This thesis investigates network properties of natural food webs. In particular, it focuses on the e ect that external disturbances have on their substructures and robustness. The importance of a network-level methodology lies in its capacity to capture entangling species interactions and identify inter-connecting properties in heterogeneous food webs. The research rst analysed the responses of freshwater food webs under the stress of drought. A core/periphery structure was detected and its relative size was found to be unchanged after drought despite a signi cant biodiversity loss. Species extinction triggered extensive link rewiring and movement of species from the core to the periphery. These results showed that the robustness was maintained indicating that the redundancy in the core can e ectively mitigate species level perturbations. Secondly, the research further examined the e ects of Genetically Modi ed Herbicide Tolerant (GMHT) management on food web properties and robustness. Network analysis showed that such change in farming practice has no signi cant impact on the agro-ecosystems. However, crop switching, a common practice in agriculture, was found to pose much more significant changes on network properties and robustness when compared to GMHT crops. Thirdly, the research examined over 50 empirical food webs and demonstrated that the relative core size is a much more e ective indicator of food web robustness than the classical ecological measure connectance, as the latter was found to be insensitive to changes in the interaction patterns. Lastly, the research established the relationships between centrality measures and species ecological and/or functional role in food webs, and how they impact on network robustness.

The impact that mosquitoes and vector-borne diseases have on humans is vast and continues to grow with our expanding global interactions, such as international travel and shipping, so the need for effective vector controls is imperative. Aedes aegypti is a species of mosquito that spreads some of the most common vector-borne diseases, including zika virus, dengue fever, chikungunya, and yellow fever. A. aegypti have yet to be successfully contained, so they are favorable targets for implementing these new vector-control techniques. A review of scientific literature was performed from 1965 to present, timeline was constructed of studies on A. aegypti and their diseases, with inclusion criteria of techniques like bacterial controls and genome editing. Bacterial controls, such as using an endosymbiont like Wolbachia, can result in sterilization of mosquitoes as well as inhibiting the ability for mosquitoes to be infected by pathogens. Genome editing techniques involve CRISPR and gene drives, allowing the manipulation of certain genes to decrease fitness or susceptibility of pathogens. Combining newly discovered genes that play a role in sterilization with the introduction of sterilizing Wolbachia bacteria could result in a more effective method for controlling A. aegypti. Neither technique is known to be entirely effective on its own, but research indicates that highly effective vector-controls could be developed by combining aspects from both fields.

New developments in science and technology are promoted through projections of anticipated benefit that justify research, help secure funding and institutional, political and public support, and encourage technology diffusion. This thesis explores the strategic influence of constructs of expected benefit through analysis of the claims advanced for two technology fields in New Zealand: genetic modification and wind energy. The ways benefits are framed, and the kinds of returns and outcomes that are promoted, have major implications for technoscience. Some technology pathways and applications are supported and fostered, while others are rejected or marginalised. The “downstream” impacts and potential risks of scientific innovation have received extensive academic and policy analysis, while the benefits claimed for R&D and new technologies have largely been taken for granted. However, science and technology futures have recently been addressed in an emerging field of international scholarship – the sociology of expectations. This thesis follows technoscience trajectories back “upstream”, to better understand the work of benefit framings in legitimating and valorising innovation in two sectors in New Zealand. Understanding the dynamics of such optimistic projections is crucial for publics, interested groups, practitioners and policy-makers engaging with the challenges of contemporary technoscience.

Quite a number of important crops have been genetically modified with genes for agronomically important traits, such as insect and viral resistance. As the numbers of genetically modified foods continue to increase on the market, the need for rapid development of GMO detection methods is indispensable. This study was carried out to detect if genetically modified potatoes exist on food market in Turkey. Thirty samples from different places were collected. Using a DNA based PCR method, potato samples were examined for the presence of 35S promoter, Nos terminator, neomycin phosphotransferase (nptII) genes, and synthetic cry3A gene which is the general transgene in all approved Newleaf transgenic potato lines. The experimental design of this study was to detect Newleaf insect resistant lines. In 11 samples at least one genetic element was detected. Sample R from Ankara has shown to be belonging to Newleaf insect resistant lines. Since 35S promoter was not detected in samples M3, 14 and F1, it is proposed that they are belonging to Newleaf virus and insect resistant lines (Newleaf plus or Newleaf Y). Although Nos terminator was not detected in samples H2, Z2 and D, cry3A fragments amplified in those samples have been verified that they are from the synthetic cry3A regions of Newleaf lines. The detected synthetic cry3A gene in GM potatoes was amplified by specific primers, which cannot amplify Bacillus thuringiensis tenebrionis natural cry3A gene. In addition, the authenticity of the synthetic cry3A PCR products were confirmed by both sequencing and restriction digestions. Our results showed that genetically modified Newleaf potatoes exist in food market in Turkey. Further studies by accredited laboratories are strongly recommended.

Orientador: Marco Aurelio Zezzi Arruda / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Quimica / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-10T12:48:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sussulini_Alessandra_M.pdf: 1616105 bytes, checksum: 070bdc924463f59de9e9098e498eb4d9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Mestrado / Quimica Analitica / Mestre em Química

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Ce mémoire porte sur l’éthique des modifications génétiques à visées mélioratives. Les modifications génétiques à visées mélioratives sont l’une des technologies les plus étudiées dans le mouvement transhumaniste. Nous présenterons la défense transhumaniste de cette technologie à travers l’ouvrage « From Chance to Choice », qui propose une défense de nature politique, faisant remarquer que cette technologie peut venir offrir un outil précieux aux théories de la justice égalitariste. Cette défense est cependant dépourvue d’un volet éthique, puisque les éthiques classiques sont impuissantes à se saisir de ce phénomène nouveau de manière intelligible. Afin de fournir un cadre de régulation éthique de ces modifications génétiques, nous nous tournerons vers l’éthique de la discussion de Jürgen Habermas et l’éthique de la responsabilité de Hans Jonas. Nous montrerons dans un premier temps que l’éthique de la discussion, selon laquelle une norme morale est valide si elle peut espérer recevoir le consentement des sujets moraux impliqués à la suite d’un débat argumenté, permet de légitimer sur un plan éthique les modifications génétiques car il est possible d’espérer le consentement à venir du sujet de la modification génétique. Cependant, ce consentement ne peut être postulé que si la réflexion sur la modification à effectuer est effectuée sous le signe de l’éthique de la responsabilité, présentée par la suite, selon laquelle un tel choix doit être effectué dans un processus nommé « heuristique de la peur », soit avec en ayant en tête les effets lointains de notre action. / This memoir studies the ethical implications of human genetic modification. Human genetic enhancement is one of the most studied technologies by the transhumanist movement. We will present the transhumanist defence of genetic modification in the book “From Chance to Choice”, which defends this technology on political grounds, due to its efficiency in helping carry out egalitarian theories of justice. This defense is deprived of a substantial ethical aspect. More generally, classical ethical theories seem to be inadequate to grasp the issues of human genetic modification. In order to offer an ethical framework of regulation of this technology, we will study Jürgen Habermas’s discussion ethics and Hans Jonas’s responsibility ethics. We will first show that discussions’ ethics, according to which a moral norm is valid if and only if every moral subject affected by it can agree to it through an argumentative debate, ethically legitimates genetical improvements because we can hoe for the future consent of the modified person. This being said, this consent can only be postulated if the ethical reasoning is aided by responsibilities ethics, which is then presented, according to which a choice such as a genetic modification has to be made under the guidance of the heuristic of fear, in other words, while bearing in mind the long-term effects of our actions.

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