGE: 

DATA GAPS IN NATURAL HISTORY MAY ARISE DUE TO CHALLENGES IN DETECTING CANOPY-DWELLING OR NOCTURNALLY ACTIVE SPECIES, SUCH AS THE SLENDER LORIS (LORIS TARDIGRADUS) FROM SRI LANKA.

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CREDIT: ALEXANDER PYRON (CC-BY 4.0, HTTPS://CREATIVECOMMONS.ORG/LICENSES/BY/4.0/)

Researchers developed TetrapodTraits – a global database of animals with four feet – which can now be applied for better ecology, evolution and conservation research. Mario Moura of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil, and Walter Jetz of Yale University, US, published this work on July 9th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Tetrapods, which include amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, are generally well-documented species, which makes them useful as models in global biodiversity studies. However, gaps in our knowledge about many of these species, data inconsistencies and shifting scientific names can lead to biased conclusions about biodiversity. To help address this issue, researchers created TetrapodTraits, a comprehensive database containing more than 33,000 tetrapod species that includes traits such as body size, habitat, ecosystem, geography, when the animal is active and whether it is threatened by humans.

In compiling the database, researchers revealed multiple gaps in our global tetrapod knowledge. For example, animals are more likely to have incomplete data if they have smaller bodies, are active at night, or live in tropical regions. The team filled these gaps by predicting the missing data based on existing observations. They found that using the completed data set changed biodiversity patterns informing which kind of species are commonly found in a region.

This new work reveals the scale of our missing tetrapod data and provides a comprehensive assessment of gaps and biases across different tetrapod groups. This is important because missing and biased data can lead to incorrect conclusions about how an ecosystem is functioning, and a species’ risk of extinction. The researchers conclude that while more data collection is needed, TetrapodTraits can lead to less biased results for studies of tetrapod ecology and conservation.

The authors add, “Our research utilizes artificial intelligence to uncover biases in biodiversity data and offer guidance for enhancing the effectiveness of field research and sampling strategies.”

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In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002658  

Researchers developed TetrapodTraits – a global database of animals with four feet – which can now be applied for better ecology, evolution and conservation research. Mario Moura of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil, and Walter Jetz of Yale University, US, published this work June 25th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

Tetrapods, which include amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, are generally well documented species, which makes them useful as models in global biodiversity studies. However, gaps in our knowledge about many of these species, data inconsistencies and shifting scientific names can lead to biased conclusions about biodiversity. To help address this issue, researchers created TetrapodTraits, a comprehensive database containing more than 33,000 tetrapod species that includes traits such as body size, habitat, ecosystem, geography, when the animal is active and whether it is threatened by humans.

In compiling the database, researchers revealed multiple gaps in our global tetrapod knowledge. For example, animals are more likely to have incomplete data if they have smaller bodies, are active at night, or live in tropical regions. The team filled these gaps by predicting the missing data based on existing observations. They found that using the completed data set changed biodiversity patterns informing which kind of species are commonly found in a region.

This new work reveals the scale of our missing tetrapod data and provides a comprehensive assessment of gaps and biases across different tetrapod groups. This is important because missing and biased data can lead to incorrect conclusions about how an ecosystem is functioning, and a species’ risk of extinction. The researchers conclude that while more data collection is needed, TetrapodTraits can lead to less biased results for studies of tetrapod ecology and conservation.

The authors add, “Our research utilizes artificial intelligence to uncover biases in biodiversity data and offer guidance for enhancing the effectiveness of field research and sampling strategies.”

The challenges of detecting species with small sizes or nocturnal activity, such as the Walking Leaf Frog (Phyllomedusa burmeisteri) from Brazil, contribute to data gaps in natural history.

CREDIT

Mario R. Moura (CC-BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology: http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3002658  

Citation: Moura MR, Ceron K, Guedes JJM, Chen-Zhao R, Sica YV, Hart J, et al. (2024) A phylogeny-informed characterisation of global tetrapod traits addresses data gaps and biases. PLoS Biol 22(7): e3002658. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002658

Author Countries: United States, Brazil, Portugal, Puerto Rico

Funding: see manuscript

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JOURNAL

PLoS Biology

DOI

10.1371/journal.pbio.3002658 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Computational simulation/modeling

 

Exponentially increasing understanding of early life on Earth

UCR study could shape the search for life on other planets

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - RIVERSIDE

 

IMAGE: 

MANY MICROBIAL STRUCTURES ON THE SHORES OF LAKE SALDA IN TURKEY ARE EXPOSED AS WATER LEVELS DROP, ALLOWING SCIENTISTS TO STUDY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LIFE AND THE SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT. 

