71 new parasitoid wasp species discovered from Southeast Asia

Public release date: 23-Apr-2013
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Contact: Roger A. Burks
burks.roger@gmail.com
951-708-6965
Pensoft Publishers

A new study greatly expands knowledge of the wasp genus Oxyscelio. A total of 90 species are recognized from the Indo-Malayan and Palearctic realms of Asia, 71 of which are described here as new species. A total of 438 photographs are included to aid in specimen identification, all exported to and available for the public from EOL. Newly discovered species are described from a range of countries including Brunei, China, Christmas Island, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, while previous knowledge of the genus was confined only to The Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Australia. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys.

Oxyscelio was first recognized as a distinct taxon in 1907, from a specimen collected in Java, Indonesia. The genus belongs to a wasp family that is represented mainly by parasitoid species. These are organisms that exhibit in essence parasitic behaviour, but unlike normal parasites they go further in sterilizing or killing the host, and sometimes even consuming it. The wasps from the Oxyscelio group presumably parasitise on the eggs of another insect. Previous researchers Jean Jacqus Kieffer and Alan P. Dodd continued to describe new species until 1931. Oxyscelio received almost no attention from that time until 1976, when Lubomr Masner, one of the authors of this study, published revisionary notes for genera of the then-recognized family Scelionidae. This resulted in a total of 19 species known from Asia.

Extensive specimen collecting in the following decades revealed that the actual number of species of Oxyscelio was much greater than previously recognized. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated Planetary Biodiversity Inventories (PBIs) to facilitate description of species that were known to a handful of scientific specialists but not yet officially published. Part of that initiative enabled the current study, which resulted from examination of thousands of preserved Oxyscelio specimens that had been housed in natural history collections around the world. This resulted in a more than fourfold increase in the number of species of Oxyscelio that are officially described from Asia.

Previously described species were examined to ensure that newly described species were distinct from them. This required the rediscovery of several species that had not been seen in a century or more, including the first described species of Oxyscelio, which had not been seen since its discovery in 1907. New technology enabled better examination of the morphology of these species, which had not even been photographed until the publication of this study.

###

Original source:

Systematics of the parasitic wasp genus Oxyscelio Kieffer (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae s.l.), Part I: Indo-Malayan and Palearctic fauna. ZooKeys 292: 1-263. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.292.3867

Additional information:

Funding organizations: National Science Foundation, Australian Biological Resources Study

Licensing

This press release is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. It is expected to link back to the original article.

Posted by Pensoft Publishers.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 23-Apr-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Roger A. Burks
burks.roger@gmail.com
951-708-6965
Pensoft Publishers

A new study greatly expands knowledge of the wasp genus Oxyscelio. A total of 90 species are recognized from the Indo-Malayan and Palearctic realms of Asia, 71 of which are described here as new species. A total of 438 photographs are included to aid in specimen identification, all exported to and available for the public from EOL. Newly discovered species are described from a range of countries including Brunei, China, Christmas Island, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam, while previous knowledge of the genus was confined only to The Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Australia. The study was published in the open access journal Zookeys.

Oxyscelio was first recognized as a distinct taxon in 1907, from a specimen collected in Java, Indonesia. The genus belongs to a wasp family that is represented mainly by parasitoid species. These are organisms that exhibit in essence parasitic behaviour, but unlike normal parasites they go further in sterilizing or killing the host, and sometimes even consuming it. The wasps from the Oxyscelio group presumably parasitise on the eggs of another insect. Previous researchers Jean Jacqus Kieffer and Alan P. Dodd continued to describe new species until 1931. Oxyscelio received almost no attention from that time until 1976, when Lubomr Masner, one of the authors of this study, published revisionary notes for genera of the then-recognized family Scelionidae. This resulted in a total of 19 species known from Asia.

Extensive specimen collecting in the following decades revealed that the actual number of species of Oxyscelio was much greater than previously recognized. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated Planetary Biodiversity Inventories (PBIs) to facilitate description of species that were known to a handful of scientific specialists but not yet officially published. Part of that initiative enabled the current study, which resulted from examination of thousands of preserved Oxyscelio specimens that had been housed in natural history collections around the world. This resulted in a more than fourfold increase in the number of species of Oxyscelio that are officially described from Asia.

