Environmental risks of genetically engineered vaccines

2001 ◽  
pp. 345-368
Biology ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 562
Author(s):  
Xiao-Qi Jiang ◽  
Xiao Yang ◽  
Bao-Rong Lu

Estimating the fitness effect conferred by a transgene introgressed into populations of wild relative species from a genetically engineered (GE) crop plays an important role in assessing the potential environmental risks caused by transgene flow. Such estimation has essentially focused on the survival and fecundity-related characteristics measured above the ground, but with little attention to the fate of GE seeds shattered in the soil seed banks after maturation. To explore the survival and longevity of GE seeds in soil, we examined the germination behaviors of crop–wild hybrid seeds (F4–F6) from the lineages of a GE herbicide-tolerant rice (Oryzasativa) line that contains an endogenous EPSPS transgene hybridized with two wild O. rufipogon populations after the seeds were buried in soil. The results showed significantly increased germination of the GE crop–wild hybrid seeds after soil burial, compared with that of the non-GE hybrid seeds. Additionally, the proportion of dormant seeds and the content of the growth hormone auxin (indole-3-acetic acid, IAA) in the GE crop–wild hybrid seeds significantly increased. Evidently, the EPSPS transgene enhances the survival and longevity of GE crop–wild rice seeds in the soil seed banks. The enhanced survival and longevity of the GE hybrid seeds is likely associated with the increases in seed dormancy and auxin (IAA) by overexpressing the rice endogenous EPSPS transgene. Thus, the fate of GE seeds in the soil seed banks should be earnestly considered when assessing the environmental risks caused by transgene flow.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 5-8
Author(s):  
L. S. Kruglova ◽  
A. A. Osina ◽  
A. A. Khotko

Among patients with psoriasis, approximately 50% are women and almost 75 % of them are under the age of 40 years. Thus, most women with psoriasis have childbearing potential. When pregnancy occurs in 22 % of patients, the activity of psoriasis persists, characteristic of the course before pregnancy, in 23 % of women, the course of the disease worsens. The article provides up-to-date data on the management of pregnant patients with psoriasis. To improve pregnancy outcomes in patients with psoriasis, it is important to prevent exacerbation of the disease. The choice of drug therapy in this case is based on an assessment of the ratio of the risk of undesirable effects of the drugs on the developing fetus and the risk of the development of exacerbation of psoriasis, which can cause an adverse pregnancy outcome. Despite the fact that the available clinical experience of using genetically engineered drugs is still limited, with a certain degree of confidence we can say that there is no increase in the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes associated with therapy with certolizumab pegol.


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