#varroa analyzes

[rnomics]

Viruses, Vol. 16, Pages 980: Characterization of a Molecular Clone of Deformed Wing Virus B

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) play a crucial role in agriculture through their pollination activities. However, they have faced significant health challenges over the past decades that can limit colony performance and even lead to collapse. A primary culprit is the parasitic mite Varroa destructor, known for transmitting harmful bee viruses. Among these viruses is deformed wing virus (DWV), which impacts bee pupae during their development, resulting in either pupal demise or in the emergence of crippled adult bees. In this study, we focused on DWV master variant B. DWV-B prevalence has risen sharply in recent decades and appears to be outcompeting variant A of DWV. We generated a molecular clone of a typical DWV-B strain to compare it with our established DWV-A clone, examining #RNA replication, protein expression, and virulence. Initially, we analyzed the genome using RACE-PCR and RT-PCR techniques. Subsequently, we conducted full-genome RT-PCR and inserted the complete viral cDNA into a bacterial plasmid backbone. Phylogenetic comparisons with available full-length sequences were performed, followed by functional analyses using a live bee pupae model. Upon the transfection of in vitro-transcribed #RNA, bee pupae exhibited symptoms of DWV infection, with detectable viral protein expression and stable #RNA replication observed in subsequent virus passages. The DWV-B clone displayed a lower virulence compared to the DWV-A clone after the transfection of synthetic #RNA, as evidenced by a reduced pupal mortality rate of only 20% compared to 80% in the case of DWV-A and a lack of malformations in 50% of the emerging bees. Comparable results were observed in experiments with low infection doses of the passaged virus clones. In these tests, 90% of bees infected with DWV-B showed no clinical symptoms, while 100% of pupae infected with DWV-A died. However, at high infection doses, both DWV-A and DWV-B caused mortality rates exceeding 90%. Taken together, we have generated an authentic virus clone of DWV-B and characterized it in animal experiments. https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/16/6/980?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[connorland]

The varroa heatmap is a powerful way to understand the status on a global scale but also to visualize what’s going on right now in the beekeeper’s own area”, says Björn Lagerman, founder and CEO of Swedish bee-health company BeeScanning.

[sciencenewsforstudents]

WASHINGTON — One scientist’s sweet tribute to her father may one day give beekeepers clues about their colonies’ health, as well as help warn others when crop diseases or pollen allergies are about to strike.

Those are all possible applications that biochemistry researcher Rocío Cornero of George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., sees for her work on examining proteins in honey. Cornero described her unpublished work December 9 at the annual joint meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology and the European Molecular Biology Organization.

Amateur beekeepers often don’t understand what is stressing bees in their hives, whether lack of water, starvation or infection with pathogens, says Cornero, whose father kept bees before his death earlier this year. “What we see in the honey can tell us a story about the health of that colony,” she says.

Bees are like miniature scientists that fly and sample a wide variety of environmental conditions, says cell biologist Lance Liotta, Cornero’s mentor at George Mason. As bees digest pollen, soil and water, bits of proteins from other organisms, including fungi, bacteria and viruses also end up in the insects’ stomachs. Honey, in turn, is basically bee vomit, Liotta says, and contains a record of virtually everything the bee came in contact with, as well as proteins from the bees themselves.

“The information archive in honey is unbelievable,” Liotta says. But until now, scientists have had a hard time studying proteins in honey. “It’s so gooey and sticky and hard to work with,” he says. Sugars in honey gum up lab equipment usually used to isolate proteins.

Rocío Cornero, a biochemistry student at George Mason University, is shown transferring honey into small test tubes. Cornero developed a way to analyze proteins in honey as a tribute to her late father, a beekeeper.

CREDIT: COURTESY OF R. CORNERO

So Cornero developed a method to pull peptides — bits of proteins — out of honey using nanoparticles — a feat no other researchers have previously managed, Liotta says. Once extracted from the honey, the peptides are analyzed by mass spectrometry to determine the order of amino acids that make up each fragment of protein. Those peptides are then compared with a database of proteins to determine which organisms produced the honey proteins.  

A group of high school students working at George Mason for the summer collected 13 honey samples from Virginia, Maryland. Two additional samples came from Cornero’s hometown of Mar del Plata in Argentina. The Argentine honey was from the last batches her father collected from his bees.