Previously described species were examined to ensure that newly described species were distinct from them. This required the rediscovery of several species that had not been seen in a century or more, including the first described species of Oxyscelio, which had not been seen since its discovery in 1907. New technology enabled better examination of the morphology of these species, which had not even been photographed until the publication of this study.

###

Original source:

Systematics of the parasitic wasp genus Oxyscelio Kieffer (Hymenoptera, Platygastridae s.l.), Part I: Indo-Malayan and Palearctic fauna. ZooKeys 292: 1-263. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.292.3867

Additional information:

Funding organizations: National Science Foundation, Australian Biological Resources Study

Licensing

This press release is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. It is expected to link back to the original article.

Posted by Pensoft Publishers.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-04/pp-7np042313.php

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How to Make Money on Your Lunch Break

How do you spend your lunch break? Taking a turn round the park? Checking Facebook? Catching up on the work you should've done in the morning? All of these options have their place, but here's something else you can be doing: Making money. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/ApdTB3jPRlQ/how-to-make-money-on-your-lunch-break

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Film Review: Lessons In Forgetting | Mumbai Boss

Director: Unni Vijayan
Cast: Adil Hussain, Roshni Achreja, Maya Tideman, Raghav Chanana
Rating: ?????

The first person that comes to mind on seeing Smriti Krishnamurthy?s body being washed by waves on the beach is Scarlett Keeling, the 15-year-old British tourist who was drugged, raped, beaten and left to die on a beach in Goa in February 2008. While Keeling?s death drew attention to Goa?s seamy underbelly of drug peddlers and dodgy tour guides, the teenaged character in Unni Vijayan?s National Award-winning English film landed on the beach of Minjikapuram after she investigated the practice of female infanticide in the small town in Tamil Nadu.

Solving the mystery surrounding Smriti?s (Maya Tideman) condition becomes a mission for her father J. A. Krishnamurthy aka Jak (Adil Hussain). Krishnamurthy, an academic who moved to Bangalore from the US,?interviews his daughter?s friends one by one. The picture that emerges is of a wilful girl, who unwittingly seduces?and confuses?a lot of boys by her free spirit and liberal style of dressing. Eventually her determination and desire to do good lands her in trouble with the Minjikapuram mafia.

Vijayan?s film, which is based on the eponymous novel by Anita Nair, is as much about infanticide as it is about the relationship between parents and children. Jak, a package of quiet strength and vulnerability well-played as usual by Hussain, discovers his daughter anew in the course of his investigation suggesting that parents are often clueless about their kids. A parallel story involves Jak?s assistant Meera (Roshni Achreja), who has recently been abandoned by her husband. While her son seems sympathetic, her daughter blames her for his actions.

Ultimately however the film leaves you unsatisfied. Meera has little to do with Jak?s story. Her husband?s disappearance is never explained and she doesn?t come across as someone particularly hurt by his loss. She only serves to set the stage for Rishi (Raghav Chanana), a model/actor who figures in both their lives. Consequently her story ends up diffusing Jak?s. The film is also let down by the supporting cast, which, with the exception of Uttara Baokar as Jak?s aunt, puts up a performance more suited to the amateur stage.

Lessons In Forgetting will be screened at PVR Cinemas across the city from Friday, April 19. For details, see here.

Tags: Adil Hussain, Anita Nair, Film, film review, film reviews, Lessons in Forgetting, Maya Tideman, movie reviews, movies, PVR Director's Rare, Raghav Chanana, Roshni Achreja, Unni Vijayan, Uttara Baokar

Source: http://mumbaiboss.com/2013/04/19/film-review-lessons-in-forgetting/

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'Real Housewives of New Jersey' Season 5 promo: The family tree is ...

Season 5 of "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" is only a few months away (premiering June 2 at 8 p.m. ET) and, if this first promo is any indication, the family drama is only growing.

The trailer, released on Friday (April 19) by Bravo, finds Garden State beauties Melissa Gorga, Jacqueline Laurita and Kathy Wakile pretending to plant a tree and watch it grow, before Teresa Giudice can carve her and husband Joe's initials into the full-grown plant while no-nonsense Caroline Manzo looks on disapprovingly.

"Family is a force of nature," the tagline reads, while a bolt of lightning strikes the tree, spitting it in half.

