Glyphosate (IUPAC name: N-(phosphonomethyl)glycine) is a non-selective broad-spectrum systemic herbicideDefinition:Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicides (sometimes called 'total weedkillers' in commercial products) which kills all plant material with which it comes into contact. and crop desiccant. It is primarily used to “kill weeds”, especially annual broadleaf weeds and grasses that compete with crops. Furthermore, it is utilized massively by the agricultural industry on many food crops which people consume on a daily basis (e.g., fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.).
Figure 1. Chemical structure of Glyphosate (chemical formula: C3H8NO5P).
Effects of glyphosate on the ovarian function of pregnant mice, the secretion of hormones and the sex ratio of their fetuses
Study Highlights
•Prenatal exposure to pure glyphosate affected sex ratios of litters.
•Glyphosate caused ovarian histopathological alterations in pregnant mice.
•Glyphosate disrupted the secretion of progesterone and estrogen in pregnant mice.
•Glyphosate disrupted expressions of steroidogenesis-related genes in pregnant mice.
•Glyphosate induced oxidative stress in ovary and serum of pregnant mice.
Visual summary
Abstract
Glyphosate is the active ingredient of the commercial formulation Roundup®, which is used worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the toxic effects of pure glyphosate or Roundup® on pregnant mice and their fetuses during pregnancy. From gestation days (GDs) 1–19, ICR mice were orally administered distilled water, 0.5% glyphosate solution or 0.5%-glyphosate Roundup® solution. The ovaries and serum were collected at GD19. The results showed decreases in body weight gain and, ovary and liver weight in glyphosate-treated mice. Additionally, histopathological alterations in the ovary including increased atretic follicles, interstitial fibrosis and decreased mature follicles were observed in the groups treated with glyphosate. The serum concentrations of both progesterone and estrogen were markedly altered after glyphosate exposure, and there were also changes in the expression of GnRH, LHR, FSHR, 3β-HSD and Cyp19a1 genes at the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis. Furthermore, oxidative stress was observed in the treated mice, increasing the activity of T-AOC, CAT and GSH-Px, as well as the MDA content in both the serum and ovary. With regard to litters, the sex ratio was significantly altered by pure glyphosate. These results show that glyphosate is able to cause several effects on pregnant mice, such as ovarian failure, interference with hormone secretion by affecting the steroidogenesis-related gene expression, and oxidative stress. The sex ratio of litters was also influenced by prenatal exposure to pure glyphosate.
Glyphosate and Roundup® alter morphology and behavior in zebrafish
Study Highlights
•Glyphosate or Roundup® altered locomotion and aversive behavior in zebrafish larvae.
•Glyphosate or Roundup® reduced the locomotion in adult zebrafish.
•Glyphosate decreased ocular distance in zebrafish larvae.
•Roundup®-exposed adult zebrafish demonstrated impairment in memory.
•Glyphosate and Roundup® reduced agressive behavior in adult zebrafish.
Abstract
Glyphosate has become the most widely used herbicide in the world, due to the wide scale adoption of transgenic glyphosate resistant crops after its introduction in 1996. Glyphosate may be used alone, but it is commonly applied as an active ingredient of the herbicide Roundup®. This pesticide contains several adjuvants, which may promote an unknown toxicity. The indiscriminate application poses numerous problems, both for the health of the applicators and consumers, and for the environment, contaminating the soil, water and leading to the death of plants and animals. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) is quickly gaining popularity in behavioral research, because of physiological similarity to mammals, sensitivity to pharmacological factors, robust performance, low cost, short spawning intervals, external fertilization, transparency of embryos through larval stages, and rapid development. The aim of this study was evaluate the effects of glyphosate and Roundup® on behavioral and morphological parameters in zebrafish larvae and adults. Zebrafish larvae at 3 days post-fertilization and adults were exposed to glyphosate (0.01, 0.065, and 0.5 mg/L) or Roundup® (0.01, 0.065, and 0.5 mg/L) for 96 h. Immediately after the exposure, we performed the analysis of locomotor activity, aversive behavior, and morphology for the larvae and exploratory behavior, aggression and inhibitory avoidance memory for adult zebrafish. In zebrafish larvae, there were significant differences in the locomotor activity and aversive behavior after glyphosate or Roundup® exposure when compared to the control group. Our findings demonstrated that exposure to glyphosate at the concentration of 0.5 mg/L, Roundup® at 0.065 or 0.5 mg/L reduced the distance traveled, the mean speed and the line crossings in adult zebrafish. A decreased ocular distance was observed for larvae exposed at 0.5 mg/L of glyphosate. We verified that at 0.5 mg/L of Roundup®-treated adult zebrafish demonstrated a significant impairment in memory. Both glyphosate and Roundup® reduced aggressive behavior. Our data suggest that there are small differences between the effects induced by glyphosate and Roundup®, altering morphological and behavioral parameters in zebrafish, suggesting common mechanisms of toxicity and cellular response.
Glyphosate was first synthesized in 1950 as a potential pharmaceutical compound. It was discovered to be an herbicide by Monsanto chemist John E. Franz in 1970. Unfortunately glyphosate is found in almost all non-organic food crops (think about it when you buy ‘non-organic food’ in the supermarket next time) and the chemical is now ubiquitous in our environment (it has even been detected in the umbilical cord blood of newborns) because it has been used in agriculture for a long time and has spread throughout the environmental systems. The analogy of a drop of ink in a glass of water (cf. osmosis) is appropriate to communicate the concept of chemical dispersion throughout the environment. Its interactions and synergies with other chemical compounds are currently only poorly understood as the majority of studies focus on isolated compounds. However, since the industrial revolution our environment has been bombarded with countless synthetic chemicals an only time will tell what the cumulative effects on biology and life are. Currently nobody knows how all these chemical compounds interact. In other words, humanity is currently conducting a large scale biochemical experiment without any control group (and without ethical permission or consensus by the participants).
Analysis of concentrations of Glyphosate in pregnant versus nonpregnant women (i.e., in maternal and fetal cord blood)
Cattani, D., de Liz Oliveira Cavalli, V. L., Heinz Rieg, C. E., Domingues, J. T., Dal-Cim, T., Tasca, C. I., … Zamoner, A.. (2014). Mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity induced by glyphosate-based herbicide in immature rat hippocampus: Involvement of glutamate excitotoxicity. Toxicology
“Glyphosate based herbicides (gbh) like roundup® are used extensively in agriculture as well as in urban and rural settings as a broad spectrum herbicide. its mechanism of action was thought to be specific only to plants and thus considered safe and non-toxic. however, mounting evidence suggests that gbhs may not be as safe as once thought as initial studies in frogs suggest that gbhs may be teratogenic. here we utilize the zebrafish vertebrate model system to study early effects of glyphosate exposure using technical grade glyphosate and the roundup® classic formulation. we find morphological abnormalities including cephalic and eye reductions and a loss of delineated brain ventricles. concomitant with structural changes in the developing brain, using in situ hybridization analysis, we detect decreases in genes expressed in the eye, fore and midbrain regions of the brain including pax2, pax6, otx2 and epha4. however, we do not detect changes in hindbrain expression domains of epha4 nor exclusive hindbrain markers krox-20 and hoxb1a. additionally, using a retinoic acid (ra) mediated reporter transgenic, we detect no alterations in the ra expression domains in the hindbrain and spinal cord, but do detect a loss of expression in the retina. we conclude that glyphosate and the roundup® formulation is developmentally toxic to the forebrain and midbrain but does not affect the hindbrain after 24h exposure.”
In the USA there are currently ≈580 lawsuits pending against Monsanto (now BAYER). The lead case in The USA is 3:16-md-02741-VC. The first trial in the federal court is set for Feb. 25, 2019 in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco. In the UK Glyphosate is unfortunately still completely unregulated and readily available in regular supermarkets where it is advertised as an effective weed killer for gardeners (inter alia). Moreover, it is applied to almost all non-organic food crops (fruits, vegetables, grains, etc.) we all consume on a daily basis. It is impossible to “wash off” Glyphosate because it penetrates deep into the organism after it is topically applied. Moreover, the human body and brain has great difficulty to detox from Glyphosate and it accumulates in the human body and brain over time. The exact longitudinal effects of Glyphosate are hitherto unknown and therefore pose a significant risk to the environment and human health.
Investigative documentary: The world according to Monsanto
The Monsanto papers – The secret tactics Monsanto used to protect Glyphosate
Lecture on glyphosate by Dr. Seneff
Dr. Stephanie Seneff is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She received the B.S. degree in Biophysics in 1968, the M.S. and E.E. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 1980, and the Ph.D degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1985, all from MIT. For over three decades, her research interests have always been at the intersection of biology and computation – developing a computational model for the human auditory system, understanding human language so as to develop algorithms and systems for human computer interactions, as well as applying natural language processing (NLP) techniques to gene predictions. She has published over 170 refereed articles on these subjects, and has been invited to give keynote speeches at several international conferences. She has also supervised numerous Master’s and PhD theses at MIT.
In recent years, Dr. Seneff has focused her research interests back towards biology. She is concentrating mainly on the relationship between nutrition and health. Since 2011, she has published over 30 papers, together with colleagues, in various peer-reviewed medical and heath-related journals on topics such as modern day diseases (e.g., Alzheimer, autism, cardiovascular diseases), analysis and search of databases of drug side effects using NLP techniques, and the impact of nutritional deficiencies and environmental toxins on human health.