Proteins from bees, microbes and a wide variety of plants were among the components of the honey. Peptides in honey from one sample came from several bacteria, including some that normally live in bees’ guts and a few disease-causing varieties. Proteins from viruses and parasites that infect bees, including deformed wing virus and Varroa mites, which have been implicated in colony collapse disorder, were also found in the sample (SN: 1/17/18). Those results could mean bees from that location may have trouble surviving the winter when the insects’ immune systems are less able to fight infections.

Cornero also determined by looking at pollen and plant proteins in the honey that bees had pollinated a variety of plants, including sunflowers, lilacs, olive trees, red clover, potatoes and tomatoes. By analyzing pollen peptides, scientists may one day be able to learn whether claims that certain honey is made from wildflowers, clover or orange blossoms are really true.

What’s more, counting pollen peptides in local hives could, for example, give allergy sufferers a better idea of when hay fever is likely to flare in their area, Cornero says. The researchers also found plant virus proteins in the honey, an indication of the types of diseases that may be stalking local crops.

Next, Cornero hopes to develop a rapid protein test that would allow beekeepers to plunge a dipstick into honey and rapidly gauge their hives’ health. “Having my dad as a beekeeper, I know how beekeepers work, and it would be a great way to honor his work,” she says.

[cornellentomology]

Emma Mullen, Scott McArt, David Hopkins, and Mary Kate Wheeler mentioned it this article from the Cornell Chronicle.

N.Y. honeybees stung hard by varroa mite, researchers find

By

David Nutt

A small mite is causing big trouble for New York’s honeybee population and putting in peril the fruit and vegetable crops that depend on these pollinators.

Other beekeeper team findings

• A study of 30 apple orchards revealed a high level of pesticide exposure (five acute cases, 22 chronic). The majority of the high-risk insecticides appear to be coming not from the apples or the pollen that bees are collecting from the apples, but from wildflowers surrounding the orchards, which points to a potential issue in grower spray practices.

• A study to determine the impact of different landscapes and farming practices on wild bees found that colonies placed in suburban sites performed poorly, weighing 40 percent less and having 19 percent fewer bees than those colonies placed in natural areas, and conventional agriculture and organic agriculture landscapes. This study adds to the growing literature highlighting the influence of landscape on pollinator populations. 

The varroa mite is a common parasite that weakens honeybee colonies by feeding on bee blood and fat stores, and transmitting deadly viruses across the colony. One of those viruses, deformed wing virus, causes misshapen wing growth in infected bees.

With crops like apples, squash, tomatoes, strawberries and cherries dependent on bee pollinators, a rise in sick populations puts at risk $500 million in annual New York agricultural production.

Cornell scientists are tackling the problem by working with beekeepers whose colonies are at risk. Launched in 2016, the New York State Beekeeper Tech Team sampled 309 honeybee colonies from 70 apiaries across New York last fall. They found that 90 percent of the colonies were infested with varroa mites, and discovered deformed wing virus in 96 percent of the colonies and 100 percent of the operations sampled.

“When colonies have high levels of deformed wing virus, the affected bees are unable to fly and die at a young age,” said Emma Mullen, honeybee extension associate and senior lead of the beekeeper team. “It can be quite detrimental – varroa mites and their associated viruses are a leading cause of death for honeybee colonies.”

Even more alarming, according to Mullen, is that 78 percent of operations had varroa mite levels that exceeded the economic threshold of 3 mites per 100 bees, an important predicator that the colony will die within one to two years or experience reduced honey production. Surpassing that threshold demonstrates that the mites are not being managed effectively and are posing a critical risk to colony health, Mullen said.

Mullen and Scott McArt, assistant professor in the Department of Entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, have been collaborating with beekeepers throughout the state to find ways to keep their bee colonies healthy. Working in the Dyce Lab for Honey Bee Studies, the Cornell scientists are tasked with improving the profitability and viability of beekeeping businesses of all sizes.

When it comes to varroa mites, this collaboration is more necessary than ever. The Cornell team found that, despite rising infestations, only 36 percent of beekeepers were monitoring mites in 2016. The high mite levels suggest that the current management approaches New York beekeepers are using may not be effective.