The trailer marks the second series in the franchise to receive a big-budget trailer for a new season, something the network began with Season 3 of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" last fall.

Be sure to watch the full trailer above. Is it June yet?

Photo/Video credit: Bravo

Source: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2013/04/real-housewives-of-new-jersey-season-5-promo-the-family-tree-is-coming-down.html

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Amid investigation, coal exports at record levels

DECKER, Mont. (AP) ? From the time coal is scooped from the depths of the Spring Creek strip mine in Montana's wide-open Powder River Basin until it travels more than 6,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean to power plants in South Korea, the price can increase more than fivefold.

Mining companies, however, are only paying government royalties on the price of the coal when it is mined from federal lands, not when it is sold for more overseas, saving them millions of dollars in the process.

As the Interior Department investigates the industry's export practices and considers a new royalty system, several exporters in the Montana-Wyoming coal region ? the nation's most productive ? are planning to increase shipments abroad to energy-hungry Asia.

Whatever the department decides on royalties, a matter currently under internal review, the results have the potential to cut into profits at a time when the industry is looking to foreign markets to offset some of the daunting challenges it faces at home.

Proposed ports on the West Coast have the potential to increase U.S. coal exports by 60 to 100 million tons a year, said Jim Rollyson, an energy analyst with the advisory firm Raymond James.

"The international export market is where long-term growth for the industry might come from," Rollyson said. "If you're the government, that's real money you're trying to get there."

Federal officials forecast that 175 coal-burning power plant units will be shuttered in the next five years, equal to 8.5 percent of the total electricity produced by coal, largely because of competition from cheap natural gas and costs of complying with new environmental regulations.

Overseas markets, by contrast, have been booming.

While analysts expect demand to slip temporarily this year, 2012 saw a record 125 million tons of coal exported from the U.S. Some in the industry project that figure could double in just the next five years if new ports and port expansions are built in Washington state, Oregon and the Gulf Coast.

Federal officials declined to say what they've uncovered since the royalties investigation was announced in February. But they've said the probe will continue under the leadership of recently confirmed Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.

"We take this issue very seriously and remain fully committed to collecting every dollar due," said Patrick Etchart with Interior's Office of Natural Resource Revenue.

Among the major coal producers from federal lands in the West, Peabody Energy and Spring Creek owner Cloud Peak Energy have denied any wrongdoing, while Arch Coal, Inc., has declined to comment.

The investigation into the industry follows concerns raised by two prominent U.S. senators ? Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and the committee's ranking minority member, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.

They've warned taxpayers could lose many millions of dollars annually if royalties are unfairly calculated. "Taxpayers deserve to know if Interior's oversight and regulations have kept up" with the rise in exports, said Wyden spokesman Keith Chu.

Royalties currently are paid based on the mine price of coal ? about $10.55 a ton in the Powder River Basin, kept low by the volume of coal produced by mines such as Spring Creek, which boasts an 80-foot thick seam of the fuel that extends for miles beneath the surrounding landscape of gently rolling hills dotted with patches of pine.

By the time it hits the export market, that same ton of coal can be sold for $60 or more.

New filings with securities regulators for the first time shed light on the profitability of Cloud Peak's exports ? what the company refers to as its "logistics business."

In the past, that business was lumped in with the company's domestic mining operations. It's now been broken out to capture the transportation costs incurred by an affiliate within the company that "buys" coal from the mine and arranges to deliver it from Montana to overseas customers.

The securities filings showed the company earned just over $60 million over the last two years off logistics, most of that from exported coal. Logistics accounted for about 22 percent of the Cloud Peak's 2012 total revenue of $1.5 billion. That portion of the company's profits fall outside royalty calculations.

And rightfully so, argue Cloud Peak executives, who say the export market carries far more risk than domestic sales, and the separate line of business shipping through West Coast ports should be excluded from royalties. In 2013, for example, the company said low coal prices could sharply drive down its export earnings. Even if it doesn't move as much coal, the company says it's still obligated under rail and port contracts to pay for shipping.

"We're taking some risk that the good years will outnumber the bad years, but there's no guarantee on that," said Cloud Peak Vice President Jim Orchard.

The company adds that its domestic operations remain more profitable, with a profit margin of about 40 percent versus just over 10 percent for its export division. Orchard said the company paid $383 million in taxes to state and federal authorities last year, versus a net income less than half that amount, $173 million.