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CREDIT: TIM LYONS/UCR

Despite decades of research, there’s still much scholars don’t understand about life’s beginnings and early evolution. A UC Riverside paper has opened the door to understanding more and to framing future studies that could help predict climate change and search for life beyond Earth.  

“This paper strives to inform the Earth sciences community where the research needs to go next,” said Christopher Tino, a UCR PhD candidate during the time of research and a first author.

Many studies have explored signs of early life preserved in ancient rocks, but this paper, recently published in the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology, weaves together this data with genomic studies of modern organisms and recent breakthroughs about the evolving chemistry of the early oceans, atmosphere, and continents.

The paper shows how Earth’s earliest life forms — microbes such as O2-producing bacteria and methane-producing archaea — shaped, and were shaped by, changes in the oceans, continents, and atmosphere.

“The central message in all of this is that you can't view any part of the record in isolation,” said Timothy Lyons, a UCR distinguished professor of biogeochemistry and co-first author. “This is one of the first times that research across these fields has been stitched together this comprehensively to uncover an overarching narrative.”

Bringing together experts in biology, geology, geochemistry, and genomics, the paper details the journey of Earth’s early life forms from their first appearances to their rise to ecological prominence. As their numbers increased, microbes began to affect the world around them, for instance by starting to produce oxygen via photosynthesis.

The findings across each field often “agree in remarkable ways,” according to Tino, who is now a postdoctoral associate at the University of Calgary.

Specifically, the study tracks how microbial life consumed, transformed, and dispersed key nutrients containing nitrogen, iron, manganese, sulfur, and methane across Earth. These biological pathways evolved as Earth’s surface changed dramatically along with, and sometimes because of, new life. Continents emerged, the sun became brighter, and the world became rich in oxygen. 

Because the evolution of new biological pathways affected these element cycles, their trajectories tell us when early life forms appeared, how they affected and responded to the environment, and when they developed global-scale ecological footprints. 

Rocks billions of years old often lack the visible fossils needed to tell the whole story, but this study incorporated the chemistry of these rocks and the genomes of living relatives to form a comprehensive view of ancient life.

“In essence, we are describing Earth’s first flirtations with microbes capable of changing the global environment,” said Lyons, who is also the director of the Alternative Earths Astrobiology Center in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. “You need to understand the whole picture to fully grasp the who, what, when, and where as microbes graduated from mere existence to having a significant effect on the environment.” 

Many scholars have assumed that once a life form appeared on Earth, it quickly became prolific. Only by bringing together decades of research across disciplines, as Lyons, Tino, and their colleagues did in this paper, can scientists see the difference between the mere presence, versus the dominance, of certain microbes. Often, the rise from existence to prominence took hundreds of millions of years.

“Microbes that at first eked out an existence in narrow niches would later have their turn to be the big kids on the block,” said Lyons.

All this distills down to the basic question that keeps the UCR team awake at night: Where did we come from?

But the answers gleaned from this research also have more practical applications, including insights into how life and environments might respond to climate change, both in the short term and far future.  

The study could also aid the search for life on other planets. “If we are ever going to find evidence for life beyond Earth, it will very likely be based on the processes and products of microorganisms, such as methane and O2,” said Tino.

“We are motivated by serving NASA in its mission,” Lyons noted, “specifically to help understand how exoplanets could sustain life.”

Lyons and Tino were joined in this effort by Gregory P. Fournier, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Rika E. Anderson, University of Washington and Carleton College; William D. Leavitt, Dartmouth College; Kurt O. Konhauser, University of Alberta; and Eva E. Stüeken, University of Washington and University of St. Andrews.
 

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JOURNAL

Nature Reviews Microbiology

DOI

10.1038/s41579-024-01044-y 

ARTICLE TITLE

Co‐evolution of early Earth environments and microbial life

 

Researchers identify brain region involved in oxycodone relapse

Study by Scripps Research scientists suggests future therapies for opioid and alcohol addiction.

SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

LA JOLLA, CA—Even years after they have recovered, a person who once struggled with alcohol or opioid addiction can relapse—and that relapse is more likely to occur during particularly stressful times. Now, Scripps Research scientists have identified an area of the brain that plays a key role in stress-induced oxycodone relapse. Their findings explain why the drug suvorexant, which they previously found to reduce alcohol and oxycodone relapse when administered orally, works so well.

“Having a better understanding of the region(s) in the brain responsible for this kind of relapse is incredibly important as we develop treatments for alcohol use disorder and opioid use disorder,” says Scripps Research Associate Professor Remi Martin-Fardon, PhD, senior author of the study published in Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Alcohol use disorder includes chronic heavy alcohol use and binge drinking, while opioid use disorder is the chronic use of opioids that causes significant distress or impairment. Both disorders are considered major public health concerns and affect millions of people a year.

Recently, Martin-Fardon’s team showed that when alcohol-dependent rats were given the drug suvorexant (Belsomra®), they drank less alcohol and were less likely to experience stress-induced relapse. Similar experiments suggested that it also could prevent opioid relapse elicited by drug-associated cues.

Suvorexant blocks the neuronal signaling chemical orexin. But orexin acts on the brain in multiple ways, and the researchers wanted to better understand which areas of the brain and molecular pathways were responsible for suvorexant’s effect on relapse.

In the new study, the researchers focused on opioid-dependent rats that had learned to press a lever to receive oxycodone but then were abstinent from the opioid for at least 8 days.

Then, the researchers developed a system to expose only one small area of the rats’ brains, known as the posterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (pPVT), to suvorexant, rather than giving the drug orally which exposes the entire brain to the drug. The pPVT has been previously shown to play a role in stress, eating and drinking. They found that opioid-dependent rats who were exposed to stress and exposed to suvorexant in the pPVT, pressed the opioid-delivering lever less than half as many times as untreated rats. This diminished drug-seeking behavior, even in the face of stress, showed that suvorexant’s ability to prevent relapse was due to its action on orexin signaling in the pPVT.

“In the past, there has been a lot of focus on the role of other areas of the brain in stress-induced relapse,” says Jessica Illenberger, a postdoctoral research fellow at Scripps Research and first author of the new paper. “Our work really points the finger at the pPVT, as well as orexin signaling in that brain region, as being important in stress processing and drug-seeking behavior.”

Importantly, when the animals were given sweetened condensed milk instead of oxycodone, or when they were reintroduced to drug-associated cues instead of stress, suvorexant in the pPVT did not change their behavior. This suggests that stress-induced oxycodone relapse is mediated by different molecular drivers than stress-induced sugar cravings or other types of oxycodone relapse.

“Relapse is a huge problem for people with opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder and this gets us one step closer to identifying the proper types of treatment to reduce the risk of relapse,” says Illenberger.

The team is now carrying out similar experiments in animal models to determine whether suvorexant also acts through the pPVT in cases of alcohol dependence.

In addition to Martin-Fardon and Illenberger, authors of the study, “Pivotal role of orexin signaling in the posterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus during the stress-induced reinstatement of oxycodone-seeking behavior,” include Francisco Flores-Ramirez, Glenn Pascasio, Marissa Franco and Brandon Mendonsa of Scripps Research.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (AA026999, AA028549, AA006420, T32 AA007456, DA053443).

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JOURNAL

Journal of Psychopharmacology

DOI

10.1177/02698811241260989 

ARTICLE TITLE

otal role of orexin signaling in the posterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus during the stress-induced reinstatement of oxycodone-seeking behavior

 

Risky drinkers most at risk: Ads from sports broadcasts significantly increase alcohol urges

New Edith Cowan University (ECU) research shows exposure to alcohol advertisements during national sports broadcasts, particularly those that feature a preferred beverage, significantly increases cravings in people with risky drinking behaviours.

EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY

10 July 2024 

 

 

Risky drinkers most at risk: Ads from sports broadcasts significantly increase alcohol urges 

 

New Edith Cowan University (ECU) research shows exposure to alcohol advertisements during national sports broadcasts, particularly those that feature a preferred beverage, significantly increases cravings in people with risky drinking behaviours. 

 

The ECU study, led by Dr Ross Hollett, analysed nationally televised finals matches from the Australian Football League (AFL) and the National Rugby League (NRL) to determine the frequency of alcohol advertising. Researchers also conducted an online experiment exposing 345 participants to a randomly selected alcohol advertisement and measured the immediate effects on self-reported alcohol craving and drinking intentions. 