David Hopkins, a midsized beekeeper with more than 40 years of beekeeping experience, says he once controlled mites by using simple methods such as dusting powdered sugar in hives. Now, because of the increase of viruses, he knows his colonies are always at risk of infestation and collapse, and require more intensive management practices than in the past.

“It’s been a challenge to stay ahead of the curve regarding varroa,” Hopkins said. “We’ve been flying by the seat of our pants as beekeepers and relying on the Dyce Lab to help us get along. Every beekeeper needs a whole cadre of scientists and interpreters behind them.”

The beekeeper team assists beekeepers like Hopkins by surveying their colonies for parasites, pathogens and pesticides, and analyzing the beekeepers’ management practices. The team works with the beekeepers to develop an integrated pest management plan that will reduce colony losses through monitoring and a variety of potential treatments. The team has also begun offering a business analysis and benchmarking program, led by Mary Kate Wheeler, the team’s agricultural economist.

“A lot of beekeepers we are meeting with are losing unsustainable numbers of their colonies each year. By helping with their colony health, we are helping their business,” Mullen said.

This summer McArt is also taking a citizen-science approach to combating varroa by encouraging beekeepers across the state to sample their own hives now and again in the fall. The beekeepers will then be surveyed about their management practices to determine the best methods for managing varroa in New York.

“We are committed to helping beekeepers maintain their business and help our farmers in the process,” McArt said. “We can see if there is year-to-year variation or if there are consistently certain types of management practices that are much better for beekeepers than others.”

David Nutt is a freelance writer.

[bharatiyamedia-blog]

Outcomes level to a necessity for elevated analysis, extension, and finest administration practices -- ScienceDaily

http://tinyurl.com/y5eqdo43 Beekeepers throughout america misplaced 40.7% of their honey bee colonies from April 2018 to April 2019, in accordance with preliminary outcomes of the most recent annual nationwide survey performed by the College of Maryland-led nonprofit Bee Knowledgeable Partnership. Honey bees pollinate $15 billion price of meals crops in america annually. The survey outcomes present, the annual lack of 40.7% this final yr represents a slight improve over the annual common of 38.7%. Nonetheless winter losses of 37.7%, had been the very best winter loss reported for the reason that survey started 13 years in the past and eight.9 share factors increased than the survey common. “These outcomes are very regarding, as excessive winter losses hit an trade already affected by a decade of excessive winter losses,” mentioned Dennis vanEngelsdorp, affiliate professor of entomology on the College of Maryland and president for the Bee Knowledgeable Partnership. Through the 2018 summer season season, beekeepers misplaced 20.5% of their colonies, which is barely above the earlier yr’s summer season loss price of 17.1%, however about equal to the typical loss price for the reason that summer season of 2011. General, the annual lack of 40.7% this final yr represents a slight improve over the annual common of 38.7%. Simply trying on the general image and the 10-year tendencies, it is disconcerting that we’re nonetheless seeing elevated losses after over a decade of survey and fairly intense work to attempt to perceive and cut back colony loss,” provides Geoffrey Williams, assistant professor of entomology at Auburn College and co-author of the survey. “We are not making notably nice progress to cut back general losses.” Since beekeepers started noticing dramatic losses of their colonies, state and federal agricultural companies, college researchers, and the beekeeping trade have been working collectively to grasp the trigger and develop Finest Administration Practices to cut back losses. The annual colony loss survey, which has been performed since 2006, has been an integral a part of that effort. The survey asks business and yard beekeeping operations to trace the survival charges of their honey bee colonies. Almost 4,700 beekeepers managing 319,787 colonies from all 50 states and the District of Columbia responded to this yr’s survey, representing about 12% of the nation’s estimated 2.69 million managed colonies. The Bee Knowledgeable Partnership crew mentioned a number of components are probably chargeable for persistently excessive annual loss charges and this yr’s soar in winter losses. They are saying a multi-pronged strategy — analysis, extension companies & training, and finest administration practices — is required to fight the issue. The primary concern amongst beekeepers and a number one contributor to winter colony losses is varroa mites, deadly parasites that may readily unfold from colony to colony. These mites have been decimating colonies for years, with establishments just like the College of Maryland actively researching methods to fight them. “We’re more and more involved about varroa mites and the viruses they unfold, mentioned vanEngelsdorp. “Final yr, many beekeepers reported poor therapy efficacy, and restricted subject exams confirmed that merchandise that after eliminated 90% of mites or extra are actually eradicating far fewer. Since these merchandise are now not working as effectively, the mite downside appears to be getting worse.” “However mites should not the one downside,” continues vanEngelsdorp. “Land use adjustments have led to a scarcity of nutrition-rich pollen sources for bees, inflicting poor vitamin. Pesticide exposures, environmental components, and beekeeping practices all play some position as effectively.” Karen Rennich, government director for the Bee Knowledgeable Partnership and senior college specialist on the College of Maryland, elaborated on land use and environmental components that could be important in bee colony loss, together with will increase in excessive climate. “The instruments that used to work for beekeepers appear to be failing, and that could be evident on this yr’s excessive losses. A persistent fear amongst beekeepers nationwide is that there are fewer and fewer favorable locations for bees to land, and that’s placing elevated stress on beekeepers who’re already stretched to their limits to maintain their bees alive,” mentioned Rennich. “We additionally suppose that excessive climate situations we’ve got seen this previous yr demand investigation, corresponding to wildfires that ravage the panorama and take away already restricted forage, and floods that destroy crops inflicting losses for the farmer, for the beekeeper, and for the general public.” In accordance with Rennich and Williams, extra analysis is required to grasp what position local weather change and variable climate patterns play in honey bee colony losses. The survey is performed by the Bee Knowledgeable Partnership with information collected and analyzed by the College of Maryland and Auburn College. Survey outcomes can be found on the Bee Knowledgeable web site (https://beeinformed.org/results/2018-2019/). Source link