During a recent visit to Spring Creek by an Associated Press reporter, massive mechanized shovels at the bottom of the sprawling mine site scooped up 50 tons of crumbling coal with every pass.

They dumped the fuel into the back of huge trucks that lumbered up to ground level, where they tipped the fuel onto conveyor belts, which in turn moved coal chunks as big basketballs into a processing plant where they could be broken into smaller pieces.

From there, it was loaded onto a procession of BNSF Railway cars that would deliver the coal more than 1,500 miles to Vancouver's Westshore Terminals, one of the main coal shipping ports on the West Coast. Unlike domestic sales, where the customer pays for delivery, Cloud Peak would cover the cost to get the coal to Westshore.

The 260-worker mine is the largest in Montana, and manager Bruce Jones said about a quarter of its production ? just over 4 million tons last year ? now goes into the export market. That's up from less than one million ton just five years ago.

Several industry analysts including Meredith Bandy with BMO Capital Markets in Denver said calculating royalties based on the mine price of coal appeared to be a valid approach under federal law, particularly given high transportation costs for exports.

But she added that given the political overtones of the issue "it's anybody's guess as to what happens" as the government considers changing royalty rules.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amid-investigation-coal-exports-record-levels-192035044--finance.html

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Clashes in Egypt despite state of emergency

CAIRO (AP) ? Riot police fired tear gas at rock-throwing protesters in central Cairo on Monday as clashes continued a day after Egypt's president declared a state of emergency in three provinces and vowed to deal "firmly and forcefully" with a wave of political violence roiling the country.

The violence, which began around Friday's second anniversary of the uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak, has plunged Egypt once again into political turmoil and exposed the deep fault lines running through the country. More than 50 people have been killed in the unrest, which is fueled by anger over the policies of the country's new Islamist leader and the slow pace of change.

In Cairo, hundreds of young protesters fought pitched battles Monday with riot police outside two landmark Nile-side hotels and near the eastern entrance of another Cairo monument, Qasr el-Nil bridge. White clouds of tear gas hung over the area from early on Monday morning and at times whiffed across the river to the upscale island of Zamalek and the leafy district of Garden City.

Monday's violence fell on the second anniversary of the deadliest day of the 18-day uprising against Mubarak, when thousands of protesters battled police on Qasr el-Nil bridge, fighting back against water cannons, tear gas and gunshots. Police melted away later that day and have yet to fully take back the streets two years later.

President Mohammed Morsi, who has struggled to address the country's daunting social and economic problems since taking power in June, declared in a televised speech late Sunday a 30-day state of emergency in the cities of Port Said, Ismailiya and Suez and their surrounding provinces in an attempt to quell the unrest.

The military was deployed in Suez on Friday and in Port Said the next day. The two cities have been hit the hardest by the violence.

Morsi's government was taking moves to give the military an even greater role. The Cabinet on Monday approved draft legislation that would authorize the armed forces to work alongside police in keeping security, the state news agency MENA said. The military would have that role until the end of parliamentary elections, expected in April.

The legislation, which now goes to the Islamist-dominated parliament for approval, means soldiers would be maintaining law and order on the streets alongside the police at a time when many Egyptians are increasingly distrustful of both.

Anger over Morsi's latest measures was evident at the site of Monday's clashes near Tahrir square.

"People died to gain their freedom, social justice, bread. Now after 29 years of the despotic Mubarak, we're ruled by a worse regime: religious fascist, more dangerous," said Mohammed Saber, a 65-year old engineer who came to watch the clashes with his wife and children.

For the second time in as many days, thousands of Port Said residents poured out onto the streets Monday for the funeral of six of the seven people killed in violence the previous day. They offered prayers on the dead at the city's Mariam mosque and were readying to march with the bodies to the city's cemetery about a mile away. Two army helicopters hovered above the funeral. There were no reports of violence.

Rioting in Port Said over the weekend killed 44 people. The unrest was sparked by a court conviction and death sentence for 21 defendants involved in a mass soccer riot in the city's main stadium on Feb. 1, 2012 that left 74 dead. Most of those sentenced to death were local Port Said soccer fans, deepening a sense of persecution that Port Said's residents have felt since the stadium disaster, the worst soccer violence ever in Egypt.

