Podcasts about Drosophila

An interview with Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston, author of the book 'The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death'. We begin by discussing how best to define death, focusing on the idea of death as the permanent disruption of psychological identity, and how such identity is constituted by our personality, desires, and memories. We then consider the science of brain preservation, including the recently-developed technique of Aldehyde-Stabilized Cryopreservation, and how it could be used to indefinitely preserve the brain structure that encodes or personal identity. Ariel argues that such a preserved brain could potentially be used to construct a digital simulation of our brains, essentially allowing us to survive the biological death of our bodies. We conclude by considering some potential challenges of implementign such a technology, and whether it would achieve widespread social acceptance. Ariel's book: The Future Loves You: How and Why We Should Abolish Death Turning Fate into Choice: Patient Self-Determination and Life Extension More on brain preservation: A case for developing Aldehyde Stabilized Cryopreservation into a medical procedure How much protein structure loss is there following glutaraldehyde crosslinking? Large Mammal BPF Prize Winning Announcement Mapping the Drosophila brain: The connectome of an insect brain | Science      

Baylor College of Medicineの山本慎也さんがゲスト。後編。ハエの疾患モデルとしての限界、凍結保存ができない問題とそれが育んだコラボレーション文化、留学を選択肢と考えるための本の執筆、PhDを取った機関でポスドクを飛ばしてPIになることについて (3/28収録)Show Notes (番組HP):山本さんNR回　前編非哺乳類モデル動物の臨床応用ハエの疾患モデル一覧パーキンソン病モデルハエの例(α-Synuclein)ハエの脳にはドーパミン作動性ニューロンが数百個しかない (Table 1にHemisphereあたり~282個と書いてあるので成虫の脳で550個くらいみたいです。by山)アルツハイマー病モデルハエの例(Aβ42)自閉症モデルハエに関するReview 1 2 3ハエの求愛行動ハエの攻撃行動ハエのパーソナルスペースハエのグルーミングJulie Simpsonハエの嗅覚と痛覚を介した記憶のT-mazeアッセイハエで精神疾患モデルは作れるか？ 1 2ハエのがんモデルでcachexiaが起こるハエのBMP(Bone Morphogenetic Protein)シグナリングハエのノルアドレナリン受容体はタイラミンやオクトパミンに反応する手間がかかるので誰もやってないハエの凍結保存プロトコル 1 2 3ハエ系統の自由なやりとりの伝統と現状Indiana大学のBloomington Drosophila Stock Center京都工繊大のストックセンター遺伝研のストックセンターウィーンのストックセンターDrosophila Information ServiceFlyBaseJaneliaのSplit GAL4リソース　データベースハエゲノムプロジェクト(2000年にドラフトが完成、線虫は1998年でした。by 山)羊土社から出した『研究留学実践ガイド』連載、研究留学の技法２０２３実験医学：羊土社から刊行されている雑誌。現行。細胞工学: 学研メディカルから刊行されていた雑誌。廃刊。蛋白質・核酸・酵素: 共立出版から刊行されていた雑誌。廃刊。たまたま取れたNotchの特殊なmutationに着目したScience論文　日本語での要約NotchはDeltaとJagged(ハエではSerrate)というリガンドを見分けている(訂正：FringeはNotchのDeltaとの結合を強め、Jagged/Serrateとの結合を弱めます。by山)News & Hot Paper Digestではなく、カレント・トピックスでした(by 山)The Notch MeetingGordon Research Conference(GRC)とGordon Research Seminar(GRS)NotchのGRSGRSの座長をした際の体験談(Campus & Conference探訪記)実験医学のNotchシグナル特集どうする？コロナ禍での海外研究留学 1 2 3 4 5 日本における雇い止め問題に関するNatureとScienceの記事ベイラー医科大学って知っていますか？ヒューストンのNASAはロケットを打ち上げてない『研究留学実践ガイド』のテーマ：はじめに(pdf)留学特集の座談会記事 1 2中田大介先生安田先生NR回五十嵐先生NR回 1 2 3 4留学前後・ラボでの立ち居振る舞い：立ち読みサンプル 1 2失敗したけど、こうして切り抜けましたエピソード：特にコラム4-5から4-8ラボレポート、留学編・独立編留学をしないという「選択肢」：コラム4-10藤島さんNR回　コラム3-3(立ち読みサンプル) DEI政策の激変テキサスはDEI停止を先取りハーバードにおけるAffirmative Action訴訟Texas Children's HospitalDuncan NRI(faculty list)Huda Zoghbi(HHMI)Rett SyndromeSCA1(Ataxin)Atoh1(Math1)DP5(Early Independence Award)独立して最初のR01が取れたPIの平均年齢は43歳(2010年 NIH調べ)Hugo Bellen(元HHMI)博士の時にやったスクリーニングからプロジェクトがたくさん生まれた 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 etc  ハーバード、UCSF、Janeliaのフェロー制度ドーパミンの産生・放出・代謝

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ Einige Affen in Bolivien können jodeln +++ Forschende entwickeln kleinsten Herzschrittmacher der Welt +++ Alkohol macht Fruchtfliegen sexy +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:‘Monkey yodels'—frequency jumps in New World monkey vocalizations greatly surpass human vocal register transitions, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 03.04.2025Millimetre-scale bioresorbable optoelectronic systems for electrotherapy, Nature, 02.04.2025Eichenprozessionsspinner Frühwarnsystem „PHENTHAUproc“, Deutsche WetterdienstA natural experiment on the effect of herpes zoster vaccination on dementia, Nature, 02.04.2025Neuroecology of alcohol risk and reward: Methanol boosts pheromones and courtship success in Drosophila melanogaster, Science Advances, 02.04.2025Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok und Instagram .

Baylor College of Medicineの山本慎也さんがゲスト。前編。ツールとしてハエを使うNeuroscientistと脳を見ているハエGeneticistの違い、ハエForward geneticsからヒト希少疾患研究に繋がった経緯、Living test tubeとしてのハエの魅力、Reverse geneticsによるヒト化ハエのRare disease・Common disease・感染症研究への応用について (3/28収録)Show Notes (番組HP):山本さんラボHP(更新が滞りがち) LinkedInベイラー医科大学動物育種繁殖学教室今川和彦先生着床現象は種特異的臍帯形成などに異常があるVps26a(Hβ58)の変異マウス 1 2Hugo BellenJan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research InstituteHugoによるレビューScott Emr武田洋幸先生多羽田哲也先生後藤聡先生Retromer ComplexとWnt signalingに関する論文(４本じゃなくて５本でした：Dev Cell x3 + NCB x2) 1 2 3 4 5Gerry RubinAllan SpradlingThomas CechSeymour Benzer追悼記事 1 2Thomas Hunt Morganハエ研究の黎明期メンデルによる遺伝子の提唱と再発見津田梅子先生がMorganのところでやった仕事メンデルの法則Hermann Muller放射線による遺伝子の破壊・改変を発見Marie Curieの死因発生生物学者と遺伝学者は仲が悪かった最初のNotchミュータントの欠けている翅HomozygousだとNeurogenic phenotypeAntennapediaとUltrabithoraxハエの記憶に関する最初の報告この系をつかった最初のL&Mの変異体、dunceの論文(cAMPの分解酵素)サーカディアンリズムのperiod変異体の論文ShibireはDynaminに関する変異体Kir2.1NaChBac遺伝学的手法を用いてハエの神経活動を操作する(リンク先Table2)GSAによるショウジョウバエの学会CSHLのNeurobiology of DrosophilaJaneliaのconferenceNRでショウジョウバエを扱った回Forward genetics(順遺伝学)とReverse genetics(逆遺伝学)Chemical mutagenesisではEMSやENUがよく用いられるarmadillo (arm)＝ハエのβ-Catenin Christiane Nüsslein-VolhardEric WieschausThe Heidelberg screen回顧録MARCM利根川先生のCaMKII-Creを用いたconditional KO (訂正：CaMKIIをcKOしたんじゃなくて、CaMKII-Creを用いて別の遺伝子をcKOしてましたね。 by 山)Flp/FRTとEMSを組み合わせることによるモザイク・スクリーニングの初出論文　レビューハエのElectroretinogram(ERG) 1 2ｍusashiとハエの感覚毛の４細胞感覚ユニット岡野先生らによるmusashi発見博士の時にやったスクリーニング結果をヒト希少疾患と結びつけたCell論文ApoE2とE4: 逆でした (by 山)ヒトゲノム計画におけるBaylorの貢献HapMap project1000 Genomes projectCenter for Mendelian GenomicsRichard GibbsJames LupskiSynteny(シンテニー)Complementation test(相補性検定)LiqinのMARCM EMS Screenの例Hippo signaling pathway レビューこのPathwayのコアのhippoという遺伝子は４つのラボで同時期にFLP/FRTスクリーニングなどを通じてみつかりました（Cell２本、NCB２本）  1 2 3 4ハエのin vivo RNAiのライブラリ 1 2 3RNAiとEMSで見えてくる遺伝子が違う：Cell論文のFig. 2CRISPRも含めて、Mammalの例 1 2Rett Syndromeの原因遺伝子はMECP2Huda Zoghbiハエ遺伝子のヒト化T2A-GAL4Kozak-GAL4Mutationの機能的分類(Muller's morphs)Undiagnosed Diseases Network(UDN)NIH CommonfundBRAIN initiativeUDN Model Organisms Screening Center

