Given the complexity of agricultural problems, it is essential to develop acceptable solutions for various stakeholders with diverse knowledge, viewpoints, and preferences. However, European public opinion has become highly polarized, making constructive discussions on these issues difficult. We present the results of the narrative analysis of media debate on new genomic techniques. The study identified two primary narrative groups: 'precaution-focused' and 'innovation-focused.' The former emphasizes caution, potential risks, and the need for stringent regulation, while the latter highlights benefits, progress, and the promise of genome editing for sustainable agricultural practices. Within each group of narratives, several distinct narratives were identified. The research has revealed that despite the high polarization, the narratives shared important values and beliefs. Going beyond the dividing narratives and concentrating on common values can depolarize the debate and set the stage for new narratives, enabling constructive debate, concentrating on solving problems, and maximizing collective outcomes.

In this study, icariside II was prepared from icariin by a special enzyme. The yield of the substrate icariin from a powdered extract of the popular herb was 16.9%. The enzyme, which was produced from sp.y48 fermentation, hydrolyzes icariin to icariside II and was characterized. The molecular weight was 75 kDa, while the optimum temperature and pH were 45C and 5.0. The purified enzyme hydrolyzed the 7-O-glucoside of icariin or epimedin A, B, and C to icariside II, or sagittatoside A, B, and C, respectively, and further hydrolyzed the terminal 3-Oxyloside of sagittatoside B to icariside II. The enzyme is a special icariin glycosidase that hydrolyzed icariin to icariside II at low cost. Based on the crude enzyme's reaction dynamics, the optimal conditions for icariside II preparation showed that 2% icariin reacted at 45C for 6 to 9 h. Here, we obtained 13.3 g icariside II and 0.45 g of the by-product icaritin from 20 g icariin. The icariside II molar yield was 87.4%, the by-product icaritin yield was 4.1%, and the total molar yield was 91.5%. Therefore, icariside II was resoundingly prepared from an icariin glycosidase of an Epimedium extract using a non-GMO, crude enzyme from sp.y48. The obtained icariside II and the byproduct icaritin can be directly applied in the production of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Drilling fluids must reduce the coefficient of friction between the drilling equipment and the drilled rock or well casing. Friction forces become particularly relevant in drilling with a high angle gain, in which cases oil-based fluids are generally used. The latter are highly lubricating, but harmful to the environment. For environmental and economic reasons, there is great interest in the development of new additives that enable the use of water-based drilling fluids in all phases of well drilling. Preliminary experimental results show that there is a synergistic effect between glyceryl monooleate (GMO), normally used as lubricant additive, and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), a polysaccharide normally used in water-based drilling fluids as a rheological modifier, resulting in extremely low friction coefficients. This work aimed to clarify, through theoretical calculations, the interaction between CMC and GMO, as well as their role in reducing the coefficient of friction between the drilling equipment and the drilled rock when added to water-based fluids.

The protein crops known as lupins have been bred to accumulate low levels of antinutritional alkaloids, neglecting their potential as sources of valuable metabolites. Here, we engineered narrow-leafed lupin (NLL) to accumulate large amounts of a single alkaloid of industrial interest called (-)-sparteine. While (-)-sparteine is recognized as a key auxiliary molecule in chiral synthesis, its variable price and limited availability have prevented its large-scale use. We identified two enzymes that initiate the conversion of (-)-sparteine to a variety of alkaloids accumulating in NLL. The first one is a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase belonging to family 71 (CYP71D189), and the second one is a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR1). We screened a non-GMO NLL mutant library and isolated a knockout in CYP71D189. The knockout displayed an altered metabolic profile where (-)-sparteine accounted for 96% of the alkaloid content in the seeds (GC-MS basis). The (-)-sparteine isolated from the mutant seeds was enantiomerically pure (99% enantiomeric excess). Apart from the altered alkaloid profile, the mutant did not have any noticeable phenotype. Our work demonstrates that (-)-sparteine is the precursor of most QAs in NLL and expands the current uses of NLL as a crop.