“The internal correspondence noted by Johnson could support a jury finding that Monsanto has long been aware of the risk that its glyphosate-based herbicides are carcinogenic … but has continuously sought to influence the scientific literature to prevent its internal concerns from reaching the public sphere and to bolster its defenses in products liability actions,” Karnow wrote. “Thus there are triable issues of material fact.”
Monsanto “championed falsified data and attacked legitimate studies” that revealed dangers of its herbicides, and led a “prolonged campaign of misinformation” to convince government agencies, farmers and consumers that Roundup was safe, according to Johnson’s lawsuit.
“Biotech giant Monsanto is being accused of hiring, through third parties, an army of Internet trolls to counter negative comments, while citing positive “ghost-written” pseudo-scientific reports which downplay the potential risks of their products.”
On a larger scale, Monsanto allegedly
“quietly funnels money to ‘think tanks’ such as the ‘Genetic Literacy Project’ and the ‘American Council on Science and Health”– organizations intended to shame scientists and highlight information helpful to Monsanto and other chemical producers,” according to the plaintiffs.”
From a meta-analytic perspective the scientific evidence against the utilisation of Glyphosate is very strong. In addition, synergistic toxicity needs to be taken in account. Such synergies are unfortunately rarely addressed in the scientific literature (and even less frequently in public/political debates). We know that 1 + 1 is not always 2. Specifically, in the domain of chemistry and neurochemistry. Currently, nobody really knows how Glyphosate interacts with the numerous other chemical we unfortunately find in our environments. Even less is known about the longitudinal effects of such synergies. What we do know is that Monsanto has de facto been found guilty for crimes against nature and humanity in the past.
We should be specifically concerned about the potential genotoxic & mutagenic effects (i.e., damage to the human genome is irreversible). That is, the problem does not only concern this generation but the evolution of the species homō sapiēns as a whole (the Latin binomial ironically translates into “the wise/rational man”). Cross-generational responsibility is an important factor of governmental decision-making and it should be weighted accordingly.
As stated above, we are all exposed to Glyphosate on a daily basis (it is sprayed on almost all non-organic crops and it is widely distributed in our environment). Children are specifically susceptible to the detrimental effects because their blood-brain barrier (which filters exogenous substances) is less developed and because their bodies/brains are much smaller than those of adults.
A comparative historical perspective is very informative in this context. Remember that it took decades for the government to respond to the early warnings about tobacco, asbestos, and X-Rays.
The tobacco time line:
•The health effects of tobacco were first debated in 1856 in the medical journal The Lancet
•Dr. Isaac Adler suggested lung cancer was related to smoking in 1912
•A British medical journal published a study in 1950 finding that smokers were 50 times more likely to get lung cancer
•It wasn’t until 1997 that tobacco companies agreed to fund healthcare costs from smoking
The X-Ray time line:
•Thomas Edison noted injuries from X-Rays in 1896
•Edison’s assistant died from X-Ray exposure in 1904
•Fluoroscopes were used in shoe stores to see through shoes to aid proper fitting in 1930
•The deaths of over 200 radiologists from radioactive cancer were published in 1934
•Radiation levels of fluoroscopes were questioned in 1949
•In 1990 the risk of cancer from radiation was found to be five times greater than previously thought
The Asbestos time line:
•A British factory inspector warned of asbestos harm in 1898
•Rat studies raised questions about harmful effects of asbestos dust in 1911
•U.S. insurers refused to cover asbestos worker’s claims in 1918
•From 1935 to 1949 lung cancer was reported in asbestos workers
•Asbestos was finally banned in the U.S. in 1989
Summa summarum, there is robust and substantial scientific evidence that Glyphosate is potentially neurotoxic, genotoxic, & cancerogenic. As can be seen from the timelines above (viz., tabacco, X-Rays, aspestos) it took many decades and untold casualties before those carcinogens were ever properly addressed. Glyphosate is a much bigger toxin than tobacco, X-Rays or asbestos due to the sheer numbers of people who are exposed to this chemical. As pointed out before, there is strong evidence that it has potentially highly detrimental irreversible effects on human genes and their expression. Genetic effects are by definition irreversible and molecular biology is in no position to correct such influences post festum any time soon (despite CRISPR/Cas9 and other gene editing technologies). The human “gene-pool” should be seen as a public good which needs to be protected. Otherwise future generation will pay a very high price for our irresponsible and irrational short-sighted and profit oriented behaviour (which dominates the current climate of profit-oriented neoliberalism). Further, Glyphosate posses a very stable chemical structure and it lingers in the environment (and the human body/brain) for a very long time. The numbers of people now being affected is enormous (not just in the UK but worlwide). There isn’t enough time for us to wait for our government or industry to come to the realization that a serious problem exists. We know that they will be reluctant to make such an admission (for various reasons which go beyond the scope of this email). Reasonable precautions must be taken now! The evidence is before us. Research studies tell us there is a problem. We cannot afford to wait until industry and government are forced to admit that Glyphosate is dangerous. We did that with tobacco, X-Rays and asbestos.
References
Cattani, D., Cesconetto, P. A., Tavares, M. K., Parisotto, E. B., De Oliveira, P. A., Rieg, C. E. H., … Zamoner, A.. (2017). Developmental exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide and depressive-like behavior in adult offspring: Implication of glutamate excitotoxicity and oxidative stress. Toxicology
“We have previously demonstrated that maternal exposure to glyphosate-based herbicide (gbh) leads to glutamate excitotoxicity in 15-day-old rat hippocampus. the present study was conducted in order to investigate the effects of subchronic exposure to gbh on some neurochemical and behavioral parameters in immature and adult offspring. rats were exposed to 1% gbh in drinking water (corresponding to 0.36% of glyphosate) from gestational day 5 until postnatal day (pnd)-15 or pnd60. results showed that gbh exposure during both prenatal and postnatal periods causes oxidative stress, affects cholinergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission in offspring hippocampus from immature and adult rats. the subchronic exposure to the pesticide decreased l-[14c]-glutamate uptake and increased 45ca2+ influx in 60-day-old rat hippocampus, suggesting a persistent glutamate excitotoxicity from developmental period (pnd15) to adulthood (pnd60). moreover, gbh exposure alters the serum levels of the astrocytic protein s100b. the effects of gbh exposure were associated with oxidative stress and depressive-like behavior in offspring on pnd60, as demonstrated by the prolonged immobility time and decreased time of climbing observed in forced swimming test. the mechanisms underlying the gbh-induced neurotoxicity involve the nmda receptor activation, impairment of cholinergic transmission, astrocyte dysfunction, erk1/2 overactivation, decreased p65 nf-κb phosphorylation, which are associated with oxidative stress and glutamate excitotoxicity. these neurochemical events may contribute, at least in part, to the depressive-like behavior observed in adult offspring.”
Cattani, D., de Liz Oliveira Cavalli, V. L., Heinz Rieg, C. E., Domingues, J. T., Dal-Cim, T., Tasca, C. I., … Zamoner, A.. (2014). Mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity induced by glyphosate-based herbicide in immature rat hippocampus: Involvement of glutamate excitotoxicity. Toxicology
Cattani, D., Lúcia, V., Oliveira, D. L., Elise, C., Rieg, H., Domingues, J. T., … Zamoner, A.. (2014). Mechanisms underlying the neurotoxicity induced by glyphosate-based herbicide in immature rat hippocampus: Involvement of glutamate excitotoxicity. Toxicology
Coullery, R. P., Ferrari, M. E., & Rosso, S. B.. (2016). Neuronal development and axon growth are altered by glyphosate through a WNT non-canonical signaling pathway. NeuroToxicology
“The growth and morphological differentiation of neurons are critical events in the establishment of proper neuronal connectivity and functioning. the developing nervous system is highly susceptible to damage caused by exposure to environmental contaminants. glyphosate-containing herbicides are the most used agrochemicals in the world, particularly on genetically modified plants. previous studies have demonstrated that glyphosate induces neurotoxicity in mammals. therefore, its action mechanism on the nervous system needs to be determined. in this study, we report about impaired neuronal development caused by glyphosate exposure. particularly, we observed that the initial axonal differentiation and growth of cultured neurons is affected by glyphosate since most treated cells remained undifferentiated after 1 day in culture. although they polarized at 2 days in vitro, they elicited shorter and unbranched axons and they also developed less complex dendritic arbors compared to controls. to go further, we attempted to identify the cellular mechanism by which glyphosate affected neuronal morphology. biochemical approaches revealed that glyphosate led to a decrease in wnt5a level, a key factor for the initial neurite development and maturation, as well as inducing a down-regulation of camkii activity. this data suggests that the morphological defects would likely be a consequence of the decrease in both wnt5a expression and camkii activity induced by glyphosate. additionally, these changes might be reflected in a subsequent neuronal dysfunction. therefore, our findings highlight the importance of establishing rigorous control on the use of glyphosate-based herbicides in order to protect mammals’ health.”
Gallegos, C. E., Baier, C. J., Bartos, M., Bras, C., Domínguez, S., Mónaco, N., … Minetti, A.. (2018). Perinatal Glyphosate-Based Herbicide Exposure in Rats Alters Brain Antioxidant Status, Glutamate and Acetylcholine Metabolism and Affects Recognition Memory. Neurotoxicity Research
“Changes in biogenic amine content in the substantia nigra and in bothnforms of monoamine oxidase in substantia nigra and striatum of thenrat during postnatal development (15-180 days) have been studied.ndopamine and serotonin had the same levels at day 15, however, eachnmonoamine showed a different developmental profile. dopamine levelsnand their metabolites (except 3-methoxytyramine) decreased duringnpostnatal development. serotonin levels and their main metabolite,n5-hydroxyindolacetic acid, underwent an increase during all stagesnstudied. there were no statistically significant changes in noradrenalinenlevels until day 180 when they increased with respect to day 15.nthe highest activity of the monoamine oxidase-a in substantia nigrancoincided with the highest 5-hydroxyindolacetic acid:serotonin ratio.nmonoamine oxidase-a in the striatum did not change contrary to thatnwhich happened in substantia nigra. the monoamine oxidase-b:monoaminenoxidase-a ratio increased during development both in the substantiannigra and the striatum. the significance of these changes is discussed.”
Ji, H., Xu, L., Wang, Z., Fan, X., & Wu, L.. (2018). Differential microRNA expression in the prefrontal cortex of mouse offspring induced by glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and lactation. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine
“Glyphosate is the active ingredient in numerous herbicide formulations. the role of glyphosate in neurotoxicity has been reported in human and animal models. however, the detailed mechanism of the role of glyphosate in neuronal development remains unknown. recently, several studies have reported evidence linking neurodevelopmental disorders (ndds) with gestational glyphosate exposure. the current group previously identified micrornas (mirnas) that are associated with the etiology of ndds, but their expression levels in the developing brain following glyphosate exposure have not been characterized. in the present study, mirna expression patterns were evaluated in the prefrontal cortex (pfc) of 28 postnatal day mouse offspring following glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and lactation. an mirna microarray detected 55 upregulated and 19 downregulated mirnas in the pfc of mouse offspring, and 20 selected deregulated mirnas were further evaluated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (pcr). a total of 11 targets of these selected deregulated mirnas were analyzed using bioinformatics. gene ontology (go) terms associated with the relevant mirnas included neurogenesis (go:0050769), neuron differentiation (go:0030182) and brain development (go:0007420). the genes cdkn1a, numbl, notch1, fosl1 and lef1 are involved in the wnt and notch signaling pathways, which are closely associated with neural development. pcr arrays for the mouse wnt and notch signaling pathways were used to validate the effects of glyphosate on the expression pattern of genes involved in the wnt and notch pathways. nr4a2 and wnt7b were downregulated, while dkk1, dixdc1, runx1, shh, lef-1 and axin2 were upregulated in the pfc of mice offspring following glyphosate exposure during pregnancy and lactation. these results indicated abnormalities of the wnt/beta-catenin and notch pathways. these findings may be of particular interest for understanding the mechanism of glyphosate-induced neurotoxicity, as well as helping to clarify the association between glyphosate and ndds.”
Lajmanovich, R. C., Junges, C. M., Attademo, A. M., Peltzer, P. M., Cabagna-Zenklusen, M. C., & Basso, A.. (2013). Individual and mixture toxicity of commercial formulations containing glyphosate, metsulfuron-methyl, bispyribac-sodium, and picloram on rhinella arenarum tadpoles. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution
“We investigated the effects of four commercial formulations of herbicides (glyphosate [gly], metsulfuron-methyl [met], bispyribac-sodium [bis], and picloram [pic]) individually, and in three 50:50 mixtures (gly-met, gly-bis, gly-pic) on the common toad rhinella arenarum (anura: bufonidae) tadpoles. enzymatic parameters such as, glutathione s-transferase (gst), butyrylcholinesterase (bche) and acetylcholinesterase (ache) activities, as well as erythrocyte nuclear abnormalities (ena) were studied. interactions between herbicides in mixtures were evaluated and classified as additive, synergistic, or antagonistic. toxicity results (48-h lc50) showed that pic was the most toxic herbicide, followed by bis, gly, and met, while gly-pic was the most toxic mixture, followed by gly-bis, and gly-met. all commercial herbicide formulations and their mixtures significantly inhibited bche activity in exposed tadpoles. the ache activity was also inhibited by all herbicides and their mixtures, except by gly-bis. the inhibition of gst activity was only significant for gly, met, pic, and gly-met. a significant increase in the frequency of ena was found for tadpoles exposed either to commercial herbicide formulations or to mixtures, except for gly. all the mixtures showed synergism for bche activity while for ache only the gly-met and gly-pic mixtures acted synergistically. gly-met showed synergism for gst, whereas for ena, the mixture gly-bis was antagonistic. this study with r. arenarum tadpoles demonstrates that the interactions between three of the most intensively used herbicides in soybean crops results in synergistic effects on mortality and neurotoxicity and synergistic or additive effects in genotoxicity.”
Landrigan, P. J., & Belpoggi, F.. (2018). The need for independent research on the health effects of glyphosate-based herbicides. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source
“BACKGROUND glyphosate, formulated as roundup, is the world’s most widely used herbicide. glyphosate is used extensively on genetically modified (gm) food crops designed to tolerate the herbicide, and global use is increasing rapidly. two recent reviews of glyphosate’s health hazards report conflicting results. an independent review by the international agency for research on cancer (iarc) found that glyphosate is a ‘probable human carcinogen’. a review by the european food safety agency (efsa) found no evidence of carcinogenic hazard. these differing findings have produced regulatory uncertainty. regulatory actions reflecting this regulatory uncertainty, the european commission on november 27 2017, extended authorization for glyphosate for another 5 years, while the european parliament opposed this decision and issued a call that pesticide approvals be based on peer-reviewed studies by independent scientists rather than on the current system that relies on proprietary industry studies. ramazzini institute response the ramazzini institute has initiated a pilot study of glyphosate’s health hazards that will be followed by an integrated experimental research project. this evaluation will be independent of industry support and entirely sponsored by worldwide crowdfunding. the aim of the ramazzini institute project is to explore comprehensively the effects of exposures to glyphosate-based herbicides at current real-world levels on several toxicological endpoints, including carcinogenicity, long-term toxicity, neurotoxicity, endocrine disrupting effects, prenatal developmental toxicity, the microbiome and multi-generational effects.”
Martínez, M. A., Ares, I., Rodríguez, J. L., Martínez, M., Martínez-Larrañaga, M. R., & Anadón, A.. (2018). Neurotransmitter changes in rat brain regions following glyphosate exposure. Environmental Research
“The effects of glyphosate oral exposure (35, 75, 150 and 800 mg/kg bw, 6 days) on brain region monoamine levels of male wistar rats were examined. glyphosate-treated rats (35, 75, 150 and 800 mg/kg bw, 6 days), had no visible injury, i.e., no clinical signs of dysfunction were observed. after last dose of glyphosate, serotonin (5-ht), dopamine (da) and norepinephrine (ne) and its metabolites levels were determined in the brain regions striatum, hippocampus, prefrontal, cortex, hypothalamus and midbrain, by hplc. glyphosate caused statistically significant changes in the 5-ht and its metabolite 5-hydroxy-3-indolacetic acid (5-hiaa), da and its metabolites 3,4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (dopac) and homovanillic acid (hva), and ne and its metabolite 3-metoxy-4-hydroxyphenylethyleneglycol (mhpg) levels in a brain regional- and dose-related manner. moreover, glyphosate, dose-dependent, evoked a statistically significant increase in 5-ht turnover in striatum and hypothalamus and in da turnover in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, and a statistically significant decrease in ne turnover in prefrontal cortex and hypothalamus. the present findings indicate that glyphosate significantly altered central nervous system (cns) monoaminergic neurotransmitters in a brain regional- and dose-related manner, effects that may contribute to the overall spectrum of neurotoxicity caused by this herbicide.”
Menéndez-Helman, R. J., Ferreyroa, G. V., Dos Santos Afonso, M., & Salibián, A.. (2012). Glyphosate as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor in cnesterodon decemmaculatus. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology
“The toxic effect of sublethal concentrations (1, 17.5 and 35 mg l(-1)) of pure glyphosate was evaluated on acetylcholinesterase (ache) activity in the fish species, cnesterodon decemmaculatus. acute bioassays (96 h) under laboratory conditions were conducted and homogenates for each specimen corresponding to the anterior, middle and posterior body sections were performed. fish survival was 100%, even at the highest concentration tested (35 mg l(-1)), in accordance with the low lethal toxicity reported for glyphosate. however, a significant inhibitory effect on ache activity was recorded even for the lowest herbicide concentration tested (1 mg l(-1)), in the homogenates corresponding to the anterior body section. the inhibition ranged from 23 to 36%. the analytical determination of glyphosate in assay media by ion chromatography, was used to verify its stability. these results indicate that ache-a neurotoxicity biomarker-in c. decemmaculatus may be affected by exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of glyphosate.”
Negga, R., Rudd, D. A., Davis, N. S., Justice, A. N., Hatfield, H. E., Valente, A. L., … Fitsanakis, V. A.. (2011). Exposure to Mn/Zn ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate and glyphosate pesticides leads to neurodegeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans. NeuroToxicology
Negga, R., Stuart, J. A., Machen, M. L., Salva, J., Lizek, A. J., Richardson, S. J., … Fitsanakis, V. A.. (2012). Exposure to glyphosate-and/or Mn/Zn-ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate-containing pesticides leads to degeneration of c-aminobutyric acid and dopamine neurons in caenorhabditis elegans. Neurotoxicity Research
“Previous studies demonstrate a positive correlation between pesticide usage and parkinson’s disease (pd), which preferentially targets dopaminergic (daergic) neurons. in order to examine the potential relationship between two common pesticides and specific neurodegeneration, we chronically (24 hours) or acutely (30 min) exposed two caenorhabditis elegans (c. elegans) strains to varying concentrations (lc25, lc50 or lc75) of touchdown® (td) as per cent active ingredient (glyphosate), or mancozeb® (mz) as per cent active ingredient (manganese/zinc ethylene-bis-dithiocarbamate). furthermore, to more precisely model environmental exposure, worms were also exposed to td for 30 min, followed by 30-min incubation with varying mz concentrations. previous data from out lab suggested general neuronal degeneration using the worm strain nw1229 (pan-neuronal::green fluorescent protein (gfp) construct). to determine whether distinct neuronal groups were preferentially affected, we specifically used eg1285 (gabaergic neurons::gfp construct) and bz555 (daergic neurons::gfp construct) worms to verify gabaergic and daergic neurodegeneration, respectively. results indicated a statistically significant decrease, when compared to controls (cn), in number of green pixels associated with gabaergic neurons in both chronic (*p < 0.05) and acute (*p < 0.05) treatment paradigms. analysis of the bz555 worms indicated a statistically significant decrease (*p < 0.05) in number of green pixels associated with daergic neurons in both treatment paradigms (chronic and acute) when compared to cn. taken together, our data suggest that exposure to td and/or mz promotes neurodegeneration in both gabaergic and daergic neurons in the model organism c. elegans.”
Roy, N. M., Carneiro, B., & Ochs, J.. (2016). Glyphosate induces neurotoxicity in zebrafish. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology
“Glyphosate based herbicides (gbh) like roundup® are used extensively in agriculture as well as in urban and rural settings as a broad spectrum herbicide. its mechanism of action was thought to be specific only to plants and thus considered safe and non-toxic. however, mounting evidence suggests that gbhs may not be as safe as once thought as initial studies in frogs suggest that gbhs may be teratogenic. here we utilize the zebrafish vertebrate model system to study early effects of glyphosate exposure using technical grade glyphosate and the roundup® classic formulation. we find morphological abnormalities including cephalic and eye reductions and a loss of delineated brain ventricles. concomitant with structural changes in the developing brain, using in situ hybridization analysis, we detect decreases in genes expressed in the eye, fore and midbrain regions of the brain including pax2, pax6, otx2 and epha4. however, we do not detect changes in hindbrain expression domains of epha4 nor exclusive hindbrain markers krox-20 and hoxb1a. additionally, using a retinoic acid (ra) mediated reporter transgenic, we detect no alterations in the ra expression domains in the hindbrain and spinal cord, but do detect a loss of expression in the retina. we conclude that glyphosate and the roundup® formulation is developmentally toxic to the forebrain and midbrain but does not affect the hindbrain after 24h exposure.”
Yu, N., Tong, Y., Zhang, D., Zhao, S., Fan, X., Wu, L., & Ji, H.. (2018). Circular RNA expression profiles in hippocampus from mice with perinatal glyphosate exposure. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
“Glyphosate is the active ingredient in numerous herbicide formulations. the roles of glyphosate in embryo-toxicity and neurotoxicity have been reported in human and animal models. recently, several studies have reported evidence linking neurodevelopmental disorders (ndds) with gestational glyphosate exposure. however, the role of glyphosate in neuronal development is still not fully understood. our previous study found that perinatal glyphosate exposure resulted in differential microrna expression in the prefrontal cortex of mouse offspring. however, the mechanism of glyphosate-induced neurotoxicity in the developing brain is still not fully understood. considering the pivotal role of circular rnas (circrnas) in the regulation of gene expression, a circrna microarray method was used in this study to investigate circrna expression changes in the hippocampus of mice with perinatal glyphosate exposure. the circrna microarrays revealed that 663 circrnas were significantly altered in the perinatal glyphosate exposure group compared with the control group. among them, 330 were significantly upregulated, and the other 333 were downregulated. furthermore, the relative expression levels of mmu-circrna-014015, mmu-circrna-28128 and mmu-circrna-29837 were verified using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qrt-pcr). gene ontology (go) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (kegg) pathway analyses demonstrated that stress-associated steroid metabolism pathways, such as aldosterone synthesis and secretion pathways, may be involved in the neurotoxicity of glyphosate. these results showed that circrnas are aberrantly expressed in the hippocampus of mice with perinatal glyphosate exposure and play potential roles in glyphosate-induced neurotoxicity.”
Various different start dates for the Anthropocene have been proposed, ranging from the beginning of the Agricultural Revolution 12,000–15,000 years ago, to as recent as the Trinity test in 1945. As of February 2018, the ratification process continues and thus a date remains to be decided definitively, but the latter date has been more favored than others.
The most recent period of the Anthropocene has been referred to by several authors as the Great Acceleration during which the socioeconomic and earth system trends are increasing dramatically, especially after the Second World War. For instance, the Geological Society termed the year 1945 as The Great Acceleration.[9]
Further References
Dirzo, R., Young, H. S., Galetti, M., Ceballos, G., Isaac, N. J. B., & Collen, B.. (2014). Defaunation in the Anthropocene. Science
“We live amid a global wave of anthropogenically driven biodiversity loss: species and population extirpations and, critically, declines in local species abundance. particularly, human impacts on animal biodiversity are an under-recognized form of global environmental change. among terrestrial vertebrates, 322 species have become extinct since 1500, and populations of the remaining species show 25% average decline in abundance. invertebrate patterns are equally dire: 67% of monitored populations show 45% mean abundance decline. such animal declines will cascade onto ecosystem functioning and human well-being. much remains unknown about this ‘anthropocene defaunation’; these knowledge gaps hinder our capacity to predict and limit defaunation impacts. clearly, however, defaunation is both a pervasive component of the planet’s sixth mass extinction and also a major driver of global ecological change.”
Steffen, W., Crutzen, P. J., & McNeill, J. R.. (2007). The Anthropocene: Are Humans Now Overwhelming the Great Forces of Nature. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment
“We explore the development of the anthropocene, the current epoch in which humans and our societies have become a global geophysical force. the anthropocene began around 1800 with the onset of industrialization, the central feature of which was the enormous expansion in the use of fossil fuels. we use atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration as a single, simple indicator to track the progression of the anthropocene. from a preindustrial value of 270-275 ppm, atmospheric carbon dioxide had risen to about 310 ppm by 1950. since then the human enterprise has experienced a remarkable explosion, the great acceleration, with significant consequences for earth system functioning. atmospheric co2 concentration has risen from 310 to 380 ppm since 1950, with about half of the total rise since the preindustrial era occurring in just the last 30 years. the great acceleration is reaching criticality. whatever unfolds, the next few decades will surely be a tipping point in the evolution of the anthropocene.”
Lewis, S. L., & Maslin, M. A.. (2015). Defining the Anthropocene. Nature
“The start of the period of large-scale human effects on this planet (the anthropocene) is debated. the industrial view holds that most significant impacts have occurred since the early industrial era (∼1850), whereas the early-anthropogenic view recognizes large impacts thousands of years earlier. this review focuses on three indices of global-scale human influence: forest clearance (and related land use), emissions of greenhouse gases (co2 and ch4), and effects on global temperature. because reliable, systematic land-use surveys are rare prior to 1950, most reconstructions for early-industrial centuries and prior millennia are hind casts that assume humans have used roughly the same amount of land per person for 7,000 years. but this assumption is incorrect. historical data and new archeological databases reveal much greater per-capita land use in preindustrial than in recent centuries. this early forest clearance caused much greater preindustrial greenhouse-gas emissions and global temperature changes t…”
Crutzen, P. J.. (2006). The anthropocene. In Earth System Science in the Anthropocene
“Human activities are exerting increasing impacts on the environment on all scales, in many ways outcompeting natural processes. this includes the manufacturing of hazardous chemical compounds which are not produced by nature, such as for instance the chlorofluorocarbon gases which are responsible for the ‘ozone hole’. because human activities have also grown to become significant geological forces, for instance through land use changes, deforestation and fossil fuel burning, it is justified to assign the term ‘anthropocene’ to the current geological epoch. this epoch may be defined to have started about two centuries ago, coinciding with james watt’s design of the steam engine in 1784.”