In this episode of Genetics in Your World, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee member Allie Hutchings interviews Dr. Evan Dewey of Winthrop University about the functions of Blm helicase N-terminal IDR. Read Dr. Dewey's paper titled, “Functions of the Bloom syndrome helicase N-terminal intrinsically disordered region,” published in the March 2025 issue of GENETICS: https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyaf005. Music: Loopster Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Podcast Notes:Bloom syndrome helicase (Blm) has important roles in maintaining genome stability. About half the protein is predicted to be intrinsically disordered (IDR), and its functions are poorly understood. The authors of this study identified regions that are locally conserved in closely related Drosophila species, then deleted these and assayed various functions. They find that each region is required for a subset of Blm functions. The authors' modeling suggests these regions adopt structure in complex with Top2alpha and the results provide novel insights into Blm IDR functions. Dr. Evan Dewey would like to acknowledge the following colleagues: Colleen C. Bereda, Dr. Jeff Sekelsky, Dr. Christopher A Johnston, Denise Soroka, Dr. Mitch McVey, Carolyn Turcotte, Dr. Nila Pazhayam, Mohamed A. Nasr, Priscila Santa Rosa, Susan McMahan, Dr. Robert J. Duronio, Dr. Gregory Matera, Dr. Dan McKay, and Dr. Richard Cripps.Thank you to the GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee, in particular the production team who worked on this episode: Allie Hutchings, Interviewer; Sarah Shahba and Laetitia Chauve, Researchers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Managing pests like powdery mildew, downy mildew, botrytis, and sour rot can be a complex challenge. Andy Fles, Vineyard Manager at Shady Lane Cellars in Michigan, shares insights from his USDA Sustainable Ag Research Education producer grant project. The project compares two pest management approaches: a ‘soft' pesticide program and a conventional one. Andy conducted the experiment using his on farm sprayer, providing real-world results. Despite climate variability and fluctuating pest pressures, the soft pesticide program proved effective. The project underscores the potential of using softer chemistries to manage disease while maintaining fruit quality. Resources:         REGISTER: April 25, 2025 | Fungicide Spraying: Evolving Strategies & Grower Insights 80: (Rebroadcast) The Goldilocks Principle & Powdery Mildew Management 117: Grapevine Mildew Control with UV Light 197: Managing the Sour Rot Disease Complex in Grapes 219: Intelligent Sprayers to Improve Fungicide Applications and Save Money 235: Battling Fungicide Resistance with Glove Sampling Rufus Issacson, Michigan State University Shady Lane Cellars Secures $11K National Farming Grant Timothy Miles, Michigan State University Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript [00:00:00] Beth Vukmanic: Managing pests like powdery mildew, downy mildew, botrytis and sour rot can be a complex challenge. [00:00:10] Welcome to sustainable Wine Growing with Vineyard Team, where we bring you the latest in science and research for the wine industry. I'm Beth Vukmanic executive director. [00:00:21] In today's podcast, Craig McMillan, critical resource Manager at Niner Wine Estates. With Longtime SIP Certified Vineyard and the first ever SIP certified winery speaks with Andy Fles, vineyard Manager at Shady Lane Cellars in Michigan. Andy shares insights from his USDA Sstainable Ag Research Education Producer grant project. The project compares to pest management approaches, a soft pesticide program and a conventional one. [00:00:50] Andy conducted the experiment using his on farms sprayer, providing real world results. Despite climate variability and fluctuating pest pressures, the soft pesticide program proved effective. The project underscores the potential of using softer chemistries to manage disease while maintaining fruit quality. [00:01:10] If you'd like to learn more about this topic, then we hope you can join us on April 25th, 2025 for the fungicide spraying evolving strategies in Grower Insights tailgate taking place in San Luis Obispo, California. Dr. Shunping Ding of Cal Poly will share updated results from a study on the efficacy of different fungicide programs containing bio fungicides. [00:01:34] Then we will head out into the vineyard to learn about new technologies for integrated pest management and talk with farmers from different growing regions about their program. Now let's listen in.  [00:01:49] Craig Macmillan: Our guest today is Andy Fles. He is the vineyard manager at Shady Lane Cellars in Michigan. And today we're going to talk about a pretty cool little project. He's got going looking into two different pesticide programs. Thanks for being on the podcast, Andy. [00:02:03] Andrew Fles: Yeah, my pleasure, Craig. [00:02:05] Craig Macmillan: So you have a grant from the USDA sustainable agriculture research and education program. To look at what you call a soft pesticide program for your vineyard in Michigan and comparing it to what we would call a sustainable or sustainable conventional program. What do you define as a soft pesticide program? [00:02:25] Andrew Fles: Well, that's kinda just a, a term that we applied to identify it. I didn't want to use organic because I thought that there would be a good chance we would utilize things that are considered by the industry to be very soft in terms of you know, they're not a harsh chemical or a carcinogenic, a known carcinogenic compound. [00:02:49] But something, for example, like. Like horticultural grade peroxide, which goes by several different trade names. So that's just, it's hydrogen peroxide and it is a disinfectant that turns into water and oxygen. So it's pretty Soft in terms of what it does to beneficials and, and plants and, and such. [00:03:11] We utilize some of those products already in our spray program. But combined also with, we're probably 50 percent organic in terms of what we spray out. for fungicides, pesticides, insecticides. And so we're still altering in some synthetic compounds. [00:03:28] And we wanted to compare that, what we currently do, to something that was much softer, like only soft compounds. Something that could be considered a OMRI certified organic program, or, or almost, right? Like maybe there's just one or two things that are very soft, but not technically OMRI certified. [00:03:49] Craig Macmillan: Right, and I do want to , get into the weeds on that a little bit later. Cause it's a, it's an interesting, Set a program that you've got going and I have lots of questions about them. What inspired this project? [00:04:01] Andrew Fles: I think just that continued movement towards investigating what works here in the east. You know, we, of course, get more wetting events and, and wetting periods that cause more fungal issues here compared to the west coast. And so we really, you know, we have to have an eye on sustainability. Certainly at Shady Lane, we really push for that. [00:04:25] But we also need to make sure that we have a marketable crop. We need to make sure the wine quality is, is high and acceptable for our standards. And so you know, if we're talking about, you know, every year is quite different here. We can get a, like, for example, in 2024, very wet in the first half of the year, very, very dry in the second half. [00:04:51] And, and then, which was quite different from 23 and quite different from 22 and so on and so forth. so, so some years we need to kind of step in and use a synthetic product here at this key time or, you know we need to protect our, our, our wine grape quality. [00:05:07] Craig Macmillan: What are the primary pests and diseases in your area? [00:05:11] Andrew Fles: So we have issues with the usual suspects that powdery mildew, of course. That's, that's fairly, I think if you're on top of your game, that's, it's pretty controllable. Even with soft products here it's just a spray frequency and coverage issue. [00:05:27] Downy mildew is something that can be quite challenging in certain years. [00:05:31] And there's, and there's less tools in the toolbox to use for that as well. And so you gotta, you gotta be on top of that with scouting preventative, like canopy, you know, canopy management practices that deter too dense of a canopy or, or clusters that are. hidden behind several layers of leaf. [00:05:53] Those are going to cause problems for you no matter what you're spraying, synthetic or organic, right? So, so we try and utilize all those things and and then we, we can also have issues in some years with botrytis and even sour rot and tight clustered varieties. So, so we were looking at sour rot and botrytis in the, in the cluster analysis of this portion of the , project. [00:06:18] Yeah, we have some locations can struggle with grape erinium mite. That's becoming more and more prevalent here. Wasn't an issue four years ago. Not, not really up in, up in northern Michigan anyway. So that's becoming more and more of an issue. And then we always struggle with rose chafers. It's a, it's a grub that, you know, comes out for six weeks and really terrorizes the vines. [00:06:49] And for that, for that pest, we really walk the line of the economic damage threshold, right? So, so a little, you know, we're going to see rose chafers every year. Some years are better than others. And what is our acceptable damage, you know? And so, once we see the rose chafers really getting dense in number, and also, you know, munching on a few leaves is one thing, munching on the clusters and the shoot tips is another thing. [00:07:21] Craig Macmillan: That's what I was going to ask. Yeah, I'm unfamiliar with this this pest. It, skeletonizes leaves, but it also will attack flower clusters and, and grape clusters in the early stages of development. Is that right? [00:07:34] Andrew Fles: Pretty much all green tissue. Yeah, a bunch of shoot, shoot tips leaves are probably, you know, their preferred source, I think, but anything tender. And so if, if the timing is just right where the, the inflorescences are, are you know, just coming out when the, when the beetles hatch, then they can really go for those cluster tips and, and shoot tips. [00:07:59] While we're scouting for this pest, we not only do the, you know, the density numbers and annotate that, but we look at, you know, how many are actually eating leaves versus shoot tips and clusters. [00:08:13] Craig Macmillan: Interesting, interesting. What is the design of your project and what varieties are we talking about? And what kind of variables are you measuring and how are you measuring them? [00:08:25] Andrew Fles: this is a farmer grant as opposed to a research grant. , it's tailored to folks that want to do on, on farm trials. And we want to do. Something in a significant enough volume, you know, that, that some that it would apply, it would be more applicable in the real world. [00:08:45] So for example you know, at a university they might do this randomized plots, you know, and they're using a backpack sprayer because they're, they're applying you know, three vines here, three vines there, scattered all throughout the block. And we wanted to use the sprayer that we actually use. [00:09:04] Um, and we wanted to do a bigger sections. And so what we did was we broke it up into two acre sections and we did two acres of both the traditional, the conventional program that we normally would do here and the soft treatment. So we did two acres of each in pinot noir, two acres of each in a, in a French American hybrid called ol, and then two acres of Riesling. [00:09:33] And we wanted to look at powdery, downy, botrytis, and sour rot. [00:09:38] In certain years, we can have quite a lot of botrytis and sour rot pressure in those three varieties. Because Pinot Noir of course is tight clustered. Vignole is even tighter clustered despite having that French American disease resistance package. It, it doesn't possess that for Botrytis or Sour Rot. [00:09:58] and then of course Riesling is a, is a very, it's probably the number one variety in Michigan. And as we all know, it's susceptible to Botrytis. [00:10:08] Craig Macmillan: Yeah. Big time. [00:10:10] Nice design. Great varieties to choose. I think that was really, really smart. How are you going to quantify these different variables? How are you going to measure the damage? [00:10:18] Andrew Fles: So for Powdery and Downey we just kind of did a scouting assessment. You know, how, prevalent is the infection based on how many leaves per, per per scouting event? I think off the top of my head, it was like 25 leaves. Per block that's more, I guess, anecdotal which we, and we did see that in the Pinot Noir, it was pretty clear cut that we struggled to control Downy in the soft treatment more so than in the conventional treatment. [00:10:50] It was, it was pretty clear there. And then as far as the Botrytis and Sour Rot, so that's really where the MSU team came in with the, the Rufus Isaacs lab and Dr. Rufus Isaacs and his master's PhD candidate. They did a lot of work there and, and then also the Tim Miles lab , so basically what they did is they took 25 clusters of each treatment and they did an assessment , for of course, how many berries were infected by, by botrytis and sour rot. [00:11:25] And then they also took those clusters and they hatched them out to see how many Drosophila species were there. [00:11:33] Craig Macmillan: Oh, okay. Yeah, good. That's interesting. [00:11:36] Andrew Fles: Wing drosophila here in Michigan and so really it was just the two species of traditional vinegar fly, drosophila, and then spotted wing. They did, you know, the, the statistics on that. [00:11:50] Craig Macmillan: interesting. And this is, this is a multi year project, right? [00:11:54] Andrew Fles: This was just one year. [00:11:56] Craig Macmillan: Just one year, okay. [00:11:58] And when will you have final results? [00:12:01] Andrew Fles: I have some of those already. We're going to do like a more formal presentation at a spring meeting here, a grower meeting, that's kind of co sponsored between MSU Extension and a local non profit that promotes grape and wine production in the area. So yeah, we're going to make a presentation in April on on the results and, and kind of, we're just continuing to, coalesce and, you know, tie my spray program with wedding events and then the results that they got as well. [00:12:37] Craig Macmillan: What other kinds of outreach are you doing? You're doing the meeting and you're doing other things? [00:12:41] Andrew Fles: I haven't discussed this with with Rika Bhandari as the PhD student. I suspect that she would use this in some of her publishing, you know, whether it gets published, I don't know, it's part of her Her main focus is sour rot, so this will be included in some of her presentations. [00:13:03] But I don't know that for a fact. [00:13:06] Craig Macmillan: That's exciting to get some information that's local. It's locally based and get it out to the local community as well as the broader community. I think that's really important if you don't mind I would like to get into some of the nuts and bolts of these two programs because I found that to be very interesting And then as we go talk about How that panned out for the different pests and diseases that you saw in these trials Let's talk about the soft program first You've got a dormant oil app in May and I assume you mean that there would be like JMS stylet oil or something like that [00:13:41] Andrew Fles: I think it was called bio cover. [00:13:43] Craig Macmillan: Bio cover and that's a pretty standard practice in your area I would guess [00:13:48] Andrew Fles: It is, yeah. [00:13:49] Craig Macmillan: and then the following month in June You, uh, have copper in the mix. In both the traditional and in the soft chemistry. I'm guessing that's also a common practice in your area. Probably for downy and for powdery. [00:14:06] Andrew Fles: Yeah, the copper is is something that we've been leaning towards and getting away from some of the synthetics. Which stick better to plant surfaces, we've been migrating that way anyway, these last numerous years now and so, yeah, , there are some similarities between the two programs at times it's really those key times of pre bloom and post bloom and variation that that we've traditionally. [00:14:34] Really locked in on some of the synthetic chemistries here [00:14:37] Craig Macmillan: And then also in June you have a Serenade Opti, which would be a Subtilis based material. And I believe that's also in your conventional in July. That's pretty standard practice, and that's an OMRI certified product, I believe. [00:14:52] Andrew Fles: Yes, yeah. [00:14:53] Craig Macmillan: There's some overlap there. It looks like the Rose Chaffer comes out around this time. [00:14:59] Andrew Fles: Yeah, probably it's not in front of me, but probably mid june [00:15:04] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, that's what you have here. In the traditional you've got a, a neonic, a sale. And then in the program, there's kind of a question mark here. What did you end up using in the, in the soft program for a roast chaffer? [00:15:19] Andrew Fles: Let me find it here [00:15:21] So we used neemix 4. 5 [00:15:26] Craig Macmillan: Nemix. I'm not familiar with that. Is that a Nemo based product? [00:15:28] Andrew Fles: Yeah, it's a neem oil [00:15:30] Craig Macmillan: And then in the traditional you have a neonic, a sail. Did you see a difference in Rose Chapter damage between the two? Because this is a pretty big difference here. [00:15:39] Andrew Fles: a pretty big difference in terms of [00:15:42] Craig Macmillan: Well, the modes of action obviously are very different. [00:15:45] Andrew Fles: Oh, sure, sure. Yeah, we had a little higher a little higher prevalence of rose chafers in mostly in the Pinot Noir treatments. Not so much in the Riesling, and I think that's largely because of black location. Traditionally the Pinot Noir block is our worst, one of our worst blocks in terms of rose chaffer rose chaffers are these beetles. [00:16:09] Of course, they're very similar to Japanese beetles for those listeners that, that may know that, but they really thrive in sandy soil, which is what we specialize here in northern Michigan, sandy based soil, right? [00:16:22] , and especially in un mowed fields. Right? We've really been trying to manage , our headland spaces like a prairie even more so upon joining SIP and, and learning more about making a comprehensive farm plan of, Of all of the land, right? And so we've really managed our, headlands and open fields like prairies which means minimal mowing, [00:16:47] like once a year is what we, we just mow to keep the autumn olive out. And and so we're trying to promote, you know, bird life and, and. All forms of life in these fields, which includes and sometimes an increase in rose chafers. [00:17:03] However, this 2024 was, was a. Fairly low pressure year. [00:17:09] And so I was very comfortable with, with sticking with this the soft insecticide. And we didn't feel like, you know, even though we saw this, this increase in pressure in the soft treatment, it wasn't surpassing the economic damage threshold that we are really keen. [00:17:27] And right. IPM [00:17:29] Craig Macmillan: So, true IPM. [00:17:31] Andrew Fles: IPM is very important, here, you know, where we have all these insects and it rains a lot and, you know, you got to really. Be ready to to, to scout and then react. [00:17:41] Craig Macmillan: Exactly. Yeah. And knowing what your economic injury limit is, I think it's huge. And your action threshold based on that. Tell me a little bit about the Spinosad based products. You have a couple in the soft that I assume are meant to be insecticides. [00:17:55] Andrew Fles: Yeah. The delegate. Yup. [00:17:56] Craig Macmillan: Yeah, Delegator and Trust. [00:17:59] Andrew Fles: I'll talk a little bit about intrepid as well. That's probably a foreign thing for any, any West coast listener, but that's intrepid is a it's a molting regulator and it's essentially for, in this case, for grapes, it's for grape berry moth. And this is an insect that is very difficult to do IPM on because there's a, there's kind of a morph that lives in northern Michigan that doesn't Go for the traps and so you can put traps out and it you just have no idea what's going on Because they just don't really care for the pheromones so they're really almost impossible to trap and I've talked numerous time with dr Rufus Isaacs about this and how do we you know get a handle on populations and you know They just can't get their traps to work up here. [00:18:50] We target with the intrepid, it's a, again, it's a molting regulator, so it just prevents them from developing, and it's very specific it's not a broad spectrum, so that goes on as a preventative where we have blocks near the woods, [00:19:05] because we see great berry moth coming in from wild, wild vines [00:19:10] that may or may not be in the woods, but we Where we see larva hatching is, is just kind of a perimeter. [00:19:16] So what we'll actually do is a perimeter spray. We don't even spray the whole block. We'll spray the outside row or two or three of each end. And then we just kind of blast it in. Along the, the other, you know, along the posts, the end posts. And that seems to work fairly well. [00:19:34] Craig Macmillan: Huh. [00:19:35] Andrew Fles: And then, as far as Delegate goes and Entrust those are Spinoza based products like you mentioned. [00:19:42] Those are primarily, you'll see that we put them on, well, I don't know if you can see timing, but we put them on. in September. Yeah, at the end of the season. September. [00:19:53] Yeah. Yeah. So, so those go on right around or right before even version and that is for drosophila [00:20:01] I think there's been some research recently from Cornell and then also Brock University in Canada. And I know also that Tim and Rufus have been doing trials here in Michigan as well. between the three of us out here in the, in the Northeast we're very focused on sour rot. [00:20:19] And so Michigan State along with these other folks have done these trials where they found that including an insecticide at veraison or, and then also at about 15 bricks significantly reduces sour rot infections. And that's because you're going after one of the vectors. [00:20:39] Craig Macmillan: Interesting. There's another material that I wasn't familiar with. I did a little bit of research on it. That's a product called Jet Ag, which is a hydrogen peroxide, a peracetic acid material. You have that in both the soft chemistry and your quote unquote conventional section. Is that a material you've used for a long time? [00:20:57] Andrew Fles: Yeah, we, I forget when exactly it started coming around I think probably 2015, 16 is when it was maybe released or made its way to northern Michigan and kind of coincided with with some sour rot. Issues that we have had off and on over the years with Pinot Noir or Vignole. And it's a, you know, it's a strong hydrogen peroxide. [00:21:23] It's a heavy oxidizer. It goes in and it, it, it cleans everything up. You know, it disinfects. And there's, there's some thinking as well that it, it'll kill the yeast. And some of those yeasts, the aroma is very attractive to spotted wing drosophila and regular drosophila. And so if you're, if you're kind of this is probably something that, that people, you know, that rely on native ferments might not want to hear, but you know, it really, it really disinfects the fruit which, which is key for You know, controlling sour rot. [00:21:59] And so we've used that over the years as both a preventative and a curative treatment. [00:22:05] Craig Macmillan: Right. [00:22:06] Andrew Fles: I didn't actually end up using it this year because It essentially stopped raining it was almost west coast ian here in the fall. It stopped raining in August and it didn't rain again. [00:22:19] You know, I mean, aside from like just a, you know, very, very light mist that wouldn't even penetrate the soil deeper than a centimeter. You know, so we didn't get any appreciable rain. From, I think it was maybe August 5 or 10, all the way till November 31st, or sorry, October 31st. [00:22:39] Craig Macmillan: Actually, that raises a good question. So, what is the summer precipitation like, quote unquote, in a normal year or an average year? [00:22:48] Andrew Fles: Yeah, we've been having, [00:22:49] Craig Macmillan: is it? [00:22:52] Andrew Fles: it's so variable is the, you know, we keep coming back to that. Every season is different here and it's so true even in Northern Michigan we have seen climate change affecting our summer rainfalls. So, whereas, you know, traditionally, and I say traditionally as maybe like the 80s and 90s maybe even early 2000s, you would expect to see, you know, a good four to eight inches a month. [00:23:20] you know, less, less so in, you know, in July and August is walking that more like four inch. Four inches of precipitation and you can get that sometimes in two different days [00:23:33] Craig Macmillan: Wow. [00:23:34] Andrew Fles: And that could be all or it could be spread out, you know over over several 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 different events. we had a dry June a couple years ago, I think we, I think it rained two days and amount to much. [00:23:50] And 2023, all of May we had, it rained one day. It was very dry. And so it's really been a roller coaster here in terms of what to expect as far as precipitation comes, I mean during the growing season anyway. [00:24:08] Craig Macmillan: Mm hmm. [00:24:09] Andrew Fles: It's been a challenge to know, you kind of have to have all these tools ready, right? [00:24:13] You have to have your jet ag ready. [00:24:15] If you get a bunch of infections going you got to have some of these other products ready and just , be ready for anything essentially. [00:24:24] Craig Macmillan: That, I'm just kind of reeling, I'm from California, and so like four to eight inches of rain during the growing season, it sounds like a fungal disease disaster to me. I'm impressed that you can get a crop, a vinifera crop to, to harvest with those kind of conditions. [00:24:39] Let's talk about the sustainable conventional program a little bit. Again copper appears early which would make sense. Then the insecticide portion would be a sale. It's a neonicotinoid, and then you've got a couple of fungicides in here. [00:24:55] You've got sulfur, and you've got a boscalid. Then in July again you've got a subtilis, that's serenadopty, and the, the intrepid, the IGR. August, you've got another neonic rally, and then you've got a product called ranman, or ranman. Which is a Sazofenamide, again, traditional fungicide. And then Inspire Supert, verasion, very common. And then you've got the the JetAg and Delegate, which is an antispinosid based product. When I look at this, I see a lot of very safe, very smart, very rotated fungicide chemistries here. Was this the kind of program you were using previously? [00:25:34] Andrew Fles: Yeah. And you know, it always can change a little bit. Sometimes you can't get a certain product or you can't get it in time. [00:25:42] Uh, whereas, you know, you, you're planning to use X product for your, for your kind of like You know, your, your pea sized berry spray, let's say but you, all of a sudden you have a bunch of rainfall, you know, and, and so if I was planning to use Quintech, which only covers powdery all of a sudden I have this big wedding event that was just perfect for growing downy mildew I I might switch from Quintech to and vice versa, you know, if we're, if we're into some weather, that's really favorable, it's time to push more of those serenades and you know, we've used some of the other biologicals over the years as well and, and just trying, trying to go that way as much as possible, but, you know, sometimes the weather forces your hand, like, like it did this year, you'll see in my, In my program we went into some Randman and some [00:26:35] Zampro, and those are those are very specific to to downy mildew. [00:26:41] You know, but we're still, with those products, you know, they're more expensive than something like Kaptan, you know. We Can't spray that with sip and we didn't spray it before because we don't want it on our fingers [00:26:56] The vineyard you and I don't want it in our lives So so we're always trying to go the ran man route, even though it's a little pricier, but it's very Target specific for Downey and so, you know with all the rains that we had in June and July and early July we felt like the smart play and we did start seeing some downy mildew cropping up much earlier than normal. [00:27:21] If, if we see it at all, that is. in that, at that point you want to make the call, you know, Hey, I want to get out in front of this thing. I don't want downy on my fruit. You know, if you start seeing it on growing tips, I think it was the 4th of July or the 2nd of July or something we were scouting and we were getting a lot of rain at that point and it was very humid and it was just like rain every other day for about a week there and it's like you gotta pivot and, and make the move to something that's really going to provide. control there. [00:27:52] For the soft program at that point, we were trying to use, I believe we use serenade, you know, which is more broad spectrum as far as biologicals go. We knew we wanted to keep it going after the, , the Downey with the soft chemistry. And that's why we got into the orange oil as well. [00:28:10] Craig Macmillan: Oh, interesting. [00:28:11] Andrew Fles: to, Yeah, that's, that wasn't in the proposal that I sent you, but we did pivot. I couldn't get. The cinerate it was, I was told it was on the West coast, growers were hoarding it and none of it, none of it made it over this way. I was really hoping to get my hands on some of it. [00:28:28] I've already pre ordered my 2025 cinerate. [00:28:32] Craig Macmillan: And Cinerate is a cinnamon oil based product, right? [00:28:36] Andrew Fles: Correct. Yeah. Cinnamon oil. oil. Yeah, it's another oil. [00:28:39] Yeah. Yeah. It's another one of those kind of antimicrobial oils, if you will. Um, So we pivoted to, to orange oil and thyme oil. TimeGuard has been, is a product that's been out for a number of years now. We've used it before, , we haven't really relied on it as much in the past. As, as we did with this soft treatment. [00:28:59] Craig Macmillan: Tell me a little bit more about what the outcomes have been at this point. We talked about the the pinot noir a little bit. We talked about the Rose Shafter showing up there a little bit more. At, at the end of the day, the end of the season. How did you feel about it? How did you feel about comparing the two [00:29:15] Andrew Fles: you know, it felt, it felt really good. It seemed like the soft program kept pace with the conventional for the most part. In the Pinot Noir, we had we had some more rose chaffer damage, of course, but without doing a, a full on research trial, it's hard to say that it was the treatment alone because of, as I mentioned, the location was a big factor. [00:29:38] With the downy mildew, it seemed to be a little more prevalent, certainly in the Pinot Noir on the, on the soft program that is but it never got to the point and I was, I was always ready to go in with whatever I needed to, because we don't want to have a defoliation and not being able to ripen fruit, you know, the fruit and, and especially in such a great growing year. [00:30:01] we never really resorted to. You know, breaking the glass and, and grabbing the ax and running out there and like, and it was emergency, you know, we never, we never had to do that. There was a moment there in July where, you know, where would the downy pressure we thought maybe. [00:30:19] Maybe we would have to abandon it, but then things dried up and we kept after things with with some of these, these things like thyme oil and orange oil. Getting good coverage with them is so important. But getting those on at the right time really seemed to provide enough control. [00:30:37] Craig Macmillan: Actually that's a, that's an excellent point. Let's talk about the phenology a little bit. How, for the varieties that you're growing, how big are these canopies getting? What's the spacing that they're planted on? How many gallons per acre are you using in your spray applications to get good coverage? [00:30:54] Andrew Fles: Yeah, so for the purpose of the project I stuck with 50 gallons an acre throughout the season. Which even, even for the conventional portion, traditionally I'll, I'll start with 30 gallons an acre aside from the dormant spray, of course, but like, you know, early season sprays until the canopy becomes a little denser, , I'll be at 30 gallons an acre and then probably mid July post bloom, right around bloom, perhaps , we'll ramp up the conventional to 50 gallons as well. [00:31:26] For the purposes of this, we just did 50 gallons across the board, both treatments. a lot of the canopy is well, it's really all VSP except for the vignole. Vignole is high wire cordone. And then we're talking nine by five spacing. The vinifera as well, which is pretty common around here. Double geo some spur pruning. We've really developed a kind of a hybrid system where we do a little bit of, we kind of mix cane and spur , , and alternate those in, in some of our venefera programs. [00:31:57] Craig Macmillan: And in, on the same plant? [00:31:59] Andrew Fles: Yeah. Sometimes. [00:32:01] Yeah. [00:32:01] Craig Macmillan: one side, gator the other. [00:32:03] Andrew Fles: What that does for us you know, where we get. Or we can at least, you know, and we can, sometimes we can lose a whole cane , or a lot of buds. I don't want to get too in the weeds on, on what that system is, but, but it's really developed around being able to quickly replace and adapt to cold damage. [00:32:24] And so if we need to go in and cut a trunk out, we've already got a cane growing from down low, if that makes any sense. [00:32:31] Craig Macmillan: No, that does make sense. And it's a practice that I'm familiar with from other areas in the Midwest, the North, the Northeast. Very, very smart. But that's a very different canopy architecture than you might find someplace that's all VSP. Or, you know, a double canopy situation maybe like in New York. [00:32:48] How comfortable are you now? After going through this, it sounds like you liked the softer program, you feel you got good control on most things. But if I'm understanding you correctly, you're not afraid to keep some other, other tools in the toolbox, basically. [00:33:05] Andrew Fles: Right. Yeah. And I think a big purpose of this program was to investigate some of these products. I want to highlight Problad Verde as well. [00:33:14] That's. Another one that's been out there and we've used it before as well. You know, I did a trial with Tim Miles's lab on and Rufus doing a sour rot trial in Pinot Noir in the past with pro, and it was just kind of a end of the season application of Problad with I believe we use delegate or in trust. [00:33:34] I can't remember. One of them and, this project, the SARE project was really looking at problad as being more of the backbone , of it. And, and so we ended up using that for the soft treatment pre bloom, post bloom. And then again, at version, because it has similar to jet egg, it's kind of a disinfectant, right? [00:33:57] It's this lupine seed extract that, that is a. That is a disinfectant and so it's going to go in, but because it, it's advertised anyway as having some systemic activity, [00:34:09] Craig Macmillan: Mm [00:34:10] Andrew Fles: systemic properties, that's, that's key for us in the east here. Because, hey, if we get a half inch of rain, well, it's still kind of in the leaf or it's still in some of that green flower tissue. [00:34:24] Before it opens up and blooms and so, really working problad in as instead of a kind of just end of the season toy it's really became, became the backbone of the tritus control for us in this, in this trial. And then again, looking at some of these oils, I think there's a lot of promise for. the orange oil in particular, I've, I've been seeing more and more research coming out about how you know, it does work on Downy and we did see that you know, even though we had an increase in Downy infection man, it could have been a lot worse. It was still at an acceptable level. [00:35:02] And so I think, I think I'm going to feel more and more comfortable using those products. [00:35:07] Craig Macmillan: You've demonstrated to yourself. And that's what the, that's how it works, and that's what everybody needs, to have some confidence. Which I think is really great, I was very impressed by the idea of trying things that maybe are not widely used, were not widely tested outside of maybe the West Coast, and to be able to show efficacy on your property, I think is really important. [00:35:27] I think it's one thing many of us have learned about softer materials. They may or may not work depending on what your pressure is. And that can vary region to region, but it can also vary within a region. It definitely can vary year to year, so having that flexibility that you've built into this program is very admirable. What would you say are the big picture benefits of the soft pesticide program at this point? [00:35:48] Andrew Fles: Hopefully just to increase awareness of, of how they can be effective for folks here in Michigan or, or similar climates, New York and Canada, I should say I don't think , this SARE project alone is, is going to be any sort of groundbreaking news, but I think it's just another verification and if we start to have more and more of them people will believe more and more in these products because it's just, it's at that point, it's word of mouth, right? [00:36:21] It's more and more growers are starting to back it. And, or experiment with it at least and, and see results, I think a lot of growers are very word of mouth oriented anyway. [00:36:34] So, uh, so it's very important, like, Oh, Hey, what did you try last year? And I think there's plenty of that going on in our area. [00:36:42] A bunch of us anyway, we seem to network pretty well and, and trust each other. , Oh, I use this at this key time and it really proved effective. So I think just bringing more and more awareness to these soft programs or these soft products, I should say. , and I can't really speak to the sustainability of. Farming lupin seed for for a fungicide product, you know, I can't, speak to that, but I want to believe that it's, it's a more sustainable product than, you know something that was made in a factory and, and might have petrochemicals in it. [00:37:19] Craig Macmillan: Well, it might have resistance issues as well, I think is one of the key things. And by the way, both programs I thought were very intelligent. I think like in terms of the frack rotations in the sustainable one, I thought that was really well done. Is, is there one thing that you would tell growers? [00:37:35] What's the one takeaway you would tell people from this project? You just kind of touched on one, but is there a message here for people? [00:37:43] Andrew Fles: I think the message is, you know, that we have to be really careful in crafting our. Spray program to the season that we have. If we were getting A lot more rain in September than what we ended up having I mean, we were, we were in pretty severe drought here. I think the soft program could still work. [00:38:03] But you have to choose the product and probably apply it much more frequently. You know, you have to go in and respond to those rains. , or even maybe perhaps be ready to pivot to something that is synthetic and systemic and curative. You know, maybe you have to go in with a hammer, but that doesn't mean that, you know, the majority of this growing season can't be done in a very soft way. [00:38:30] And so we're really just responding to that weather. But I think if this is our focus , to use these softer chemistries on things that we're going to drink or eat, even if it's vegetables, I think that these products are becoming better and better and there's becoming more and more of them, which is really encouraging to see you know, 10 years ago, maybe we had serenade and And you know, a couple of other products, but now, now there's, they're really becoming prevalent. [00:38:58] And so I think the take home is, is crafting that spray program with these new found tools that we have. Problads, , your crop, , your what, what should I call them? Like your aromatic oils, lack of better term, like orange oil, thyme oil, cinnamon oil. You know, I think these things do have a place. [00:39:17] Craig Macmillan: Where can people find out more about you? [00:39:19] Andrew Fles: Well, they can visit ShadyLaneCellers. com and there's stuff in there about our farm and in what we do and where we are, who we are a little bit. And then also there will be, and I could get you this information if you're interested, so this spring meeting where we're going to present the results of this believe we'll have a Zoom link option. [00:39:43] Craig Macmillan: As a reference date, this is being recorded in February of 2025. And so spring meeting will be coming up in a few months from here. I'm not sure when this will air, but even anything is fantastic. So I really want to thank you for being on the episode. Our guest today was Andy Fless, he's Vineyard Manager at Shadyland Cellars and you've been a great guest. Hey, thanks for being on the podcast. [00:40:03] Andrew Fles: My pleasure, Craig. Thanks a lot for having me. [00:40:08] Beth Vukmanic: Thank you for listening. Today's podcast was brought to you by Martinez Orchards. Martinez Orchards is one of the most trusted and respected names in the nursery business. They have earned that reputation through years of hard work, honesty, integrity, and a commitment to their customers. They provide support with their knowledgeable salespeople and highly experienced production team. They know successful plantings allow them to fulfill their promises, and they strive to build lasting relationships with their customers based on a foundation of mutual steadfast trust. [00:40:40] Make sure you check out the show notes for links to Andy at Shady Lane Plus. Sustainable wine Growing podcast episodes 117. Grapevine Mildew Control with UV Light 219 Intelligent sprayers to improve fungicide applications and save money. And 235, battling fungicide resistance with glove sampling. [00:41:03] If you liked this show, do us a big favor by sharing it with a friend, subscribing and leaving us a review. You can find all of the podcasts@vineyardteam.org slash podcast and you can reach us at podcast@vineyardteam.org. [00:41:16] Until next time, this is Sustainable Wine Growing with the Vineyard team.   Nearly perfect transcription by Descript

