Monday, January 13, 2025

Overcoming barriers to food systems sustainability: an interconnected framework

What keeps our food systems locked into unsustainable trajectories?

The Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture

Food Market, Nicaragua — image:
Structural barriers impact consumers’ access to healthy and sustainable foods.
view more
Credit: E.Ramirez, Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT

We all recognize the importance of sustainable diets for both human and planetary health, yet it often seems like we are up against impossible odds.

According to scientists from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, 5 groups of barriers are keeping our food systems locked into unsustainable trajectories.

New research, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, identifies a ‘system of barriers,’ each reinforcing the others. The authors have organized these into a comprehensive framework with the aim of empowering policymakers, civil society organizations, and researchers to tackle food sustainability challenges more effectively.

“Addressing food system sustainability requires more than isolated initiatives,” says first author Brice Even, a scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT. “We need a holistic strategy to tackle the root causes of unsustainability, which are deeply embedded in political and economic structures that have gone unchallenged for decades.”

The study highlights how barriers from the political economy to biophysical constraints reinforce one another. For example, rising diet-related diseases like obesity and diabetes stem from interconnected factors, including corporate dominance of Big Ag and Big Food, economic inequalities, demographic shifts, and insufficient public interventions.

Holistic solutions are needed
Chris Bene, Principal Scientist at the Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT and co-author of the article, emphasizes the importance of addressing interconnected barriers: “The case of rising diet-related diseases illustrate the interconnected challenges within food systems. Structural barriers such as corporate concentration in food production and distribution, inadequate public policies, and insufficient access to nutrition education limit communities' ability to access healthy and nutritious foods. These barriers amplify one another, fostering an increased reliance on processed and ultra-processed foods and perpetuating cycles of poor health and environmental degradation. Breaking this vicious cycle requires integrated, context-sensitive solutions that address these systemic barriers collectively.”

The researchers stress that initiatives, such as food labeling or precision farming technologies, only address a handful of factors, rather than systemic challenges. The alternative? The study suggests that integrated political responses are essential to simultaneously address technical, environmental, cultural, and political barriers while ensuring equity.

Breaking the loop
This study pushes beyond traditional interdisciplinary approaches, emphasizing the systemic interactions and feedback loops between barriers. Importantly, it underscores the role of political economy—corporate dominance and institutional shortcomings—as the root driver of food system unsustainability.

The framework offers a practical guide to creating transformative, long-term solutions for sustainable food systems.

Access the full study here.

Journal

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

DOI

10.3389/fsufs.2024.1453999

Article Title

Defining barriers to food systems sustainability: a novel conceptual framework

‘True food’ research database offers rankings for 50,000 processed foods

The database, developed by researchers at Mass General Brigham and made available to the public, sheds light on the availability of processed foods at different grocery stores, highlighting the need for more understanding and regulation of the foods offer

Mass General Brigham

‘True Food’ Research Database Offers Rankings for 50,000 Processed Foods

A new study by investigators from Mass General Brigham provides information to empower consumers and policymakers about the degree of processing of the foods available at three large grocery retailers. Using an algorithm, the researchers analyzed the offerings from these stores and assigned a score to foods based on how processed they were. They also analyzed food categories to determine what options are available at different stores. Their results are published in Nature Food.

“There are a lot of mixed messages about what a person should eat. Our work aims to create a sort of translator to help people look at food information in a more digestible way,” said corresponding author Giulia Menichetti, PhD, an investigator in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. “By creating a system of scoring processed food, consumers don't have to be overwhelmed with excessive and challenging information to be able to eat healthier.”

In the last few decades, highly and “ultra” processed foods have flooded supermarket shelves. These foods often contain additives, preservatives and high amounts of sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats. Research has suggested that diets high in ultra-processed foods can contribute to health issues like obesity, diabetes and heart disease. Over-processing can also strip foods of beneficial nutrients. But there is no easy way to tell what foods are processed, highly processed, or ultra-processed. Researchers also know very little about what foods are available in real-life scenarios.

