C-Urge project is a doctoral network set up to research and better understand the complexity of climate and enviromental change, that is happening on global, as well as on a local scale.
Through various research approaches set in various countries, we aim to highlight the notion of urgency and need to enrich the debate around the topic of environemtal change, that is both fast, and subtle and poses a serious challenge for the future.
I situate my research at the crossroads of history, philosophy, sociology and anthropology of science. In the past, I have focused on epigenetics, environmental research, empirical bioethics and environmental justice, within and outside the academia, as you can read here, or here. Now I am focusing on antibiotic resistance, and I use it as a lens to interpret the contradictions of the last century derived by industrial production, environmental degradation and biomedical cultures.
What interests me is the (at that time) new epistemic discourse that since the Forties has been produced to explain morphological changes of organisms produce when they experience new environmental conditions or perturbations. Through an important experiment at the base of the so-called concept of genetic assimilation, Conrad H. Waddington showed that a thermic shock can produce changes in wings’ veins of fruit flies, changes that can eventually be inherited across generations, without the environmental trigger that caused them.
This focus on production and (genetic) storage of biological differences elicited by the environment is nowadays coupled with the knowledge produced through microbiome research that explains the phenotypic patterns that recur across generations.
In a thought-provoking twist, with microbiome research, the focus shifts from production and inheritance of biological differences to production and inheritance of biological similarities. Microbiome research shows that some phenotypic patterns are allowed by ecological communities of microorganisms composing all animals. Bacteria allow the development and functioning of our bodies within an epistemic framework that is now key to understand biology. The network of vessels composing mammals’ stomach is formed through cellular differentiation and expression of genes coordinated by bacteria. The same is true for our immune system that is coordinated by gut bacteria. Food, which is an important aspect of our lives also impacts on this microecology and mediates between our biological functions and functioning of means of production whose parts dedicated to food production have immense importance for our biology and our internal and external ecologies. Antibiotic resistance is one of the crossroads where culture, biology, history and the Anthropocene meet. Indeed, Antibiotic resistance shows that means of production of our societies have an even more widespread, deep and allegedly unexpected impact on the biology of animals and plants. The microorganism can indeed adapt to resist the selective toxicity of antibiotics. Moreover, bacteria can transfer their genetic code horizontally, by touch, so that we can acquire antibiotic resistance by eating food that functions as a vector, by hosting lice on our heads and many other contacts. Bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics that have been used as growth factors in animal husbandry and to prevent diseases in livestock and aquaculture, spread in natural ecosystems and can be found in wild species. Rivers and estuarine waters are places hosting antibiotic resistance.
Searching on PubMed (the search engine for biomedical literature) titles of articles containing the terms ‘antimicrobial’ and ‘Louisiana’ I retrieved just one twelve-years-old article. No results with terms such as 'Mississippi' or 'New Orleans'. The authors collected and analysed Oysters from both waters of Louisiana Gulf and in restaurants and food retailers in Baton Rouge. In most of the samples gathered, scientists recognised the presence of bacteria (Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio vulnificus) resistant to specific antimicrobials. Food production is indeed the first factor in terms of the quantity of antibiotics used. This use and related antibiotic resistance impact all the living beings present in a specific area, and can easily travel around the globe through many channels. As Littman & Viens have highlighted, a sustainable future is a future without antibiotics as “there may be no truly sustainable way of using antibiotics in the long-run, as microorganisms have shown to be almost infinitely adaptable since the first introduction of antibiotics” (Littman & Viens 2015). But in the meanwhile, we need to use them and antibiotic resistance is a phenomenon that can be better studied through environmental research, by analysing wild species and emissions nearby livestock, for instance.
The study that I retrieved focuses on Oysters. But what about antibiotic resistance conveyed through food that is consumed by the most?
What about exposures of communities that are living in highly polluted areas?
And what is the additive value on antibiotic resistance for individuals who experience the presence of industrial pollutants and that live in areas where cancer epidemics are registered?
In this respect, there is a strategy to cope with the issue of antibiotic resistance promoted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The document doesn’t mention any action to monitor and regulate the production and usage of antibiotics in livestock. Nevertheless, the CDC wants to scrutinise, through genome sequencing, “Listeria, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and E. coli and uploads sequence data into PulseNet for nationwide monitoring of outbreaks and trends.” Moreover, the document reports that “In Fiscal Year 2019, Louisiana will begin simultaneously monitoring these isolates for resistance genes. When outbreaks are detected, local CDC-supported epidemiologists investigate the cases to stop spread.”
The questions that I would like to ask (to local ppl, activists, researchers, practitioners..) are:
What could be the epidemiologic characteristics (socioeconomic status, gender, residence..) of the populations more vulnerable to antibiotic resistance?
What is the additive role of antibiotic resistance for people living in highly polluted areas?
What is the impact of antibiotic resistance for people and patients living in areas where cancer incidence is high?
And on the long run I am interested in imagining possible strategies to not only living with the problem but also to tackle the problem itself, which means to develop strategies to answer the questions:
Why antibiotic resistance, which is known since a century, it’s a problem on the rise?