On today's episode, UC Davis Entomologist Frank Zalom discusses where efforts to control spotted wing drosophila currently stand for California ag.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to this month's sponsors who makes it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their website. Deerpoint Group, Inc. - https://deerpointgroup.com/

Die Themen in den Wissensnachrichten: +++ Strombedarf wächst wohl weiter - kaum zusätzliche CO2-Emissionen +++ Mumien riechen holzig, würzig oder süß +++ Fruchtfliegen fahren gerne Karussell +++**********Weiterführende Quellen zu dieser Folge:Update ErdeElectricity 2025 Analysis and forecast to 2027/ IAE, Februar 2025High prevalence of veterinary drugs in bird's nests/ Science of The Total Environment, 10.02.2025Ancient Egyptian Mummified Bodies: Cross-Disciplinary Analysis of Their Smell/ Journal of the American Chemical Society, 13.02.2025Play-like behavior exhibited by the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster/ Current Biology, 10.02.2025Alle Quellen findet ihr hier.**********Ihr könnt uns auch auf diesen Kanälen folgen: TikTok auf&ab , TikTok wie_geht und Instagram .

In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we talked with Giacomo Cavalli from the Institute of Human Genetics in Montpellier about his work on critical aspects of epigenetic regulation, particularly the role of Polycomb proteins and chromatin architecture. We start the Interview by talking about Dr. Cavalli's work on Polycomb function in maintaining chromatin states and how it relates to gene regulation. He shares insights from his early lab experiences, where he aimed to understand the inheritance mechanisms of chromatin states through various models, including the FAB7 cellular memory module. The discussion uncovers how Polycomb proteins can silence gene expression and the complex interplay between different epigenetic factors that govern this process. Dr. Cavalli also addresses how he has investigated the recruitment mechanisms of Polycomb complexes, highlighting the roles of several DNA-binding proteins, including DSP-1 and GAGA factor, in this intricate regulatory landscape. He emphasizes the evolution of our understanding of Polycomb recruitment, illustrating the multifactorial nature of this biological puzzle. As the conversation progresses, we explore Dr. Cavalli's fascinating research into the three-dimensional organization of the genome. He explains his contributions to mapping chromosomal interactions within Drosophila and the distinctions observed when performing similar studies in mammalian systems. Key findings regarding topologically associated domains (TADs) and their association with gene expression are presented, alongside the implications for our understanding of gene regulation in development and disease.   References Déjardin, J., Rappailles, A., Cuvier, O., Grimaud, C., Decoville, M., Locker, D., & Cavalli, G. (2005). Recruitment of Drosophila Polycomb group proteins to chromatin by DSP1. Nature, 434(7032), 533–538. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature03386 Sexton, T., Yaffe, E., Kenigsberg, E., Bantignies, F., Leblanc, B., Hoichman, M., Parrinello, H., Tanay, A., & Cavalli, G. (2012). Three-dimensional folding and functional organization principles of the Drosophila genome. Cell, 148(3), 458–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2012.01.010 Bonev, B., Mendelson Cohen, N., Szabo, Q., Fritsch, L., Papadopoulos, G. L., Lubling, Y., Xu, X., Lv, X., Hugnot, J. P., Tanay, A., & Cavalli, G. (2017). Multiscale 3D Genome Rewiring during Mouse Neural Development. Cell, 171(3), 557–572.e24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2017.09.043 Szabo, Q., Donjon, A., Jerković, I., Papadopoulos, G. L., Cheutin, T., Bonev, B., Nora, E. P., Bruneau, B. G., Bantignies, F., & Cavalli, G. (2020). Regulation of single-cell genome organization into TADs and chromatin nanodomains. Nature genetics, 52(11), 1151–1157. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-020-00716-8   Related Episodes BET Proteins and Their Role in Chromosome Folding and Compartmentalization (Kyle Eagen) Long-Range Transcriptional Control by 3D Chromosome Structure (Luca Giorgetti) Epigenetic Landscapes During Cancer (Luciano Di Croce)   Contact Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Epigenetics Podcast on Bluesky Dr. Stefan Dillinger on LinkedIn Active Motif on LinkedIn Active Motif on Bluesky Email: podcast@activemotif.com

Description:This episode features two innovative companies addressing critical agricultural challenges. Stephanie Gamez, Director of R&D at AgraGene, introduces their gene-editing technology designed to combat Drosophila suzukii, an invasive pest devastating small fruit crops. Using sterile insect techniques, AgraGene offers growers an environmentally friendly, sustainable alternative to chemical pesticides.Thai Sade, Founder and CEO of BloomX, discusses their biomimicking pollination solutions that enhance the natural pollination process, helping growers overcome labor shortages and optimize yields for crops like avocados and blueberries. Together, these technologies represent groundbreaking solutions for pest control and pollination challenges in the agriculture industry.Key Points from the Conversation: • AgraGene's sterile insect technology and its application in controlling Drosophila suzukii. • The environmental benefits of reducing chemical pesticide usage. • BloomX's data-driven approach to optimizing pollination windows. • How both companies are addressing challenges like climate change, labor shortages, and sustainable farming practices.Guest Information:Stephanie Gamez – Director of R&D at AgraGene, a company using gene-editing technologies to provide sustainable pest control solutions for agriculture.Thai Sade – Founder and CEO of BloomX, a leader in biomimicking pollination technology that supports growers in enhancing crop yields.

En este capítulo, seguimos profundizando en las implicaciones del mapeo del conectoma completo de la Drosophila melanogaster. Albert Cardona, líder del Laboratorio de Conectómica Experimental y Comparativa del Instituto de Biología Molecular de Cambridge, repasa lo más destacado y nos adelanta algunas de las aplicaciones que se pueden derivar de este logro, desde la creación de modelos computacionales del cerebro hasta innovadoras formas de modificar el comportamiento de insectos, como los mosquitos, para prevenir enfermedades.

¿Qué sabes sobre las moscas? No me refiero a complejas clasificaciones entomológicas. Ni siquiera a los nombres de sus casi infinitas partes, hablamos de ellas como ser vivo. ¿Qué hacen? ¿Cómo se comportan? No pretendemos que te hagas su amiga, pero hay que reconocer que tienen mucho más que contarte de lo que piensas.Para hablar de ello tenemos con nosotros a Teresa de Los Reyes, Bioquímica y Dra. en Biociencias Moleculares por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Hice mi tesis en el Instituto Cajal en el CSIC y el Instituto de Investigación de Enfermedades Raras en el Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Trabajo en enfermedades raras con un modelo algo raro también, la mosca del vinagre o Drosophila melanogaster. En concreto estudio la biología del glioblastoma, un tumor cerebral. Además me gusta la divulgación científica, hacer deporte, estar con mi gente y un buen eyeliner.