[ezatluba]

A MUSHROOM EXTRACT MIGHT SAVE BEES FROM A KILLER VIRUS

THE BEES, AS you've probably heard, are dying, in massive numbers. Termed colony collapse disorder, the die-off counts among its causes a parasite aptly named Varroa destructor. A flat, button-shaped, eight-legged critter no more than 2 millimeters long, varroa mites invade honeybee hives around the world in droves, latch onto their inhabitants, and feed on their tissues, transmitting devastating RNA viruses in the process.

The worst of these diseases is deformed wing virus, believed to be one of the largest contributors to the devastation of honeybees worldwide. Named for the shrunken and misshapen wings that develop in affected bees, DWV robs its hosts of flight, undermines their immune system, and halves their lifespan. The sicker a bee is, and the more useless its wings, the fewer plants it pollinates. What's more, what flora an infected bee does manage to visit become tainted by the virus, transmitting the infection to future pollinators. As if a bee-debilitating virus transmitted by itty-bitty parasites wasn't terrifying enough, beekeepers currently possess no effective means of battling the virus.

But in a study recounted today in Nature Scientific Reports, researchers present evidence for a surprising solution to DWV: mushrooms. The discovery has implications not just for honeybee populations, but also the food systems, economies, and ecosystems that rely on their healthy activity.

The mushrooms in question belong to the genera Fomes and Ganoderma, better known to fungus fans as amadou and reishi. The former commonly grow on trees, in the shape of a horse's hoof. The latter have long been prized in traditional medicine circles and are a common sight at Asian markets and health food stores. Both belong to an order of fungi known as polypores, extracts of which have been shown in numerous studies to possess potent antiviral properties against dangerous infections like swine flu, pox viruses, and HIV.

"I wanted to see if those extracts had a similar antiviral effect in bees," says Paul Stamets, the study's lead author. A prominent mycologist, the author of Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, and a passionate proselytizer of all things fungal (his TED talk, "6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save the World," has been viewed millions of times), Stamets has long suspected that bees derive some benefit from mushrooms.

He recalls a scene from his backyard in July of 1984—the first time he noticed bees from his personal hive flying back and forth to a pile of fungus-coated wood chips. The bees, he says, were sipping droplets of liquid that had oozed from the mushroom's mycelium, the fuzzy white network of cobwebby filaments through which fungi absorb nutrients.

At the time he figured the droplets contained sugar (fungi break down wood into glucose). "But then, a few years ago, I had an epiphany—a waking dream, actually, " Stamets says. What if the bees were getting more than a shot of sugar? He began to wonder if they were in fact self-medicating.