Stores were shuttered for the second successive day in the city and merchants were complaining that the curfew, which goes into effect Monday, would hurt their business. Already, some hotels asked guests to leave, fearing renewed violence and supplies of fresh farm produce that normally come from the Nile Delta were running low, according to the head of the local chamber of commerce, Mohammed Hassanein.

Clashes around the country Friday left another 11 dead, most of them in Suez, during rallies marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled Mubarak nearly two years ago. Protesters used the occasion to denounce Morsi and the Brotherhood, which emerged as the country's most dominant political force after Mubarak's ouster.

After Morsi's speech late Sunday, protesters in all three cities along the Suez Canal poured into the streets to reject both him and his state of emergency, which includes a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. In Port Said, at least 2,000 protesters chanted against Morsi and the Brotherhood, from which he hails.

In his televised address, Morsi also warned that he would not hesitate to take more action to stem the violence.

Angry and at times screaming and wagging his finger, the Egyptian leader also invited the nation's political forces for talks to resolve the nation's crisis, saying "a dialogue between the sons of the nation is indispensable and is the only way to shepherd Egypt to security and stability."

Among those invited to Monday's talks is pro-reform leader and Nobel peace laureate Mohammed ElBaradei and other leaders of the National Salvation Front, an umbrella group of opposition parties.

The invitation, however, was met with little enthusiasm from the opposition leaders.

"Any dialogue is a waste of time unless the president acknowledges his responsibility for the bloody events, pledges to form a national salvation government and a balance commission to amend the constitution," ElBaradei wrote on Twitter early on Monday.

Another Salvation Front leader, the leftist Hamdeen Sabahi, set conditions on his participation: "Halt the bloodletting, respect for the popular will and placing political solutions ahead of security measures are conditions for a serious dialogue."

ElBaradei, Sabahi and other opposition leaders have boycotted Morsi's previous calls for dialogue, saying he did not have the political will to effect change.

Salvation Front leaders are meeting later on Monday, when they are expected to decide whether to participate in the dialogue.

___

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael and Amir Makar contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-egypt-despite-state-emergency-084636581.html

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Study of human specimen collections in the US offers first look at their huge diversity

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Les Lang
llang@med.unc.edu
919-966-9366
University of North Carolina Health Care

Chapel Hill, N.C. Biobanks are organizations that collect, store and share human specimens (e.g., blood, solid tissues, hair) for research purposes. The rise of the human genome project and of large-scale genetics studies have spurred a dramatic increase in the number of biobanks in the last decade, increasing their importance in biomedical research.

But until now, biobanks in the U.S. have never been studied systematically, leaving few clear details as to how they are run or the policies and practices they use in managing their work.

A new study from the University of North Carolina published January 25, 2013 in the journal Genome Medicine reveals the huge diversity of U.S. biobanks and also raises questions about the best way to manage and govern them.

"Biobanks are increasingly important to scientific advances, but our decentralized, fragmented research enterprise system in the U.S. has encouraged their development without necessarily providing them with the tools to survive," says study leader Gail Henderson, PhD, professor and chair of social medicine at the University of North Carolina. She also heads UNC's Center for Genomics and Society.

Henderson and colleagues from UNC decided to address this paucity of information by inviting more than 600 biobanks in the U.S. to participate in an online survey. These included private and public, commercial and noncommercial, and many biobanks affiliated with hospitals and academia. Representatives of 456 U.S. biobanks (72 percent of the list invited) participated in the survey.

Among the main findings is their great diversity. "They get established for a variety of reasons; some accidental, some intentional. They vary in size, in when they were established, how formal they are as organizations, what kinds of specimens they hold, who pays for them, and where those specimens come from," Henderson notes.

In the survey, just over half (53 percent) listed research on a particular disease, such as cancer, as the most important reason for establishment. Twenty-nine percent listed research generally. Other reasons included response to a gift or grant, and "intent to centralize, integrate, or harmonize" older specimen collections.

The size of U.S. biobank collections varies, in number of specimens (from tens to millions) and in the types and where they come from individuals, clinics, hospitals, public health programs, and research studies.

Henderson also points out that only a small minority are commercial businesses. "So, not surprisingly, most biobanks do not perceive being in a competitive market. But the majority are quite worried about funding, and many are concerned that the specimens they collect aren't being adequately utilized."