In this episode of Genetics in Your World, GSA Early Career Scientist Multimedia Subcommittee chair Hassan Bukhari has a conversation with Dr. Stuart Newfeld of Arizona State University about the Fourth Chromosome Resource Project. Read Dr. Newfeld's paper titled, “Fourth Chromosome Resource Project: a comprehensive resource for genetic analysis in Drosophila that includes humanized stocks,” published in the February 2024 issue of GENETICS: https://doi.org/10.1093/genetics/iyad201. Music: Loopster Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today, you'll learn about the entire neuron-for-neuron model of a fly brain, jellyfish that can merge together seamlessly, and how talking to our dogs in that way-too-cutesy voice might actually have a purpose. Fly Brains “Researchers simulate an entire fly brain on a laptop. Is a human brain next?” by Robert Sanders. 2024. “A Drosophila computational brain model reveals sensorimotor processing.” by Philip K. Shiu, et al. 2024. Comb Jelly Fusion “Injured comb jellies can fuse into a single organism.” by Jacek Krywko. 2024. “Rapid physiological integration of fused ctenophores.” by Kei Jokura, et al. 2024. Dog Voice “Our cutesy cringey dog voices could be practical, after all.” SciMex. 2024. “Dog-human vocal interactions match dogs' sensory-motor tuning.” by Eloise C. Deaux, et al. 2024. Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we talked with Carl Wu from John's Hopkins University about his work on nucleosome remodeling, histone variants, and the role of single-molecule imaging in gene regulation. Our discussion starts with Carl Wu sharing his first significant milestones, a paper in "Cell" and the serendipitous discovery of DNA hypersensitive sites, which transformed our understanding of chromatin accessibility and its implications for gene regulation. As we delve into Dr. Wu's specific areas of research, he elaborates on the biochemistry of nucleosome remodeling and the intricate role of chromatin remodeling enzymes like NURF. We discuss how these enzymes employ ATP hydrolysis to reposition nucleosomes, making DNA accessible for transcription. He then explains the collaborative relationship between chromatin remodelers and transcription factors, showcasing the fascinating interplay that governs gene expression and regulatory mechanisms. The conversation takes a deeper turn as we explore Carl Wu's groundbreaking studies on histone variants, particularly H2AZ. He elucidates the role of SWR1 in facilitating the exchange between H2A and H2AZ in nucleosome arrays. The high-resolution structural insights garnered from recent studies reveal how the enzyme mediates histone eviction and insertion with remarkable precision, providing a clearer picture of chromatin dynamics at a molecular level.   References Wu, C., Bingham, P. M., Livak, K. J., Holmgren, R., & Elgin, S. C. (1979). The chromatin structure of specific genes: I. Evidence for higher order domains of defined DNA sequence. Cell, 16(4), 797–806. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(79)90095-3 Wu, C., Wong, Y. C., & Elgin, S. C. (1979). The chromatin structure of specific genes: II. Disruption of chromatin structure during gene activity. Cell, 16(4), 807–814. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(79)90096-5 Wu C. (1980). The 5' ends of Drosophila heat shock genes in chromatin are hypersensitive to DNase I. Nature, 286(5776), 854–860. https://doi.org/10.1038/286854a0 Wu, C., Wilson, S., Walker, B., Dawid, I., Paisley, T., Zimarino, V., & Ueda, H. (1987). Purification and properties of Drosophila heat shock activator protein. Science (New York, N.Y.), 238(4831), 1247–1253. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.3685975 Mizuguchi, G., Shen, X., Landry, J., Wu, W. H., Sen, S., & Wu, C. (2004). ATP-driven exchange of histone H2AZ variant catalyzed by SWR1 chromatin remodeling complex. Science (New York, N.Y.), 303(5656), 343–348. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1090701 Kim, J. M., Visanpattanasin, P., Jou, V., Liu, S., Tang, X., Zheng, Q., Li, K. Y., Snedeker, J., Lavis, L. D., Lionnet, T., & Wu, C. (2021). Single-molecule imaging of chromatin remodelers reveals role of ATPase in promoting fast kinetics of target search and dissociation from chromatin. eLife, 10, e69387. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.69387   Related Episodes Multiple challenges of ATAC-Seq, Points to Consider (Yuan Xue) Pioneer Transcription Factors and Their Influence on Chromatin Structure (Ken Zaret) ATAC-Seq, scATAC-Seq and Chromatin Dynamics in Single-Cells (Jason Buenrostro)   Contact Epigenetics Podcast on X Epigenetics Podcast on Instagram Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Epigenetics Podcast on Bluesky Epigenetics Podcast on Threads Active Motif on X Active Motif on LinkedIn Email: podcast@activemotif.com

En este capítulo, seguimos profundizando en las implicaciones del mapeo del conectoma completo de la Drosophila melanogaster. Albert Cardona, líder del Laboratorio de Conectómica Experimental y Comparativa del Instituto de Biología Molecular de Cambridge, repasa lo más destacado y nos adelanta algunas de las aplicaciones que se pueden derivar de este logro, desde la creación de modelos computacionales del cerebro hasta innovadoras formas de modificar el comportamiento de insectos, como los mosquitos, para prevenir enfermedades.

El nuevo mapa del cerebro de Drosophila melanogaster revoluciona las neurociencias.

Un equipo de investigadores ha logrado crear un mapa completo del cerebro de la mosca de la fruta (Drosophila melanogaster), compuesto por 140.000 neuronas y más de 50 millones de conexiones sinápticas. Este impresionante avance permitirá a los científicos comprender mejor cómo funcionan las redes neuronales y cómo procesan la información, abriendo la puerta a futuras investigaciones en cerebros más complejos, como el humano. Para conocer los detalles, nos acompaña Laia Serratosa, fundadora de Aelysia, una de las empresas que ha participado en el proyecto Flywire.

00:46 Physicists spot new types of high-energy radiation in thunderstormsPhysicists have identified new forms of γ-ray radiation created inside thunderclouds, and shown that levels of γ-ray production are much higher on Earth than previously thought.Scientists already knew about two types of γ-ray phenomena in thunderclouds — glows that last as long as a minute and high-intensity flashes that come and go in only a few millionths of a second. Now, researchers have identified that these both occur more frequently than expected, and that previously undetected γ-ray types exist, including flickering flashes that share characteristics of the other two types of radiation.The researchers hope that understanding more about these mysterious phenomena could help explain what initiates lightning, which often follows these γ-ray events.Research Article: Østgaard et al. Research Article: Marisaldi et al. Nature: Mysterious form of high-energy radiation spotted in thunderstorms10:00 Research HighlightsAncient arrowheads reveal that Europe's oldest battle likely featured warriors from far afield, and why the dwarf planet Ceres's frozen ocean has deep impurities.Research Highlight: Bronze Age clash was Europe's oldest known interregional battle Research Highlight: A dwarf planet has dirty depths, model suggests12:09 A complete wiring diagram of the fruit fly brainResearchers have published the most complete wiring diagram, or ‘connectome' of the fruit fly's brain, which includes nearly 140,000 neurons and 54.5 million connections between nerve cells.The map, made from the brain of a single female fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), reveals over 8,400 neuron types in the brain, and has enabled scientists to learn more about the brain and how it controls aspects of fruit fly behaviour.The FlyWire connectome: neuronal wiring diagram of a complete fly brainNature: Largest brain map ever reveals fruit fly's neurons in exquisite detail22:16 Briefing ChatHow researchers created an elusive single-electron bond between carbon atoms, and why bigger chatbots get over-confident when answering questions.Nature: Carbon bond that uses only one electron seen for first time: ‘It will be in the textbooks'Nature: Bigger AI chatbots more inclined to spew nonsense — and people don't always realizeSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode:00:45 What ancient DNA has revealed about Rapa Nui's pastAncient DNA analysis has further demonstrated that the people of Rapa Nui did not cause their own population collapse, further refuting a controversial but popular claim. Rapa Nui, also known as Easter island, is famous for its giant Moai statues and the contested idea that the people mismanaged their natural resources leading to ‘ecological suicide'. Genomes sequenced from the remains of 15 ancient islanders showed no evidence of a sudden population crash, substantiating other research challenging the collapse idea.Research Article: Moreno-Mayar et al.News and Views: Rapa Nui's population history rewritten using ancient DNANews article: Famed Pacific island's population 'crash' debunked by ancient DNA17:03 Research HighlightsThe extinct bat-eating fish that bit off more than they could chew, and how manatee dung shapes an Amazonian ecosystem.Research Highlight: Ancient fish dined on bats — or died tryingResearch Highlight: The Amazon's gargantuan gardeners: manatees19:29 A macabre parasite of adult fruit fliesDespite being a hugely-studied model organism, it seems that there's still more to find out about the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, as researchers have discovered a new species of parasitoid wasp that infects the species. Unlike other parasitic wasps, this one lays its eggs in adult flies, with the developing larva devouring its host from the inside. The miniscule wasp was discovered by chance in an infected fruit fly collected in a Mississippi backyard and analysis suggests that despite having never been previously identified, it is widespread across parts of North America.Research article: Moore et al.32:04 Briefing ChatHow a dye that helps to give Doritos their orange hue can turn mouse tissues transparent, and an effective way to engage with climate-science sceptics.Nature News: Transparent mice made with light-absorbing dye reveal organs at workNature News: How to change people's minds about climate change: what the science says Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: #196 - The edge cases of sentience and why they matter (Jonathan Birch on The 80,000 Hours Podcast), published by 80000 Hours on August 17, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum. We just published an interview: Jonathan Birch on the edge cases of sentience and why they matter. Listen on Spotify, watch on Youtube, or click through for other audio options, the transcript, and related links. Below are the episode summary and some key excerpts. Episode summary In the 1980s, it was still apparently common to perform surgery on newborn babies without anaesthetic on both sides of the Atlantic. This led to appalling cases, and to public outcry, and to campaigns to change clinical practice. And as soon as [some courageous scientists] looked for evidence, it showed that this practice was completely indefensible and then the clinical practice was changed. People don't need convincing anymore that we should take newborn human babies seriously as sentience candidates. But the tale is a useful cautionary tale, because it shows you how deep that overconfidence can run and how problematic it can be. It just underlines this point that overconfidence about sentience is everywhere and is dangerous. Jonathan Birch In today's episode, host Luisa Rodriguez speaks to Dr Jonathan Birch - philosophy professor at the London School of Economics - about his new book, The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI. (Check out the free PDF version!) They cover: Candidates for sentience - such as humans with consciousness disorders, foetuses, neural organoids, invertebrates, and AIs. Humanity's history of acting as if we're sure that such beings are incapable of having subjective experiences - and why Jonathan thinks that that certainty is completely unjustified. Chilling tales about overconfident policies that probably caused significant suffering for decades. How policymakers can act ethically given real uncertainty. Whether simulating the brain of the roundworm C. elegans or Drosophila (aka fruit flies) would create minds equally sentient to the biological versions. How new technologies like brain organoids could replace animal testing, and how big the risk is that they could be sentient too. Why Jonathan is so excited about citizens' assemblies. Jonathan's conversation with the Dalai Lama about whether insects are sentient. And plenty more. Producer and editor: Keiran Harris Audio engineering by Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, Simon Monsour, and Dominic Armstrong Additional content editing: Katy Moore and Luisa Rodriguez Transcriptions: Katy Moore Highlights The history of neonatal surgery without anaesthetic Jonathan Birch: It's another case I found unbelievable: in the 1980s, it was still apparently common to perform surgery on newborn babies without anaesthetic on both sides of the Atlantic. This led to appalling cases, and to public outcry, and to campaigns to change clinical practice. There was a public campaign led by someone called Jill Lawson, whose baby son had been operated on in this way and had died. And at the same time, evidence was being gathered to bear on the questions by some pretty courageous scientists, I would say. They got very heavily attacked for doing this work, but they knew evidence was needed to change clinical practice. And they showed that, if this protocol is done, there were massive stress responses in the baby, massive stress responses that reduce the chances of survival and lead to long-term developmental damage. So as soon as they looked for evidence, the evidence showed that this practice was completely indefensible and then the clinical practice was changed. So, in a way, people don't need convincing anymore that we should take newborn human babies seriously as sentience candidates. But the tale is a useful cautionary tale, because it...

"In the 1980s, it was still apparently common to perform surgery on newborn babies without anaesthetic on both sides of the Atlantic. This led to appalling cases, and to public outcry, and to campaigns to change clinical practice. And as soon as [some courageous scientists] looked for evidence, it showed that this practice was completely indefensible and then the clinical practice was changed. People don't need convincing anymore that we should take newborn human babies seriously as sentience candidates. But the tale is a useful cautionary tale, because it shows you how deep that overconfidence can run and how problematic it can be. It just underlines this point that overconfidence about sentience is everywhere and is dangerous." —Jonathan BirchIn today's episode, host Luisa Rodriguez speaks to Dr Jonathan Birch — philosophy professor at the London School of Economics — about his new book, The Edge of Sentience: Risk and Precaution in Humans, Other Animals, and AI. (Check out the free PDF version!)Links to learn more, highlights, and full transcript.They cover:Candidates for sentience, such as humans with consciousness disorders, foetuses, neural organoids, invertebrates, and AIsHumanity's history of acting as if we're sure that such beings are incapable of having subjective experiences — and why Jonathan thinks that that certainty is completely unjustified.Chilling tales about overconfident policies that probably caused significant suffering for decades.How policymakers can act ethically given real uncertainty.Whether simulating the brain of the roundworm C. elegans or Drosophila (aka fruit flies) would create minds equally sentient to the biological versions.How new technologies like brain organoids could replace animal testing, and how big the risk is that they could be sentient too.Why Jonathan is so excited about citizens' assemblies.Jonathan's conversation with the Dalai Lama about whether insects are sentient.And plenty more.Chapters:Cold open (00:00:00)Luisa's intro (00:01:20)The interview begins (00:03:04)Why does sentience matter? (00:03:31)Inescapable uncertainty about other minds (00:05:43)The “zone of reasonable disagreement” in sentience research (00:10:31)Disorders of consciousness: comas and minimally conscious states (00:17:06)Foetuses and the cautionary tale of newborn pain (00:43:23)Neural organoids (00:55:49)AI sentience and whole brain emulation (01:06:17)Policymaking at the edge of sentience (01:28:09)Citizens' assemblies (01:31:13)The UK's Sentience Act (01:39:45)Ways Jonathan has changed his mind (01:47:26)Careers (01:54:54)Discussing animal sentience with the Dalai Lama (01:59:08)Luisa's outro (02:01:04)Producer and editor: Keiran HarrisAudio engineering by Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, Simon Monsour, and Dominic ArmstrongAdditional content editing: Katy Moore and Luisa RodriguezTranscriptions: Katy Moore

Zandy Forbes, Founder, President, and CEO of MeiraGTx, joins host Rahul Chaturvedi in this compelling episode. Zandy shares her inspiring journey from academia, where she developed a deep interest in molecular biology and genetics, to her significant role in biotech investing, and eventually leading a groundbreaking gene therapy company. She elaborates on Meira's cutting-edge approach to genetic medicines, focusing on the development of innovative therapies for non-inherited diseases. Zandy discusses the unique challenges and opportunities that arise in the biotech sector, shedding light on the strategies Meira employs to navigate this complex landscape. Biography: Alexandria Forbes, Ph.D. is the President and CEO of MeiraGTx (NASDAQ: MGTX). MeiraGTx is a vertically integrated gene therapy company with core capabilities in viral vector design and optimization and gene therapy manufacturing, as well as a potentially transformative gene regulation technology. The company is developing innovative gene therapy products to cost effectively treat a range of serious medical disorders, with clinical programs currently in the eye, salivary gland and CNS. Prior to founding MeiraGTx, Dr. Forbes served as Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at Kadmon Holdings, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, from September 2013 to April 2015.Before joining the biotech industry, she spent 10 years as a healthcare investor at Sivik Global Partners (Argus Partners) and Meadowvale Partners. At Sivik, Dr. Forbes was responsible for investments in biotechnology, specialty pharmaceuticals and diagnostics public equities and was portfolio manager of the Sivik Global Life Science Fund, a long-biased public markets fund investing in biotechnology companies globally. During her time as a biotechnology investor, Dr. Forbes covered over 300 companies and gained expertise in biotechnology business strategies and clinical drug development as well as a wide range of disease areas. Particular areas of focus included HIV, HCV, diabetes, obesity, autoimmune disorders, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, kidney disease and liver disease. Before entering the hedge fund industry, Dr. Forbes was an academic scientist studying the regulation of stem cell identity and different aspects of embryogeneis. She was a Human Frontiers/Howard Hughes postdoctoral fellow at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, where her research focused on cytoplasmic determinants and cell signaling pathways involved in the migration, establishment and maintenance of germ line stem cells in Drosophila melanogaster. Prior to this, Dr. Forbes was a research fellow at Duke University and at the Carnegie Institute at Johns Hopkins University where she studied the role of the hedgehog gene and its signaling pathway in the Drosophila embryo and adult. Dr. Forbes received her Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics from Oxford University, UK and attained a double first degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University, UK. Dr. Forbes serves on the Board of Directors of MeiraGTx, and as a Trustee and Director of the Selfridges Group Foundation, the European arm of the Weston Brain Institute, a charity supporting research into neurodegenerative diseases with the aim of speeding the time to the development of disease modifying treatments for these currently intractable diseases, particularly Alzheimer's.