That question led him to Walter Sheppard, chair of the entomology department at Washington State University and one of the world's leading experts on bees. With the help of researchers in Sheppard's lab and the US Department of Agriculture, they have spent the past several years dosing sugar-water feeders with extracts from the mycelium of various species of mushrooms and analyzing the effect on infected bees.

In both indoor experiments and outdoor field tests, bees that fed on mycelium extracts fared significantly better than those that drank only sugar water. In caged bees infected with DWV, the researchers observed an 800-fold decrease in virus titres (a measure of the level of virus in the bee's system) among bees dosed with amadou extract. The effect was less powerful in the field, which are less strictly controlled than lab trials—colonies fed reishi extract saw a 79-fold reduction in DWV, those fed amadou extract a 44-fold reduction—but the results were still highly significant. (In other field tests, bees fed reishi extract saw a remarkable 45,000-fold reduction in Lake Sinai virus—another disease ravaging honeybee populations.)

"It's shown a strong effect, stronger than anything I've seen," says geneticist Jay Evans, head of the USDA's Bee Research Laboratory, which analyzed the virus levels. Stronger, even, than RNA interference, another promising—but expensive—approach to fighting bee viruses that Evans himself is investigating. "I'm a little jealous," he says.

Stamets has received numerous patents on the extracts in the past year, and he plans to sell them on his website, fungi.com, a domain he says he has owned since 1994. "I'm not in this for the money," he says. "I walk my talk, and I use my business to fund further research."

More studies are always a good idea—especially for something as seemingly effective as these extracts. For one thing, it's not clear whether they will help rescue bee colonies long-term. Stamets' field studies took place over two months, in the summertime—but the hardest time of year for bees is winter. Future studies will need to examine how other colonies fed the extracts fare over six months or more, and how many survive that cold and deadly season.

It's also not clear how these extracts reduce the virus titres in infected bees. They could be boosting the bugs' immune systems. Or inhibiting the virus directly. Or affecting the way it replicates inside the bees. Or it could be something else. Whatever the mechanism, it'd be useful to understand it more fully before deploying the extracts on a wider scale. After all, there are also unforeseen consequences to consider.

"Whenever I hear about something like this, I immediately think of the risks and drawbacks," says Lena Wilfert, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Ulm in Germany who studies the spread of viruses among honeybees. Of the known viral pathogens affecting the insects, she says, DWV poses the greatest threat of all, so she appreciates the potential benefits of powerful virus-nerfing agents. "But any time you apply a medication at large scale, you're going to have potential for resistance evolution in the thing it targets." Those questions have yet to be probed.

"We have to prove all this, you know? And thankfully, I've become more disciplined as a scientist, being around other scientists," says Stamets, who acknowledges that there's much more work to be done. "We're doing tests right now in several hundred more beehives. We're ramping up."

[elvisnanney659-blog]

What’s In Your Honey House  (2)

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[sherristockman]