Douglas, I.. (2018). Ecosystems and Human Well-Being. In Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene
“OBJECTIVE: contraction of cardiac myocytes is initiated by ca(2+) entry through the voltage-dependent l-type ca(2+) channel (ltcc). previous studies have shown that phosphatidylinositol (pi) 3-kinase signaling modulates ltcc function. because pi 3-kinases are key mediators of insulin action, we investigated whether ltcc function is affected in diabetic animals due to reduced pi 3-kinase signaling. research design and methods: we used whole-cell patch clamping and biochemical assays to compare cardiac ltcc function and pi 3-kinase signaling in insulin-deficient diabetic mice heterozygous for the ins2(akita) mutation versus nondiabetic littermates. results: diabetic mice had a cardiac contractility defect, reduced pi 3-kinase signaling in the heart, and decreased l-type ca(2+) current (i(ca,l)) density in myocytes compared with control nondiabetic littermates. the lower i(ca,l) density in myocytes from diabetic mice is due at least in part to reduced cell surface expression of the ltcc. i(ca,l) density in myocytes from diabetic mice was increased to control levels by insulin treatment or intracellular infusion of pi 3,4,5-trisphosphate pi(3,4,5)p(3). this stimulatory effect was blocked by taxol, suggesting that pi(3,4,5)p(3) stimulates microtubule-dependent trafficking of the ltcc to the cell surface. the voltage dependence of steady-state activation and inactivation of i(ca,l) was also shifted to more positive potentials in myocytes from diabetic versus nondiabetic animals. pi(3,4,5)p(3) infusion eliminated only the difference in voltage dependence of steady-state inactivation of i(ca,l). conclusions: decreased pi 3-kinase signaling in myocytes from type 1 diabetic mice leads to reduced ca(2+) entry through the ltcc, which might contribute to the negative effect of diabetes on cardiac contractility.”
Hughes, T. P., Barnes, M. L., Bellwood, D. R., Cinner, J. E., Cumming, G. S., Jackson, J. B. C., … Scheffer, M.. (2017). Coral reefs in the Anthropocene. Nature
“The question at once arises, how is it that even the stoutest corals, resting with broad base upon the ground, and doubly secure from their spreading proportions, become so easily a prey to the action of the same sea which they met shortly before with such effectual resistance? the solution of this enigma is to be found in the mode of growth of the corals themselves. living in communities, death begins first at the base or centre of the group, while the surface or tips still continue to grow, so that it resembles a dying centennial tree, rotten at the heart, but still apparently green and flourishing without, till the first heavy gale of wind snaps the hollow trunk, and betrays its decay. again, innumerable boring animals establish themselves in the lifeless stem, piercing holes in all directions into its interior, like so many augurs, dissolving its solid connexion with the ground, and even penetrating far into the living portion of these compact communities. l. agassiz (1852) abstract bioerosion, involving the weakening and breakdown of calcareous coral reef structures, is due to the chemical and mechanical activities of numerous and diverse biotic agents. these range in size from minute, primarily intra-skeletal organisms, the microborers (e.g., algae, fungi, bacteria) to larger and often externally-visible macroboring invertebrate (e.g., sponges, polychaete worms, sipunculans, molluscs, crustaceans, echinoids) and fish (e.g., parrotfishes, acanthurids, pufferfishes) species. constructive coral reef growth and destruc-tive bioerosive processes are often in close balance. dead corals are generally subject to higher rates of bioerosion than living corals, therefore, bioerosion and reef degradation can result from disturbances that cause coral mortality, such as sedimentation, eutrophication, pollution, temperature extremes, predation, and coral diseases. the effects of intensive coral reef bioerosion, involving el niño-southern oscillation, acanthaster predation, watershed alterations, and over-fishing, are re-examined after ~20 years (early 1990s–2010). we review the evidence showing that the biologically-mediated dissolution of calcium carbonate structures by endolithic algae and clionaid sponges will be accelerated with ocean acidification. the caco 3 budget dynamics of caribbean and eastern tropical pacific reefs is reviewed and provides sobering case studies on the current state of coral reefs and their future in a high-co 2 world.”
Steffen, W., Grinevald, J., Crutzen, P., & Mcneill, J.. (2011). The anthropocene: Conceptual and historical perspectives. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
“The human imprint on the global environment has now become so large and active that it rivals some of the great forces of nature in its impact on the functioning of the earth system. although global-scale human influence on the environment has been recognized since the 1800s, the term anthropocene, introduced about a decade ago, has only recently become widely, but informally, used in the global change research community. however, the term has yet to be accepted formally as a new geological epoch or era in earth history. in this paper, we put forward the case for formally recognizing the anthropocene as a new epoch in earth history, arguing that the advent of the industrial revolution around 1800 provides a logical start date for the new epoch. we then explore recent trends in the evolution of the anthropocene as humanity proceeds into the twenty-first century, focusing on the profound changes to our relationship with the rest of the living world and on early attempts and proposals for managing our relationship with the large geophysical cycles that drive the earthâ€TMs climate system.”
Smith, B. D., & Zeder, M. A.. (2013). The onset of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene
“For centuries, biogeographers have examined the factors that produce patterns of biodiversity across regions. the study of islands has proved particularly fruitful and has led to the theory that geographic area and isolation influence species colonization, extinction and speciation such that larger islands have more species and isolated islands have fewer species (that is, positive species–area and negative species–isolation relationships). however, experimental tests of this theory have been limited, owing to the difficulty in experimental manipulation of islands at the scales at which speciation and long-distance colonization are relevant. here we have used the human-aided transport of exotic anole lizards among caribbean islands as such a test at an appropriate scale. in accord with theory, as anole colonizations have increased, islands impoverished in native species have gained the most exotic species, the past influence of speciation on island biogeography has been obscured, and the species–area relationship has strengthened while the species–isolation relationship has weakened. moreover, anole biogeography increasingly reflects anthropogenic rather than geographic processes. unlike the island biogeography of the past that was determined by geographic area and isolation, in the anthropocene—an epoch proposed for the present time interval—island biogeography is dominated by the economic isolation of human populations.”
Malhi, Y., Gardner, T. A., Goldsmith, G. R., Silman, M. R., & Zelazowski, P.. (2014). Tropical Forests in the Anthropocene. SSRN
“The anthropocene is characterized as an epoch when human influence has begun to fundamentally alter many aspects of the earth system and many of the planet’s biomes. here, we review and synthesize our understanding of anthropocene changes in tropical forests. key facets include deforestation driven by agricultural expansion, timber and wood extraction, the loss of fauna that maintain critical ecological connections, the spread of fire, landscape fragmentation, the spread of second-growth forests, new species invasion and pathogen spread, increasing co, and climate change. the patterns of change are spatially heterogeneous, are often characterized by strong interactions among different drivers, can have both large-scale and remote effects, and can play out through ecological cascades over long timescales. as a consequence, most tropical forests are on a trajectory to becoming altered ecosystems, with the degree of alteration dependent on the intensity and duration of the current bottleneck of human-induced pressures. we highlight the importance of this understanding to develop the strategies necessary for shaping the transition of tropical forests through the early anthropocene, as well as highlight the opportunities and challenges for the tropical forest science community in the coming decades.”
Corlett, R. T.. (2015). The Anthropocene concept in ecology and conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution
“The term ‘Anthropocene’ was first used in the year 2000 to refer to the current time period in which human impacts are at least as important as natural processes. it is currently being considered as a potential geological epoch, following on from the holocene. while most environmental scientists accept that many key environmental parameters are now outside their holocene ranges, there is no agreement on when the anthropocene started, with plausible dates ranging from the late pleistocene megafaunal extinctions to the recent globalization of industrial impacts. in ecology, the anthropocene concept has focused attention on human-dominated habitats and novel ecosystems, while in conservation biology it has sparked a divisive debate on the continued relevance of the traditional biocentric aims.”
Paul J. Crutzen, & Eugene F. Stoermer. (2000). The “Anthropocene”. Global Change Newsletter
“The international geosphere–biosphere programme (igbp): a study of global change of the international council for science (icsu) sustaining earth’s life support systems – the challenge for the next decade and beyond”
Van Loon, A. F., Gleeson, T., Clark, J., Van Dijk, A. I. J. M., Stahl, K., Hannaford, J., … Van Lanen, H. A. J.. (2016). Drought in the Anthropocene. Nature Geoscience
“Drought management is inefficient because feedbacks between drought and people are not fully understood. in this human-influenced era, we need to rethink the concept of drought to include the human role in mitigating and enhancing drought.”
Lorimer, J.. (2012). Multinatural geographies for the Anthropocene. Progress in Human Geography
“The recent diagnosis of the anthropocene represents the public death of the modern understanding of nature removed from society. it also challenges the modern science-politics settlement, where natural sci- ence speaks for a stable, objective nature. this paper reviews recent efforts to develop ‘multinatural’ alter- natives that provide an environmentalism that need not make recourse to nature. focusing on biodiversity conservation, the paper draws together work in the social and natural sciences to present an interdisciplinary biogeography for conservation in the anthropocene. this approach is developed through an engagement with the critiques of neoliberal natures offered by political ecology.”
Biermann, F., Abbott, K., Andresen, S., Bäckstrand, K., Bernstein, S., Betsill, M. M., … Zondervan, R.. (2012). Navigating the anthropocene: Improving earth system governance. Science
“Science assessments indicate that human activities are moving several of earth’s sub-systems outside the range of natural variability typical for the previous 500,000 years (1, 2). human societies must now change course and steer away from critical tipping points in the earth system that might lead to rapid and irreversible change (3). this requires fundamental reorientation and restructuring of national and international institutions toward more effective earth system governance and planetary stewardship.”