 

Key findings: 

 

• The content analysis of nationally televised AFL and NRL matches revealed that alcohol advertisements comprised a small but notable fraction of all ads (3.9% in AFL and 1.85% in NRL). 

• An online experiment showed that overall exposure to these advertisements had a minimal impact on the general population’s drinking intentions and cravings.  

• However, a significant increase in alcohol cravings was observed among risky drinking participants, particularly those with a preference for the advertised beverage. 

Dr Hollett said understanding the influence of alcohol advertisements during popular sports broadcasts is crucial for public health awareness. 

 

“The high viewership of national sports in Australia, for example 4 million viewers for the 2021 Australian Football League (AFL) grand final, shows the reach of alcohol advertisements during these events and their potential to increase consumption while undermining other health messaging efforts,” he said. 

 

Dr Hollett called for targeted health messaging during sport broadcasts to address this at-risk group effectively and highlighted the need for nuanced public health strategies in the context of alcohol advertising. 

 

“Our findings highlight the specific vulnerability of risky drinkers to alcohol advertisements, despite the overall low impact on the broader audience,” he said. 

 

“This insight is vital for developing effective health campaigns and regulatory policies aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm, especially where such advertisements are prevalent.” 

 

The study ‘Exposure to preference-matched alcohol advertisements from national sports broadcasts increases short-term alcohol consumption inclinations in risky drinkers’ is published in the Health Promotion Journal of Australia. 

 

- ends -      

  

Media contact:  

Tori Pree, (08) 6304 2208, v.pree@ecu.edu.au 

or 

ECU Corporate Relations, (08) 6304 2222, pr@ecu.edu.au 

 

Link to download images: Alcohol ads during sports broadcasts 

 

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JOURNAL

Health Promotion Journal of Australia

DOI

10.1002/hpja.894 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Exposure to preference-matched alcohol advertisements from national sports broadcasts increases short-term alcohol consumption inclinations in risky drinkers

 

Globally significant upwelling is driven by topographical features on seafloor

UC Irvine Earth system scientist is part of team that released, tracked deep ocean dye

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - IRVINE

Irvine, Calif., July 9, 2024 – Exactly how the turbulent mixing of ocean water relates to global overturning circulation has been little understood by oceanographers, but an international research team, including an Earth system scientist at the University of California, Irvine, has found that bumpy topographical features along the sloping ocean floor contribute significantly to ocean seawater upwelling.

 

In a paper published recently in Nature, the researchers describe a “vigorous near-bottom upwelling” that results in the upward transition of water from denser to lighter ocean layers at a rate of 100 meters (328 feet) per day. They discovered this by depositing and analyzing dye at a sloping suboceanic canyon in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Scotland.

 

“The upwelling rates we tracked at this underwater canyon were about 10,000 times higher than the global average,” said co-author Henri Drake, UC Irvine assistant professor of Earth system science. “These findings suggest that most of the upwelling required to balance the deep ocean’s mass budget disproportionately occurs in a few turbulent hot spots like this one.”

 

By getting colder and saltier, dense water forms in polar regions and sinks to the ocean’s abyss, where pressure increases and the temperature drops. This process is crucial to global climate regulation through its transfer of heat and nutrients throughout the ocean. The means by which this dense water returns to the surface – a phenomenon known as diapycnal upwelling – have puzzled scientists and hampered the accuracy of climate models.

 

Aboard a research vessel, the scientists added dye at a depth of about 1,850 meters (6,070 feet) within the underwater canyon and then measured the results over several days by towing sensors that ascended and descended in a yo-yo pattern.

 

“We found that, on average, the dyed water became lighter at a rate of about a quarter of a degree Celsius per day,” Drake said. “Because warmer water is generally lighter than cold water, and because light water tends to lie atop denser water, we estimate that this corresponds to a 100-meter-per-day upwelling rate.”

 

He said the study provides direct evidence confirming earlier theoretical predictions about ocean circulation and mass balance. In addition, he said, the research contributes valuable insights for climate scientists hoping to understand the mechanisms governing our planet’s oceans and will help them derive more precise projections of marine impacts on global climate change.

 

Joining Drake in this project were scientists from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ifremer, the French national institute for ocean science and technology; the University of Exeter, in the United Kingdom; Boston University; the U.K.’s National Oceanography Centre; the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research; and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in Massachusetts. The study received financial support from the National Science Foundation and the U.K.’s Natural Environment Research Council.

