Perazzone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Att... more Perazzone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Developing tools for critical thinking, socio-ecological awareness and engagement is a primary ne... more Developing tools for critical thinking, socio-ecological awareness and engagement is a primary need of researchers, to better cope with the contemporary – very pressing – systemic crisis, while improving their professional and personal lives. In the late summer of 2019, I have been invited to meet and work with a group of ecology researchers of the Italian LTER network (Long Term Ecological Research), together with researchers from a variety of related fields. As the days went by and different contributions enriched our collective experience, the elusive and yet crucial issue of the quality of research became more and more pressing, not only in science but also in art, as an overarching pillar of our gathering; How to generate and evaluate it, and in most cases how to retrieve it in the daily deluge of funding constraints, structural bureaucracies and power dynamics. As a way to explore a single path into the forest of quality of research, I take in what follows a selection of epis...
Abstract. In this paper we address the complex and controversial issue of the possible commercial... more Abstract. In this paper we address the complex and controversial issue of the possible commercialization of a genetically engineered (GE) salmon for human consumption: the AquAdvantage Salmon®, by one of the leading US aquaculture corporations, AquaBounty Technologies Inc (ABT). This analysis follows and deepens our reflections on the notion of impact assessment, in the framework of biotechnology for food production. In the first part, we consider the epistemic and normative implications involved in the regulatory process of the transgenic salmon, starting with a review of the scientific research on genetic engineering applied to the taxonomic family Salmonidae. We explore the inextricable relationship between facts and values, and their mutual dependence on the high stakes implied in the controversy. In the second part, we challenge the identification of impact assessment with future developments, the risks and promises of the GE salmon. We propose a shift to from prediction to dia...
This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores i... more This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores in particular how the evolution of certain characteristics and functions of human language are related to it. The emphasis is on how the principal technologies of language speech and writing are related to our ways of being and doing, reflecting on and acting in the world and the consequences of this relationship in terms of the sustainability of our existence. The emergence of writing and its correlation with nominal language are seen as particularly significant developments in how we represent reality and thereby risk following unsustainable
This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores i... more This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores in particular how the evolution of certain characteristics and functions of human language are related to it. The emphasis is on how the principal technologies of language speech and writing are related to our ways of being and doing, reflecting on and acting in the world and the consequences of this relationship in terms of the sustainability of our existence. The emergence of writing and its correlation with nominal language are seen as particularly significant developments in how we represent reality and thereby risk following unsustainable
Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue... more Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue. Ecologists are discussing about the possibility that a transgene belonging to GM plants could spread to native populations through a process known as introgression the stable incorporation of a gene in the host genome able to generate a differentiated population. The ecological consequences of a transgene introgression in plants or bacteria are not yet well understood, but could be significant. In this critical review we consider vertical and horizontal introgression. We analyse the biochemical and genetic constraints, and environmental factors that limit the possibility of transgene spread; meanwhile we show cases in which the natural barriers are overcome. Then we discuss the overall management of GM crops, noting the shortcomings and approximations of risk assessment based on linear thinking typical of the biomolecular approach. Finally we suggest to explicitly weight facts together...
Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue... more Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue. Ecologists are discussing about the possibility that a transgene belonging to GM plants could spread to native populations through a process known as introgression the stable incorporation of a gene in the host genome able to generate a differentiated population. The ecological consequences of a transgene introgression in plants or bacteria are not yet well understood, but could be significant. In this critical review we consider vertical and horizontal introgression. We analyse the biochemical and genetic constraints, and environmental factors that limit the possibility of transgene spread; meanwhile we show cases in which the natural barriers are overcome. Then we discuss the overall management of GM crops, noting the shortcomings and approximations of risk assessment based on linear thinking typical of the biomolecular approach. Finally we suggest to explicitly weight facts together...
Perazzone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Att... more Perazzone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Developing tools for critical thinking, socio-ecological awareness and engagement is a primary ne... more Developing tools for critical thinking, socio-ecological awareness and engagement is a primary need of researchers, to better cope with the contemporary – very pressing – systemic crisis, while improving their professional and personal lives. In the late summer of 2019, I have been invited to meet and work with a group of ecology researchers of the Italian LTER network (Long Term Ecological Research), together with researchers from a variety of related fields. As the days went by and different contributions enriched our collective experience, the elusive and yet crucial issue of the quality of research became more and more pressing, not only in science but also in art, as an overarching pillar of our gathering; How to generate and evaluate it, and in most cases how to retrieve it in the daily deluge of funding constraints, structural bureaucracies and power dynamics. As a way to explore a single path into the forest of quality of research, I take in what follows a selection of epis...
Abstract. In this paper we address the complex and controversial issue of the possible commercial... more Abstract. In this paper we address the complex and controversial issue of the possible commercialization of a genetically engineered (GE) salmon for human consumption: the AquAdvantage Salmon®, by one of the leading US aquaculture corporations, AquaBounty Technologies Inc (ABT). This analysis follows and deepens our reflections on the notion of impact assessment, in the framework of biotechnology for food production. In the first part, we consider the epistemic and normative implications involved in the regulatory process of the transgenic salmon, starting with a review of the scientific research on genetic engineering applied to the taxonomic family Salmonidae. We explore the inextricable relationship between facts and values, and their mutual dependence on the high stakes implied in the controversy. In the second part, we challenge the identification of impact assessment with future developments, the risks and promises of the GE salmon. We propose a shift to from prediction to dia...
This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores i... more This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores in particular how the evolution of certain characteristics and functions of human language are related to it. The emphasis is on how the principal technologies of language speech and writing are related to our ways of being and doing, reflecting on and acting in the world and the consequences of this relationship in terms of the sustainability of our existence. The emergence of writing and its correlation with nominal language are seen as particularly significant developments in how we represent reality and thereby risk following unsustainable
This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores i... more This paper argues that there is a crucial link between language and sustainability and explores in particular how the evolution of certain characteristics and functions of human language are related to it. The emphasis is on how the principal technologies of language speech and writing are related to our ways of being and doing, reflecting on and acting in the world and the consequences of this relationship in terms of the sustainability of our existence. The emergence of writing and its correlation with nominal language are seen as particularly significant developments in how we represent reality and thereby risk following unsustainable
Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue... more Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue. Ecologists are discussing about the possibility that a transgene belonging to GM plants could spread to native populations through a process known as introgression the stable incorporation of a gene in the host genome able to generate a differentiated population. The ecological consequences of a transgene introgression in plants or bacteria are not yet well understood, but could be significant. In this critical review we consider vertical and horizontal introgression. We analyse the biochemical and genetic constraints, and environmental factors that limit the possibility of transgene spread; meanwhile we show cases in which the natural barriers are overcome. Then we discuss the overall management of GM crops, noting the shortcomings and approximations of risk assessment based on linear thinking typical of the biomolecular approach. Finally we suggest to explicitly weight facts together...
Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue... more Genetically modified (GM) crops under open field conditions are a complex and controversial issue. Ecologists are discussing about the possibility that a transgene belonging to GM plants could spread to native populations through a process known as introgression the stable incorporation of a gene in the host genome able to generate a differentiated population. The ecological consequences of a transgene introgression in plants or bacteria are not yet well understood, but could be significant. In this critical review we consider vertical and horizontal introgression. We analyse the biochemical and genetic constraints, and environmental factors that limit the possibility of transgene spread; meanwhile we show cases in which the natural barriers are overcome. Then we discuss the overall management of GM crops, noting the shortcomings and approximations of risk assessment based on linear thinking typical of the biomolecular approach. Finally we suggest to explicitly weight facts together...
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