“When people hear about the dangers of ultra-processed foods, they ask, ‘OK, what are the rules? How can we apply this knowledge?’” Menichetti said. “We are building tools to help people implement changes to their diet based on information currently available about food processing. Given the challenging task of transforming eating behaviors, we want to nudge them to eat something that is within what they currently want but a less-processed option.”

The researchers gathered and analyzed the ingredient lists, nutrition facts and prices of foods available in three leading U.S. grocery stores: Target, Whole Foods, and Walmart. They used this data to create GroceryDB, a database with over 50,000 food items. They published the results on the TrueFood website, which consumers can use to compare foods. The website features a processing score, nutrition facts, and an ingredient tree that shows the makeup of various foods.

The researchers then used their FPro algorithm, published in a 2023 article in Nature Communications, which leverages machine learning to determine the degree of processing for the available foods and captured in a “processing score.” The higher the score, the more ultra-processed a food is. While Whole Foods offers more minimally processed options, most of the food these stores sell is ultra-processed.

In some stores, highly processed foods were the only option in some categories. For example, cereals at Whole Foods covered a range of FPro values — from minimally to ultra-processed. However, all cereals available at Walmart and Target had a high processing score. This same trend was seen in the soups and stews, yogurt and yogurt drinks, milk and milk substitutes, and cookies and biscuits categories. The authors note that while grocery stores may sell a large variety in terms of quantity of products and brands, the offered processing choices can be identical in multiple stores, limiting consumer nutritional choices to a narrow range. While the data in GroceryDB and on the True Food website is remarkably detailed, it remains limited because it originates from just three stores at a single point in time. In the future, the researchers would like to add geolocation information and temporal monitoring to learn about food options in different areas of the country and how that variability may impact the social determinants of health.

“People can use this information, but our goal would be to push this to become a large-scale, data-driven tool to improve public health,” Menichetti said. “Most research activities in nutrition still depend on manual curation, but our study shows that artificial intelligence and data science can be used to scale up. This initiative not only lays the groundwork for similar efforts globally, but also underscores the critical role of open-access, internationally comparable data in advancing global nutrition security with the goal of ensuring that everyone has access to health food options in their daily activities.”

Authorship: In addition to Menichetti, Mass General Brigham co-authors include Gordana Ispirova, and Albert-László Barabási. Additional co-authors include Babak Ravandi, Michael Sebek, and Peter Mehler.

Disclosures: Barabási is the founder of Scipher Medicine and Naring Health, companies that explore the use of network-based tools in health and food, and Datapolis, that focuses on urban data.

Funding: Menichetti is supported by the NIH/NHLBI (K25HL173665) and American Heart Association (24MERIT1185447). Barabási is partially supported by the NIH (1P01HL132825), American Heart Association (151708), and ERC (810115-DYNASET).

Paper cited: Ravandi B et al. “Prevalence of Processed Foods in Major U.S. Grocery Stores” Nature Food DOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-01095-7

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About Mass General Brigham

Mass General Brigham is an integrated academic health care system, uniting great minds to solve the hardest problems in medicine for our communities and the world. Mass General Brigham connects a full continuum of care across a system of academic medical centers, community and specialty hospitals, a health insurance plan, physician networks, community health centers, home care, and long-term care services. Mass General Brigham is a nonprofit organization committed to patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community. In addition, Mass General Brigham is one of the nation’s leading biomedical research organizations with several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals. For more information, please visit massgeneralbrigham.org.

Journal

Nature Food

DOI

10.1038/s43016-024-01095-7

Article Title

Prevalence of processed foods in major US grocery stores

Article Publication Date

13-Jan-2025

Retirement may lead to a deterioration in mental health, and alcohol use may worsen the issue, says new study

National US data, tracking more than 27,500 participants across 14 years, shows retirees who binge drink have more symptoms of depression

Taylor & Francis Group

Retirees show more signs of depression than those who are still working – and heavy drinking may make their symptoms worse, a new study tracking tens of thousands of over-50s in the U.S reveals.

Published in peer-reviewed journal Aging and Mental Health, findings, which monitored participants across a 14-year period, paint a complex picture.

Results highlight that binge drinking appears to increase symptoms of depression when compared to those who do not drink at all. However, those who drink in moderation appear to have fewer symptoms of depression than those who abstain completely.

Overall, the authors of the research say it is vital that people are given support when they retire to prevent them from turning to heavy alcohol use to help them adjust to the change.

“Providing alternative coping mechanisms to heavy alcohol consumption for retirees is crucial,” explains Dr. Christina Sellers, Associate Professor of Social Work, Simmons University.

“Addressing the combination of depressive symptoms and alcohol use among older adults is crucial too, especially considering their increased vulnerability to the negative effects of alcohol and underlying health conditions.”

Previous research has found that older people are more likely to be depressed than in the past.

Studies also indicate that people drink more around the time of retirement; with baby boomers, the youngest of whom are close to retirement now, drinking more than earlier generations. According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 20% of 60–64 year olds in the U.S. and 11% of those aged 65 and above binge drink.

However, up until now it hasn’t been clear if mental health improves or worsens on retirement. Nor is it known what role alcohol plays in the link between retirement and changes to mental health.

To find out more, experts from Universidad Mayor, in Santiago, Chile, and Simmons University, in Boston, USA carried out the first study examining the relationship between retirement, depression, and alcohol use.

They analysed data from 27,575 participants of the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal study in which a nationally representative sample of men and women aged 50 and above in the U.S. are questioned about their lives every two years for an average of 14 years.

Alcohol use was measured by asking the participants if they drank alcohol and, if they did, how many drinks they typically had on days that they drank.

Symptoms of depression were measured by asking questions such as whether they had felt sad over the past week or if everything had been an effort.

Participants were identified as either not retired (this included those who were semi-retired) or retired.

On average, the participants had 1.4 out of a possible eight symptoms of depression, with retirees showing more signs of depression (0.04 more symptoms, on average) than those who were still working.

The amount of alcohol consumed in retirement seemed to affect symptoms of depression. For example:

Retirees who reported binge drinking (this was defined as four or more drinks on the same day for women, five or more for men) had more symptoms of depression (0.07 more symptoms, on average) than non-drinkers.
However, those who drank in moderation (one to three drinks a day for women, one to four for men) had fewer symptoms (0.09 fewer) than abstainers.

The authors say that the loss of identity, economic challenges and changes to routines and social networks that can come with leaving the workforce may lead to a deterioration in mental health – and warn that some retirees may turn to alcohol to help them cope.

However, alcohol use and depression are both associated with ill health. In addition, older adults process alcohol less well than their younger counterparts and may be taking medicines that interact with alcohol. Therefore, it is vital that retirees have access to support, other than alcohol, when they retire.

As to why moderate drinking was associated with fewer depressive symptoms in retirement, the author says this may be due to alcohol’s ability to lift mood through socialization.

However, this doesn’t mean they advocate regularly having a drink or two to adjust to retirement. “Drinking alcohol increases the risk of falls and other injuries and can lead to dependency – and the poor health that typically comes with it,” says Dr. Antonia Diaz-Valdes, of Universidad Mayor in Santiago, Chile.

The World Health Organisation has previously warned that no amount of alcohol is beneficial to health, adding that around half of alcohol-related cancers are caused by light or moderate drinking.

Dr. Diaz-Valdes concludes: “It is vital that older adults are screened for depression and that the amount of alcohol they drink is assessed.

“There is no doubt that adjusting to retirement can be difficult for some but turning to alcohol is not the answer. We must find – and provide – healthier alternatives.”

The paper recommends that policymakers should “prioritize providing support to individuals during the retirement transition and offer interventions at various levels to manage alcohol consumption effectively”.

The study’s limitations include the inability to distinguish between semi-retirement and retirement and between voluntary and forced retirement. Additionally, the participants may not have remembered details, such as how much they drank, accurately, or under-reported them.

Journal

Aging & Mental Health

DOI

10.1080/13607863.2024.2423262

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Testing the mediating mechanism of alcohol use on the association between retirement and depressive symptoms in the United States using generalized mixed effect models

COVID-19 vaccine developed at University of São Paulo presents promising results in animal trials

The vaccine formulation has proved to be highly protective, safe and versatile. Moreover, it can serve as a basis for the development of zika and dengue vaccines, for example

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Studies conducted in mice have shown that the COVID-19 vaccine being developed by researchers at the University of São Paulo’s Medical School (FM-USP) in Brazil is safe and efficacious. The vaccine triggered a satisfactory immune response against the pathogen in the mice and protected them from infection. An article describing the results is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

“Most vaccines are based on attenuated or inactivated viruses, but our next-generation strategy enables us to prioritize not just safety and efficacy but also plasticity in the formulation so that the vaccine can easily be updated to combat variants of concern,” said Gustavo Cabral de Miranda, principal investigator for the project, which is supported by FAPESP and hosted by the Immunology Laboratory in the Institute of Tropical Medicine (IMT-FM-USP).

The strategy used by the researchers at FM-USP to develop the vaccine deploys virus-like particles (VLPs). “VLPs have similar characteristics to viruses but without viral genetic material, so although they’re recognized by the immune system, they cannot replicate or cause disease,” Cabral said.

VLPs can serve as vaccines on their own, or they can be conjugated with an antigen (a protein that stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies), as in this specific case. “Under certain conditions in the lab, structural surface proteins are capable of converting themselves into VLPs. They can be produced in the lab using bacteria that act as miniature factories to stimulate this transformation. A second step entails inoculation of the antigen, which is the spike protein in the case of COVID-19. This facilitates the entire process, makes it flexible, and lowers the cost of developing the vaccine,” he said.

Another advantage of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Cabral, is that it does not require an adjuvant to enhance the body’s immune response to the antigen. “In both the in vitro and in vivo tests, we designed strategies to keep the cost of formulation low and use the smallest possible amount of inputs not developed in our own lab. The vaccine doesn’t require an adjuvant, for example,” he said.

Besides part of the virus they are designed to combat, or molecules that mimic the virus such as VLPs, vaccines contain various other compounds that stimulate the immune response, especially adjuvants. The most common adjuvant is aluminum hydroxide, which has been used in vaccines worldwide for more than 100 years. “Opting for the development of a self-adjuvanted vaccine enables us to avoid dependency on the companies that produce adjuvants and lowers the cost of the formulation,” he said.

The group of researchers at FM-USP aims to produce knowledge for use by a platform that can develop several other vaccines. “VLPs constitute a highly flexible technology. In this case, for example, we can simply remove the antigen [a piece of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein] and replace it with a protein from zika virus,” Cabral explained. “There’s nothing hypothetical about this example. We’re developing such a vaccine at our lab. It’s no simple task, of course, but a platform for the development of several vaccines can be based on this technology.”

About FAPESP

The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration.

Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-76163-w

Article Title

A self-adjuvanted VLPs-based Covid-19 vaccine proven versatile, safe, and highly protective

Wrong place, wrong time: Why Zika virus hijacks a protein needed for brain growth

University of California - Davis

The mosquito-borne Zika virus is known for causing microcephaly, a birth defect in which abnormal brain development results in a smaller-than-expected head. A new study published Jan. 13 in mBio shows that the Zika virus hijacks a host protein called ANKLE2, which happens to be important for brain development, to assist its own reproduction. Because Zika, unlike most related viruses, can cross the placenta, this can have disastrous consequences in pregnancy.

“It’s a case of Zika being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Priya Shah, associate professor in the departments of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and of Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Davis and senior author on the paper.

The new work shows that related viruses, including dengue virus and yellow fever virus, also use ANKLE2 for the same purpose. The discovery could open the way to new strategies to develop vaccines or therapeutics against these viruses.

Viruses carry only a limited set of instructions in their own genetic material, so to reproduce they rely on taking over host cell proteins and functions. Shah’s laboratory studies these interactions between virus and host.

Shah and her research team previously found that a Zika virus protein called NS4A interacts with ANKLE2 in host cells. Working in Drosophila fruit flies, they showed that this could lead to microcephaly.

ANKLE2 is known to be involved in brain development in the fetus, but is found in cells throughout the body.

