Researchers identify new molecular mechanism key to planarian regeneration

Similarities and differences to other organisms

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA

 

IMAGE: THESE FLATWORMS ARE CAPABLE OF REGENERATING ANY PART OF THEIR BODIES, EVEN THEIR HEADS. view more 

CREDIT: TERESA ADELL - UNIVERSITY OF BARCELONA

Planaria are freshwater flatworms that have become a key model for studying regeneration and stem cells, as they can regenerate any part of the body, even the head. But how does the animal know what part of its body is missing and what kind of tissue it needs to regenerate?

Researchers from the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics of the University of Barcelona and the Institute of Biomedicine of the UB (IBUB) have studied the regeneration process of these animals and have identified how the modulation of the intercellular signalling pathway Wnt modifies chromatin, the set of genetic material that cells own in the cell nucleus. A few hours after an amputation, this mechanism lets the wound stem cells know the fate of the new tissue.

The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, involves researchers from the Andalusian Centre for Developmental Biology (CABD), the Pablo de Olavide University in Seville and the University of East Anglia (Norwich, England).

Genomic study

The incredible plasticity of planarians occurs due to the presence of a population of pluripotent adult stem cells, the neoblasts, which are capable of reproducing any type of cell in the organism. Right after an amputation, when new tissue has to be regenerated, there is a window of time in which everything is possible for these pluripotent cells, and depending on the signal the cells receive where the cut has taken place, the destination of destination of these cells is decided. One of the first steps in this process is to specify the body axis, such as the anteroposterior axis, which defines the position of the head and tail.

To understand how this phenomenon occurs, researchers have carried out a genomic study of the cells located near the wound that takes place after the amputation of the head and tail. Using ATAC-seq and Chip-seq techniques, the researchers were able to analyse the regions of the genome that are accessible or inaccessible in these tissues at a given time, in this case, twelve hours after amputation. "Only open regions are accessible to transcription factors, which are responsible for the expression of genes. Therefore, these studies allow us to know which set of genes is activated in wound cells twelve hours after the cut, and if they are different between the anterior and posterior part of the planaria", says Teresa Adell, lecturer at the Faculty of Biology and coordinator of the research study.

Inhibition or activation of the Wnt pathway to regenerate the head or the tail

The results reveal that twelve hours after the amputation, chromatin —the collection of genetic material that cells have within the nucleus— changes the conformation depending on whether cells near the wound detect that they need to regenerate a head or a tail. Moreover, they show that the change in chromatin composition, which regulates the cell's gene expression, depends on whether a cell signalling pathway —the Wnt pathway— is activated. "If the head is needed, the Wnt pathway is inhibited; if the tail is needed, it is activated. Moreover, this change in chromatin composition occurs twelve hours after cutting; new tissue has not yet been made, but the cells already know what course to follow", the researcher points out.

Similarities and differences to other organisms

Understanding this regeneration in planarians is important for understanding this process in other organisms, since the molecular mechanisms that allow the correct regeneration of organs and tissues are evolutionarily conserved, i.e. they are very similar in all animals. In this sense, previous studies had already shown that the regulation of the Wnt pathway is responsible for specifying the anteroposterior axis in many organisms —including mammals— during the embryonic development and also in adult animals’ regeneration. "Our study reveals the mechanism by which this is so in planarians, but also in other animals: the Wnt pathway specifies which genes are expressed and, therefore, the cell destination, since they regulate chromatin conformation from the first moment of regeneration", notes Teresa Adell.

Moreover, the findings of the study also highlight the differences with other animals. "Our study validates the idea that organisms as plastic as planarians have highly active intercellular signalling pathways, as if they were embryos, which means that any change of context can change the fate of the cells. This is unlike in mammals, for example, where cell plasticity is much more restricted", says the researcher.

Risks of cell reprogramming

In the case of humans and the possible future biomedical impact of this basic research, the researcher stresses that the implications "are not direct, but of concept": "In this study, we show that regenerative capacity is linked to the ability of cells to reprogram themselves to change their destiny. Therefore, one strategy to improve the regenerative capacity of humans could be to provoke cell reprogramming", says Teresa Adell.

In any case, the researcher is cautious about this strategy and warns that it could have undesirable effects, such as tumour transformation. "In animal models that do regenerate, it has been shown that the signals that must be activated to regenerate, such as the Wnt pathway, are also those that promote tumour processes when they are activated incorrectly. As it is often the case, nothing is absolutely good or bad, it depends on the context in which we find ourselves", she concludes.