 

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

 

Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus studio with a Comrex IP audio codec to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at https://news.uci.edu/media-resources.

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JOURNAL

Nature

ARTICLE TITLE

Observations of diapycnal upwelling within a sloping submarine canyon

 

Hawaii bans seabed mining

THE SEA BED IS THE COMMONS
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Tiana Haxton, Journalist

tiana.haxton@rnz.co.nz

The desire to explore the deep ocean for minerals, such as copper, cobalt, and manganese is not new, but only now are companies pushing for commercial-scale mining. Photo: 360info

Hawaii's new legislation banning seabed mining has come into force Tuesday after it was signed into law by Governor Josh Green.

It follows a letter sent by 12 members of the US Congress to President Joe Biden in June, urging for a moratorium on deep seabed mining ahead of this month's International Seabed Authority meeting.

The new legislation, Hawaii Seabed Mining Prevention Act, prohibits the extraction and removal of minerals in state waters and bans issuing permits associated with seabed mining activity.

The bill, introduced by Senator Chris Lee, complements a law passed last year which allows Hawaii to deny entry to any marine vessel involved in seabed mining activities.

Lee said this move would safeguard Hawaii's marine ecosystem "for the foreseeable future", protecting more than 3000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean.

He said it was a precautionary measure as the environmental impacts of seabed mining were not yet clear.

"The impact that [seabed minerals mining] can have on the broader ocean, and species and habitats is simply unknown. But we do know that that impact is real, and the risk is real.

"We take action while we can; to protect our natural resources, to protect our oceans and ultimately to protect the planet we live on."

Lee added the seabed minerals industry was moving too fast and being cautious was necessary.

"Right now, the conversation appears to be driven largely by an industry that is very intent, on racing to capture part of the market and getting as much out of it as they can, which means an exploitation of the resource in our oceans in ways that we simply can't properly manage, properly vet, and with science that we simply don't yet have.

"We're putting on the brakes."

A Hawaiian green turtle. Photo: © Cultura, all rights reserved.

Local environmental organisations say the ban is a big step in the right direction.

Brittany Kamai, of long-time campaigners A'ole ('No' in Hawaiian) Deep Sea Mining, said this was a positive example for the Pacific region.

"Seeing that from Hawaii is very powerful. We don't want the ships coming into our waters, and we don't want this industry to happen, and we need people to understand that we are ocean people," Kamai said.

'Keep ecosystem intact'

An indigenous elder said the new law also complied with ancient Hawaiian chants.

Solomon Kaho'ohalahala shared a kumulipo (traditional creation chant) that was passed on by Queen Lili'uokalani, the last reigning queen of Hawaii.

In the traditional creation chant, it places significant value on even the smallest living organisms in the deep sea.

The chant recognises the significance of creatures such as coral polyps which are integral to the growth of coral reefs.

It goes on to show how all life forms are interconnected through the life cycle.

Kaho'ohalahala said this emphasised how humans needed to look after the marine ecosystem.

"Our creation chant invokes this inherent responsibility that we have to be connected to all ecosystems and we bear the responsibility to take care of it."

"So for us, for a people whose country is the ocean, it would be important for us to make sure that we keep this ecosystem intact."

He said the ban on seabed mining in Hawaii honoured this chant.

Photo: 123RF

Kaho'ohalahala is now calling for the rest of the Pacific to follow suit and take a united stand against seabed mining.

He said while each nation legally reserved the right to make their own decisions, leaders needed to consider the potential impacts mining could have on neighboring nations.

"The ocean knows no boundaries. You cannot draw a line on the ocean and say that what I do on one side of the line will not impact the other side.

"A nation deciding to move ahead, has to know that they're going to impact not just themselves, but they're going to impact all of us."

Kamai agreed, saying the voices of indigenous people could hold great power in decision-making spaces.

She said Pacific people had a responsibility to use their voices to protect the ocean.

"As voices of the ocean, there's a lot of kuleana (responsibility) right now to be in these spaces and have these conversations.

"What are our goals and what do we want to do for the world and humanity?

"Let's try to get there in the way that's the most loving and caring that we can, not only for one another as people, but for all the creatures that live in the sea, for all the birds that fly in the air, all of that is what we really need to consider when making decisions."

Teeming reef scape in Hawaii's Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Photo: NOAA, Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument