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Holden NJ. Data sharing considerations to maximize the use of pathogen biological and genomics resources data for public health. J Appl Microbiol 2024; 135:lxae204. [PMID: 39113269 DOI: 10.1093/jambio/lxae204] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2024] [Revised: 07/17/2024] [Accepted: 08/06/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024]
Abstract
Public sector data associated with health are a highly valuable resource with multiple potential end-users, from health practitioners, researchers, public bodies, policy makers, and industry. Data for infectious disease agents are used for epidemiological investigations, disease tracking and assessing emerging biological threats. Yet, there are challenges in collating and re-using it. Data may be derived from multiple sources, generated and collected for different purposes. While public sector data should be open access, providers from public health settings or from agriculture, food, or environment sources have sensitivity criteria to meet with ethical restrictions in how the data can be reused. Yet, sharable datasets need to describe the pathogens with sufficient contextual metadata for maximal utility, e.g. associated disease or disease potential and the pathogen source. As data comprise the physical resources of pathogen collections and potentially associated sequences, there is an added emerging technical issue of integration of omics 'big data'. Thus, there is a need to identify suitable means to integrate and safely access diverse data for pathogens. Established genomics alliances and platforms interpret and meet the challenges in different ways depending on their own context. Nonetheless, their templates and frameworks provide a solution for adaption to pathogen datasets.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola J Holden
- Scotland's Rural College, Department of Rural Land Use, Craibstone Campus, Aberdeen AB21 9YA, United Kingdom
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2
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Angeles NAC, Catap ES. Challenges on the Development of Biodiversity Biobanks: The Living Archives of Biodiversity. Biopreserv Biobank 2023; 21:5-13. [PMID: 35133889 DOI: 10.1089/bio.2021.0127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Biodiversity biobanks or ex situ biodiversity biorepositories tend to receive less attention compared with their biomedical counterparts. In this review, we highlight the necessity for these biorepositories by presenting their significant role in health, biodiversity, linking of big data, other translational research, and biodiversity conservation efforts. Moreover, the significant challenges in developing and maintaining biodiversity biobanks based on successful biobanks in some megadiverse developing countries are examined to provide insights into what needs to be done and what can be improved by up-and-coming biodiversity biobanks. These challenges include lack of financial support and political will; availability of experts; development of standard policies; and information management system. In addition, issues regarding access and benefit sharing and Digital Sequence Information must be addressed by biodiversity biobanks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nestly Anne C Angeles
- Philippine Genome Center, University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines.,Department of Science and Technology-Science Education Institute, Taguig, Philippines
| | - Elena S Catap
- Functional Bioactivity Screening Lab, Institute of Biology, College of Science National Science Complex, University of the Philippines-Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
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3
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Ho CWL. Operationalizing "One Health" as "One Digital Health" Through a Global Framework That Emphasizes Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits From the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Related Digital Technologies. Front Public Health 2022; 10:768977. [PMID: 35592084 PMCID: PMC9110679 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2022.768977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The operationalization of One Health (OH) through digitalization is a means to deploy digital technologies (including Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data and related digital technologies) to better capacitate us to deal with growing climate exigency and related threats to human, animal and plant health. With reference to the concept of One Digital Health (ODH), this paper considers how digital capabilities can help to overcome ‘operational brakes’ in OH through new and deeper insights, better predictions, and more targeted or precise preventive strategies and public health countermeasures. However, the data landscape is fragmented and access to certain types of data is increasingly restrictive as individuals, communities and countries seek to assert greater control over data taken from them. This paper proposes for a dedicated global ODH framework—centered on fairness and equity—to be established to promote data-sharing across all the key knowledge domains of OH and to devise data-driven solutions to challenges in the human-animal-ecosystems interface. It first considers the data landscape in relation to: (1) Human and population health; (2) Pathogens; (3) Animal and plant health; and (4) Ecosystems and biodiversity. The complexification from the application of advance genetic sequencing technology is then considered, with focus on current debates over whether certain types of data like digital (genetic) sequencing information (DSI) should remain openly and freely accessible. The proposed ODH framework must augment the existing access and benefit sharing (ABS) framework currently prescribed under the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in at least three different ways. First, the ODH framework should apply to all genetic resources and data, including DSI, whether from humans or non-humans. Second, the FAIRER principles should be implemented, with focus on fair and equitable benefit-sharing. Third, the ODH framework should adopt multilateral approaches to data sharing (such as through federated data systems) and to ABS. By operationalizing OH as ODH, we are more likely to be able to protect and restore natural habitats, secure the health and well-being of all living things, and thereby realize the goals set out in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework under the CBD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Calvin Wai-Loon Ho
- Department of Law and Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, China
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4
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Environmental DNA as Novel Technology: Lessons in Agenda Setting and Framing in News Media. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11102874. [PMID: 34679894 PMCID: PMC8532834 DOI: 10.3390/ani11102874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Revised: 09/16/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary Increasing threats to wildlife have made assessing their populations, health, and adaptation to stressors ever more important. The use of environmental DNA to make these assessments is relatively new and offers many advantages, such as non-lethal sampling. How novel technologies such as these are framed in the news media is critically important because the general public gathers much of its information about scientific developments from the media, and public perceptions can impact use of technology, responses to data derived from its use, and ethical concerns. To date, media constructions of eDNA and perceptions among the general public have not been examined. The current paper begins to address this gap by undertaking an examination of media coverage of eDNA in Canada and the United States for the past approximately twenty years—likely a critical period in shaping understandings of and responses to eDNA. The findings indicate that eDNA is framed as a powerful tool, yet the social concerns that receive the most attention are those where there are financial interests at play, and these interests have to date eclipsed attending to relevant ethical considerations. Abstract Environmental DNA (eDNA) is an emerging technology used for understanding ecosystems, environmental change, and stressors. Cellular and extracellular DNA are collected from environmental samples instead of individual wildlife animals, and as such eDNA comes with associated logistical and ethical benefits. It is increasingly being used, yet to date public knowledge and perceptions of eDNA have not been explored. Given that most of the public gathers scientific information from news media sources, this is a logical first place to start. This paper reports on a framing and agenda-setting analysis of news media coverage of eDNA in Canada and the United States from 2000 to 2020. The findings indicate that eDNA is being framed as an emerging and powerful tool, although questions regarding its validity and reliability are raised vis-à-vis identifying the presence of invasive species. Less than half of the news articles analyzed address broader social or ethical issues in relation to eDNA, and the majority focus on the potential financial impacts of eDNA findings on development projects and business interests. The potential ethical advantages of non-lethal sampling methods used via eDNA sampling are not addressed, nor are the potential ethical issues raised by its potential use in bioprospecting, indicating that the current state of agenda setting regarding eDNA in these newspapers is focused on economic impacts, to the exclusion of potential ethical issues. This unfolding news coverage will likely be key to understanding public perceptions of this novel technology.
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Analysis of Archival Specimens Confirms White-Nose Syndrome in Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) from New York, USA, in Spring 2007. J Wildl Dis 2021; 57:457-460. [PMID: 33600575 DOI: 10.7589/jwd-d-20-00137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
White-nose syndrome (WNS), an emerging fungal disease of North American bats, was first diagnosed in January 2008, although mortality and photodocumentation suggest the disease might have been present earlier. Using archived samples, we describe a definitive case of WNS in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) from New York, US, in spring 2007.
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Niedermair T, Bhatt M, Wallner S, Babel M, Burkhardt R, Brochhausen C. Biobanking of Specimens from COVID-19 Patients: An Economic Perspective from a Clinical Biobank. Biopreserv Biobank 2021; 19:453-456. [PMID: 34042517 DOI: 10.1089/bio.2020.0168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Tanja Niedermair
- Institute of Pathology, University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.,Central Biobank Regensburg, University and University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Meet Bhatt
- Biobank Cote d'Azur, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, University Cote D'Azur, Nice, France
| | - Stefan Wallner
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Maximilian Babel
- Institute of Pathology, University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.,Central Biobank Regensburg, University and University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Ralph Burkhardt
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Christoph Brochhausen
- Institute of Pathology, University Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.,Central Biobank Regensburg, University and University Hospital Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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Lin RC, Sacher JC, Ceyssens PJ, Zheng J, Khalid A, Iredell JR. Phage Biobank: Present Challenges and Future Perspectives. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2021; 68:221-230. [PMID: 33581425 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2020.12.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
After a century of use in human infection, the preparation and administration of therapeutic bacteriophages (phages) still relies on ad hoc partnerships of researchers, biotech companies, clinicians and regulators. There is a clear need to improve the reproducibility, safety and speed of the provision of suitable phages. Here we discuss the specific characteristics and challenges of a sustainable phage biobank and, as we build a national consortium aimed at delivering phage therapeutics, suggest a roadmap toward national biobanking and phage therapy initiatives using the Australian context as a model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruby Cy Lin
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; School of Medical Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
| | | | - Pieter-Jan Ceyssens
- Antibiotics and Resistance Unit, The National Reference Centres for Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, Neisseria and Mycobacteria, Sciensano, Belgium
| | - Jan Zheng
- Phage Directory, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
| | - Ali Khalid
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Jonathan R Iredell
- Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Westmead Hospital, Western Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, Australia.