Open access data

All the results of the genomic analyses carried out during the study have been integrated into the PlanExp open-access platform, with the aim of sharing the information and facilitating the analysis of the data for the scientific community.

 

---

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-023-35937-y 

ARTICLE TITLE

Wnt/β-catenin signalling is required for pole-specific chromatin remodeling during planarian regeneration

University of Limerick, Ireland researchers discover new material to ‘trap and store volatile gases’

The research team, which includes international collaborators in Japan, the US and South Africa, have discovered a new class of porous materials or sorbents for trapping and storing volatile gases.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK

 

IMAGE: PROFESSOR MICHAEL ZAWOROTKO, BERNAL CHAIR OF CRYSTAL ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE FOUNDATION OF IRELAND RESEARCH PROFESSOR AT UL’S BERNAL INSTITUTE view more 

CREDIT: ALAN PLACE/UL

University of Limerick, Ireland researchers discover new material to ‘trap and store volatile gases’

Press release (15/2/23)

***Repro free image attached

Researchers at University of Limerick in Ireland have discovered a new material that can ‘trap and store’ volatile gases.

The research team, which includes international collaborators in Japan, the US and South Africa, have discovered a new class of porous materials or sorbents for trapping and storing volatile gases.

The discovery has just been published in the world leading journal Nature Chemistry.

The team is led by Dr Varvara Nikolayenko, formerly of the Department of Chemical Sciences and UL’s Bernal Institute, now working at Bayer AG and Professor Michael Zaworotko, Bernal Chair of Crystal Engineering and Science Foundation of Ireland Research Professor at UL’s Bernal Institute.

The discovery is an extremely important one as there is an urgent need find to better ways to store volatile fuel (e.g., hydrogen and natural gas) and medicinal (e.g., oxygen and nitric oxide) gases, which currently require very high pressures or very low temperatures.

“Traditional sorbents have interconnected holes and pores like a sponge. The new sorbents we have discovered are more like Swiss cheese in that they have empty space, but they are not interconnected by pores,” explained Professor Zaworotko.

“Our new materials point towards an alternate approach to store such gases which is both less energy intensive and safer,” he added.

The research team said the key findings included that the so-called ‘Swiss cheese’ sorbent expands when it is exposed to gases with very little structural rearrangement and thereby captures increasingly large quantities of gas as pressure is increased.

“The changes in the sorbent are reversible so the gas can be easily removed, and the sorbent can be recycled for further use,” explained Dr Nikolayenko.

“It is counterintuitive to expect a sorbent which has no pores to have the ability to trap volatile gases. This raises the question of whether there are many more such sorbents that are hiding in plain sight,” she added.

The latest discovery builds on research Professor Zaworotko is carrying out at UL’s Bernal Institute in crystal engineering to tackle grand climate challenges.

Last year, Professor Zaworotko and his team developed a new material that has the ability to capture toxic chemicals from the air.

That material is capable of capturing trace amounts of benzene, a toxic pollutant, from the air and crucially use less energy than existing materials, which could revolutionise the search for clean air.

Professor Zaworotko and his team have also previously discovered a material with favourable properties for absorbing and releasing water from the atmosphere that could revolutionise dehumidification systems in buildings and the availability of water in regions of drought.

He explained: “People in science are driven by a dream. The dream is, in almost all cases, to have a positive impact on society. Water purification, carbon capture, cheaper and better pharmaceuticals, are just three examples of where crystal engineering could be the key and the pieces of that jigsaw puzzle are coming together now.”

ENDS

 

The study, ‘Reversible transformations between the non-porous phases of a flexible coordination network enabled by transient porosity’, by Varvara I. Nikolayenko, Michael J. Zaworotko and others, has just been published in the journal Nature Chemistry. See here for more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-022-01128-3

 

About University of Limerick:

The University of Limerick is a research-led, independent, internationally focused university with more than 18,000 students and 1,800 staff. It is a young, energetic and enterprising university with a proud record of innovation in education and excellence in research and scholarship.

More information is available at www.ul.ie.

Tweet @UL

Facebook.com/universityoflimerick

LinkedIn University of Limerick

 

About the Bernal Institute:

The Bernal Institute at University of Limerick is an €102-million science and engineering research institute comprising 20,000m2 of high-quality, multi-purpose research space in the new science and engineering zone at UL. The fluid fields of study and multidisciplinary nature of researchers working on structured materials uniquely enables the institute to address specific challenges within the areas of health, energy and the environment.