Zalasiewicz, J. A. N., Williams, M., Steffen, W., & Crutzen, P.. (2010). The new world of the anthropocene. Environmental Science and Technology
“The anthropocene, following the lost world of the holocene, holds challenges for both science and society.”
Waters, C. N., Zalasiewicz, J., Summerhayes, C., Barnosky, A. D., Poirier, C., Gałuszka, A., … Wolfe, A. P.. (2016). The Anthropocene is functionally and stratigraphically distinct from the Holocene. Science
“Human activity is leaving a pervasive and persistent signature on earth. vigorous debate continues about whether this warrants recognition as a new geologic time unit known as the anthropocene.we review anthropogenic markers of functional changes in the earth system through the stratigraphic record. the appearance of manufactured materials in sediments, including aluminum, plastics, and concrete, coincides with global spikes in fallout radionuclides and particulates from fossil fuel combustion. carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus cycles have been substantially modified over the past century. rates of sea-level rise and the extent of human perturbation of the climate system exceed late holocene changes. biotic changes include species invasions worldwide and accelerating rates of extinction. these combined signals render the anthropocene stratigraphically distinct from the holocene and earlier epochs.”
Zalasiewicz, J., Williams, M., Haywood, A., & Ellis, M.. (2011). The anthropocene: A new epoch of geological time?. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences
“Anthropogenic changes to the earthâ€TMs climate, land, oceans and biosphere are now so great and so rapid that the concept of a new geological epoch defined by the action of humans, the anthropocene, is widely and seriously debated. questions of the scale, magnitude and significance of this environmental change, particularly in the context of the earthâ€TMs geological history, provide the basis for this theme issue. the anthropocene, on current evidence, seems to show global change consistent with the suggestion that an epoch-scale boundary has been crossed within the last two centuries.”
Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C. N., Ivar do Sul, J. A., Corcoran, P. L., Barnosky, A. D., Cearreta, A., … Yonan, Y.. (2016). The geological cycle of plastics and their use as a stratigraphic indicator of the Anthropocene. Anthropocene
“The rise of plastics since the mid-20th century, both as a material element of modern life and as a growing environmental pollutant, has been widely described. their distribution in both the terrestrial and marine realms suggests that they are a key geological indicator of the anthropocene, as a distinctive stratal component. most immediately evident in terrestrial deposits, they are clearly becoming widespread in marine sedimentary deposits in both shallow- and deep-water settings. they are abundant and widespread as macroscopic fragments and virtually ubiquitous as microplastic particles; these are dispersed by both physical and biological processes, not least via the food chain and the ‘faecal express’ route from surface to sea floor. plastics are already widely dispersed in sedimentary deposits, and their amount seems likely to grow several-fold over the next few decades. they will continue to be input into the sedimentary cycle over coming millennia as temporary stores – landfill sites – are eroded. plastics already enable fine time resolution within anthropocene deposits via the development of their different types and via the artefacts (‘technofossils’) they are moulded into, and many of these may have long-term preservation potential when buried in strata.”
Zalasiewicz, J., Waters, C. N., Williams, M., Barnosky, A. D., Cearreta, A., Crutzen, P., … Oreskes, N.. (2015). When did the Anthropocene begin? A mid-twentieth century boundary level is stratigraphically optimal. Quaternary International
“We evaluate the boundary of the anthropocene geological time interval as an epoch, since it is useful to have a consistent temporal definition for this increasingly used unit, whether the presently informal term is eventually formalized or not. of the three main levels suggested – an ‘early anthropocene’ level some thousands of years ago; the beginning of the industrial revolution at ~1800 ce (common era); and the ‘great acceleration’ of the mid-twentieth century – current evidence suggests that the last of these has the most pronounced and globally synchronous signal. a boundary at this time need not have a global boundary stratotype section and point (gssp or ’golden spike’) but can be defined by a global standard stratigraphic age (gssa), i.e. a point in time of the human calendar. we propose an appropriate boundary level here to be the time of the world’s first nuclear bomb explosion, on july 16th 1945 at alamogordo, new mexico; additional bombs were detonated at the average rate of one every 9.6 days until 1988 with attendant worldwide fallout easily identifiable in the chemostratigraphic record. hence, anthropocene deposits would be those that may include the globally distributed primary artificial radionuclide signal, while also being recognized using a wide range of other stratigraphic criteria. this suggestion for the holocene-anthropocene boundary may ultimately be superseded, as the anthropocene is only in its early phases, but it should remain practical and effective for use by at least the current generation of scientists.”
Lewis, S. L., & Maslin, M. A.. (2018). Welcome to the anthropocene. IPPR Progressive Review
“The term anthropocene, proposed and increasingly employed to denote the current interval of anthropogenic global environmental change, may be discussed on stratigraphic grounds. a case can be made for its consideration as a formal epoch in that, since the start of the industrial revolution, earth has endured changes sufficient to leave a global stratigraphic signature distinct from that of the holocene or of previous pleistocene interglacial phases, encompassing novel biotic, sedimentary, and geochemical change. these changes, although likely only in their initial phases, are sufficiently distinct and robustly established for suggestions of a holocene–anthropocene boundary in the recent historical past to be geologically reasonable. the boundary may be defined either via global stratigraphic section and point (‘golden spike’) locations or by adopting a numerical date. formal adoption of this term in the near future will largely depend on its utility, particularly to earth scientists working on late holocene successions. this datum, from the perspective of the far future, will most probably approximate a distinctive stratigraphic boundary.”
SANDERSON, E. W., JAITEH, M., LEVY, M. A., REDFORD, K. H., WANNEBO, A. V., & WOOLMER, G.. (2002). The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild. BioScience
“Discusses the impact of human influence on ecosystems. consumption demands of the human population; reference to the cumulative effect of local changes on nature as the ‘anthropocene’ geological epoc; negligence by the human community of its influence on nature; presentation of a ‘human footprint map’ that illustrates the global phenomenom of human influence on nature; data used to develop the map, including human population density, land transformation, human access, and power infrastructure.”
Verburg, P. H., Crossman, N., Ellis, E. C., Heinimann, A., Hostert, P., Mertz, O., … Zhen, L.. (2015). Land system science and sustainable development of the earth system: A global land project perspective. Anthropocene
“Land systems are the result of human interactions with the natural environment. understanding the drivers, state, trends and impacts of different land systems on social and natural processes helps to reveal how changes in the land system affect the functioning of the socio-ecological system as a whole and the tradeoff these changes may represent. the global land project has led advances by synthesizing land systems research across different scales and providing concepts to further understand the feedbacks between social-and environmental systems, between urban and rural environments and between distant world regions. land system science has moved from a focus on observation of change and understanding the drivers of these changes to a focus on using this understanding to design sustainable transformations through stakeholder engagement and through the concept of land governance. as land use can be seen as the largest geo-engineering project in which mankind has engaged, land system science can act as a platform for integration of insights from different disciplines and for translation of knowledge into action.”
Dual-use neuroscience: Neuroscience can be used to promote people's freedom and creative potential - and it can be used to control and exploit people. Like any powerful scientific method, it is a Janus-head.
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
www.Cognitive-Liberty.online
Nobel laureate and PCR test inventor Dr. Kary Mullis
Quote (expressis verbis):
“With PCR, if you do it well, you can find almost anything in anybody.
It makes you believe in the Buddhist notion that everything is contained in everything else.”
Mullis vs. Fauci
Dr. Mullis comment on Dr. Anthony Fauci:
"He doesn’t know anything really about anything.”
Bill Gates
On "vaccinating" children.
Nobel laureate and PCR test inventor Dr. Kary Mullis
You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees.
An evil system never deserves such allegiance.
Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil.
A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.
~ Mohandas K. Gandhi
“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth — more than ruin, more even than death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and ilis not afraid … Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.”
~ Nobel laureate Lord Bertrand Russell (1920) “Why Men Fight: A Method of Abolishing the International Duel” pp. 178-179
Full text (ebook) available on the Project Gutenberg: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55610
“It must not be supposed that the officials in charge of education desire the young to become educated. On the contrary, their problem is to impart information without imparting intelligence. Education should have two objects: first, to give definite knowledge — reading and writing, languages and mathematics, and so on; secondly, to create those mental habits which will enable people to acquire knowledge and form sound judgments for themselves. The first of these we may call information, the second intelligence. The utility of information is admitted practically as well as theoretically; without a literate population a modern State is impossible. But the utility of intelligence is admitted only theoretically, not practically; it is not desired that ordinary people should think for themselves, because it is felt that people who think for themselves are awkward to manage and cause administrative difficulties. Only the guardians, in Plato’s language, are to think; the rest are to obey, or to follow leaders like a herd of sheep. This doctrine, often unconsciously, has survived the introduction of political democracy, and has radically vitiated all national systems of education.”
