CABI Blogs: hand picked... and carefully sorted

It’s not just puppy fat

While it’s a well-known piece of perceived wisdom that owners look like their dogs, there is evidence that obese owners are more likely to have obese dogs. Writing in CAB Reviews, Ian Bland and Julian Hill discuss the importance of owner’s perceptions of exercise and diet in terms of controlling obesity in dogs.
It is hard to be sure what the level of dog obesity is, as there is no BMI equivalent, and estimates based on owner assessments are different to those conducted by vets, but the trend is upwards.

 

Plastic bag ban

Recently, I read an article in the January 2011 issue of BioCycle reporting a ban on non-biodegradable plastic bags, which went into effect in Italy on January 1, 2011. A clause will allow shops to use bags they already have stockpiled until they run out, after which biodegradable plastic or paper or reusable cloth bags will be the only options.

Forests sell-off cancelled

Caroline Spelman formally cancels the forest sell-off consultation: "I am sorry. We got this one wrong."

The consultation on the selling-off of English forests, which was going to go on until April 2011 has been officially cancelled a few moments ago. There was widespread opposition to the forestry sell-off, which would have seen private companies and some voluntary organisations take over the running of the forests.

Hessian fly heading for the sack

Wheat crops suffer millions of dollars’ worth of damage each year due to the hessian fly, Mayetiola destructor. The most effective control method is genetic resistance, when wheat resistance genes cause death of the attacking larvae by activating a defense response against avirulent hessian flies. Unfortunately this has led to flies that can overcome resistant wheat and the need for regular evaluations of field collections of this pest. 

Fast but furious: High yielding plants linked to poor pest resistance

Breeding plants for fast growth and high yield may make them more susceptible to pests and diseases. New research from the University of Zurich using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana has confirmed long suspected theory, showing that when plants put more resources into growth they often shut down some defence genes.

Epigenetics: epi what?

Pity the poor editor on BBC’s news programme  “Breakfast” (11 jan 2011) subtitling, as Professor Robert Winston and others discussed the possibility of gender selection to "complete your family in the way you desire" i.e. to finally achieve that longed for girl or boy.

Throughout the discussion the text editor had kept up admirably, coping with explanations of these gender selection techniques:

• at fertilisation (by enriching for male sperm)
• pre-implantation (by removing a cell from a fertilised embryo to check the sex.

 (Both techniques are tried and tested. Sperm enrichment is used for cattle breeding and pre-implantation tests are used to select healthy embryos without a gender-linked genetic defect)

 In vivo fertilisation was rendered accurately too, which just shows how much the public has come to know and understand about IVF since it was first introduced all those years ago.

Then Professor Winston mentioned in passing “epigenetic influences” which was transcribed rapidly onto my TV screen as “EDGE THE GENETIC”!

Clearly the editor hadn’t a clue. So I’ve decided to define (& explain) for you the term “epigenetic” so that you will.  Along the way, I hope, you emerge fascinated...

 

Forests sell-off plan is shelved, but for how long?

The government has put on hold plans to sell off some of the English forests, but the main scheme could still go ahead, said the news report by the BBC. Proposals to sell-off 258,000 hectares of forests run by the Forestry Commission have attracted cross-party criticism and a public outcry. Is people power really working?

Green exercise, Part Two

Last May I posted a blog on the health benefits of exercise in natural environments (also called 'green exercise'), featuring new research on the subject. Since then, two systematic reviews on the topic have been published, the most recent just last week, so as some wet, grey weather is currently making it harder to leave the warmth of the office for a lunchtime walk in CABI's own green surroundings, maybe it's time to revisit the topic to remind myself of the possible benefits.

The most recent review comes from a team at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in Devon, UK. The authors analysed existing studies and concluded that there are benefits to mental and physical well-being from taking exercise in the natural environment. Their findings are published in the research journal Environmental Science and Technology on February 4th 2011.

International Year of Forest and the proposed England's forests sell-off

The UN General Assembly declared 2011 the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of forests. The International Year of Forests was officially launched on 2 February 2011 at the UN headquarters in New York, USA, during the UN Forum on Forests. Events will be held globally throughout 2011 showcasing actions towards managing the world's forests sustainably.

Biofuels: a public health hazard?

Jatropha curcas, image courtesy of Biofuels Information Exchange

It has come to my attention that Jatropha curcas (physic nut or purging nut) is being pushed in India as a biofuel crop (for oil) and that there is now an emerging public health problem there due to accidental poisoning of children.

An Indian member of the listserv HIFA2015 to which I belong, Pankaj Oudhia, reported increased hospitalisations of children across the nation during the Jatropha fruiting season in 2010. The seeds are tasty but it only takes 3 or 4 seeds and you end up in hospital.  Five children died. Cultivated in fields as the biofuel crop, he also reported it was deliberately planted in schools. 

Here at CABI, our scientists, projects and information specialists have much to offer on the topic of biofuels and in 2008 we launched the Biofuels Information Exchange. So I went straight there to see if they had discussed Jatropha in their Forum, which they had (see “Is jatropha really the 'miracle' biofuel crop that some profess it to be?” from Carole Ellison).

AS a biofuel crop its in its infancy and has many downsides, not least on food security & the fact that you can’t use the husks for feed.  One of the reasons it was even considered was that as a weed (originating in South America) it was thought likely to be easy & cheap to cultivate. Turns out to make it productive you do have to go heavy on the fertiliser (expensive) and it also can harbour a mosaic virus. Only in passing was it pointed out that the seeds were poisonous and then only with reference to its use for animal feed.

One of the issues raised in this HIFA2015 communication was the lack of knowledge in the local communities about the poisonous nature of the seeds, so that parents could not forewarn their children.  And obviously the authorities had no idea otherwise they’d not have planted them in schools!

Definitely a lack of communication between botanists, agriculturalists, governments and medics when it comes to people’s health.

Let’s not get complacent here in Europe. WE all need reminding which plants are poisonous or irritating in gardens and in the hedgerows. Then we should tell children not to eat or touch them. Just because a bird is eating a juicy red berry does not make it edible for humans or even your pet dog.

Knowing a traditional name helps even us....deadly nightshade is a dead give-away isn’t it?