More information is available at www.bernalinstitute.com.

Tweet @BernalNews

LinkedIn Bernal Institute

---

JOURNAL

Nature Chemistry

DOI

10.1038/s41557-022-01128-3 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

Reversible transformations between the non-porous phases of a flexible coordination network enabled by transient porosity

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Feb-2023

Music beats beeps: Researchers find redesigned medical alarms can better alert staff and improve patient experience

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MCMASTER UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: MICHAEL SCHUTZ, PROFESSOR OF MUSIC COGNITION AND PERCUSSION AT MCMASTER UNIVERSITY view more 

CREDIT: MCMASTER UNIVERSITY

Hamilton, ON, FEB. 15, 2023 – Changing the tune of hospital medical devices could improve public health, according to researchers at McMaster University and Vanderbilt University.

“By simply changing the sounds in medical devices, we can improve the quality of healthcare delivery and even save lives,” said Michael Schutz, co-author and professor of music cognition and percussion at McMaster. 

The research builds on previous studies on sound design in medical devices, focussing on the sound’s shape. Researchers compared industry-standard flat beeps against alarm tones that rise and fall gradually like musical notes and how the different tones affect speech recognition.

“This is the first time we’ve shown musical alarms work well for speech comprehension while also reducing annoyance. It’s hugely important for future sound design in medical settings. Patients in hospitals generate hundreds of beeps and alerts per day and how these devices sound has not been a priority beyond being loud and alerting to staff,” says Michael Schutz, co-author of the study and professor of music cognition and percussion at McMaster.

Study participants also rated the detectability of flat tones and percussive alarms while performing a speech recognition task designed to approximate real-world demand on healthcare workers. Respondents found that the percussive tones were detectable and did not interfere with speech comprehension.

In a separate experiment, respondents rated how annoying they found the tones, finding musical tones to be less bothersome than flat tones.

“Healthcare settings are a horrible cacophony of sound, we’re barraged by auditory alarms that are loud, annoying, not informative, and often false or non-actionable,” says Dr. Joseph Schlesinger, co-author and associate professor of anesthesiology at Vanderbilt University. “There’s also the sounds of conversations and other equipment. Imagine you're a patient being woken up. You can end up developing sleep deprivation or ICU delirium which can lead to long-term cognitive impairment.”

Auditory alarms play a crucial role in healthcare because they alert staff faster than speech or visual warnings, while allowing them to keep their eyes focussed on other tasks. Schutz says most efforts to cut down on noise pollution in hospitals have centred around reducing alarms rather than changing the sounds. According to data released by the FDA, issues with hospital alarms have contributed to more than 500 deaths.

“Making the sounds less disruptive is a simpler solution than redesigning alarm management procedures and protocols industry wide. Think of it like playing the same song on different instruments. You still recognize the tune,” says Schutz. “By simply changing the sounds we can make alarms that allow for better staff communication and reduce recovery times. This can even save lives.”

Schutz is a professional musician and directs McMaster’s percussion ensemble, which gives him a unique perspective when researching hospital soundscapes at McMaster’s MAPLE (Music, Acoustics, Perception & Learning) Lab.

“Think about your own experience. We choose to listen to music and voluntarily subject ourselves to thousands of notes daily, so it's possible to structure sound in a way that’s not so annoying while messages still get through. There are other ways to make a sound pop out from the background than just making it loud and maximally annoying.”

The study will appear in an upcoming issue of The British Journal of Anesthesia, and received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and the Office of Naval Research.

 

-30-

 

Editors:

A photo of Michael Schutz can be found here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1ywiNPo9mUn5pRsdA

Credit: McMaster University

 

JOURNAL

British Journal of Anaesthesia

DOI

10.1016/j.bja.2022.10.045 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Improving detectability of auditory interfaces for medical alarms through temporal variation in amplitude envelope

Genetic test can detect deadly bleeding disorder in dogs

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: ERIKA ROSE, LEFT, A VETERINARY TECHNICIAN, USES A SWAB TO COLLECT A DNA SAMPLE FROM JENNA, A SCOTTISH DEERHOUND, AS LAURA STUDER, RIGHT, JENNA’S OWNER, LOOKS ON IN GIG HARBOR, WASH. view more 

CREDIT: TED S. WARREN, WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

PULLMAN, Wash. -- A new genetic test can identify dogs at risk of a potentially deadly disorder resulting in excessive bleeding and bruising in the hours and days following surgical procedures.