Forming virus factories

In the new study, led by recent Ph.D. graduate Adam Fishburn, Shah’s team grew Zika virus in human cells. Knocking out the ANKLE2 gene in these cells reduced the ability of Zika virus to grow.

In Zika-infected cells, ANKLE2 clusters in pockets around the endoplasmic reticulum, a network used for protein production within the cell.

Viral NS4A interacts with ANKLE2 to form pockets off the endoplasmic reticulum that act as virus factories, Shah said. Bringing all the components to make viruses in one place makes replication more efficient and also helps hide the virus from the immune system.

“Our current model is that ANKLE2 is really important, but not essential, for forming these replication pockets,” Shah said.

Our cells are well equipped to fight off these viruses, but only if they can find them, Fishburn said.

“Zika and related viruses have evolved strategies to hide themselves in these replication pockets to avoid detection. We believe that ANKLE2 is hijacked to help facilitate this process, and without it the pockets don’t form as well and the immune system can keep virus replication in check,” Fishburn said.

Working with Claudia Rückert at the University of Nevada, Reno, they found that Zika virus also uses ANKLE2 when it infects mosquito cells, meaning that this interaction is important in both human and insect hosts. Finally, they showed that NS4A from other, related mosquito-borne viruses, including dengue virus and yellow fever virus, interacts with ANKLE2 in the same way. This all suggests that NS4A/ANKLE2 interaction is important for replication across a broad group of mosquito-borne viruses, opening possible routes to new drugs and vaccines for these diseases.

If much more common viruses like dengue virus also target ANKLE2, why don’t they also cause the microcephaly seen in Zika virus infection? It’s probably all down to location. Zika virus is unusual in that it can cross the placenta and enter the fetus, where ANKLE2 is known to play a big role in brain development. Most other viruses are kept out of the fetus by the placental barrier.

The work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and the W. M. Keck Foundation. Additional authors on the paper are: Cole Florio, Thomas Klaessens, Neil Alvin Adia, Nicholas Lopez, Nitin Sai Beesabathuni, Sydney Becker, Liubov Cherkaschenko, Sophia Haggard Arcé, Vivian Hoang and Traci Shiu at UC Davis; Brian Prince, University of Nevada, Reno; and Blake Richardson and Matthew Evans at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.

Journal

mBio

DOI

10.1128/mbio.02683-24

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Microcephaly protein ANKLE2 promotes Zika virus replication

Article Publication Date

13-Jan-2025

Chornobyl dogs’ genetic differences not due to mutation

North Carolina State University

Radiation-induced mutation is unlikely to have induced genetic differences between dog populations in Chornobyl City and the nearby Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), according to a new study in PLOS ONE from North Carolina State University and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study has implications for understanding the effects of environmental contamination on populations over time.

“We have been working with two dog populations that, while separated by just 16 kilometers, or about 10 miles, are genetically distinct,” says Matthew Breen, Oscar J. Fletcher Distinguished Professor of Comparative Oncology Genetics at NC State. “We are trying to determine if low-level exposure over many years to environmental toxins such as radiation, lead, etcetera, could explain some of those differences.” Breen is the corresponding author of the study.

Previously, the team had analyzed genetic variants distributed across the genome and identified 391 outlier regions in the dogs that differed between the two populations. Some of these regions contained genes associated specifically with repair of DNA damage. In this new study, the researchers conducted a deeper dive into the genomes of the dogs to detect evidence of mutations that may have accumulated over time.

“First, we contextualized the level of genetic differences between two dog populations, which indicated that the genetics of Chornobyl City dogs were very similar to dog populations in Russia, Poland and the surrounding areas,” says Megan Dillon, Ph.D. candidate at NC State and lead author of the study. “That way, we were able to use the Chornobyl City dogs as a representative control population to compare with the NPP dogs.”

The researchers started to look for differences first at the chromosomal level, then at small genome intervals, and then at differences in single nucleotides. The team was looking for abnormalities and evidence of accumulated germ line DNA mutations, changes that occur in DNA of reproductive cells and are passed down from parent to offspring over time.