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8
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Thompson CW, Phelps KL, Allard MW, Cook JA, Dunnum JL, Ferguson AW, Gelang M, Khan FAA, Paul DL, Reeder DM, Simmons NB, Vanhove MPM, Webala PW, Weksler M, Kilpatrick CW. Preserve a Voucher Specimen! The Critical Need for Integrating Natural History Collections in Infectious Disease Studies. mBio 2021; 12:e02698-20. [PMID: 33436435 PMCID: PMC7844540 DOI: 10.1128/mbio.02698-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite being nearly 10 months into the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, the definitive animal host for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2), the causal agent of COVID-19, remains unknown. Unfortunately, similar problems exist for other betacoronaviruses, and no vouchered specimens exist to corroborate host species identification for most of these pathogens. This most basic information is critical to the full understanding and mitigation of emerging zoonotic diseases. To overcome this hurdle, we recommend that host-pathogen researchers adopt vouchering practices and collaborate with natural history collections to permanently archive microbiological samples and host specimens. Vouchered specimens and associated samples provide both repeatability and extension to host-pathogen studies, and using them mobilizes a large workforce (i.e., biodiversity scientists) to assist in pandemic preparedness. We review several well-known examples that successfully integrate host-pathogen research with natural history collections (e.g., yellow fever, hantaviruses, helminths). However, vouchering remains an underutilized practice in such studies. Using an online survey, we assessed vouchering practices used by microbiologists (e.g., bacteriologists, parasitologists, virologists) in host-pathogen research. A much greater number of respondents permanently archive microbiological samples than archive host specimens, and less than half of respondents voucher host specimens from which microbiological samples were lethally collected. To foster collaborations between microbiologists and natural history collections, we provide recommendations for integrating vouchering techniques and archiving of microbiological samples into host-pathogen studies. This integrative approach exemplifies the premise underlying One Health initiatives, providing critical infrastructure for addressing related issues ranging from public health to global climate change and the biodiversity crisis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cody W Thompson
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | | | - Marc W Allard
- Center of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, College Park, Maryland, USA
| | - Joseph A Cook
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Jonathan L Dunnum
- Museum of Southwestern Biology, Biology Department, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
| | - Adam W Ferguson
- Gantz Family Collections Center, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA
| | - Magnus Gelang
- Gothenburg Natural History Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | | | - Deborah L Paul
- Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, USA
- Species File Group, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Nancy B Simmons
- Department of Mammalogy, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
| | - Maarten P M Vanhove
- Hasselt University, Centre for Environmental Sciences, Research Group Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology, Diepenbeek, Belgium
| | - Paul W Webala
- Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management, Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya
| | - Marcelo Weksler
- Departamento de Vertebrados, Museu Nacional, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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9
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Biobanks for life sciences and personalized medicine: importance of standardization, biosafety, biosecurity, and data management. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2020; 65:45-51. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2019.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Accepted: 12/09/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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10
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Lajaunie C, Morand S. Nagoya Protocol and Infectious Diseases: Hindrance or Opportunity? Front Public Health 2020; 8:238. [PMID: 32612970 PMCID: PMC7308583 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.00238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/18/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Claire Lajaunie
- Inserm, LPED (Laboratoire Population Environnement Developpement), Marseille, France.,Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG), Law School, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Serge Morand
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), Montpellier Université, Montpellier, France.,Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
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11
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Advances and challenges in barcoding of microbes, parasites, and their vectors and reservoirs. Parasitology 2019; 145:537-542. [PMID: 29900810 DOI: 10.1017/s0031182018000884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
DNA barcoding is now a common tool in parasitology and epidemiology, which require good methods for identification not only of parasites and pathogens but vectors and reservoirs. This special issue presents some advances and challenges in barcoding of microbes, parasites, and their vectors and reservoirs. DNA barcoding found new applications in disease ecology, conservation parasitology, environmental parasitology and in paleoparasitology. New technologies such as next-generation sequencing and matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight have made it now possible to investigate large samples of specimens. By allowing the investigation of parasites at the interface between environment, biodiversity, animal and human health, barcoding and biobanking have important policy outcomes as well as ethics and legal implications. The special issue 'Advances and challenges in the barcoding of parasites, vectors and reservoirs' illustrates some recent advances and proposes new avenues for research in barcoding in parasitology.
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12
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From a variety of ethics to the integrity and congruence of research on biodiversity conservation. Asian Bioeth Rev 2018; 10:313-332. [PMID: 33717295 DOI: 10.1007/s41649-018-0072-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2018] [Revised: 11/17/2018] [Accepted: 12/11/2018] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
Abstract
This article aims to find the elements that are required for a common ethical approach that is suitable for the different perspectives adopted in integrative biodiversity conservation research. A general reflection on the integrity of research is a priority worldwide, with a common aim to promote good research practice. Beyond the relationship between researcher and research subject, the integrity of research is considered in a broader perspective which entails scientific integrity towards society. In research involving a variety of disciplines and a diversity of legal and ethical frameworks, there is a need of harmony between different sets of values. The notion of congruence (or more pragmatically, alignment) reflects the consistency of ethics in research within the biodiversity conservation's community of researchers. It also bears on the coherence of values shared between the scientific community and society. We examine the notion of research integrity in a broad sense. This examination is to be conducted in relation to the goal of protecting ecological integrity, which is at the core of biodiversity conservation. The notion of integrity constraints should be investigated further to develop a pragmatic response to the need for integrity and congruence in research for biodiversity conservation.
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13
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Ho CWL, Caals K. Editorial. Asian Bioeth Rev 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s41649-017-0041-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022] Open
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