A team led by Washington State University researchers developed the DEPOHGEN (TM) test following a study in which they examined Scottish deerhounds and identified a gene associated with the condition known as delayed postoperative hemorrhage or DEPOH. Animals with a mutation in the DEPOH gene are significantly more likely to experience the condition. The study was published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

“Dogs with the DEPOH mutation have a much higher risk than other dogs of developing this after undergoing surgery,” said Dr. Michael Court, the study’s corresponding author. “The DEPOHGEN test will allow us to prevent delayed postoperative hemorrhage by administering antifibrinolytic drugs to dogs that test positive for the gene before any surgery.”

Delayed postoperative hemorrhage was first recorded in greyhounds, but it has also been noted in other sighthound breeds, like Scottish deerhounds and Irish wolfhounds. Following the identification of the DEPOH gene, the team examined samples from WSU’s pet DNA bank and discovered the mutation in additional sighthounds, like Italian greyhounds and salukis, as well as in some other popular breeds, such as golden retrievers and border collies.

Court, a veterinarian and professor of pharmacology and genomics in WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Program in Individualized Medicine, said delayed postoperative hemorrhage typically occurs one to four days after major surgery when blood clots begin to break down too soon in a process called hyperfibrinolysis. The severity can range from minor bruising to life-threatening hemorrhaging.

“Clotting factors stop the bleeding when you've had surgery, but you don't want that blood clot to hang around forever. Normally, the body breaks down that clot as the tissue heals, usually over days to weeks, not just one or two days as it does in dogs with the mutant gene,” Court said.

Although delayed postoperative hemorrhaging can be prevented by administering drugs before surgery, indiscriminate treatment can be costly and lead to adverse reactions to the medications.

The new test, which is available through WSU, will make it possible to detect the gene in pets prior to non-emergency surgeries and give preventative treatment when warranted. Court is also hopeful the test will eventually be included in common health panels used to evaluate puppies and dogs for many conditions.

Court began looking into the condition after being approached by the Scottish Deerhound Club of America and Dr. John Dillberger, who serves as the club’s health and genetics commission chair. The club provided partial funding, DNA samples and patient records for the study.

Court recruited Holly Neibergs, a professor in WSU’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences and expert in animal genomics, to assist with the study.

The researchers evaluated 269 Scottish deerhounds and used genome-wide association analysis to identify a single region on chromosome 9 that contained 40 candidate genes. Further screening of the candidate genes was performed and only the DEPOH gene was identified as being directly linked to the pathophysiology of the disorder.

Both Dillberger, who has owned Scottish deerhounds for more than three decades, and Court said the study and the resulting test is a great example of how a collaborative project between an academic institution and dog breed organization can make a positive impact for pets and their owners. A patent application has been submitted on the DEPOHGEN (TM) test by WSU with Court, Dillberger and the Scottish Deerhound Club of America listed as coinventors.

“Now pet owners can test their dog at any time in its life to understand whether it is at risk,” Dillberger said. “And if it is, before planning any scheduled or elective surgery, they can make sure the surgeon is aware of it and prepare accordingly. This will help save the lives of pets.”

Jenna, a Scottish deerhound, is posed for a photo after a DNA sample was taken from her in Gig Harbor, Wash.

Dr. Leanne Jankelunas, left, and Heather Hamblin, right, a fourth-year veterinary student, pet Bree, an Irish wolfhound owned by Thomas Pare, center, at WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Pullman after a saliva sample was taken from the dog’s mouth.

Dr. Michael Court, a veterinarian and professor of pharmacology and genomics in WSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine and Program in Individualized Medicine, in his lab in Pullman, Washington. Court was the corresponding author of a study that resulted in the development of a genetic test can identify dogs at risk of a potentially deadly disorder resulting in excessive bleeding and bruising in the hours and days following surgical procedures

CREDIT

Ted S. Warren, Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine

---

JOURNAL

Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine

DOI

10.1111/jvim.16643 

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Feb-2023

Multi-country dementia study shows women’s greater risk may be linked to disadvantage

Peer-Reviewed Publication

GEORGE INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL HEALTH

A large international study of dementia risk involving almost 30,000 people from 18 countries covering all six continents suggests that social and economic disadvantage may explain the higher risk of the condition in women.