BUFFALO, NY- June 19, 2024 – A new research paper was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 11, entitled, “Dietary sucrose determines the regulatory activity of lithium on gene expression and lifespan in Drosophila melanogaster.” The amount of dietary sugars and the administration of lithium both impact the lifespan of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. It is noteworthy that lithium is attributed with insulin-like activity as it stimulates protein kinase B/Akt and suppresses the activity of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3). However, its interaction with dietary sugar has largely remained unexplored. In this new study, researchers Katharina Jans, Kai Lüersen, Jakob von Frieling, Thomas Roeder, and Gerald Rimbach from the University of Kiel investigated the effects of lithium supplementation on known lithium-sensitive parameters in fruit flies, such as lifespan, body composition, GSK-3 phosphorylation, and the transcriptome, while varying the dietary sugar concentration. “Based on this proposed overlapping bioactivity of dietary sugar and lithium in the female fruit fly, we decided to investigate the extent of these similarities and whether a joint mechanism lies at their root.” For all these parameters, the researchers observed that the efficacy of lithium was significantly influenced by the sucrose content in the diet. Overall, they found that lithium was most effective in enhancing longevity and altering body composition when added to a low-sucrose diet. Whole-body RNA sequencing revealed a remarkably similar transcriptional response when either increasing dietary sucrose from 1% to 10% or adding 1 mM LiCl to a 1% sucrose diet, characterized by a substantial overlap of nearly 500 differentially expressed genes. “Hence, dietary sugar supply is suggested as a key factor in understanding lithium bioactivity, which could hold relevance for its therapeutic applications.” DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205933 Corresponding author - Katharina Jans - jans@foodsci.uni-kiel.de Video short - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaxZU4Gd5Z4 Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.205933 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Aging - https://www.aging-us.com/subscribe-to-toc-alerts Keywords - aging, lithium, longevity, glycogen synthase kinase 3, fruit fly, trace element About Aging (Aging-US): Aging aims to promote 1) treatment of age-related diseases by slowing down aging, 2) validation of anti-aging drugs by treating age-related diseases, and 3) prevention of cancer by inhibiting aging. (Cancer and COVID-19 are age-related diseases.) Aging is indexed by PubMed/Medline (abbreviated as “Aging (Albany NY)”), PubMed Central, Web of Science: Science Citation Index Expanded (abbreviated as “Aging‐US” and listed in the Cell Biology and Geriatrics & Gerontology categories), Scopus (abbreviated as “Aging” and listed in the Cell Biology and Aging categories), Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, EMBASE, META (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative) (2018-2022), and Dimensions (Digital Science). Please visit our website at https://www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ X - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@AgingJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1X4HQQgegjReaf6Mozn6Mc MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Research summary: The evolution of nociception in arthropods, published by abrahamrowe on April 17, 2024 on The Effective Altruism Forum. This post is a short summary of A long-read draft assembly of the Chinese mantis (Mantodea: Mantidae: Tenodera sinensis) genome reveals patterns of ion channel gain and loss across Arthropoda, a peer-reviewed, open-access publication in G3: Genes | Genomes | Genetics under a CC BY license. The paper and supplemental information can be accessed here. The original paper was written by Jay Goldberg, R. Keating Godfrey, and Meghan Barrett; the research conducted in the paper was funded by Rethink Priorities as part of our research agenda on understanding the welfare of insects on farms. This post was written by Abraham Rowe and reviewed for accuracy by Jay Goldberg and Meghan Barrett. All information is derived from the Goldberg et al. (2024) publication unless otherwise cited, and some text from the original publication is directly adapted for this summary. Introduction Mantids that engage in sexually cannibalistic behaviors (e.g., where the female eats the male during copulation) are often cited as a pinnacle example of insects' lack of pain sensation and, therefore, sentience. In their seminal paper on insect sentience, Eisemann et al.'s ( 1984) Do insects feel pain? - A biological view, the authors cite the fact that male mantids continue to mate while being cannibalized as a behavioral indicator of a lack of pain sensation in insects more broadly ( Eisemann et al. 1984). This behavior suggests that male mantids might not even be able to sense, and thus respond reflexively to, the noxious mechanical damage that occurs during the copulatory experience. One mechanism by which animals can sense mechanical damage is through nociceptive ion channels, proteins found in their peripheral sensory neurons. At the time of Eisemann et al.'s publication, insects were not known to have nociceptive ion channels (a fact they also discuss). It has now been determined that many arthropods (including insects) have nociceptors that perceive chemical, mechanical, and thermal injuries. Indeed, many of their nociceptive ion channels are homologous to mammalian channels (homologous, meaning that the genes for these channels were inherited from a common ancestor to both mammals and insects). However, whether mantids have these ion channels - thus presenting a challenge to the 'peripheral sensory perception' part of the Eisemann argument against insect pain as demonstrated by male mantid behavior - is not known. Genes can be gained and lost across species. Finding evidence of the presence or absence of these channels in the genome of a sexually cannibalistic mantid species would be an important first step to understanding the weaknesses or strengths of Eisemann et al.'s claims about how we might interpret their behavior. Further, by looking at the genes of arthropods across families, we can assess how nociception may have evolved in insects and possibly begin to understand why there is a variance in nociceptive ion channel expression across the arthropods. This understanding might help us identify what kinds of noxious stimuli are perceived negatively by different insect species in the future as, for instance, some other animals are known to lack certain categories of nociceptors (e.g., cold nociception is lacking in some fish species; Sneddon 2019). Additionally, gene copy number (how many copies of that gene the species has in its genome) can also play a role in the strength of their response to a noxious stimulus ( Jang et al., 2023; in Drosophila melanogaster). Determining gene copy number could eventually lead us to understand the high degree of variance in response to noxious stimuli among insects. Of course, in all cases, surveying genetic data is on...

BUFFALO, NY- February 27, 2024 – A new #research paper was #published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 16, Issue 3, entitled, “The anti-aging effect of vitamin D and vitamin D receptor in Drosophila midgut.” Adult stem cells are pivotal for maintaining tissue homeostasis, and their functional decline is linked to aging and its associated diseases, influenced by the niche cells' environment. Age- and cancer-related reduction of vitamin D and its receptor levels are well documented in human clinical studies. However, the mechanisms through which the vitamin D/vitamin D receptor (VitD/VDR) pathway contributes to anti-aging and extends life expectancy are not well understood. In this new study, researchers Joung-Sun Park, Hyun-Jin Na and Yung-Jin Kim from Pusan National University and Korea Food Research Institute aimed to determine the protective role of the vitamin D/vitamin D receptor pathway in differentiated enterocytes (ECs) during intestinal stem cell (ISC) aging. “This study aimed to determine the protective role of VitD/VDR in differentiated ECs during ISC aging using the adult Drosophila intestine model.” By utilizing a well-established Drosophila midgut model for stem cell aging biology, the researchers revealed that vitamin D receptor knockdown in ECs induced ISC proliferation, EC death, ISC aging, and enteroendocrine cell differentiation. Additionally, age- and oxidative stress-induced increases in ISC proliferation and centrosome amplification were reduced by vitamin D treatment. In conclusion, this study provides direct evidence of the anti-aging role of the VitD/VDR pathway, involving protecting ECs during aging, and provides valuable insights for exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying enhanced healthy aging in Drosophila. “Our findings suggest a direct evidence of the anti-aging role of the vitamin D/vitamin D receptor pathway and provides insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying healthy aging in Drosophila.” DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205518 Corresponding author - Joung-Sun Park - dreamjs78@pusan.ac.kr Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.205518 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Aging - https://www.aging-us.com/subscribe-to-toc-alerts Keywords - aging, Drosophila, vitamin D, vitamin D receptor, anti-aging, intestinal stem cell About Aging-US Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging-US go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. Please visit our website at https://www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us: Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ X - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@AgingJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1X4HQQgegjReaf6Mozn6Mc Media Contact 18009220957 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM

In this installment of Genetics in Your World, we talk to Dr. Hunter Hill of the University of Montana. He discusses unexpected recent discoveries made while completing his PhD with Dr. Kent Golic at the University of Utah, surrounding new and exciting data about the breakage pattern of chromosomes in Drosophila. He provides advice for others when encountering obstacles during their graduate studies. Check out the paper, "Dicentric chromosome breakage in Drosophila melanogaster is influenced by pericentric heterochromatic and occurs in non-conserved hotspots," published in the June 2023 issue of GENETICS. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  For the first time ever, parents going through IVF can use whole genome sequencing to screen their embryos for hundreds of conditions. Harness the power of genetics to keep your family safe, with Orchid. Check them out at orchidhealth.com. Today Razib talks to geneticist Erich Schwarz, a Research Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell University  since 2012. Schwarz has a molecular biology degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Caltech. After working with the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster in graduate school, he switched to the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, and has continued studying nematodes ever since. After helping to found the C. elegans genome database WormBase (wormbase.org) in the early 2000s, he began sequencing and characterizing the genomes of several nematode worms other than C. elegans, either because they are biologically informative or because they are worldwide parasites. His current work includes using the genome of Ancylostoma ceylanicum to help devise an anti-hookworm vaccine. Schwarz explains why C. elegans, often called “the worm,” has been so useful in developmental and molecular genetics, and its role in the career of the late Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner. With a simple anatomical structure, every single one of the 1,000 cells of  C. elegans has been mapped and detailed. Despite its small size, this organism has spawned a research community of thousands, documented in Andrew Brown's In the Beginning Was the Worm: Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite. In the age of hundreds of thousands of human genomes, Schwarz explains the decades-long period in the late 20th century when biological research was dominated by “model organisms,” simple and easy-to-experiment-on animals, plants and bacteria that could eloquently and plainly elucidate universal and essential mechanisms of function and structure.  Razib and Schwarz also discuss the future of model organisms in a genomic future, when high-throughput data analysis can supercharge decades-long experimental projects. Ultimately, the future is not likely to see model organisms set aside, but rather to witness them merged into the broader research community in human and medical genomics which has been driving technological changes in sppedspeed and volume of data collection.

Today we talk about liability forecasting and the role it plays in the administration of massive, sometimes multi-billion-dollar mass tort settlement trusts. These mechanisms were built to fairly and judiciously compensate current and future claimants for their injuries. Mass tort litigation is a complicated beast as is the administration of these trusts. Exposures, injuries, and the discovery of injuries can occur over decades. In the meantime, companies come and go. They are are bought and sold. They declare bankruptcy. People are exposed to new elements or conditions in the environment and the workplace. On the financial side, market fluctuations and interest rates impact the value of the funds. On the medical side, advancements in diagnostics can affect the number of claimants and the timing of their claims. New technologies can be a factor, too, like the ability to create deep-fake evidence or even claimants. Then there are the unpredictable events. The Covid-19 pandemic offered another confounding factor when many Americans suddenly had virus-related respiratory issues, perhaps joining injuries they may have suffered, or were quietly developing, from a toxic exposure. In other words,  there are many overlapping, interlocking, intersecting, and dynamic layers involved with people, companies, diseases, certain financial externalities, and "black swans" that complicate the oversight of settlement funds. Listen to my conversation with Mark Eveland and Ed Silverman, both with Verus LLC, which provides litigation support services to law firms working on mass torts, such as case management and medical review services, settlement administration, business and advisory services, and analytics. They explain that liability forecasting is a practice best understood through the three areas it analyzes: (i) the risks and injuries created by a product and its use, (ii) claims filed and approved, and (iii) finances. Liability forecasting is both a science and an art, they say, with plenty of risks.Eveland, founder, CSO, and chairman of the board, is an expert in building settlement and claims management programs for mass torts, class actions, and insurance runoffs. Throughout his career, Mark has provided research, discovery, analytics, settlement administration, and expert witness support litigators around the country. Trained in molecular biology, genetics and epigenetics, and biochemistry, Silverman is an analytics executive, a life science expert, and biomedical communications specialist. Ed assists with data analytics, scientific collaboration networks, patient based medical claims, and more. I hope you enjoy the episode! Bonus: I left in a little introductory jazz in the beginning, then  encouraged Ed to discuss his background and research, which I was thrilled to find included how fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) form memories. I can't tell you how glad I was I asked. Yes I can. Very glad.  ********This podcast is the audio companion to the Journal of Emerging Issues in Litigation. The Journal is a collaborative project between HB Litigation Conferences and the vLex Fastcase legal research family, which includes Full Court Press, Law Street Media, and Docket Alarm.If you have comments, ideas, or wish to participate, please dr

In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we talked with Kyle Eagen from Baylor College of Medicine about his work on BET Proteins and their role in chromosome folding and compartmentalization. In the early days of his research career Dr. Eagen made use of genomics and microscopy to study chromosomes, particularly polytene chromosomes in Drosophila. The correlation between the folding patterns detected by Hi-C and polytene bands highlights the similarities between the two, bridging traditional cytology with modern NGS methods. This work formed the basis of Kyle's thesis and sparked his interest in nuclear organization and chromosome 3D structure. In his independent lab Kyle then studied compartments in chromatin structure and focused on the relationship between histone modifications and the 3D structure of chromosomes. The discovery of BRD4-NUT, a fusion oncoprotein that reprograms chromosome 3D structure, is highlighted as a significant step forward in understanding chromatin structure. The conversation then shifts to the use of a tool to test hypotheses about the involvement of BRD4 in a specific process, leading to consistent results and considerations for manipulating chromosome organization for therapeutic purposes. The role of BET proteins in genome folding and the need for further research on other factors involved in 3D genome structure are discussed.   References Rosencrance, C. D., Ammouri, H. N., Yu, Q., Ge, T., Rendleman, E. J., Marshall, S. A., & Eagen, K. P. (2020). Chromatin Hyperacetylation Impacts Chromosome Folding by Forming a Nuclear Subcompartment. Molecular Cell, 78(1), 112-126.e12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2020.03.018 Huang, Y., Durall, R. T., Luong, N. M., Hertzler, H. J., Huang, J., Gokhale, P. C., Leeper, B. A., Persky, N. S., Root, D. E., Anekal, P. V., Montero Llopis, P. D. L. M., David, C. N., Kutok, J. L., Raimondi, A., Saluja, K., Luo, J., Zahnow, C. A., Adane, B., Stegmaier, K., … French, C. A. (2023). EZH2 Cooperates with BRD4-NUT to Drive NUT Carcinoma Growth by Silencing Key Tumor Suppressor Genes. Cancer Research, 83(23), 3956–3973. https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-23-1475   Related Episodes Hi-C and Three-Dimensional Genome Sequencing (Erez Lieberman Aiden) Genome Organization Mediated by RNA Polymerase II (Argyrys Papantonis) Analysis of 3D Chromatin Structure Using Super-Resolution Imaging (Alistair Boettiger)   Contact Epigenetics Podcast on X Epigenetics Podcast on Instagram Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Epigenetics Podcast on Bluesky Epigenetics Podcast on Threads Active Motif on X Active Motif on LinkedIn Email: podcast@activemotif.com

BUFFALO, NY- December 13, 2023 – A new #researchpaper was #published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 22, entitled, “Nectandrin B significantly increases the lifespan of Drosophila - Nectandrin B for longevity.” Phytochemicals are increasingly recognized in the field of healthy aging as potential therapeutics against various aging-related diseases. Nutmeg, derived from the Myristica fragrans tree, is an example. Nutmeg has been extensively studied and proven to possess antioxidant properties that protect against aging and alleviate serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and liver disease. However, the specific active ingredient in nutmeg responsible for these health benefits has not been identified thus far. In this new study, researchers Ji-Seon Ahn, Nasir Uddin Mahbub, Sura Kim, Han-Byeol Kim, Jong-Soon Choi, Hea-Jong Chung, and Seong-Tshool Hong from Korea Basic Science Institute, Jeonbuk National University Medical School and Chung-Ang University present evidence that Nectandrin B (NecB), a bioactive lignan compound isolated from nutmeg, significantly extended the lifespan of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster by as much as 42.6% compared to the control group. “[...] we hypothesized that NecB might possess anti-aging efficacy.” The dramatic reduction of intracellular ROS levels by NecB captured the researchers' attention. NecB also improved age-related symptoms including locomotive deterioration, body weight gain, eye degeneration, and neurodegeneration in aging D. melanogaster. The researchers wrote that this result represents the most substantial improvement in lifespan observed in animal experiments to date, suggesting that NecB may hold promise as a potential therapeutic agent for promoting longevity and addressing age-related degeneration. “We strongly believe that NecB urgently needs further attention and research, as we believe it has made a potential contribution to our understanding of the aging process as well as its application as a potential therapeutic agent for longevity and age-related.” DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205234 Corresponding authors - Jong-Soon Choi - jschoi@kbsi.re.kr, Hea-Jong Chung - hjchung84@kbsi.re.kr, and Seong-Tshool Hong - seonghong@jbnu.ac.kr Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.205234 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Aging - https://www.aging-us.com/subscribe-to-toc-alerts Keywords - aging, Myristica fragrans, nutmeg, Nectandrin B, lifespan, longevity About Aging-US Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging-US go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. Please visit our website at https://www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us: SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/Aging-Us Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ X - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@AgingJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ Media Contact 18009220957 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM

As sailors use constellations, wind direction, and current to determine their heading, so, too, do animals process diverse sensory information to set their course. Via this sensory processing, the animal's brain develops a sense of direction, a prerequisite for navigating between points. To understand how the sense of direction is generated in the brain, we interrogate neurons in the brain of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. With numerous tools that allow observing the neural network structures and activities and perturbing them, we begin to understand how the brain transforms sensory information into a sense of direction. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 39332]

As sailors use constellations, wind direction, and current to determine their heading, so, too, do animals process diverse sensory information to set their course. Via this sensory processing, the animal's brain develops a sense of direction, a prerequisite for navigating between points. To understand how the sense of direction is generated in the brain, we interrogate neurons in the brain of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. With numerous tools that allow observing the neural network structures and activities and perturbing them, we begin to understand how the brain transforms sensory information into a sense of direction. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 39332]

As sailors use constellations, wind direction, and current to determine their heading, so, too, do animals process diverse sensory information to set their course. Via this sensory processing, the animal's brain develops a sense of direction, a prerequisite for navigating between points. To understand how the sense of direction is generated in the brain, we interrogate neurons in the brain of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. With numerous tools that allow observing the neural network structures and activities and perturbing them, we begin to understand how the brain transforms sensory information into a sense of direction. Series: "GRIT Talks" [Science] [Show ID: 39332]

BUFFALO, NY- November 16, 2023 – A new #researchpaper was #published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science) Volume 15, Issue 21, entitled, “Parental age effect on the longevity and healthspan in Drosophila melanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans.” Several studies have investigated the effect of parental age on biological parameters such as reproduction, lifespan, and health; however, the results have been inconclusive, largely due to inter-species variation and/or modest effect sizes. In their new study, researchers Camille Lenzi, Alexis Piat, Pascal Schlich, Judith Ducau, Jean-Claude Bregliano, Hugo Aguilaniu, and Anne Laurençon from the IM Projet, Caduceum, INRAE, IBDM, Instituto Serrapilheira, and Universite Claude Bernard-Lyon 1 examined the effect of parental age on the lifespan, reproductive capacity, and locomotor activity of genetic isogenic lines of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. “We decided to investigate parental age impact on the lifespan of their progeny on selected genomes of flies and worms to gain insights on the molecular mechanisms at work.” The researchers found that the progeny of successive generations of old parents had significantly shorter lifespans than the progeny of young parents in both species. Moreover, they investigated the fertility, fecundity, and locomotor activity of C. elegans. Interestingly, both the shorter lifespan and deteriorated healthspan of the progeny were significantly improved by switching to only one generation of younger parents. “Collectively, these data demonstrate that the detrimental effect of older parental age on the longevity of the progeny can be reversed, suggesting the existence of a beneficial non–genetic mechanism.” DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.205098 Corresponding author - Anne Laurençon - anne.laurencon@ens-lyon.fr Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://aging.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Faging.205098 Subscribe for free publication alerts from Aging - https://www.aging-us.com/subscribe-to-toc-alerts Keywords - aging, life span, intergenerational plasticity, maternal effect, nematode, drosophila About Aging-US Launched in 2009, Aging-US publishes papers of general interest and biological significance in all fields of aging research and age-related diseases, including cancer—and now, with a special focus on COVID-19 vulnerability as an age-dependent syndrome. Topics in Aging-US go beyond traditional gerontology, including, but not limited to, cellular and molecular biology, human age-related diseases, pathology in model organisms, signal transduction pathways (e.g., p53, sirtuins, and PI-3K/AKT/mTOR, among others), and approaches to modulating these signaling pathways. Please visit our website at https://www.Aging-US.com​​ and connect with us: SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/Aging-Us Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AgingUS/ X - https://twitter.com/AgingJrnl Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/agingjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@AgingJournal LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/aging/ Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/AgingUS/ Media Contact 18009220957 MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM

In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we talked with Maria Gambetta from the University of Lausanne about her work on the function of insulators in 3D genome folding. Maria Gambetta focuses on investigating 3D contact dynamics between enhancers and promoters, providing insights into tissue-specific gene activation. The team used capture-C to analyze dynamic looping events, emphasizing the significance of accessible chromatin peaks in enhancer-promoter interactions. Furthermore, they focused on gene insulation and CTCF's role in forming topologically associating domains in Drosophila. Hi-C analysis on CTCF mutants revealed the conservation of TAD boundary mechanisms, identifying CP-190 as a potential binding protein. Their findings on the loss of TAD boundaries in mutants and the role of transcription in TAD boundary formation are discussed as well as the function of CP190 and insulators in preventing interactions between promoters and enhancers. Their work challenges existing models of insulator function and seeks to understand their mechanisms better. The conversation concludes with insights into long-range regulatory associations in Drosophila, emphasizing the punctual interactions between transcription factor binding sites and their effect on neural gene transcription and genome folding.   References Gambetta, M. C., Oktaba, K., & Müller, J. (2009). Essential role of the glycosyltransferase sxc/Ogt in polycomb repression. Science (New York, N.Y.), 325(5936), 93–96. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1169727 Kaushal, A., Mohana, G., Dorier, J., Özdemir, I., Omer, A., Cousin, P., Semenova, A., Taschner, M., Dergai, O., Marzetta, F., Iseli, C., Eliaz, Y., Weisz, D., Shamim, M. S., Guex, N., Lieberman Aiden, E., & Gambetta, M. C. (2021). CTCF loss has limited effects on global genome architecture in Drosophila despite critical regulatory functions. Nature communications, 12(1), 1011. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21366-2 Hoencamp, C., Dudchenko, O., Elbatsh, A. M. O., Brahmachari, S., Raaijmakers, J. A., van Schaik, T., Sedeño Cacciatore, Á., Contessoto, V. G., van Heesbeen, R. G. H. P., van den Broek, B., Mhaskar, A. N., Teunissen, H., St Hilaire, B. G., Weisz, D., Omer, A. D., Pham, M., Colaric, Z., Yang, Z., Rao, S. S. P., Mitra, N., … Rowland, B. D. (2021). 3D genomics across the tree of life reveals condensin II as a determinant of architecture type. Science (New York, N.Y.), 372(6545), 984–989. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe2218 Mohana, G., Dorier, J., Li, X., Mouginot, M., Smith, R. C., Malek, H., Leleu, M., Rodriguez, D., Khadka, J., Rosa, P., Cousin, P., Iseli, C., Restrepo, S., Guex, N., McCabe, B. D., Jankowski, A., Levine, M. S., & Gambetta, M. C. (2023). Chromosome-level organization of the regulatory genome in the Drosophila nervous system. Cell, 186(18), 3826–3844.e26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2023.07.008   Related Episodes Hi-C and Three-Dimensional Genome Sequencing (Erez Lieberman Aiden) Biophysical Modeling of 3-D Genome Organization (Leonid Mirny) Long-Range Transcriptional Control by 3D Chromosome Structure (Luca Giorgetti)   Contact Epigenetics Podcast on Twitter/X Epigenetics Podcast on Instagram Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Epigenetics Podcast on Bluesky Active Motif on Twitter Active Motif on LinkedIn Email: podcast@activemotif.com

Dr. Coleen Murphy is a prominent aging researcher and author of the upcoming book “How We Age: The Science of Longevity” from Princeton University Press. In this wide-ranging discussion, Coleen provides insights into her motivation for writing this book, key topics covered, and her unique perspective on the field. Key ideas:Addressing ethical concerns about studying aging and longevityDefining aging conceptually and how metrics like lifespan vs. healthspan are measuredUsing genetics, transcriptomics and other tools to understand molecular changes in agingThe prominent role of reproduction and sex differences in agingTheories on tradeoffs between reproduction and longevityGenetics of aging pathways including insulin/IGF-1, mTOR, and sirtuinsCellular processes involved in aging such as mitochondrial dysfunction, epigenetic changes, senescenceThe importance of models like C. elegans and Drosophila in aging researchOngoing research and future potential for interventions to increase healthspanThe challenge of complex science without excessive jargonHighlighting critical contributions by women scientists in the fieldOmitting personal lifestyle advice and focusing on evidence-based scienceThe rapid pace of advancement in biotech applications of longevity scienceLinks: Email questions, comments, and feedback to podcast@bioagelabs.comTranslating Aging on Twitter: @bioagepodcastBioAge Labs Website bioagelabs.comBioAge Labs Twitter @bioagelabsBioAge Labs LinkedIn