What is the role and interest of capitalism, in terms of profit-making of corporations, knowledge production and environmental degradation, in not being able to resolve antibiotic resistance?
What can be strategies of local communities to tackle the problem and to promote environmental justice in terms of alliances with ecologists, doctors, epidemiologists and other activists?
This article explains that there is still desvestation from Hurrican Sandy. Raw sweage seeped in the Passica River and the efforts to remove it still exist. New Jersey's infrasture is very vulnerable. The DEP developed a 230 million system to build flood walls and hopefully this will help in case of future storm.
The author of this article obviously toured the facility to see the structure of the switch station, the author states that most switch stations are ugly, but when you combine art to the walls it can be quite pleasing to the eye. The author also spoke with the Mayor of the City of Newark to get his take on the development and the purpose.
"The Secret Sauce" "Mayor Ras Baraka jokingly called the art/collaboration joked about Newark’s seemingly forever-ongoing revitalization. Alluding to the process that created the building he stood in front of, Baraka called art and collaboration—between public and private, between community and architect—the “secret sauce” of successful neighborhood revitalization".
stated by David Adjaye “What I’ve learned in architecture and design is that, when the opportunity seems complicated, that’s when your creativity has to rise to that opportunity,” firm principal David Adjaye told the crowd.
The article points out how in need the city was of the switch station, after Super Storm Sandy, many over half of the residents were out of power, this due in large to the poor infrastructure and the way it handled overloads when a diasester hit. The switch station would elimnate all of those issue by upgrading the infrastructure to handle issues in extreme weather conditions.
The switch station will help in the future if another storm occurs. This will reassure the reisdences of the city that power will be restore quickly or they will not loose power all together. Along with that the switch station is not an eye sore, the residence of Newark made it very clear that was on of the requirements that the facility not be ugly.
This article.video explains how a bunch of grade school children decided to learn how to prepare for emergency storm situations. The FEMA for kids organization came to First Avenue School in Newark, NJ and put on a presentation how to plan and organize when a disaster stricks. The FEMA organization explained how to keep your pets safe what you need to have availiable for your pet, food, blanket's etc. They also reviewed first aid kits and what to place in the kits, bandages, antibotics, bandaids. etc.
The author of this article obviously toured the facility to see the structure of the switch station, the author states that most switch stations are ugly, but when you combine art to the walls it can be quite pleasing to the eye. The author also spoke with the Mayor of the City of Newark to get his take on the development and the purpose.
"The Secret Sauce" "Mayor Ras Baraka jokingly called the art/collaboration joked about Newark’s seemingly forever-ongoing revitalization. Alluding to the process that created the building he stood in front of, Baraka called art and collaboration—between public and private, between community and architect—the “secret sauce” of successful neighborhood revitalization".
stated by David Adjaye “What I’ve learned in architecture and design is that, when the opportunity seems complicated, that’s when your creativity has to rise to that opportunity,” firm principal David Adjaye told the crowd.
The article points out how in need the city was of the switch station, after Super Storm Sandy, many over half of the residents were out of power, this due in large to the poor infrastructure and the way it handled overloads when a diasester hit. The switch station would elimnate all of those issue by upgrading the infrastructure to handle issues in extreme weather conditions.
Newark recommends certain safety measures before and during dangerous storms and hurricane's.
Newark recommends to have diaster supplies handy such as:
flashlights, batteries, first aid kit, emergency food and water, non electric can opener, medicines, cash on hand, also study shoes.
The City of Newark recommended safety measures.
They suggest to make plans to secure your property by clearing loose and clogged rain gutters, if you can consider building a safe room, prepare emergency supply kits filled with gallons of water, food, board up windows and doors. Trim shrubs around your house. Have a battery operated radio and tv if possible. Turn off propane tanks. charge all mobile devices.
The author of this article obviously toured the facility to see the structure of the switch station, the author states that most switch stations are ugly, but when you combine art to the walls it can be quite pleasing to the eye. The author also spoke with the Mayor of the City of Newark to get his take on the development and the purpose.
"The Secret Sauce" "Mayor Ras Baraka jokingly called the art/collaboration joked about Newark’s seemingly forever-ongoing revitalization. Alluding to the process that created the building he stood in front of, Baraka called art and collaboration—between public and private, between community and architect—the “secret sauce” of successful neighborhood revitalization".
stated by David Adjaye “What I’ve learned in architecture and design is that, when the opportunity seems complicated, that’s when your creativity has to rise to that opportunity,” firm principal David Adjaye told the crowd.
The author of this article obviously toured the facility to see the structure of the switch station, the author states that most switch stations are ugly, but when you combine art to the walls it can be quite pleasing to the eye. The author also spoke with the Mayor of the City of Newark to get his take on the development and the purpose.
The Aim of this organization is to examine the dangers and amount of lead water in Newark. The article states that Newark water department exceeded the federal "level" for lead in it's water.