Although there was almost no evidence of sex differences in most of the known risk factors for developing dementia, the higher likelihood of women developing the condition was more pronounced in poorer countries.

Lead author Jessica Gong, from The George Institute for Global Health, said that while previous research had shown women have a greater lifetime risk of developing dementia than men, partly because they tend to live longer, age alone may not fully account for this difference.

“Most research estimating dementia incidence to date has been conducted in high-income countries, with very little data available in the countries that actually bear the greatest burden,” she said.

“We found that when adjusted for age, rates of dementia were highest among low- to lower-middle income countries, and higher in women than men.”

The number of people living with dementia is projected to exceed 150 million by 2050 worldwide, three times the 2019 estimate of 50 million. Rates are increasing most rapidly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that are less able to manage the significant economic and societal impact of this devastating disease.

In 2020 the Lancet Commission Report estimated that as much as 40 percent of dementia risk could be attributed to 12 modifiable risk factors, many of which are more common in LMICs. They include less education, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, depression, hearing impairment, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, low social contact, traumatic brain injury, and air pollution.

“When we looked for sex differences in these risk factors, we found that, older age, diabetes, depression, hearing impairment and having a certain genetic variation involved in fat metabolism in the brain – known as APOE4 - were associated with a greater risk of dementia in both women and men,” Ms Gong said.

“While more years of education, higher hip circumference, current alcohol use (versus never drinking) and high physical activity (versus none to minimal activity) were associated with a lower risk of dementia in both sexes.

“But there was moderate evidence for a sex difference with years spent in education, indicating a stronger protective association for men than women.”

The authors argued that women, particularly in LMICs, have not had equal educational and occupational opportunities to men, and higher educational attainment and mentally stimulating occupations have been shown to be protective against dementia.

Associate Professor Sanne Peters, a Senior Lecturer at The George Institute for Global Health UK in partnership with Imperial College London and part of the research team, said that institutional factors restricting women’s opportunities, reduced access to appropriate healthcare and risk management programs, as well as other factors such as domestic violence - particularly for women from lower socioeconomic settings - can lead to psychological stress and leave them in worse financial positions, affecting their late-life cognitive health.

“In general, the geographical patterns that we saw for increased dementia risk in women seemed to echo those of gender disparity,” she said.

“These findings justify support for programs to improve gender equity in brain health throughout the life-course, particularly in populations that have been previously underrepresented in dementia research.”

---

DOI

10.1002/alz.12962 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Meta-analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Sex differences in dementia risk and risk factors: Individual-participant data analysis using 21 cohorts across six continents from the COSMIC consortium

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

15-Feb-2023

COI STATEMENT

B.S.D. has received payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing, or educational events from UOL Tecnologia Educacional, Brazil; and participates on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board for Depression treatment and Aβ dynamics: A study of Alzheimer’s disease risk (ABD Study) (1 R01 AG070821-01A1). R.B.L. received funding support from NIH/NIA 2PO1 AG003949 (Einstein Aging Study), S&L Marx Foundation, Czap Foundation; grants from the FDA, the Migraine Research Foundation, and the National Headache Foundation; served as consultant, advisory board member, and received honoraria from or research support from: Abbvie (Allergan), American Academy of Neurology, American Headache Society, Amgen, Biohaven, Biovision, Boston, Dr. Reddy’s (Promius), Electrocore, Eli Lilly, eNeura, Equinox GlaxoSmithKline, Grifols, Lundbeck (Alder), Merck, Pernix, Pfizer, Teva, Vector, and Vedanta; and has stock in Biohaven and Manistee. M.J.K. is supported by NIH/NIA AG03949. C.W. is supported by NIH/NIA AG003949. M.G. is supported by French National Research Agency, AXA Research Fund, and Limoges University Hospital (France). N.S. is supported by Alzheimer’s Association grant IIRG-09-133014, Euro pean Social Fund grants 189 10276/8/9/2011, National Strategic Reference Framework-EU program Excellence Grant (ARISTEIA), and Greek Ministry of Health grants DY2b/oik.51657/14.4.2009, as well as EPAD—Local PI of recruiting site for multinational, multicenter Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) sponsored observational study of prodromal stages of dementia, and NovoNordisk—Local PI of recruiting site for multinational, multicenter industry sponsored phase III treatment trial for Alzheimer’s disease; and served on the Chair of Data Safety Monitoring Board for Albert Einstein College of Medicine—NIH funded study. M.Y. is supported by European Social Fund and Ministry of Health, and received fundings from ERASMUS+—European Commission and HORIZON2020 – European Commission; served as the President of the National Nutrition Policy Committee – no fees. M.G. is supported by the National Institute on Aging, NIH, received payments from the University of Connecticut Health Center for honoraria for lectures; participated on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board for Indiana University School of Medicine; and received honorarium payment from the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. C.C.C. is supported by the NIH (R01 grant: MYHAT study). A.L. and ZARADEMP study was supported by grants from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Madrid, Spain (grants 94/1562, 97/1321E, 98/0103, 01/0255, 03/0815, 06/0617, G03/128, 12/02254, 16/00896, 19/01874), and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) of the European Union and Gobierno de Aragón, (grant B15_17R). Group #19; A.L. received financial support to attend scientific meeting from Janssen. E.L. has received honorarium from University of Granada. None of these activities was related to the current project. M.W. is supported by Australian NHMRC and EU Horizon 2020, and is a consultant for Amgen and Freeline outside the submitted work; and participated on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board for DMB STAREE trial (no payment). The rest of the authors have no conflicts of interest. C.D.L.C. has received financial support to attend scientific meetings from Janssen, Almirall, Lilly, Lundbeck, Rovi, Esteve, Novartis, Astrazeneca, Pfizer, and Casen Recordati. M.W. has been a consultant for Amgen, Freeline, and Kirin outside the submitted work.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsi

Should companies sell know-how, components, or systems? The question product managers and entrepreneurs need to answer first

News from the Journal of Marketing

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION

Researchers from American University, University of Arizona, University of Texas-Arlington, and Texas Tech University published a new Journal of Marketing article that explores the “what to sell” question that companies and investors need to answer before deciding “how to sell.”

The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled “A Theory of Product-Form Strategy: When to Market Know-How, Components, or Systems?” and is authored by Kellilynn M. Frias, Mrinal Ghosh, Narayan Janakiraman, Dale F. Duhan, and Robert F. Lusch.

Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak has suggested that the company’s initial plan was to sell circuit boards incorporating its microprocessor chips. However, that ambition took a turn when Steve Jobs and Wozniak created the first personal computer in 1976, the Apple I. With its successor, Apple II, Apple became the pioneer in the personal computer industry. 

Plenty of research has focused on the new product development process and commercialization. However, one fundamental decision regarding technology commercialization remains relatively unexplored: In what form do we sell the innovation in the market? A recent article in Wired examines the need for electric vehicle companies to rethink the design and whether the battery should be modularized. These companies are rethinking their designs to reduce the wasted space and weight created by modularized batteries. To alleviate this issue, companies like BYD develop and sell batteries and vehicle components as well as cars, while CATL, BYD’s biggest competitor, sells batteries integrated into the vehicle chassis.

This new Journal of Marketing study explores the “what to sell” question that companies and investors need to answer regularly. For example, when entrepreneurs pitch their ideas on the popular television series Shark Tank, both Sharks (the investors) and entrepreneurs must identify and agree upon what the venture is trying to sell. Before they decide how to position products or services relative to competitors, developers at both established firms and new ventures must consider whether their innovations should be sold as:

1. know-how (i.e., intellectual property),
2. components (i.e., intermediate goods), or
3. a system (i.e., final goods).

This product-form strategy, or PFS, decision is deeply embedded within many firms’ product development and commercialization processes. For instance, when ventures seek funding from investors or when firms go public through an initial public offering, they must show their revenue model (i.e., the market, the customers, the offering), which reflects the PFS. The PFS decision is linked to other fundamental questions of interest to marketers, including “Who is our direct customer?” and “Who are our direct competitors?”

As the researchers explain, “For a company selling baseball bats embedded with sensor technology with the customers being players, coaches, and clubs, branded bat manufacturers, such as Louisville Slugger, are the direct competitors. On the other hand, if the firm sells the know-how or a component device, branded bat manufacturers could be the customers.” For early-stage ventures seeking to enter a market for the first time, getting their go-to-market strategy “right” in terms of the product-form and the associated revenue model may be the chance for their survival.