“Think of it like using the zoom function on your phone’s camera to get more details – we start with a wide view of a subject and then zoom in,” Breen says. “We know that, for example, exposure to high doses of radiation can introduce instability from the chromosomal level on down. While this dog population is 30 or more generations removed from the one present during the 1986 disaster, mutations would likely still be detectable if they conferred a survival advantage to those original dogs. But we didn’t find any such evidence in these dogs.”

While no evidence of genetic mutation was found, the researchers add that it doesn’t rule out the role of selective pressures in explaining the differences between the two dog populations.

“In human terms, this would be like studying a population that is centuries removed from the one present at the time of the disaster,” Dillon says. “It’s possible that the dogs that survived long enough to breed already had genetic traits that increased their ability to survive. So perhaps there was extreme selective pressure at the start, and then the dogs at the power plant just remained separate from the city population. Investigating that question is an important next step that we are now working on.”

The researchers point out that these findings are merely part of the bigger picture of the role that adverse environmental exposures can play in canine – and human – health.

“Most people think of the Chornobyl nuclear accident as a radiological disaster in an abandoned corner of Ukraine, but the potential adverse health implications are much wider,” says Norman Kleiman, co-author and professor of environmental health sciences at the Columbia University School of Public Health. “This is due to the many other toxins – including heavy metals, lead powder, pesticides, and asbestos – released into the environment during the ensuing cleanup and remediation over three decades.

“While noone lives at the NPP or in Pripyat anymore, up until the Russian invasion many thousands of people continued to work there every day on remediation and construction projects nearby,” Kleiman says. “Studying companion animals like these dogs offers a window into the kinds of adverse health risks that people may face.”

In addition to looking at the genetics of the dogs, the team also recently identified differences in ticks recovered from the dogs at the power plant and Chornobyl City and the prevalence of the pathogens they transmit. These results, published in the journal Parasites and Vectors, may reflect differential exposures to both ticks and microbes at the two locations.

“The importance of continuing to study the environmental health aspects of large-scale disasters like this cannot be overemphasized,” Kleiman said, “as it is certain, given our increasingly technological and industrial societies, there will invariably be other such disasters in the future, and we need to understand the potential health risks and how best to protect people.”

Allison Dickey, research scholar at NC State; Reade Roberts, associate professor of biological sciences at NC State; Jennifer Betz, veterinarian with Visiting Veterinarians International; and Timothy Mousseau, professor of biological sciences at the University of South Carolina, co-authored the work.

-peake-

Note to editors: An abstract follows.

“Is increased mutation driving genetic diversity in dogs within the Chornobyl exclusion zone?”

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315244

Authors: Megan N. Dillon, Allison N. Dickey, Reade B. Roberts, Matthew Breen; North Carolina State University; Jennifer A. Betz, Visiting Veterinarians International; Timothy A. Mousseau, University of South Carolina; Norman J. Kleiman, Columbia University
Published: Dec. 27, 2024 in PLOS ONE

Abstract:
Environmental contamination can have lasting impacts on surrounding communities, though the long-term impacts can be difficult to ascertain. The disaster at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 and subsequent remediation efforts resulted in contamination of the local environment with radioactive material, heavy metals, and additional environmental toxicants. Many of these are mutagenic in nature, and the full effect of these exposures on local flora and fauna has yet to be understood. Several hundred free-roaming dogs occupy the contaminated area surrounding the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and previous studies have highlighted a striking level of genetic differentiation between two geographically close populations of these dogs. With this work, we investigate mutation as a possible driver of this genetic differentiation. First, we consider large-scale mutation by assessing the karyotypic architecture of these dogs. We then search for evidence of mutation through short tandem repeat/microsatellite diversity analyses and by calculating the proportion of recently derived alleles in individuals in both populations. Through these analyses, we do not find evidence of differential mutation accumulation for these populations. Thus, we find no evidence that an increased mutation rate is driving the genetic differentiation between these two Chornobyl populations. The dog populations at Chornobyl present a unique opportunity for studying the genetic effects of the long-term exposures they have encountered, and this study expands and builds on previous work done in the area.

Journal

PLOS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0315244

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animal tissue samples

Article Title

Is increased mutation driving genetic diversity in dogs within the Chornobyl exclusion zone?

