Philippa Kaur

NEWS AND VIEWS
16 March 2022

Savannahs store carbon despite frequent fires

An analysis of carbon stored in the plants and soil of an African savannah suggests that atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations — and thus global warming — might be less affected by frequent fires than we thought.

Niall P. Hanan

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Anthony M. Swemmer

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Niall P. Hanan

Niall P. Hanan is in the Jornada Basin Long-Term Ecological Research programme, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, USA.

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Anthony M. Swemmer

Anthony M. Swemmer is in the South African Environment Observation Network, Phalaborwa 1390, South Africa.

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Savannahs burn more frequently than any other biome, and tropical savannahs alone account for 62% of the carbon dioxide emitted from fires globally1. Strategies involving fire suppression2 or the planting of trees3 in savannahs have therefore been proposed as a means of reducing CO2 emissions and increasing carbon sequestration, thus potentially contributing to the mitigation of global climate change. But it remains unclear whether these measures would make a substantial difference to the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere. Writing Nature, Zhou et al.4 analyse a long-term fire experiment in Kruger National Park, South Africa, and reveal that the total amount of carbon stored in the ecosystem increases more slowly than expected in the absence of fire — challenging our assumptions about how fire affects carbon storage in savannahs.

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Nature 603, 395-396 (2022)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00689-0