Using data from the following sources:

• interviews with entrepreneurs and angel investors,
• investment proposals from angel networks,
• pitch transcripts from the U.S.-based version of Shark Tank, and
• experimental scenarios of investment proposals,

the researchers find that the resulting choice of PFS is due to three primary drivers:

• the difficulty of technology mix-and-match,
• the availability of marketing capabilities to sell the technology to end users, and
• the difficulty of safeguarding the know-how against imitation.

“Our research discovers that when technology is difficult to mix-and-match and safeguard, decision-makers will choose to sell systems over components and components over know-how. Marketing capabilities will also increase the likelihood of marketing systems over components and components over know-how. We also find key interactions among these drivers on the product-form decision,” they add.

These findings suggest that considering the technology market and the firm’s ability to protect its technology (against theft by supply chain members and competitors) is critical and that strategic deliberations about what to sell include examinations of the environment and the firm’s own capabilities. Unlike much of the literature about business models that often conflates the “what to sell” and “how to sell” questions for business strategy, this study finds that PFS is a unique decision that comes before the “how to sell” question is answered.

Product managers, entrepreneurs, and angel investors need to consider how these alternative product forms may increase the costs associated with selling one product form over another. Entrepreneurs need to assess the value angel investors bring and leverage these resources into their product-form options. Additionally, managers at established firms that already have multiple product lines and who are mulling a market entry decision for a new technology may need to consider their commercialization deliberations at the technology level and choose the product-form that is the most desired for that technology, regardless of how their other product lines are strategically positioned.

Full article and author contact information available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/00222429221149437

About the Journal of Marketing 

The Journal of Marketing develops and disseminates knowledge about real-world marketing questions useful to scholars, educators, managers, policy makers, consumers, and other societal stakeholders around the world. Published by the American Marketing Association since its founding in 1936, JM has played a significant role in shaping the content and boundaries of the marketing discipline. Shrihari (Hari) Sridhar (Joe Foster ’56 Chair in Business Leadership, Professor of Marketing at Mays Business School, Texas A&M University) serves as the current Editor in Chief.
https://www.ama.org/jm

About the American Marketing Association (AMA) 

As the largest chapter-based marketing association in the world, the AMA is trusted by marketing and sales professionals to help them discover what is coming next in the industry. The AMA has a community of local chapters in more than 70 cities and 350 college campuses throughout North America. The AMA is home to award-winning content, PCM® professional certification, premiere academic journals, and industry-leading training events and conferences.
https://www.ama.org

---

JOURNAL

Journal of Marketing

DOI

10.1177/00222429221149437 

ARTICLE TITLE

A Theory of Product-Form Strategy: When to Market Know-how, Components, or Systems?

Stevia based sweeteners offer a sweeter, more environmentally friendly alternative to sugar 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SURREY

Natural sweeteners derived from stevia may produce as little as 10% of the greenhouse gas emissions of sugar while still providing the same level of sweetness, according to new research from the University of Surrey. 

Researchers conducted a Life Cycle Assessment on steviol glycosides extracted from stevia and found that the production of the sweetener caused less environmental impact across a wide range of markers, when compared to sugar. For example, it offers an opportunity to reduce land use or water consumption compared to the same level of sweetness as sugar. 

Many non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS), like steviol glycosides, can reproduce the taste of sugar, but without the associated health risks, such as tooth decay, obesity, or diabetes. They can do this because they are many times sweeter than sugar. For example, 4g of steviol glycosides provides the sweetness equivalent of 1,000g sugar, because it is perceived to be 250 times sweeter. 

Dr James Suckling, lead author of the study working in the University of Surrey's Centre for Environment and Sustainability, said: 

"The use of steviol glycosides and similar natural products could be sweet news for the health of our planet. However, our study readily admits that much more work needs to be done to understand the health impacts of steviol glycosides and other non-nutritive sweeteners when consumed as part of a wider diet." 

Surrey's research is part of the Horizon 2020 SWEET project – a multiyear collaboration with 30 organisations to better understand the health and environmental benefits of NNS https://sweetproject.eu/.  
 

The research has been published in the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. 

 

### 

Notes to Editors 

• Suckling, J., Morse, S., Murphy, R. et al. Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project. Int J Life Cycle Assess (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9

---

JOURNAL

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment

DOI

10.1007/s11367-022-02127-9 

ARTICLE TITLE

Environmental life cycle assessment of production of the high intensity sweetener steviol glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana leaf grown in Europe: The SWEET project