Sit Down Science Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Industry funded 'science' has tainted our world and turned science based evidence into science biased propaganda. Universities are laundering money through foundations to intentionally hide relationships, while scientists secretly nurture their relationships with corporate executives. Negative outcomes go unpublished, the peer review process is so weak only studies that challenge industry interests are heavily scrutinized (usually by scientists hired by corporate public relations firms). Media is paid handsomely to ensure the public that 'the science is settled', especially when corporate liability is a primary concern. Raw data is held captive, conflicts of interest are not fully disclosed, and studies are designed to specifically obtain a desired outcome. It’s certainly no secret that academic research is often funded by corporations. Academia often claims that such funding allows for innovation and does not influence the outcome of the studies. Industry, too, claims that such relationships do not influence the scientific process. Syngenta spokesman Luke Gibbs even told The New York Times, “Syngenta does not pressure academics to draw conclusions and allows unfettered and independent submission of any papers generated from commissioned research.”1 James Cresswell, Ph.D., a pollination ecology researcher with the University of Exeter in England, had a different take on the matter, however. He spoke openly to the Times about his relationship with the pesticide giant, which included Syngenta-funded research into what’s causing bee colonies to die. Despite having reservations about receiving corporate funding, he did accept it, and soon after began to see the effects of this supposedly independent relationship “The last thing I wanted to do was get in bed with Syngenta,” Cresswell told the Times. “I’m no fan of intensive agriculture [but] … absolutely they influenced what I ended up doing on the project.”2 University Pressured Researchers to Accept Corporate Money Cresswell’s foray into the world of corporate-funded research started when his initial research caused him to question whether neonicotinoid pesticides were to blame for bee deaths. The chemicals, which are produced by Bayer and Syngenta, have been implicated in the decline of bees, particularly in commercially bred species like honeybees and bumblebees (though they’ve been linked to population changes in wild bees as well). In 2012, Syngenta offered to fund further research by Cresswell on the link. It was an offer Cresswell felt he couldn’t refuse. “I was pressured enormously by my university to take that money,” Cresswell told the Times. “It’s like being a traveling salesman and having the best possible sales market and telling your boss, ‘I’m not going to sell there.’ You can’t really do that.”3 A University of Exeter spokesman said up to 15 percent of academic research in Britain is funded by industry and that such sponsors are independently analyzed.4 In Cresswell’s case, he and Syngenta agreed on a study looking into eight potential causes of bee deaths, including a disease called varroosis, which is spread by varroa mites. Pesticide makers have argued that it’s the mites, not pesticides, that are killing bees, but Cresswell’s research didn’t find such a link. Manipulating Research to Fit Industry Agendas When he reported the findings to Syngenta, they pushed back, suggesting he tweak the study in various ways, such as looking at specific loss data in beehives instead of bee stock trends and focusing on data from specific countries or only in Europe, as opposed to worldwide. After the parameters were changed, varroosis became a significant factor in bee colony losses, according to Cresswell’s research. It’s a clear-cut example of how scientific research can be easily manipulated to fit the sponsor’s agenda, a practice that’s well known to occur in pharmaceutical research. In a tongue-in-cheek essay in the British Medical Journal, titled “HARLOT — How to Achieve Positive Results Without Actually Lying to Overcome the Truth,”5 it’s wittily explained exactly how industry insiders can help make their agenda, in this case drugs, look good:6 “Pairing their drug with one that is known to work well. This can hide the fact that a tested medication is weak or ineffective. Truncating a trial. Drugmakers sometimes end a clinical trial when they have reason to believe that it is about to reveal widespread side effects or a lack of effectiveness — or when they see other clues that the trial is going south. Testing in very small groups. Drug-funded researchers also conduct trials that are too small to show differences between competitor drugs. Or they use multiple endpoints, then selectively publish only those that give favorable results, or they 'cherry-pick' positive-sounding results from multicenter trials.” Industry Will Work to Discredit Scientists That Produce Unfavorable Findings Some scientists willingly embrace corporate funding for their research, including James W. Simpkins, a professor at West Virginia University and the director of its Center for Basic and Translational Stroke Research. Simpkins has conducted studies for Syngenta regarding the herbicide atrazine. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) specifically cited research by Tyrone Hayes, Ph. D., an integrative biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, which found atrazine may be chemically castrating male frogs, essentially turning them into female frogs. Hayes used to conduct research for Novartis, which eventually became Syngenta, but he resigned his contractor position after the company refused to allow him to publish the results of studies they had funded. After resigning, he obtained independent funding to repeat the research, which was subsequently published and found that atrazine causes hermaphroditism in frogs. Syngenta attempted to discredit Hayes after the damaging research was released. Meanwhile, Simpkins’ research, which he often co-authors with Syngenta scientists, continues to support atrazine’s supposed safety. In addition to receiving funding for research, Simpkins also receives $250 an hour from Syngenta to consult on expert panels and is involved in a consulting venture with a Syngenta executive, according to the Times, after a Freedom of Information Act request. Syngenta also donated $30,000 to a West Virginia