Deep dive into genome of dogs within Chornobyl Exclusion Zone shows genetic differences are not due to mutations

Research offers window into the adverse health risks that people may face from environmental contamination

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

January 13, 2025-- Radiation-induced mutation is unlikely to have induced genetic differences between dog populations in Chornobyl City and the nearby Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), according to a new study from North Carolina State University and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study has implications for understanding the effects of environmental contamination on populations over time. The study is published in PLOS ONE.

“Most people think of the Chornobyl nuclear accident as a radiological disaster in an abandoned corner of Ukraine, but the potential adverse health implications are much wider,” says Norman Kleiman, senior co-author and professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University School of Public Health. “This is due to the many other toxins – including heavy metals, lead powder, pesticides, and asbestos – released into the environment during the ensuing cleanup and remediation over three decades.

First, the researchers contextualized the level of genetic differences between two dog populations, which indicated that the genetics of Chornobyl City dogs were very similar to dog populations in Russia, Poland and the surrounding areas. “That way, we were able to use the Chornobyl City dogs as a representative control population to compare with the NPP dogs,” says Megan Dillon, PhD candidate at NC State and lead author of the study.

The authors started to look for differences first at the chromosomal level, then at small genome intervals, and then at differences in single nucleotides. The team was looking for abnormalities and evidence of accumulated germ line DNA mutations, changes that occur in DNA of reproductive cells and are passed down from parent to offspring over time.

“Think of it like using the zoom function on your phone’s camera to get more details – we start with a wide view of a subject and then zoom in,” says Breen, who is corresponding author. “We know that, for example, exposure to high doses of radiation can introduce instability from the chromosomal level on down. While this dog population is 30 or more generations removed from the one present during the 1986 disaster, mutations would likely still be detectable if they conferred a survival advantage to those original dogs. But we didn’t find any such evidence in these dogs.”

While no evidence of genetic mutation was found, the researchers add that it doesn’t rule out the role of selective pressures in explaining the differences between the two dog populations.

In human terms, this would be like studying a population that is centuries removed from the one present at the time of the disaster,” according to Dillon. “It’s possible that the dogs that survived long enough to breed already had genetic traits that increased their ability to survive. So perhaps there was extreme selective pressure at the start, and then the dogs at the power plant just remained separate from the city population. Investigating that question is an important next step that we are now working on.”

The researchers point out that these findings are merely part of the bigger picture of the role that adverse environmental exposures can play in canine – and human health.

“While no one lives at the NPP or in Pripyat anymore, up until the Russian invasion many thousands of people continued to work there every day on remediation and construction projects nearby,” Kleiman says. “Studying companion animals like these dogs offers a window into the kinds of adverse health risks that people may face.”

Co-authors are Allison Dickey, and Reade Roberts NC State; Jennifer Betz, Visiting Veterinarians International; and Timothy Mousseau, University of South Carolina.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.

Journal

PLOS ONE

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0315244

3D printing shines in overcoming headlight lens manufacturing challenges

New study shows that 3D printing achieves precision and quality while reducing costs and production speeds

Optica

image:
A new study demonstrated the benefits of 3D printing for manufacturing, using a headlight lens as an example. 3D printing achieved exceptional precision and surface quality while also outperforming traditional methods in production efficiency and cost-effectiveness. The image shows the Luce Memorial Chapel in Taichung, Taiwan viewed through one of the 3D-printed headlight lenses.
view more
Credit: Chia-Hung Yeh, Tunghai University

WASHINGTON — A recent study has demonstrated the benefits of using 3D printing to make headlight lenses. The results highlight the ability of additive manufacturing to overcome the limitations of traditional manufacturing methods for greater flexibility and better performance in manufacturing a variety of product types.

“Traditional manufacturing methods come with limitations such as high costs, long delivery times and low yield,” said research team leader Chia-Hung Yeh from Tunghai University in Taiwan. “This study uses a headlight lens as a case study to explore the potential of 3D printing as an alternative to traditional manufacturing methods, aiming to create a faster product verification process for the industry.”

