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Ibarra, C., O'Ryan, R., & Silva, B. (2018). Applying knowledge governance to understand the role of science in environmental regulation: The case of arsenic in Chile. Environ. Sci. Policy, 86, 115–124.
Abstract: The relationship between scientific knowledge and decision-making surrounding environmental issues is complex and represents a flourishing area of scholarship and practice. However, a sense of frustration persists regarding efforts to increase the use of science for decision-making. Regulations of copper smelter arsenic emissions developed in Chile during the 1990s represent a successful example of science informing policy making. The case involved production and use of local science in contrast to the common practice of copying international ambient standards. In this paper, we investigate arsenic regulation in Chile in the 1990s and focus on the role of the major science intervention during the process, project FONDEF 2-24. The case is examined through the lens of knowledge governance (van Kerkhoff and Pilbeam, 2017). This theoretically-oriented approach guides our critical reflection on the relationship between knowledge and policy making, taking into consideration the formal and informal rules that shape the intervention and the underlying social and cultural patterns. The success of the science intervention's influence on policy is better understood with such a perspective. We expand the knowledge governance approach by scrutinizing the relations of coherence between levels of analysis to assess their alignment. The approach could be helpful for studying other cases, particularly at times when a new field of policy is emerging.
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Vicuna, L., Fernandez, M. I., Vial, C., Valdebenito, P., Chaparro, E., Espinoza, K., et al. (2019). Adaptation to Extreme Environments in an Admixed Human Population from the Atacama Desert. Genome Biol. Evol., 11(9), 2468–2479.
Abstract: Inorganic arsenic (As) is a toxic xenobiotic and carcinogen associated with severe health conditions. The urban population from the Atacama Desert in northern Chile was exposed to extremely high As levels (up to 600 μmg/l) in drinking water between 1958 and 1971, leading to increased incidence of urinary bladder cancer (BC), skin cancer, kidney cancer, and coronary thrombosis decades later. Besides, the Andean Native-American ancestors of the Atacama population were previously exposed for millennia to elevated As levels in water (similar to 120 μg/l) for at least 5,000 years, suggesting adaptation to this selective pressure. Here, we performed two genome-wide selection tests-PBSn1 and an ancestry-enrichment test-in an admixed population from Atacama, to identify adaptation signatures to As exposure acquired before and after admixture with Europeans, respectively. The top second variant selected by PBSn1 was associated with LCE4A-C1orf68, a gene that may be involved in the immune barrier of the epithelium during BC. We performed association tests between the top PBSn1 hits and BC occurrence in our population. The strongest association (P = 0.012) was achieved by the LCE4A-C1orf68 variant. The ancestry-enrichment test detected highly significant signals (P = 1.3 x 10(-9)) mapping MAK16, a gene with important roles in ribosome biogenesis during the G1 phase of the cell cycle. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the genetic factors involved in adaptation to the pathophysiological consequences of As exposure.
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