University foundation to support Simpkins’ research.7 How University Foundations Hide Corporate Funds A foundation is a non-governmental entity that is typically established to make grants to institutions or individuals for scientific and other purposes. Donors often give money to foundations instead of to the university itself, in part, because foundations have a fiduciary responsibility to represent the donors’ interest. Also important, money given to a foundation can be kept private in order to protect the donor’s identity and does not become public record.8 It provides the perfect opportunity for industry corporations like Syngenta and others to pay for research on their behalf without receiving any public scrutiny for doing so. The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, which is dedicated to improving higher education in North Carolina and the U.S., noted that many researchers refer to foundations as “slush funds” and “shadow corporations” “that too often operate in secrecy, despite spending taxpayers’ money [although foundations are often supported by donations as well].”9 It’s difficult to gain access to university foundations’ activities, contributions and spending. Records are often considered to be off limits, which means corporations can easily channel funds to the universities they believe will give them the best pay-off in the form of favorable research. The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal quoted David Cuillier, director of the University of Arizona School of Journalism, as saying:10 “‘I think there are a ton of flags that need to be raised when it comes to university foundations. I think it’s one of the most underreported scams in America. It’s total slush fund … What a great way to hide money for a university.’ [Cuillier] said foundations have allowed universities to hide ‘wrongdoing, and questionable expenditures’ because foundations usually aren’t subject to public records laws, and may not comply with them in states where they are.” Universities and foundations often claim that protecting donors’ privacy is key to keeping fundraising avenues open, but making such information public is in the public’s interest. Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C., told the Columbia Journalism Review:11 “Whether donors are buying influence with public agencies is the information that the public needs the most … It’s ironic that the institutions that claim they’ll be unable to raise money if they can’t protect their donors’ privacy will engrave their donors’ names in 10-foot-high letters into the facades of buildings.” Confidentiality Agreements Silence Researchers Another tool used by corporations to control science is confidentiality agreements. Syngenta predecessor Ciba-Geigy had a confidentiality agreement with Switzerland-based agricultural research center Agroscope. So when one of their researchers, Angelika Hilbeck, found problems with genetically engineered corn (specifically that it appeared to be toxic to a beneficial insect, lacewing, which eats other pests), the corporation ordered her to keep the results secret.12 Hilbeck ultimately published the results anyway, and her contract with Agroscope was not renewed. According to the Times:13 “Dr. Hilbeck continued as a university researcher and was succeeded at Agroscope by Jörg Romeis, a scientist who had worked at Bayer and has since co-authored research with employees from Syngenta, DuPont and other companies. He has spent much of his career trying to debunk Dr. Hilbeck’s work [and has since become the leader of Agroscope’s biosafety research group].” US Biotechnology Panel Financially Tied to Biotech Industry Even government panels are not immune from industry ties. In fact, they’re prime targets for conflicts of interest. The latest scandal involves a panel studying biotechnology, which is expected to give advice to The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which in turn provides policy guidance to the U.S. government. Of the 13 experts named to the panel, seven have potential conflicts of interest. This includes:14 Richard M. Amasino, professor of biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who holds various biotechnology patents Jeffrey Wolt, professor of agronomy and toxicology at Iowa State University, who has a commercial interest that violates the organization’s conflict of interest policy Steven P. Bradbury, professor of environmental toxicology at Iowa State University, who owns a consulting firm that advises companies on biotechnology Richard Murray, professor of bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology, who co-founded Synvitrobio, a synthetic biology (i.e., genetic engineering) start-up Steven L. Evans, fellow in seeds discovery research and development at Dow AgroSciences, which has major interests in the biotechnology industry Dietary Rules Influenced by Corporate-Funded Research The tentacles of industry-funded research reach far and wide — even to your dinner table. In investigative journalist Gary Taubes’ new book, “The Case Against Sugar,” you can read how food companies manipulated research to make sugar a mainstay of Americans’ diets. As it became increasingly clear that excess sugar was linked to rising rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases, the Sugar Association, an industry trade group, stepped in to combat it by funding industry-friendly research and attacking the credibility of researchers that found otherwise. Decades’ worth of research convincingly shows excess sugar damages your health, yet the sugar industry managed bury the evidence and cover it up with faux science that supports sugar as an important food. According to The Wall Street Journal:15 “These efforts were successful enough to influence the language of FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] reports on sugar in 1977 and 1986, as well as the first government-compiled Dietary Guidelines, released in 1980, which unsurprisingly declared that fat caused disease.” While scientific research is far from, well, an exact science, when industry funding is involved it may be virtually impossible for scientific truth to be heard. Whether the subject is sugar, pesticides or biotechnology is irrelevant. Although most researchers and sponsoring companies will insist the research is sound and unbiased, it’s well-known that industry-funded research almost always favors industry.