In the Optica Publishing Group journal Applied Optics, the researchers compared 3D printing with the traditional manufacturing approaches of Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining and reverse engineering for producing headlight lenses. They found that 3D printing not only achieved exceptional precision and surface quality but also outperformed traditional methods in production efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

“3D-printing technology holds significant promise for producing optical components by allowing rapid prototyping of product designs, enabling designers and engineers to quickly validate the aesthetic, structural and functional aspects of their creations,” said Wei-Min Chen, a doctoral candidate who helped lead the research with Yeh. “Additionally, it makes it possible to bring intricate and innovative designs to life, shortening the development cycle for new vehicle models and boosting overall market competitiveness.”

Meeting today’s manufacturing needs

As the optical plastic industry has evolved, the market has gradually shifted to a stronger emphasis on offering diverse products and meeting customized needs. The traditional model of mass production, which focuses on consistent quality, has been replaced by a move toward smaller batches and more personalized solutions. The high cost of traditional lens molds requires manufacturers to carefully evaluate the financial risks and benefits before committing to production, leading to longer decision-making processes.

“Moreover, as product designs become more complex, mold design and manufacturing processes are also becoming more intricate, which slows production speeds,” said Yeh. “To stay competitive in a rapidly changing market, manufacturing design capabilities must meet these demands quickly.”

In the new study, the researchers used a headlight lens as a case study for applying 3D printing technology to production while comparing it with CNC machining and reverse engineering, which are commonly used methods for making optical components. After selecting appropriate processes and materials based on real-world requirements, the researchers fabricated test products using the various production processes.

Process comparison

The researchers evaluated the manufacturing results by measuring key properties of the headlight lens, including light transmittance, surface profile, radius of curvature, diameter, height and surface roughness. The 3D-printed lens demonstrated a minimal curvature radius error, exceptional surface roughness, and a transmittance of 93%. This was comparable to the transmittance of the CNC-machined sample (94%) and the two types of reverse-engineered lenses (91% and 94%), while exceeding the 90% transmittance of a commercially available polycarbonate lens.

For the tests, the researchers were able to produce 14 headlight lenses in a single 8-hour print cycle, with a resin material cost of approximately $30 USD. This showed that 3D printing is not only effective for making one-off prototype designs but is also suitable to improve operational efficiency and shorten production times for small lot and large variety manufacturing.

“3D printing offers key advantages, such as consolidating multiple components into a single structure, reducing manufacturing costs and simplifying assembly,” said Yeh. “Overall, 3D printing in optical applications improves design flexibility, cost efficiency and sustainability, positioning it as a transformative force in the industry as technology continues to advance.”

While this study examined various manufacturing processes for headlight lenses, further research is needed to evaluate lens performance under real-world conditions. The researchers plan to investigate specific headlamp module configurations and assess internal factors, such as fixture temperature, operating environment and structural design, to ensure the findings can be effectively translated into practical applications.

Paper: C.-H. Yeh, H.-Y. Lin, “Using 3D Printing Technology to Replace the Manufacturing Process of Headlight Lens,” Applied Optics, 64, 488-497 (2025).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.539164

About Optica Publishing Group

Optica Publishing Group is a division of the society, Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide. It publishes the largest collection of peer-reviewed and most-cited content in optics and photonics, including 18 prestigious journals, the society’s flagship member magazine, and papers and videos from more than 835 conferences. With over 400,000 journal articles, conference papers and videos to search, discover and access, our publications portfolio represents the full range of research in the field from around the globe.

About Applied Optics

Applied Optics publishes in-depth peer-reviewed content about applications-centered research in optics. These articles cover research in optical technology, photonics, lasers, information processing, sensing, and environmental optics. Optica Publishing Group publishes Applied Optics three times per month and oversees Editor-in-Chief Gisele Bennett, MEPSS LLC. For more information, visit Applied Optics.

Media Contact

mediarelations@optica.org

Journal

Applied Optics

DOI

10.1364/AO.539164

Article Title

Using 3D Printing Technology to Replace the Manufacturing Process of Headlight Lens

Article Publication Date

13-Jan-2025