The term “liberty” is etymologically derived from the Latin libertatem,from the Old French liberté, and from the Middle English liberte. It can be conceptually translated as “civil or political freedom, condition of a free man, absence of cohersion”; cognate to liber “free” and libertas “freedom” (cf. library). Per analogiam, ‘liberty is to grow to one’s natural height’. Ex vi termini, “cognitive liberty” is semantically synonymous with “the right to psychological and neurocognitive self-determination“. The concept implies that human creatures have the universal right & freedom (viz., sui iuris) to control and determine their own psychology, i.e., their neurophysiological/neurochemical and cognitive processes, emotions, and all aspects of consciousness. The concept is thus essential to the universal principle of freedom of thought (Article 91 of the Human Rights Act 1998) and it forms the basis (s.c., a condicio sine qua non) for the right to freedom of speech/expression. As Prof. Erich Fromm succinctly articulated it: “The right to express our thought, however, means something only if we are able to have our own thoughts; freedom from external authority is a lasting gain only if the inner psychological conditions are such that we are able to establish our own individuality” (Fromm, The fear of freedom, 1942; pp.207-208). This quotation echoes Søren Kierkegaard: “People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
Self-determination is a cardinal principle in international law (jus cogens).2 Given the significant recent advances in psychology, the neurosciences, computer science, and artificial intelligence, cognitive liberty is becoming a topic of great concern for all human beings. This website is specifically dedicated to this timely topic and provides information from a diversity of sources (an integral interdisciplinary approach is adopted to elucidate the topic from a plurality of perspectives). Insights derived from psychology, the cognitivesciences, and the neurosciences enable the manipulation and control of cognition and consciousness, oftentimes specifically targeting unconscious processes. Moreover, advances in computer science and cybernetics (e.g., Bayesianalgorithms/deep learning convolutional neural networks) enable science to systematically tailor and “steerEtymological backgroundIn ancient Greek the word for 'steer' is 'kybernan' which in turn forms the root of the term 'cybernetics' coined 1948 by U.S. mathematician Norbert Wiener. The construction is perhaps based on 1830s French cybernétique 'the art of governing'. In an academic context cybernetics is the theory or study of communication and control. In general, cybernetics is a transdisciplinary approach for exploring regulatory systems—their structures, constraints, and possibilities. The Latin term 'gubernare' (to direct, rule, guide, steer, govern) has the same etymological root. The word 'governor' and 'goverment' are both related.” information (the flow of perceptual input) to affect cognition and emotion (and consequently behavior) in prespecified and highly predictable ways. Especially unconscious psychological processes can be effectively exploited because humans are, per definition, unaware of the programmatic excitability of unconscious mechanisms. This imbalance creates a power-differential between those who know how the human mind can be manipulated (viz., the financial power elite which utilizes media and a large segment of academic science for their purposes; cf. Mausfeld, 2017) and those who do not posses a detailed understanding of psychological manipulation and behavior modification techniques (i.e., the general populous). The list of evolutionarily built-in psychological weaknesses (vulnerable psychological exploits) is long and has been extensively studied by several generations of scientist, particularly in the domain of behavioral economics (i.e., Kahneman & Tversky’s “heuristics & biases” research agenda).
The following application provides a synopsis of numerous cognitive biases that are well documented in psychology:
Open ‘Cognitive Bias Codex’ application in a lightbox modal window (you can zoom via the mouse-wheel)
The psychological and technological developments alluded to are unprecedented in the evolution of the human species and have far-reaching implications for life on this planet as a whole, for it is obvious that human behaviour is having a significant negative impact on the “Earth system”. The relatively new terms Anthropocene and Holocene are used in this context of destruction and mass extinction. These terms refer to an important psychological, self-reflective insight that science has developed, namely that human behaviour is destroying the global ecosystem. Since human behaviour is driven by psychology, it is crucial that people are free to think in order to choose a more rational course of action. Freedom of thought must be encouraged. Currently, a large section of society is being transformed into mindless, conformist consumers through the mass media and other biocybernetic methods of psychological programming. This manipulative and neurotoxic modus operandi seriously hinders the unfolding of virtuous human potential (in contrast, primitive egocentric cognitive schemata are constantly reinforced in the ego-driven system of consumerism based on instant dopaminergic wish fulfilment, gratification, ingestion, introjection, consumption, competition, comparison and other egoic human “drives”). Indeed, the term homō consumens has been proposed as a more appropriate replacement for homō sapiēns; a clearly self-inflated nomenclature etymologically derived from the Latin sapere and thus meaning the wise or rational human being – taxonomically speaking, precisely, homō sapiēns sapiēns – duplicating anthropocentric hubris.
Coat of arms of the Fabian society: The wolf in sheep’s clothing
The turtle as a metaphor for slow societal change (gradualism)
The boiling frog analogy & Sôritês paradoxon
The boiling frog is an analogy describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is thrown suddenly into boiling hot water, it will immediately jump out. However, if the frog is put in cold water, which is then slowly and gradually brought to a boil, it does not perceive the danger, sit still, and is therefore be boiled to death. Transferred to human cognition & behavior, the analogy could be interpreted as follows: If the environment changes gradually (microgenetically) in an incremental step-wise fashion, humans have great difficulty recognizing the change because each step in the sequential evolution of the system (i.e., the change in the environment) is not drastic at all. Over a longer period of time, however, the system changes significantly, and the cumulative long-term effect of numerous small changes has extreme consequences. So the question is: When does the system change from stable to chaotic, i.e., from “from lukewarm to boiling hot”. Per analogiam, the demarcation criterion between hot versus cold (chaotic versus stable) is not clearly defined. In the cognitivesciences this ambiguity is discussed under the header “vagueness of attributes”.3 In philosophy, this is an ancient paradox known as Sôritês paradoxon (aka. the problem of the heap).4 The paradox is based on the seemingly simple question: When does a heap of sand become a heap? When does the system “switch” from being life-sustaining to lethal?
Sôritês paradoxon can be expressed as a conditional syllogistic argument (modus ponens). N.B. You can replace the variable “grain of sand” with “toxic chemical molecules” in the context of environmental pollution; or with the “cutting down of individual trees” in the context of global deforestation; or with the “loss of species” in the context of anthropogenic reduction of biodiversity; et cetera pp.
1 grain of sand does not make a heap.
If 1 grain of sand does not make a heap, then 2 grains do not either.
If 2 grains do not make a heap, then 3 grains don’t.
…
If 999999,99999 grains do not make a heap, then 1 million grains don’t.
∞ ad infinitum…
Deductive conclusion
∴ Ergo (Therefore)
1 million grains don’t make a heap.
The Bald Man (phalakros) paradox is another allegory which illustrates the point: A man with a full head of hair is not bald. The removal of a single hair does not make him a bold man. Viewed diachronically, however, the continuous, repeated removal of individual hairs inevitably leads to baldness. However, it is unclear when the “critical boundary/limit” is transgressed. In the psychology of reasoning, this is termed the continuum fallacy. The informal logical fallacy pertains to the argument that two states (i.e., cold vs. hot; falsum vs. verum) cannot be defined/quantised as distinct (and/or do not exist at all) because a continuum of states exists between them (cf. many-valued logic/fuzzy logic). The fundamental question whether any continua exist in the physical world is a fundamental question in physics (cf. atomism). Deterministic Newtonian physics stipulates that reality is atomised and corpuscular (in Greek a-tomos means uncuttable, i.e., an indivisible particle; cf. in-dividual). Per contrast, contemporary quantum physics is based on the notion of non-discrete states (i.e., quanta), since the notion of continuity appears to be invalid at the smallest Planck scale of physical existence (i.e., continuous fluid-like substances, spread throughout all of space-time). The binomial Aristotelian law of the excluded middle (principium tertii exclusi) is challenged by recent empirical results in this subatomic domain of inquiry (see also Prof. Erich Fromm on “paradoxical logic“).
Conditional Sôritês paradoxon in symbolic logic:
Mathematical Induction Sôritês paradoxon:
Linguistically, the Sôritês paradoxon was very aptly formulated by Black in 1937:
A symbol’s vagueness is held to consist in the existence of objects concerning which it is intrinsically impossible to say either that the symbol in question does, or does not, apply. […] Reserving the terms of logic and mathematics for separate consideration, we can say that all “material” terms, all whose application requires the recognition of the presence of sensible qualities, are vague in the sense described. — M. Black (Vagueness: an exercise in logical analysis, 1937)
In the context of visual perception (i.e., psychophysics) Lord Bertrand Russel stated the following:
It is perfectly obvious, since colours form a continuum, that there are shades of colour concerning which we shall be in doubt whether to call them red or not, not because we are ignorant of the meaning of the word “red”, but because it is a word the extent of whose application is essentially doubtful. — B. Russell (Vagueness, 1923)
Figure 1. Sôritês paradoxon in visual brightness perception.
Figure 1 illustrates Sôritês paradoxon applied to visual perception (based on Russel’s argument). Adjacent luminance differences (e.g., tick-mark 1 versus 2) are indistinguishable by the human visual system while larger contrasts (e.g., tick mark 2 versus 3) are easily distinguishable.
“In this paper i offer a critique of the recent popular strategy of giving a contextualist account of vagueness. such accounts maintain that truth-values of vague sentences can change with changes of context induced by confronting different entities (e.g. different pairs through a sorites series). i claim that appealing to context does not help in solving the sorites paradox, nor does it give us new insights into vagueness per se. furthermore, the contextual variation to which the contextualist is committed is problematic in various ways. for example, it yields the consequence that much of our everyday (non-soritical) reasoning is fallacious, and it renders us ignorant of what we and others have said.”