"Researchers and people whose specimens are being held need to be concerned that we don't have a system that is as efficient and effective as it could be," Henderson adds. "If you collect specimens but don't use them, this is a failure to deliver on the promise of advancing translational research, and thus an ethical as well as technical concern."

Biobanks, like the researchers who depend on their services and specimens, need guidance informed by knowledge of their practices and challenges, the authors state. Required are policies "as nuanced as the biobanks themselves," whether these policies address issues of privacy or identity protection, or advancement of research goals.

"Given the diversity in biobank organizational characteristics identified in our survey, it's likely that management and governance policies will have to be tailored to fit the particular context. One-size policies will not fit all," says Henderson.

###

UNC study coauthors are R. Jean Cadigan, Teresa P. Edwards, Ian Conlon, Anders G. Nelson, James P. Evans, Arlene M. Davis, Catherine Zimmer, and Bryan J. Weiner.

Support for the research comes from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), a component of the National Institutes of Health, and the UNC Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA).

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 28-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Les Lang
llang@med.unc.edu
919-966-9366
University of North Carolina Health Care

Chapel Hill, N.C. Biobanks are organizations that collect, store and share human specimens (e.g., blood, solid tissues, hair) for research purposes. The rise of the human genome project and of large-scale genetics studies have spurred a dramatic increase in the number of biobanks in the last decade, increasing their importance in biomedical research.

But until now, biobanks in the U.S. have never been studied systematically, leaving few clear details as to how they are run or the policies and practices they use in managing their work.

A new study from the University of North Carolina published January 25, 2013 in the journal Genome Medicine reveals the huge diversity of U.S. biobanks and also raises questions about the best way to manage and govern them.

"Biobanks are increasingly important to scientific advances, but our decentralized, fragmented research enterprise system in the U.S. has encouraged their development without necessarily providing them with the tools to survive," says study leader Gail Henderson, PhD, professor and chair of social medicine at the University of North Carolina. She also heads UNC's Center for Genomics and Society.

Henderson and colleagues from UNC decided to address this paucity of information by inviting more than 600 biobanks in the U.S. to participate in an online survey. These included private and public, commercial and noncommercial, and many biobanks affiliated with hospitals and academia. Representatives of 456 U.S. biobanks (72 percent of the list invited) participated in the survey.

Among the main findings is their great diversity. "They get established for a variety of reasons; some accidental, some intentional. They vary in size, in when they were established, how formal they are as organizations, what kinds of specimens they hold, who pays for them, and where those specimens come from," Henderson notes.

In the survey, just over half (53 percent) listed research on a particular disease, such as cancer, as the most important reason for establishment. Twenty-nine percent listed research generally. Other reasons included response to a gift or grant, and "intent to centralize, integrate, or harmonize" older specimen collections.

The size of U.S. biobank collections varies, in number of specimens (from tens to millions) and in the types and where they come from individuals, clinics, hospitals, public health programs, and research studies.

Henderson also points out that only a small minority are commercial businesses. "So, not surprisingly, most biobanks do not perceive being in a competitive market. But the majority are quite worried about funding, and many are concerned that the specimens they collect aren't being adequately utilized."

"Researchers and people whose specimens are being held need to be concerned that we don't have a system that is as efficient and effective as it could be," Henderson adds. "If you collect specimens but don't use them, this is a failure to deliver on the promise of advancing translational research, and thus an ethical as well as technical concern."

Biobanks, like the researchers who depend on their services and specimens, need guidance informed by knowledge of their practices and challenges, the authors state. Required are policies "as nuanced as the biobanks themselves," whether these policies address issues of privacy or identity protection, or advancement of research goals.

"Given the diversity in biobank organizational characteristics identified in our survey, it's likely that management and governance policies will have to be tailored to fit the particular context. One-size policies will not fit all," says Henderson.

###

UNC study coauthors are R. Jean Cadigan, Teresa P. Edwards, Ian Conlon, Anders G. Nelson, James P. Evans, Arlene M. Davis, Catherine Zimmer, and Bryan J. Weiner.

Support for the research comes from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), a component of the National Institutes of Health, and the UNC Clinical & Translational Science Award (CTSA).

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uonc-soh012813.php

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