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Characteristics of environmental samples before and after bioremediationTable 1 lists the parameters of the samples collected from the upper aquifer (12 m) at three-time points. In sample 1, before bioremediation, the content of nitrate ions reached 2517 mg/L. Against this background, in an oxidizing environment, a high content of uranium up to 1.1 mg/L and plutonium up to 0.7 Bq/L was observed. The content of organic matter did not exceed 5.9 mg/L. The suspension contained a significant amount of clay particles. Uranium in sample 1 was predominantly in dissolved form or nanoaggregates less than 5 nm in size (Fig. 1).Figure 1Percentage distribution of uranium in the filtrate during sequential filtration of samples 1 and 3. Concentrations of U in the filtrates were determined by the ICP-MS method.Full size imageIn sample 2, a year after the injection of organic matter, the content of nitrate ions reached 320 mg/L, while the values of the redox potential continued to remain in the reduction region (− 175 mV) as they were 3 months after bioremediation. The content of organic matter reached 57.5 mg/L. The uranium content dropped to 80 μg/L, and the plutonium content was below the detection limit of the device.2 years after injection (sample 3), the content of nitrate ions increased to 970 mg/L, the redox potential entered the oxidizing region and reached + 70 mV, while no significant release of uranium into solution occurred. According to the distribution scheme of uranium (Fig. 1), most of it was associated with large particles of more than 400 microns in size of clay and ferruginous nature. The plutonium content was below the sensitivity of the method. Thus, despite the fact that after a single injection of organic matter, after two years the content of nitrate ions increased markedly and the value of the redox potential returned to the oxidizing region. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned no significant remobilization of uranium and plutonium occurred. It is important to note that according to the data in Table 1, a decrease in the content of suspended matter was observed in the course of bioremediation. A discussion of the content of organic matter in the suspended matter will be carried out in the next section.Figure 2 shows electronic maps of micrographs of a filter with a maximum pore size after filtration of sample 3. It has been established that U is mainly associated with large particles (suspensions) of aluminosilicate and ferrous nature. The distribution of Al, Si, Fe and U on the surface of the filter cake was fairly uniform.Figure 2Electron micrographs of the filters with a pore size of 2400 nm surface after sample 3 filtration with elements maps (A) Al, (B) Si, (C) Fe, (D) U (SEM EDX analysis).Full size imageAlthough at low plutonium concentration it was not possible to see it by the SEM EDX method on clays, it is well known that clay minerals montmorillonite and kaolinite could have been carrier phases for Pu39. In work on the analysis of colloidal transport of radionuclides in groundwater at Yucca mountain40 uranium was found to be dominantly associated with an unidentified phase rich in Si and Fe while Pu was shown to be preferentially adsorbed onto Mn-oxides in the presence of Fe-oxides.Laboratory simulation of biogenic associative colloids formation in environmental water samples, stimulated by H2
In a laboratory experiment with environmental samples, molecular hydrogen was used to stimulate microbial processes in order to avoid changing the content of the organic matter.Filtration studies (step-by-step filtration, Fig. 3) revealed that only 8% of organic matter in sample 1 was represented by suspended particles over 1200 nm in size. These were bacterial cells and other large particles (fulvic and humate acids, etc.). More than 50% of organic matter was in soluble form or in the form of colloidal particles up to 100 nm. In general, the distribution of organic matter in sample 3 was similar to sample 1—about 60% of organic matter was in dissolved or colloidal form and about 10% in the form of large particles.Figure 3Organic matter distribution by particle size (nm) in samples 1 and 3 before and after (B) microbial activation. Organic matter in the filtrate after each filtration step was measured using an Elementar Vario EL III CHN analyzer.Full size imageAn organic carbon content of 100 and 200 mg/L was observed in samples 1 and 2, respectively, after microbial activation by molecular hydrogen.After day 30 of incubation in sample 1 and after microbial processes, there was a noticeable increase in the content of large organic particles; their contribution reached 50%. In this case, the content of dissolved organic matter and organic particles of colloidal size decreased noticeably (their total contribution did not exceed 10% probably due to their consumption or aggregation into larger fractions). The content of organic particles with a size range of 220–450 nm had noticeably increased.In sample 3, a noticeable decrease in dissolved and colloidal organic matter was also noted; the content of organic particles of 220–100 nm and particles of 1200–400 nm increased markedly. We believe that the increase in organic particles in both samples in the range of 100–1200 nm is associated with an increase in the content of bacterial cells. Changes in the intensity of light scattering provided the most relevant information (Table 2).Table 2 The intensity of light scattering (kHz) by suspended particles of different fractions before and after day 30 of the ongoing microbial process in the stratal water (Light scattering intensity was determined by Zetasizer Nano ZS, Malvern Panalytical).Full size tableIn sample 1, before stimulation, the intensity of light scattering was at its maximum in the filtrate at 450–220 nm. In the filtrate less than 10 nm, light scattering was not detected. In filtrates larger than 450 nm and 220–50 nm, the values of the light scattering intensity were close. After microbial activation with hydrogen, a tenfold change in the intensity of light scattering was observed in the filtrate with particles larger than 2400 nm. Also, there was an almost twofold increase in filtrates with a particle size of 450–2400 nm, which is probably associated with the appearance of cells in the solution.In sample 2, before microbial activation, the maximum intensity of light scattering was observed in the filtrate with particle sizes in the range of 450–1200 nm. After microbial activation, the intensity of light scattering significantly increased in all filtrates. It is important to note that the light scattering of particles with a size characteristic of colloids (50–100 nm) increased by more