Functional Annotation of All Salmonid Genomes (FAASG): an international initiative supporting future salmonid research, conservation and aquaculture.

We describe an emerging initiative - the 'Functional Annotation of All Salmonid Genomes' (FAASG), which will leverage the extensive trait diversity that has evolved since a whole genome duplication event in the salmonid ancestor, to develop an integrative understanding of the functional genomic basis of phenotypic variation. The outcomes of FAASG will have diverse applications, ranging from improved understanding of genome evolution, to improving the efficiency and sustainability of aquaculture production, supporting the future of fundamental and applied research in an iconic fish lineage of major societal importance.

Synthetic biology, the bioeconomy, and a societal quandary.

Opinions on what synthetic biology actually is range from a natural extension of genetic engineering to a new manufacturing paradigm. It offers, for the first time in the life sciences, rational design and engineering standardisation. It could address problems across a broad spectrum of human concerns, including energy and food security, and health of growing and aging populations. It also offers great scope for public resistance to its introduction to daily life.

Policy to support marine biotechnology-based solutions to global challenges.

Recent advances in science and technology are igniting new interest in marine biotechnology. Governments are recognizing the potential of marine biotechnology to provide solutions to grand global challenges of population health, food, and energy security and sustainable industry. This paper examines some of the challenges to and policy options for the development of marine biotechnology.

Biobased chemicals: the convergence of green chemistry with industrial biotechnology.

Policy issues around biobased chemicals are similar to those for biobased plastics. However, there are significant differences that arise from differences in production volumes and the more specific applications of most chemicals. The drivers for biobased chemicals production are similar to those for biobased plastics, particularly the environmental drivers. However, in Europe, biobased chemical production is further driven by the need to improve the competitiveness of the chemicals industry.

Biofuels development and the policy regime.

Any major change to the energy order is certain to provoke both positive and negative societal responses. The current wave of biofuels development ignited controversies that have re-shaped the thinking about their future development. Mistakes were made in the early support for road transport biofuels in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. This article examines some of the policies that shaped the early development of biofuels and looks to the future.

Bioplastics science from a policy vantage point.

Society is fundamentally ambivalent to the use of plastics. On the one hand, plastics are uniquely flexible materials that have seen them occupy a huge range of functions, from simple packing materials to complex engineering components. On the other hand, their durability has raised concerns about their end-of-life disposal. When that disposal route is landfill, their invulnerability to microbial decomposition, combined with relatively low density and high bulk, means that plastics will occupy increasing amounts of landfill space in a world where available suitable landfill sites is shrinking. The search for biodegradable plastics and their introduction to the marketplace would appear to be a suitable amelioration strategy for such a problem. And yet the uptake of biodegradable plastics has been slow. The term biodegradable itself has entered public controversy, with accidental and intended misuse of the term; the intended misuse has led to accusations and instances of 'greenwashing'. For this and other reasons standards for biodegradability and compostability testing of plastics have been sought. An environmental dilemma with more far-reaching implications is climate change. The need for rapid and deep greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cuts is one of the drivers for the resurgence of industrial biotechnology generally, and the search for bio-based plastics more specifically. Bio-based has come to mean plastics based on renewable resources, but this need not necessarily imply biodegradability. If the primary purpose is GHG emissions savings, then once again plastics durability can be a virtue, if the end-of-life solution can be energy recovery during incineration or recycling. The pattern of production is shifting from the true biodegradable plastics to the bio-based plastics, and that trend is likely to persist into the future. This paper looks at aspects of the science of biodegradable and bio-based plastics from the perspective of policy advisers and makers. It is often said that the bioplastics suffer from a lack of a favourable policy regime when compared to the wide-ranging set of policy instruments that are available on both the supply and demand side of biofuels production. Some possible policy measures are discussed.

Identification and characterisation of the genomic segment 7 of the infectious salmon anaemia virus genome.

The isolation and characterisation of a gene encoding the putative matrix proteins of infectious salmon anaemia virus (ISAV) is reported. Following identification of an ISAV-specific sequence from a cDNA library, RACE-PCR was used to identify a mRNA transcript of approximately 1.2 kb containing the ISAV consensus sequence GCTAAGA at the 5' end. Although the cDNA transcript and its putative protein product did not possess high homology with other orthomyxoviral sequences, similarity to a paramyxovirus fusion glycoprotein and viral cell surface proteins was identified. The size of this transcript suggested that it was derived from segment 7 of the ISAV genome and encoded the matrix proteins. Like syntenic segments of other orthomyxoviruses, this segment was shown to encode at least two matrix proteins, M1 and M2. The existence of M1 and M2 ISAV mRNA was demonstrated by RT-PCR and sequencing, with the M1 transcript being more abundant than the M2 in infected cell cultures, as is found in other orthomyxoviruses. Nucleotide sequence comparison of segment 7 of the ISAV genome from isolates of different geographic origin indicated it to be the one of the most variable of the ISAV genes characterised to date.