What makes Sour Rot so challenging for wine grape growers is that it is a disease complex. Hans C. Walter-Peterson, Viticulture Extension Specialist, Finger Lakes Grape Program, Cornell Cooperative Extension explains that Sour Rot comes in late season after ripening.  Yeasts get into the berries and ferment the sugar out in the vineyard. Bacteria follow up, feasting on the alcohol, converting it into acetic acid – an unwelcome component in winemaking. And, the disease is spread rapidly by fruit flies. In this interview Hans shares methods to reduce Sour Rot disease pressure by managing increasingly resistant fruit fly populations, leafing to encourage fewer berries at fruit set, the correct way to drop fruit, and timing antimicrobial and insecticide sprays to Brix to maximize effectiveness. Cornell Cooperative Extension is trialing non-chemical control practices including UV light for sterilization and hormonal sprays plus a disease model is under development with Penn State University. Resources: 17: New Discoveries about Sour Rot – Megan Hall (Podcast) 117: Grapevine Mildew Control with UV Light - David Gadoury (Podcast) 159: Under-Vine Vegetation to Control Vine Vigor – Justine Vanden Heuvel (Podcast) Alice Wise, Cornell Cooperative Extension Control of Sour Rot via Chemical and Canopy Management Techniques Hans Walter-Peterson, Cornell Cooperative Extension Hans Walter-Peterson ResearchGate Influence of timing and intensity of fruit zone leaf removal and kaolin applications on bunch rot control and quality improvement of Sauvignon blanc grapes, and wines, in a temperate humid climate Insecticide Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is Associated with Field Control Failure of Sour Rot Disease in a New York Vineyard Managing Fruit Flies for Sour Rot Summer Bunch Rot (Sour Rot) Pest Management UC IPM Pest Management Guidelines Wendy McFadden-Smith, PhD., Ontario References: Vineyard Team Programs: Juan Nevarez Memorial Scholarship - Donate SIP Certified – Show your care for the people and planet   Sustainable Ag Expo – The premiere winegrowing event of the year - $50 OFF with code PODCAST23 Sustainable Winegrowing On-Demand (Western SARE) – Learn at your own pace Vineyard Team – Become a Member Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org.   Transcript Craig Macmillan  0:00  Here with us today is Hans Walter-Peterson. He is a viticulture extension specialists with the Finger Lakes Grape Program, part of Cornell Cooperative Extension. Thanks for being our guest today.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  0:12  Thanks for having me. Glad to be here.   Craig Macmillan  0:14  You've been doing a lot of work on a situation I'll call it called Sour Rot on grapes. And that's what we're gonna talk about today. Let's start with some basic definitions. What exactly is Sour Rot?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  0:24  So sour rot is pretty much what it sounds like. It's one of the late season rots that can afflict grapes comes in after ripening starts so much like Botrytis, bunch rot some of these other types of rots that that growers might be familiar with. So it's another version of that, but it comes along with the bonus of acetic acid, every rot kind of brings its own different compounds to the party. Sour rot brings one that really is not terribly welcome in winemaking, you know, essentially the the main component of vinegar. It's a particularly rough type of rot. We really are getting some more challenging years with it past several years. So my program has really started to focus in on what we can do to try to keep it under control.   Craig Macmillan  1:09  You know, I understand that part of the issue here. Is that sour rot is a disease complex. There's multiple actors involved in all of this. Can you tell us what some of those pieces are of that complex and how they interact to create sour rot?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  1:23  Yeah, it's probably the thing that makes sour rot a more difficult thing to manage than kind of the standard diseases, the regular diseases that most growers are used to dealing with like powdery mildew, downy mildew, because those are created those are developed by one type of microbe. So if you find the one thing that can control that one microbe, you've got a control measure. With sour rot it's a like you said it's a complex of multiple organisms that bring it about. So basically, there are yeasts, the yeasts get into the berries and take the sugar that's being developed in there, and they do exactly what we use yest for in winemaking takes the sugar and turns it into alcohol. So we'd get a fermentation starting within the berries out in the vineyard. The second part of it that happens then is that there are bacteria that follow up and also arrive in there most notably Acetobacter, but also some other things like Gluconobacter and Henseniaspora. This is some great work that was done by Wendy McFadden-Smith in Ontario a number of years ago. So they all kind of come in and feast on that alcohol and convert that alcohol into acetic acid. So thereby there's the sour of sour rot. The piece that comes after that, then is not just the sour rot. But then the thing that probably is really characteristic of it also, as with some of these other rots, but it spreads really quickly in a vineyard if the conditions are right. And that's mainly done by fruit flies. And it's not just the one that we've been hearing a lot about lately, the Spotted Wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii but it's also just your plain old Drosophila melanogaster, the ones you used in your your high school genetics classes, or college genetic classes and see on your fruit around the sink and stuff like that. Those fruit flies, for the most part, mostly fruit flies are a couple of other suspects in the mix, too. But they're the ones that spread it from berry to berry and cluster to cluster and block the block.   Craig Macmillan  3:13  Are they spreading the yeast, the bacteria are both.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  3:16  All of the above.   Craig Macmillan  3:17  Okay, so that's it,   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  3:18  They're gonna freeride. So that's, that's the difficulty with it. If it was just, you know, like I was saying earlier, if it's something like black rot, or botrytis, where it's just one single causal organism, that's one story. And that's hard enough to control when you've got multiple types of organisms that aren't even directly related. I mean, yeast and bacteria are very different types of organisms, for example, we don't have a spray or a single thing that control that. And so that's the real difficulty with managing it year in and year out.   Craig Macmillan  3:48  So this just made me think of something. One way of thinking about disease complexes is if I can remove one of the elements, or two of the elements I can at least reduce if not prevent or treat the disease is that the case with sour rot if I had no bacteria, if I didn't have a yeast or something like that, can I get rid of one of them and and help with this?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  4:09  Yeah, that's that's a really good point. As I said earlier, you need the two micro organisms to cause the sour of the sour at the acetic acid development, but then you need a vector to move them through the vineyard. And that's the fruit flies. So if you can control the fruit flies, you have less chance for those microorganisms to move through the vineyard. If you create a less hospitable host for the microbes, there's less of them to be moved around by the fruit flies. So the management strategies that we're looking at are trying to come at it from both directions. Some of the original work that was done on this recently here at Cornell by a grad student, Dr. Megan Hall, who I believe you had on the show a while back.   Craig Macmillan  4:50  I had in the show, and I know her yes.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  4:53  In Megan's original work here at Cornell. She basically found that it was somewhat more effective to control the fruit flies than to control the microbes that just the microbes by themselves could cause a certain amount of rot. But then if you're controlling the fruit flies, it just you don't get that explosive growth.   Craig Macmillan  5:10  The fruit flies in the gasoline.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  5:12  Right. Exactly. Yeah. The microbes are the fuel. Yes. So that was the impetus of kind of saying, Okay, if you had a control just one thing, it's the fruit flies, because that's really where the explosive nature of the disease comes along. And it's a little bit easier to control a bug than it is microbes that are hiding inside the skins of berries and things like that.   Craig Macmillan  5:31  Where do the microbes come from? are they hanging out under the bark of the vine? Are they inside of shoots? Are they out in the environment and get blown on?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  5:43  They're pretty ubiquitous in the environment, talk about a lot about Native fermentations and yeast coming in from the vineyard. So there's so they're there. And the bacteria are as well, I don't know, it's some of the exact overwintering mechanisms. And if we know all about that, somebody probably does, I just don't, but it's my understanding is they're they're pretty native in our neck of the woods. They just, they're they're pretty much all the time.   Craig Macmillan  6:05  Are there environmental conditions that are particularly conducive to promoting Sour Rot. And then also are there environmental conditions that will prevent it or retard it?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  6:16  So the big thing that gets sour rot going is for some way for the microbes to get into the berries in the first place. Predominantly in grapes, we think about that as either being insects, birds, or water. Here in the east, obviously, we get rain throughout the growing season, including during the harvest season, we have high humidity days, plenty of times. And so those are the kinds of conditions where we see greater incidence of sour rot develop. When the vines take up water, or the berries take up water either through rainfall or just the atmosphere, and then the berries swell up, they can't handle all the water they have and they split or you have a very tight clustered variety, that just the berries start getting forced apart, and they just break by force. So those entry wounds however they're caused, is how it gets started. So we know here in New York that if we have a dry fall days, with not many days with dew points above 70, and all those kinds of things, we don't see very much sour rot develop, we might see a little Botrytis here and there. But for the most part, we don't see it. And a lot of that is because we just don't have the humidity to kind of build up the water in the berry to cause it split the years where we have it bad. On the contrary, that's that's when we see more water, more rainfall, more high humidity days, that's when we see more splitting and therefore more sour rot. Much like most other diseases, the warmer it gets, the faster it can progress. And the same thing with insects, the fruit flies at a at a lower temperature. It takes them longer for a next generation to develop. And so the warmer it gets, they get faster too. So yeah, so warm and wet.   Craig Macmillan  7:55  So cool and dry would be the opposite would be the desirable.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  7:59  So that would be best.   Craig Macmillan  8:01  That actually that just reminded me of something. My experience has all been on the Central Coast California. This only happened once. And that was with some Pinot Noir that came in that had quite a lot of Botrytis damage. And the winemaker had us go through and sort then not simply sort out Botrytis and throw it away, but by hand sorted and then smell it for sour is something like Botrytis or a scar from powdery mildew or something like that. Is that Is that also a possible entry for the organisms?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  8:33  Yes, very often we see Botrytis and sow rot in the same cluster. Because it's the same thing. Botrytis is a very weak pathogen, it needs a place to kind of get established like a wound. And so same thing with sour rot. We do know that, like you're just saying powdery mildew scars can create micro fissures in the skin. And later on in the season, those can start to tear apart even if you can't see them, especially around the pedicel near the stem where the stem connects to the berry. They're going to be micro fissures that those micro organisms can take advantage of as well. So those conditions are pretty similar for for other kinds of rots as well.   Craig Macmillan  9:11  Are there cultural practices or preventative or prophylactic practices that growers can use that might help manage this?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  9:17  Yes, probably the biggest one that we know of and we're trying to get a little bit better handle on as far as how to use it for this purpose. So we know that if you pull leaves before bloom are right at the very beginning of bloom, you will reduce berry set you basically kind of starve the the clusters, the flowering clusters of carbohydrates and other nutrients and so they don't set as many berries. You have a looser cluster. Those clusters don't swell up they don't like I was talking before kind of force berries off, they dry out faster. All the good things we like about looser clusters pulling leaves at that very early, just pre bloom or very early bloom stage can reduce berries set pretty consistently year in and year out. out and help to reduce that cluster compactness aspect of rot development.   Craig Macmillan  10:05  I think it's the first time I've ever heard of a intentional shatter. Usually we're all we're all praying that we don't have what you're describing.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  10:14  Yeah. Well, I mean, you think about table grape growers do this fairly often, they try to make more room on the cluster so that they can have larger berries, which consumers want. And so we're not worried about it. obviously, for consumer sentiment, we're worried about that for disease pressure, there's definitely a cost to it. You're reducing your yield as a grower from the standpoint of just how many grapes you're going to carry. But you also might be saving more yield later on in the year and not having to drop fruit before you send it off to the winery   Craig Macmillan  10:40  In your area. You've got wine grapes, obviously, but also there's a lot of Concord production there. And is it mostly for juice is that right?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  10:48  Mostly for juice, yep.   Craig Macmillan  10:49  I'm assuming this problem applies there as well.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  10:52  Concords really don't get sour rot very much, partly because their clusters more open, they don't set a tight cluster. If you think like a Pinot Noir cluster, or Chardonnay, or Riesling, they're much more loose like that. They also have much thicker skins, so they tend not to split quite as easily, they can still split, but we tend not to see sour rot develop on them. And I, I'm not totally sure why that is. But part of it from at least on a production level, a lot of our Concord gets picked before it gets much more than 16, 17 Brix. We know with sour with sour rot, we don't see symptoms start to develop until you get to 13 or 14. And I think that's partly a result of just how much sugar is in the berry, but also the relation of sugar and acid because microbes can't tolerate a certain acidic level of environment also. And so this is kind of an educated speculation right now. But I think that's part of the reason we don't see it in something like Concord and Niagara and some of these these juice varieties is that we pick it at a relatively low Brix, as opposed to wine varieties where we're picking 20 Plus.   Craig Macmillan  11:57  Right, right, exactly, exactly. Continuing on the cultural thing. I one thing that growers do for both try to fend for grape powdery mildew. They may go through and they may drop infected crop when they first see it. This sounds like this gets spread around, can you crop drop with this and control the spread?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  12:17  The challenge with this is if and I've seen this happen in a couple of places. If you drop crop that's starting to rot and just leave it on the ground near the vines. What does it do when it's on the ground? It continues to rot. Right? It doesn't it doesn't stop and the fruit flies can easily go from the ground back up to the canopy and back down to the ground back up to the canopy.   Craig Macmillan  12:35  Find another Fissure or whatever.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  12:37  Right, exactly. So another part of the challenge that is ideally you're not just dropping the crop and leaving it there in the vineyard, you got to kind of take it out so that it's not around that healthy fruit. Because otherwise those microbes will be back. You know, they get blown around on wind again or carried by fruit flies. And they'll find another fissure to get into.   Craig Macmillan  12:57  Can you cultivate it? Can you can you tell it under?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  13:00  You probably could. Yeah, we don't do that much tillage in our in our vineyard rows just because we have all the rain we maintain cover crops between the vineyards all year round. Otherwise we'd slide all over the place.   Craig Macmillan  13:11  Yeah, no, absolutely. Of course. Yeah. I've talked to Justine Vanden Heuvel about undervine cover cropping and things and I was like, This is crazy. Going to California perspective. That's nuts. And she was like, Craig, you have no idea how much water is in the ground. It would be a mess if we didn't which is which is really interesting. So okay, so that's not gonna work. Do we have anything in the chemical realm for prophylactic sprays?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  13:33  Prophylactics per se not so much what we've been looking at lately, a colleague of mine out on Long Island Alice Wise for about three or four years now we've been looking at a couple of materials that are designed to enhance the cuticle thickness around the berries basically as a way to try to see if we can prevent cracking. One of them was originally developed to reduce cracking and cherries.   Craig Macmillan  13:54  What materials are we talking about?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  13:56  So the material we've been working with is a combination of materials, some waxes and carbohydrates and some other things that kind of just bind to that cuticle around the berry and just thicken it up. Literally from everything I've seen, it works in cherries to prevent this cracking. We've been looking at two versions of these, this material they both developed at Oregon State actually one produces a thinner cuticle and other one produces a much thicker one. And we've tested them both. And we haven't seen any difference in sour rot from using these materials. Now we've had kind of some kind of weird years when we've been testing this, we've had a couple of years where we had a lot of sour rot and a couple of years where we had almost none. So it it hasn't been the best time to be testing this. But in the two years that we've had sour rot, it didn't seem to do very much in the way of reducing it to the point that you could justify spending, you know the time and effort to do it. The only other kind of sprays that we're looking at at this point are things like hydrogen peroxide and proxy acetic acid, then there's some there's some commercial products that are out there that contain one or both of those ingredients. And those are basically just antimicrobials I mean, they they burn whatever they touch. You know, same thing like when you get a cut on your arm, you put hydrogen peroxide on there it disinfects. So that's basically what we're doing for the microbes. And it works pretty well. The key always is coverage, because it has to hit it. As soon as that material hits, hits that grape hits a microbe, whatever, it starts to convert to water, basically those those materials, if you don't have good coverage, if you can't get the material to where the microbes are hanging out, it's not going to be terribly effective. And so that's the that's always the challenge with those kinds of things. But they they do work to the extent that they can reach.   Craig Macmillan  15:36  To some extent, yeah, and again, this is going to be another issue with cluster architecture. Obviously, this is terrifying. As I'm sure everybody in the state of New York and elsewhere, certainly not limited to New York, New York, as far as I know. Okay, now I've got it. It's getting started. Maybe I caught it early, maybe I didn't know what what can I do?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  15:59  The standard treatment that we have at this point is that either when you get to that 13, 14 Brix number or you start to see it show up, and most growers will wait until they see it show up. The standard practice is basically to start this combination of an antimicrobial and an insecticide to kind of keep it under control and try to keep it from getting to that explosive stage. The challenge with that is that fruit flies under the right conditions. And if it's above 70 degrees or so they're generation time is every six to seven days.   Craig Macmillan  16:33  Oh, wow.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  16:33  New generation of these things at their at their utmost or at their best. Essentially, we need to be spraying every seven, eight days to try to keep this under wraps. What we've found, and this is more good news, what we found is that we are identifying a lot of populations of fruit flies here in New York, not just in the Finger Lakes, but in some other areas that we've been testing to where their fruit flies have quickly developed resistance.   Craig Macmillan  16:59  That's how they do it, isn't it.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  17:00  And so what we've seen is that basically the fruit flies have developed resistance to a couple of these materials. We've tested them on a couple of different pyrethroids, a couple of organophosphates, a couple of other materials and found pretty high levels of resistance in the lab, at least, when we've tested them. It has pointed out to us very quickly that this is not a problem that that chemistry alone can solve. All right, there we go. Okay, that's kind of leading us in the direction of maybe not necessarily replacing chemicals completely. It'd be nice if we could, but at least supplementing some of these other cultural and non chemical practices like the leaf pulling, I was mentioning earlier to try to reduce the need for those sprays, if, again, if not eliminate it all together.   Craig Macmillan  17:42  And so what kind of research projects do you have going right now on this topic?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  17:44  We've got a few that we're that we're kind of looking at, again, kind of tackle this from a couple different directions, we're doing some a little bit more work on that leaf pulling aspect, we've done some work, my colleagues and some other people in around the country have looked at mechanical leaf removal at that pre bloom stage and found that it works pretty well as well. There are certainly hormonal sprays that can be used. We mentioned with like with table grapes, tuberculinic acid can be used to to kind of stretch the racus and give the berries more room basically. So it kind of reducing that cluster compactness. And one of the things that I'm particularly kind of interested in and excited about is the potential for UV light to play a role in this.   Craig Macmillan  18:25  I am curious about this UV light thing, I'm hearing more about it and I'm getting kind of excited.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  18:31  UV light is basically just another sterilant that we use. So almost all of our wastewater treatment plants have UV light to sterilize the waters that's coming through the plant. So it does the same job that these hydrogen peroxide peroxy acetic acid materials do, but we don't have to worry as much about coverage. If we apply it right. One of the pathologists here, Dave Gadoury, has done a lot of work on using UV light to control different plant diseases in grapes, normally powdery mildew, which is very effective against, but one of the things that they found kind of along the way is that they were also reducing sour rot in this test plot that they were working in. And so if again, if you kind of think about it, you're if you use the right dosage and the right retention time and da, da, da, you're basically have an antibiotic material, but it's not a chemical. It's a physical one, I'm very interested in looking at the potential for UV light to not only control powdery mildew, which would be a lovely thing, which is, but also can we use it to minimize the sour rot incidents and those microbes that are causing it, as well. So we've got a small trial is kind of a proof of concept thing we've done last year, and now this year, if it works as well as it did last year, we're going to kind of try to expand that work a little bit further and try to see how do we incorporate that into a potential grower practice, you know, how, how often do you need to do it? What's the what's the light intensity? Do you have to do it a day or at night, which is one of the considerations you have to have. So There's a bunch of things that we still need to look at, to turn it to make it something that growers can be really rely on as a potential possible part of this solution. That UV thing is really kind of exciting to me. We also are a little further down the road, we're really trying to work on with some folks at Penn State and a couple of other places on developing a model based on climatic conditions that promote sow rot. So it just kind of can we predict when it's going to be coming, if we know that we're going to have five days of 80% humidity or whatever, there was actually just a really interesting study that's come out of Uruguay that I just heard about a couple of weeks ago at the GiESCO conference that was held here in Ithica, where they saw an impact on bunch rots, they were looking specifically at Botrytis, by having undervine cover crops, where they had those underground cover crops, they saw less Botrytis and less bunch rot than they did where they had like a weed free herbicide strip. So that's something I'd like to follow up on as well, I'd be curious about and then kind of the I won't even say sci fi because this stuff seems to come along so quickly. Now. We work with a couple of really wonderful pathologists and engineers here at Cornell, I was talking to a couple of them about this last year. And they said, I bet it'd be pretty easy to develop a sensor that we could stick out in the vineyard that could detect acetic acid far earlier than any nose could and just be like, Okay, here's your early warning. You know, it's kind of an early warning sensor, it's starting to develop, let's go find it and and try it, see if we can prophylactically take care of it early on. So there's just some some things that we're starting to bandy about as far as kind of further down the road. But I do think kind of the immediate thing that I would really like to are trying to put together is can we take the practices like UV light, loosening cluster architecture, changing cluster architecture in order to reduce that environment that's promoting sour rot? And then also try what can we do on the chemical end to reduce the need for those sprays?   Craig Macmillan  21:50  Right, right. So there's some stuff coming down the pike here, that's really good. That's really, really great. And thank you and everybody else who's working on this. How big of an economic impact is this for folks?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  22:00  It can be one of the most significant economic diseases in grapes. In 2018, we had a particularly bad year here. And I know some growers who had to drop almost half their crop of Riesling on the ground before the harvesters came through. And so if you think about a three to four ton average crop, that's a few $1,000 an acre that you're losing. So I mean, no diseases are good. But I mean, that's a pretty profound one. And again, as I was saying earlier, the thing that's so hard about it is that you've already put almost all of your work and money into that crop all the way from pruning to spraying and all the handwork and everything. And then in a bad week, to all of a sudden, just as somebody called it go to snark my favorite descriptions of sour rot seems like the perfect word for it. It's just it's a really kind of a, obviously financially, but kind of almost as much emotionally devastating feeling.   Craig Macmillan  22:57  If there's one thing, message piece of advice. One thing that you would tell growers on this topic, what would it be?   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  23:05  I'd say probably the biggest and easiest thing you could do right now, to reduce sour rot is that early leaf pulling, we just know that cluster architecture, it makes a big difference in how much rot develops, you might still get some, but it won't be nearly as profound and prolific as it would be otherwise, we have just as a very quick example of it, we have a hybrid variety here called Vignoles we use in all of our sour rot studies, because if you just say the words and it gets sour Rot. Some work that's been done by some colleagues of mine, and some folks at USDA, they basically come up with, they've created two loose clustered clones of Vignoles and so those clusters, obviously, are much less compact than the kind of the standard one. And the amount of disease that is in those clusters is drastically lower than what's in kind of the standard, the standard clone of Vignoles. It's one of those things that just kind of is really illustrative when you see it and just kind of realize that, you know, again, you can still find a few berries here and there that'll have it but you just won't see this entire two panel stretch that's just kind of wiped out by it or whatever doing that that leaf pulling to kind of open up the clusters, I think is probably the right now the biggest thing you can do.   Craig Macmillan  24:19  Interesting. Well then we're running out of time. I want to thank our guest, Hans Walter-Peterson viticulture extension specialist at the Finger Lakes grape program, part of Cornell Cooperative Extension. fascinating conversation, keep up the good work. I think a lot of people are depending upon you.   Hans C. Walter-Peterson  24:38  We're doing what we can see. It's becoming a bigger and bigger problem with climate change around here. We know we've seen it increasing in recent years. So yeah, it's it's one we'd really like to get our hands around better.   Nearly Perfect Transcription by https://otter.ai

------------------Support the channel------------ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedissenter PayPal: paypal.me/thedissenter PayPal Subscription 3 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ybn6bg9l PayPal Subscription 5 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/ycmr9gpz PayPal Subscription 10 Dollars: https://tinyurl.com/y9r3fc9m   ------------------Follow me on--------------------- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDissenterYT   This show is sponsored by Enlites, Learning & Development done differently. Check the website here: http://enlites.com/   Dr. Sabine Nöbel is a Postdoc at the Martin-Luther University Halle Wittenberg in the group “Animal Ecology“. Her background is in the behavioral ecology of Poeciliids and Drosophila studying non-genetic inheritance of mating preferences using mate-copying, by which females build mating preferences by observing and copying conspecific females' mate-choice. She studies how new, socially learnt mating preferences can invade a population and persist across generations. Dr. Nöbel is the secretary of ESLR (Association of Early-career Social Learning Researchers) Society.   In this episode, we talk about social learning, mate copying, and culture. We start by discussing social learning from an evolutionary perspective. We get into the specific example of mate copying, and how it occurs in Drosophila. We get into the factors that play a role in it; if rejections are also copied; and how choosers can deceive the copiers. We then talk about social learning, culture, conformity, and traditions in non-human animals, and how to understand culture from a biological perspective. We discuss if mate copying can have implications for the study of evolved mate preferences, and sexual selection. Finally, we discuss if by studying culture and cultural transmission in non-human animals can we get new insights into human culture. -- A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY PATRONS/SUPPORTERS: PER HELGE LARSEN, JERRY MULLER, HANS FREDRIK SUNDE, BERNARDO SEIXAS, OLAF ALEX, ADAM KESSEL, MATTHEW WHITINGBIRD, ARNAUD WOLFF, TIM HOLLOSY, HENRIK AHLENIUS, JOHN CONNORS, FILIP FORS CONNOLLY, DAN DEMETRIOU, ROBERT WINDHAGER, RUI INACIO, ZOOP, MARCO NEVES, COLIN HOLBROOK, SIMON COLUMBUS, PHIL KAVANAGH, MIKKEL STORMYR, SAMUEL ANDREEFF, FRANCIS FORDE, TIAGO NUNES, FERGAL CUSSEN, HAL HERZOG, NUNO MACHADO, JONATHAN LEIBRANT, JOÃO LINHARES, STANTON T, SAMUEL CORREA, ERIK HAINES, MARK SMITH, JOÃO EIRA, TOM HUMMEL, SARDUS FRANCE, DAVID SLOAN WILSON, YACILA DEZA-ARAUJO, ROMAIN ROCH, DIEGO LONDOÑO CORREA, YANICK PUNTER, ADANER USMANI, CHARLOTTE BLEASE, NICOLE BARBARO, ADAM HUNT, PAWEL OSTASZEWSKI, NELLEKE BAK, GUY MADISON, GARY G HELLMANN, SAIMA AFZAL, ADRIAN JAEGGI, PAULO TOLENTINO, JOÃO BARBOSA, JULIAN PRICE, EDWARD HALL, HEDIN BRØNNER, DOUGLAS FRY, FRANCA BORTOLOTTI, GABRIEL PONS CORTÈS, URSULA LITZCKE, SCOTT, ZACHARY FISH, TIM DUFFY, SUNNY SMITH, JON WISMAN, DANIEL FRIEDMAN, WILLIAM BUCKNER, PAUL-GEORGE ARNAUD, LUKE GLOWACKI, GEORGIOS THEOPHANOUS, CHRIS WILLIAMSON, PETER WOLOSZYN, DAVID WILLIAMS, DIOGO COSTA, ANTON ERIKSSON, CHARLES MOREY, ALEX CHAU, AMAURI MARTÍNEZ, CORALIE CHEVALLIER, BANGALORE ATHEISTS, LARRY D. LEE JR., OLD HERRINGBONE, STARRY, MICHAEL BAILEY, DAN SPERBER, ROBERT GRESSIS, IGOR N, JEFF MCMAHAN, JAKE ZUEHL, BARNABAS RADICS, MARK CAMPBELL, TOMAS DAUBNER, LUKE NISSEN, CHRIS STORY, KIMBERLY JOHNSON, BENJAMIN GELBART, JESSICA NOWICKI, LINDA BRANDIN, NIKLAS CARLSSON, ISMAËL BENSLIMANE, GEORGE CHORIATIS, VALENTIN STEINMANN, PER KRAULIS, KATE VON GOELER, ALEXANDER HUBBARD, LIAM DUNAWAY, BR, MASOUD ALIMOHAMMADI, PURPENDICULAR, JONAS HERTNER, URSULA GOODENOUGH, GREGORY HASTINGS, AND DAVID PINSOF! A SPECIAL THANKS TO MY PRODUCERS, YZAR WEHBE, JIM FRANK, ŁUKASZ STAFINIAK, TOM VANEGDOM, BERNARD HUGUENEY, CURTIS DIXON, BENEDIKT MUELLER, THOMAS TRUMBLE, KATHRINE AND PATRICK TOBIN, JONCARLO MONTENEGRO, AL NICK ORTIZ, NICK GOLDEN, AND ROSEY! AND TO MY EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS, MATTHEW LAVENDER, SERGIU CODREANU, AND BOGDAN KANIVETS!