Litman, L., & Zelcer, M.. (2013). A cognitive neuroscience, dual-systems approach to the sorites paradox. Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence
“The principle of stability now says that if sentence is true/false in a model m, then has to stay true/false if m is getting more precise. formally, let m = d, i be a refinement of m = d, i . then it has to be the case that for all : (i) if vm() = 1, then vm () = 1. (ii) if vm() = 0, then vm () = 0.”
Campbell, R.. (1974). The sorites paradox. Philosophical Studies
“The premises that a four foot man is short and that a man one tenth of an inch taller than a short man is also short entail by universal instantiation and ‘modus ponens’ that a seven foot man is short. the negation of the second premise seems to entail there are virtually no borderline cases of short men, while to deny the second premise and its negation conflicts with the principle of bivalence, if not excluded middle. but the paradox can be dissolved without resort to degrees of truth or any non-classical system of logic. if some true predications can be semantically uncertain in a sense suitable for defining borderline cases, the second premise can be denied without denying the vagueness of ‘short’ or reintroducing a sorites paradox along with higher order borderline cases.”
Hyde, D.. (2011). Sorites Paradox. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
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“The sorites paradox is the name given to a class of paradoxicalarguments, also known as little-by-little arguments, which arise as aresult of the indeterminacy surrounding limits of application of thepredicates involved. for example, the concept of a heap appears tolack sharp boundaries and, as a consequence of the subsequentindeterminacy surrounding the extension of the predicate ‘is aheap’, no one grain of wheat can be identified as making thedifference between being a heap and not being a heap. given then thatone grain of wheat does not make a heap, it would seem to follow thattwo do not, thus three do not, and so on. in the end it would appearthat no amount of wheat can make a heap. we are faced with paradoxsince from apparently true premises by seemingly uncontroversialreasoning we arrive at an apparently false conclusion., the hooded man: you say that you know your brother. yet thatman who just came in with his head covered is your brother and you didnot know him.”
Cognition: That which comes to be known, as through perception, reasoning, or intuition; knowledge.
mid-15c., cognicioun, “ability to comprehend, mental act or process of knowing,” from Latin cognitionem (nominative cognitio) “a getting to know, acquaintance, knowledge,” noun of action from past participle stem of cognoscere “to get to know, recognize,” from assimilated form of com“together” (see co-) + gnoscere “to know,” from PIE root *gno- “to know.” In 17c. the meaning was extended to include perception and sensation.
1375–1425; late Middle English cognicioun < Latin cognitiōn- (stem of cognitiō ), equivalent to cognit(us), past participle of cognōscere ( co- co- + gni-, variant stem of gnōscere, nōscere, to learn (see know) + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society.Our invisible governors are, in many cases, unaware of the identity of their fellow members in the inner cabinet.They govern us by their qualities of natural leadership, their ability to supply needed ideas and by their key position in the social structure. Whatever attitude one chooses to take toward this condition, it remains a fact that in almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons—a trifling fraction of our hundred and twenty million—who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the publicmind, who harness old social forces and contrive new ways to bind and guide the world.” (Edward Bernays, Propaganda, 1928)
Bernays, E. L. (1928). Propaganda. Horace Liveright.
Bernays, E. L. (1936). Freedom of Propaganda. Vital Speeches of the Day, 2(24), 744–746.
L’Etang, J. (1999). The father of spin: Edward L. Bernays and the birth of public relations. Public Relations Review, 25(1), 123–124.
“That the manufacture of consent is capable of great refinements no one, I think, denies. The process by which public opinions arise is certainly no less intricate than it has appeared in these pages, and the opportunities for manipulation open to anyone who understands the process are plain enough. . . . [a]s a result of psychological research, coupled with the modern means of communication, the practice of democracy has turned a corner. A revolution is taking place, infinitely more significant than any shifting of economic power…. Under the impact of propaganda, not necessarily in the sinister meaning of the word alone, the old constants of our thinking have become variables. It is no longer possible, for example, to believe in the original dogma of democracy; that the knowledge needed for the management of human affairs comes up spontaneously from the human heart. Where we act on that theory we expose ourselves to self-deception, and to forms of persuasion that we cannot verify. It has been demonstrated that we cannot rely upon intuition, conscience, or the accidents of casual opinion if we are to deal with the world beyond our reach. … The public must be put in its place, so that each of us may live free of the trampling and roar of a bewildered herd.” (Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion, Chapter XV)
Lippmann, W. (1920). Liberty and the News. Museum.
Lippmann, W. (1970). The Phantom Public. Politics.
A Tui is an intellectual who sells his or her abilities and opinions as a commodity in the marketplace or who uses them to support the dominant ideology of an oppressive society. The German modernist theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht invented the term and used it in a range of critical and creative projects, including the material that he developed in the mid-1930s for his so-called Tui-Novel—an unfinished satire on intellectuals in the German Empire and Weimar Republic—and his epic comedy from the early 1950s, Turandot or the Whitewashers’ Congress. The word is a neologism that results from the acronym of a word play on “intellectual” (“Tellekt-Ual-In”).
According to Clark (2006): “… the critique of intellectuals which Brecht developed… around the notion of ‘Tuismus’ engages a model of the public intellectual in which the self-image of the artist and thinker as a socially and politically engaged person corresponded to the expectations of the public.”
Clark, M. W. (2006). Hero or villain? Bertolt Brecht and the crisis surrounding June 1953. Journal of Contemporary History.
Hunt, T. C. N.-. (2004). Goodbye to Berlin: For 200 years, German thinkers have shaped British intellectual life – but their influence is fading fast. The Guardian.
“It is very useful to differentiate between rational and irrational authority. By irrational authority I mean authority exercised by fear and pressure on the basis of emotional submission. This is the authority of blind obedience, the authority you will find most clearly expressed in all totalitarian countries.
But there is another kind of authority, rational authority by which I mean any authority which is based on competence and knowledge, which permits criticism, which by its very nature tends to diminish, but which is not based on the emotional factors of submission and masochism, but on the realistic recognition of the competence of the person for a certain job.”
― 1958. The Moral Responsibility of Modern Man, in: Merrill-Palmer. Quarterly of Behavior and Development, Detroit, Vol. 5, p. 6.
Ienca, M., & Andorno, R.. (2017). Towards new human rights in the age of neuroscience and neurotechnology. Life Sciences, Society and Policy, 13(1), 5.
“Rapid advancements in human neuroscience and neurotechnology open unprecedented possibilities for accessing, collecting, sharing and manipulating information from the human brain. such applications raise important challenges to human rights principles that need to be addressed to prevent unintended consequences. this paper assesses the implications of emerging neurotechnology applications in the context of the human rights framework and suggests that existing human rights may not be sufficient to respond to these emerging issues. after analysing the relationship between neuroscience and human rights, we identify four new rights that may become of great relevance in the coming decades: the right to cognitive liberty, the right to mental privacy, the right to mental integrity, and the right to psychological continuity.”
Rose, N., & Abi-Rached, J.. (2014). Governing through the Brain: Neuropolitics, Neuroscience and Subjectivity. The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology
“This article considers how the brain has become an object and target for governing human beings. how, and to what extent, has governing the conduct of human beings come to require, presuppose and utilize a knowledge of the human brain? how, and with what consequences, are so many aspects of human existence coming to be problematized in terms of the brain? and what role are these new ‘cerebral knowledges’ and technologies coming to play in our contemporary forms of subjectification, and our ways of governing ourselves? after a brief historical excursus, we delineate four pathways through which neuroscience has left the lab and became entangled with the government of the living: psychopharmacology, brain imaging, neuroplasticity and genomics. we conclude by asking whether the ‘psychological complex’ of the twentieth century is giving way to a ‘neurobiological complex’ in the twenty-first, and, if so, how the social and human sciences should respond.”
Slide
"Expand Thy wings, celestial Dove, brood o`er our nature`s night on our disordered spirits move, and let there now be light."
~ Charles Wesley
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This project was funded by the EU Marie Curie Initial Training Network FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN-604764
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Dr. Stephanie Seneff is a Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She received the B.S. degree in Biophysics in 1968, the M.S. and E.E. degrees in Electrical Engineering in 1980, and the Ph.D degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1985, all from MIT. For over three decades, her research interests have always been at the intersection of biology and computation – developing a computational model for the human auditory system, understanding human language so as to develop algorithms and systems for human computer interactions, as well as applying natural language processing (NLP) techniques to gene predictions. She has published over 170 refereed articles on these subjects, and has been invited to give keynote speeches at several international conferences. She has also supervised numerous Master’s and PhD theses at MIT.
“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic 
“That the manufacture of consent is capable of great refinements no one, I think, denies. The process by which 
A Tui is an intellectual who sells his or her abilities and opinions as a commodity in the marketplace or who uses them to support the dominant ideology of an oppressive society. The German modernist theatre practitioner Bertolt Brecht invented the term and used it in a range of critical and creative projects, including the material that he developed in the mid-1930s for his so-called Tui-Novel—an unfinished satire on intellectuals in the German Empire and Weimar Republic—and his epic comedy from the early 1950s, Turandot or the Whitewashers’ Congress. The word is a neologism that results from the acronym of a word play on “intellectual” (“Tellekt-Ual-In”).
“It is very useful to differentiate between 