Genetically modified strain MXY0541 was developed to produce soy leghemoglobin by introducing the coding sequence encoding leghemoglobin from soybean (). The molecular characterisation data and bioinformatic analyses do not raise any safety concerns. The safety of soy leghemoglobin as a food additive has already been assessed by the EFSA FAF Panel (EFSA-Q-2022-00031). The GMO Panel does not identify safety concerns regarding the toxicity and allergenicity of soy leghemoglobin protein as expressed in , and finds no evidence that the genetic modification would change its overall allergenicity. The GMO Panel concludes that the LegH Prep derived from genetically modified strain MXY0541 is safe for human consumption with regard to the effects of the genetic modification. No environmental impact from the use of this product is expected regarding the recombinant DNA sequences possibly remaining in the product. The GMO Panel concludes that LegH Prep from genetically modified strain MXY0541 is safe with respect to potential effects on human health and the environment at the proposed use and use level as far as the impact of the genetic modification is concerned. The overall conclusion is that the genetic modification does not lead to safety issues.

In vitro models for drug testing constitute a valuable and simplified in-vivo-like assay to better comprehend the biological drugs effect. In particular, the combination of neuronal cultures with Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs) constitutes a reliable system to investigate the effect of drugs aimed at manipulating the neural activity and causing controlled changes in the electrophysiology. While chemical modulation in rodents' models has been extensively studied in the literature, electrophysiological variations caused by chemical modulation on neuronal networks derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) still lack a thorough characterization.

Under current EU legislation, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and derived food and feed products must be authorized as GM food, feed, or seed and appropriate detection methods must be made available for use in official controls. A Real-Time PCR method has recently been published by Chhalliyil et al. claiming to be specific for the detection and identification of genome-edited oilseed rape (OSR) lines commercialized in North America. In a previous study, we have independently assessed this method in three reference laboratories for sensitivity, specificity, and robustness. We found that the method does not meet all the minimum performance requirements (MPR) for GMO testing in the EU, which contradicts the claims of the method developer. Here we show, in addition to the previously published method assessment study that a modified DNA extraction is not the reason for the contradictory findings and does not affect the specificity of the method. We also discuss the procedures recently proposed by the method developers for interpreting PCR results with high Cq values.

Genetically modified maize DP51291 was developed to confer control against susceptible corn rootworm pests and tolerance to glufosinate-containing herbicide; these properties were achieved by introducing the and expression cassettes. The molecular characterisation data and bioinformatic analyses do not identify issues requiring food/feed safety assessment. None of the identified differences in the agronomic/phenotypic and compositional characteristics tested between maize DP51291 and its conventional counterpart needs further assessment, except for phosphorus in forage and manganese, proline, oleic acid (C18:1) and linoleic acid (C18:2) in grain, which do not raise safety and nutritional concerns. The GMO Panel does not identify safety concerns regarding the toxicity and allergenicity of the IPD072Aa, PAT and PMI proteins as expressed in maize DP51291 and finds no evidence that the genetic modification would change the overall allergenicity of maize DP51291. In the context of this application, the consumption of food and feed from maize DP51291 does not represent a nutritional concern in humans and animals. The GMO Panel concludes that maize DP51291 is as safe as its conventional counterpart and non-GM maize varieties tested, and no post-market monitoring of food/feed is considered necessary. In the case of accidental release of viable maize DP51291 grains into the environment, this would not raise environmental safety concerns. The post-market environmental monitoring plan and reporting intervals are in line with the intended uses of maize DP51291. The GMO Panel concludes that maize DP51291 is as safe as its conventional counterpart and the tested non-GM maize varieties with respect to potential effects on human and animal health and the environment.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurs after liver transplantation (LT) in ~17% of patients. We aimed to retrospectively compare the outcomes of patients treated with different tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) for recurrent HCC post-LT.

In the context of pathogen surveillance, it is crucial to ensure interoperability and harmonized data. Several surveillance systems are designed to compare bacteria and identify outbreak clusters based on core genome MultiLocus Sequence Typing (cgMLST). Among the different approaches available to generate bacterial cgMLST, our research used an assembly-based approach (chewBBACA tool).