Dr Erica McAlister uncovers a treasure trove of remarkable insights from the insect world including the innocuous flies that are Drosophila melanogaster. More is known about these flies than any other animal on the planet, as a model for human genetics. And the hoverfly that arguably undergoes the biggest transformation of any animal and how insect metamorphosis could be a tool to track future climate change.

In this episode:00:49 The search for animals' magnetic sense sufferers a potential setbackExactly how animals sense Earth's magnetic field has long eluded researchers. To understand it, many have turned to the fly model Drosophila melanogaster, long thought to be able to detect magnetic fields. However, a recent Nature paper has raised questions about this ability, a finding that could have repercussions for scientists' efforts to understand the mechanism behind magnetic sensing, one of the biggest questions in sensory biology.Research article: Bassetto et al.News & Views: Replication study casts doubt on magnetic sensing in flies10:53 Research HighlightsThe world's first filter feeder, and human-caused climate change in the Bronze Age.Research Highlight: This ancient reptile wanted to be a whaleResearch Highlight: Bronze Age deforestation changed Europe's climate13:03 An iconic observatory shuts downThis week the famed Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico shut down. The facility's main telescope collapsed in 2020 and the site has since been battered by storms and pandemic-related shutdowns. Now, with funding exhausted and no clear plan in place, scientists are wondering what will become of the site.Nature News: Closing down an icon: will Arecibo Observatory ever do science again?20:28 Briefing ChatThis time, the Standard Model of physics still isn't dead according to new measurements of muons' magnetic moment, and finding the most diverse habitat on Earth under your feet.Nature News: Dreams of new physics fade with latest muon magnetism resultThe Guardian: More than half of Earth's species live in the soil, study findsSubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Un estudio, publicado en la revista PLOS biology, dirigido por el Dr. Scott D. Pletcher de la Universidad de Michigan, profundiza sobre los mecanismos moleculares y fisiológicos que podrían esclarecer una observación realizada por el mismo equipo de investigación en 2019. En aquel estudio, los investigadores observaron que exponer a las moscas del vinagre, las famosas moscas de laboratorio Drosophila melanogaster, a la proximidad de sus congéneres muertos, resultaba en un comportamiento aversivo hacia otras moscas, vivas en esta ocasión, y a una disminución de su longevidad. Por lo visto, confrontar de cerca a la muerte acorta la vida, al menos la vida de las moscas. Los investigadores concluyen que las moscas tienen de algún modo cierta conciencia de la muerte de sus congéneres, y esta ejerce efectos que podemos calificar, sin exagerar, de dramáticos, o incluso trágicos, sobre su vida, que se ve acortada. La pregunta más importante es: ¿qué utilidad tiene este efecto para la supervivencia de las especies?

Un estudio, publicado en la revista PLOS biology, dirigido por el Dr. Scott D. Pletcher de la Universidad de Michigan, profundiza sobre los mecanismos moleculares y fisiológicos que podrían esclarecer una observación realizada por el mismo equipo de investigación en 2019. En aquel estudio, los investigadores observaron que exponer a las moscas del vinagre, las famosas moscas de laboratorio Drosophila melanogaster, a la proximidad de sus congéneres muertos, resultaba en un comportamiento aversivo hacia otras moscas, vivas en esta ocasión, y a una disminución de su longevidad. Por lo visto, confrontar de cerca a la muerte acorta la vida, al menos la vida de las moscas. Los investigadores concluyen que las moscas tienen de algún modo cierta conciencia de la muerte de sus congéneres, y esta ejerce efectos que podemos calificar, sin exagerar, de dramáticos, o incluso trágicos, sobre su vida, que se ve acortada. La pregunta más importante es: ¿qué utilidad tiene este efecto para la supervivencia de las especies?

In this episode of the Epigenetics Podcast, we caught up with Claudia Keller Valsecchi from the Institute for Molecular Biology in Mainz to talk about her work on gene dosage alterations in evolution and ageing. Claudia Keller-Valsecchi's team focuses on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of how cellular function in eukaryotes is influenced by gene copy number variation. Recent findings indicate that precise MSL2-mediated gene dosage is highly relevant for organismal development. Since 2020 Claudia Keller-Valsecchi runs her own lab at the IMB in Mainz, Germany, where she tries to understand from a molecular mechanistic point of view how gene dosage compensation works, with projects in mosquitoes and in Artemia franciscanagene, as well as dosage regulation in the mammalian system regarding development and disease.   References Keller, C., Adaixo, R., Stunnenberg, R., Woolcock, K. J., Hiller, S., & Bühler, M. (2012). HP1Swi6 Mediates the Recognition and Destruction of Heterochromatic RNA Transcripts. Molecular Cell, 47(2), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2012.05.009 Valsecchi, C.I.K., Basilicata, M.F., Georgiev, P. et al. RNA nucleation by MSL2 induces selective X chromosome compartmentalization. Nature 589, 137–142 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2935-z Keller Valsecchi, C. I., Marois, E., Basilicata, M. F., Georgiev, P., & Akhtar, A. (2021). Distinct mechanisms mediate X chromosome dosage compensation in Anopheles and Drosophila. Life Science Alliance, 4(9), e202000996. https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202000996   Related Episodes Epigenetics and X-Inactivation (Edith Heard) Dosage Compensation in Drosophila (Asifa Akhtar)   Contact Epigenetics Podcast on Twitter Epigenetics Podcast on Instagram Epigenetics Podcast on Mastodon Active Motif on Twitter Active Motif on LinkedIn Email: podcast@activemotif.com

The use of model organisms in science dates to ancient Greece and represents an important way humans have progressed our collective understanding of biology and disease. We've probably all heard of using mice, rats, or even Drosophila melanogaster (i.e., fruit flies) in the lab, but zebrafish have surged in their use as a model organism. Zebrafish are small, more cost effective to maintain, have a fast generational lifecycle, and have clear embryos that enable direct observation of their development. As is the case with any model system used across the globe, standards matter and help make results transferrable to other studies.  This is where our guests come into the picture.  For this unique episode we're joined by both Corbin Schuster and Zoltan Varga of Zebrafish International Resource Center (ZIRC) at the University of Oregon. In their roles, they help raise and maintain over 12,000 genetically unique zebrafish lines for use in studies across the globe.  We learn about the health monitoring they conduct on a regular basis to maintain their colony and support their own and partner studies using their zebrafish.  The conversation touches on: Environmental DNA (eDNA) methods they employ Assay development and method selection based on their need for sensitivity and specificity The use of qPCR and dPCR in their work Studies and monitoring of parasites and pathogens that affect their colony How zebrafish have helped shift research from forward genetic studies to reverse genetic studies As always, you'll also get to know our guests on a more personal level. We learn about how they each got into this line of work, what they love about it, and how they both value human relationships and helping their communities. Through the audio alone you'll get a sense of the positive, kind, and collaborative attitudes that have helped them both be successful in their careers.  Visit the Absolute Gene-ius page to learn more about the guests, the hosts, and the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Absolute Q Digital PCR System.

Today we discuss how infants beat out AI when it comes to common sense, how fruit flies' use of magnetoreceptors can teach about humans, and what depression has to do with your posture. Infant Common Sense “Commonsense psychology in human infants and machines” by Gala Stojnić et al.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027723000409“Infants Outperform AI in “Commonsense Psychology”” by James Devitthttps://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2023/february/infants-outperform-ai-in--commonsense-psychology-.html“Careers Up Close: Moira R. Dillon on Infants and Children, Humanlike AI, and Commonsense Psychology” by Moira R. Dillonhttps://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/careers-up-close-moira-dillon“AI-powered Bing Chat spills its secrets via prompt injection attack [Updated]” by BENJ EDWARDShttps://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/02/ai-powered-bing-chat-spills-its-secrets-via-prompt-injection-attack/Magnetoreception “Animals' 'sixth sense' is more widespread than previously thought” by University of Manchesterhttps://phys.org/news/2023-02-animals-sixth-widespread-previously-thought.html“Essential elements of radical pair magnetosensitivity in Drosophila” by Adam A. Bradlaughhttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05735-z“Magnetism in Animals” by Apex Magnetshttps://www.apexmagnets.com/news-how-tos/magnetism-in-animals/#:~:text=Animals%20known%20to%20have%20magnetoreception,conditions%20of%20the%20magnetic%20field.Depression Posture “A New Bodily Approach for Treating Anxiety and Depression” by Vanessa Lancasterhttps://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-a-new-home/202301/a-new-bodily-approach-for-treating-anxiety-and-depression“Motor alterations in depression and anxiety disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis” by Emma Elkjær et al.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36037990/“How can emotions be both cognitive and bodily?” by Michelle Maiesehttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11097-014-9373-z“Evolution and function of multimodal courtship displays” by Clémentine Mitoyen, Cliodhna Quigley, and Leonida Fusanihttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/eth.12882Follow Curiosity Daily on your favorite podcast app to get smarter with Calli and Nate — for free! Still curious? Get exclusive science shows, nature documentaries, and more real-life entertainment on discovery+! Go to https://discoveryplus.com/curiosity to start your 7-day free trial. discovery+ is currently only available for US subscribers.Find episode transcripts here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/infant-common-sense-magnetoreception-depression-posture

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with Joseph Graves Jr. about his life experiences and research in evolutionary biology. They talk about why he wrote his most recent book as half memoir/half popular science book, his early beginnings in the Jim Crow South, and how he became interested in the biological sciences. They talk about his work on Drosophila and broader research areas in evolutionary biology, his work on race and IQ, and many other topics.Joseph Graves Jr. is an evolutionary biologist and Professor of Nanoengineering at North Carolina A&T State University. He has his BA in Biology from Oberlin College and his PhD from Wayne State University. He has studied the evolutionary theory of aging and race and IQ. He is the author of the most recent book, Voice In The Wilderness. You can find his work here. Twitter: @gravesjl55 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit convergingdialogues.substack.com

Scientists Found The Biggest Known Plant On Earth This week, an underwater seagrass meadow claimed the title for the world's largest plant. This organism sprawls across 77 square miles of shallow ocean and has survived 4,500 years. To accomplish this, it kept cloning itself and created identical offshoots to spread along the sand. The ocean has changed wildly over the last 4,500 years, yet this plant has survived. Researchers believe that cloning itself may have helped the plant adapt to a changing ocean, offering hope that seagrass meadows may be more resilient than expected in the face of climate change. Sophie Bushwick, a technology editor at Scientific American, joins Ira to talk about how this mighty meadow persisted for millennia and what it tells scientists about climate change. Sophie and Ira also discuss other stories from this week in science, including what countries are most responsible for fueling the extinction of wildlife, what a well-preserved fossil tell us about the sex lives of ancient trilobites, why male mice are terrified of bananas, the creation of a flea-sized robot that walks like a crab, and how scientists developed an algorithm to pinpoint the whereabouts of unknown asteroids.   Building A Better Battery… Using Plastic? The lithium-ion battery in your cell phone, laptop, or electric car is a crucial component of the modern world. These batteries can charge quickly, and pack a lot of power into a small space. But they're also expensive, require mining scarce lithium, and need to be handled carefully. Other battery technologies have issues as well. For example, the heavy lead-acid battery that starts your car is quite reliable—but lead has its own environmental and health costs. That's why PolyJoule, a startup company based near Boston, is trying to create a new kind of battery, somewhere on the performance curve between those old lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion cells. Their technology relies not on a metal, but on polymer plastics. Read more at sciencefriday.com.   Bug Off: Why Mosquitoes Have An Annoyingly Amazing Sense Of Smell Mosquitoes use their sense of smell to find their next meal: us. So what would happen if you tweaked their smell so that humans smell really gross to them? That's what Dr. Chris Potter and his lab recently tried to do—they changed the neurons responsible for the insect's smell detection, so that in the presence of animal odors, their olfactory systems would be overwhelmed. Instead of smelling like a nice meal, mosquitoes would be repelled by the scent of humans, like if you were stuck in a small room with someone wearing too much cologne. This method worked in Drosophila, the common fruit fly, so Potter and his team were hopeful that would also be the case for mosquitoes. Instead, the experiment didn't go as planned. Because finding a blood meal is so important for mosquitoes, those little buggers evolved backups for their backup receptors. When Potter turned one pathway off, another one kicked in. Ira talks with Dr. Chris Potter, an associate professor of neuroscience in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, based in Baltimore, Maryland, about his findings, and why we can never quite get mosquitoes to bug off.   So You Think You Know About Sex When it comes to sex, there's really no such thing as normal. What was once considered taboo, sometimes goes mainstream. And some things considered new have been around as long as sex itself, like birth control, abortion, and sexually transmitted infections. All that and more is contained in the new book, Been There, Done That: A Rousing History of Sex, by Rachel Feltman, executive editor of Popular Science, based in New York City. Radio producer Shoshannah Buxbaum talks with author Rachel Feltman about queer animals, crocodile dung contraception, ancient STIs, what led to the United States' original abortion ban, and more.   Processing Postpartum With AI And Synthetic Breast Milk Art One of Ani Liu's strengths as an artist is her ability to process emotion through different scientific mediums: machine learning, chemistry, 3D-printing. The result is often visceral: she's used organic chemistry to concoct perfumes that smell like people emotionally close to her and engineered a device that enables the wearer to control the direction of swimming sperm with their mind. And at her new exhibition—next to a 3D-printed sculpture of a pig's uterus—lies 328 feet of clear tubing with a milky-white substance pumped through it, a commentary on pumping breast milk as a new parent. “I wanted to use my own breast milk, but it wouldn't be stable for the duration of the show,” she said. Liu became a parent shortly before the pandemic, and she channeled that experience into a new show called “Ecologies of Care,” to process her postpartum period and the communities in her life that helped her through that time. “I hope that this can allow new parents to bond and maybe feel less lonely,” she said. “In making it, I was questioning how do we create better communities of care? I made all of this work before the formula shortage, before our reproductive rights were even more under threat. When I look at this, I'm hoping that you see this particular slice of love and labor.”   Transcripts for each segment will be available the week after the show airs on sciencefriday.com.  

Biological organisms are pretty good at healing themselves, but their abilities fall short in crucial ways. Planaria can be cut into pieces, and each piece will regrow into an entire organism; but for most advanced animals, loss of a limb becomes a permanent condition. But why should that necessarily be so, if an organism's genome knows what it's supposed to look like? Lea Goentoro's lab has recently produced surprising results that indicate that it's easier than you might think to coax animals into regenerating limbs.Support Mindscape on Patreon.Lea Goentoro received her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Princeton University. She is currently Professor of Biology at Caltech. Her research involves how biological systems function and develop across a variety of scales, including perception, organization, and self-repair.Lab web pageCaltech web pageGoogle Scholar publications“A conserved strategy for inducing appendage regeneration in moon jellyfish, Drosophila, and mice“See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.