than 10 times. The different behavior after hydrogen activation of two samples can probably be explained by the fact that in sample 3 the microbial community was initially more active after the injection of organic matter into the formation. In both samples, a noticeable increase in the content of coarse suspensions may indicate the agglomeration of clay suspensions by microbial polysaccharides. According to Ivanov et al.41, a similar process is observed for soil and clay particles.Laboratory simulation of the formation of biogenic associative colloids in model and environmental water samples with actinidesThe second series of experiments was carried out to evaluate the behavior of U, Np, and Pu upon activation of microbial processes. At the first stage of the laboratory simulation, a significant enlargement of large particles possibly caused by the agglomeration of natural clay and ferruginous particles due to microbial polysaccharides in natural samples was found. An important task of the second stage of the work was to assess the contribution of ferruginous and clay particles to the distribution of actinides over particles with different sizes in model solutions.When activating the microbial community in groundwater, a mixture of whey and acetate was used. However, in a laboratory simulation of this process, we decided not to use such a complex multicomponent substrate like whey. The whey contained a lot of organic suspensions and its use in this experiment would have led to even more uncertainties. A mixture of highly soluble sodium acetate and glucose substrates was added to the samples.Table 3 shows the data on the content of polysaccharides and proteins in solutions during microbial processes in samples.Table 3 Polysaccharide (A) (mg/L) and protein (B) (mg/ml) concentrations in the model solutions during incubation. Polysaccharide determination was carried out by the phenol–sulfuric acid method according to Dubois 34. Protein content was measured with the Folin phenol reagent according to Lowry 35.Full size tableNo significant increase of cells or polysaccharide content was recorded in samples with no organic matter additions. A low protein content was found in the sample NWO, which indicates that some content of cells remained in it after bioremediation. An increase in the concentration of the biomass, with peak values on day 10 and polysaccharides on day 15, was observed in all samples with additions of organic matter (O) (Table 3). The maximum accumulation of polysaccharides and protein was observed for the natural sample.On the 30th day of the experiment, there was no visible sediment in the MW sample, in the rest of the samples, there was a large amount of sediment at the bottom of the test tubes. At the same time, the solution looked almost transparent in both the MW model water sample and the MWIO sample with added iron. The average hydrodynamic radii of colloidal particles were obtained on days 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 of the experiment (Table 4). In model water samples without added organic compounds, colloidal particles were not formed. However, by the end of the experiment, particle formation was observed. This was probably due to the transformation of colloidal matter originating from the natural water aliquot or as a result of low microbial activity.Table 4 Hydrodynamic radii of colloidal particles during the experiment, nm (The measurement accuracy was at least 2%.).Full size tableIn the presence of glucose and acetate, the emergence of the colloidal phase and a gradual increase in particle size were observed from the fifth day of incubation. The average stable hydrodynamic radii of the particles amounted to ~ 100 nm. In the presence of clay, stable colloids with the average hydrodynamic radii of 80–90 nm were formed. Stimulation of microbial processes with glucose and acetate resulted in increased particle size and partial sedimentation (samples MWO through day 20, MWIO through day 15, and NWO through day 30). After that, the sedimentation of large particles took place, and particles of smaller sizes remained in the solution.The addition of iron to the model system resulted in the formation of the particles with hydrodynamic radii of ~ 100 nm. The stimulation of the biological processes resulted in increased particle size, the formation of new particles (by day 21), and complete particle sedimentation by day 30.An important parameter used to evaluate the stability of colloidal particles in the system is the value of particles’ zeta potential. When no organic matter was added, the charge of preliminarily filtered 100–50 nm particles equaled − 29, − 26.2 mV in model water, and − 16, − 12 mV in natural water, which indicates low stability of such particles (see Table 2 Supplementary). A shift in charge of particles towards zero and positive values was observed when microbial processes were running, and this hints at the stabilization of particles in the solution.The diagrams of actinide distribution by size of colloidal particles in solutions of different nature before and after microbial stimulation on day 30 are shown in Fig. 4.Figure 4Actinide distribution by size of colloidal particles in solutions of different nature depending on the incubation time, normalized % in the filtrate. (I-before, II-after microbial stimulation on day 30). Actinides (233U, 237Np, and 239Pu) were added in the concentrations of 10–8 M/l per sample. Concentrations of 233U 239Pu were determined by liquid scintillation (Tri-Carb-3180 TR/SL liquid scintillation spectrometer) (“Perkin-Elmer,” USA).Full size imageIn the model water Pu(IV) forms true colloidal associates (up to 50%) due to deep hydrolytic polymerization. Np(V) was also partially sorbed due to slight disproportionation (by 10%). U(VI) was a stable component of soluble carbonate complexes. In the model water, increased pH and decreased Eh result in the occurrence of 99% Pu, 30% Np, and 10% U within large colloidal particles. Ultrafiltration, however, is not suitable for the assessment of the possible actinide reduction and biosorption contribution to the process of colloid formation.The microbiota and clay promote the stabilization of Pu, U, and Np in large colloidal particles. The addition of iron had no effect on actinide colloid formation, although iron caused a significant increase in neptunium colloid formation in the presence of the microbiota. This is probably due to the formation of iron-polysaccharide complexes42, which also have a high ability to chelate actinides.In Bentley More

I propose a basic classification scheme for human pauses based on how widespread (spatial extent), sustained (duration) and pronounced (magnitude) reductions in human mobility are (Fig. 1b). Importantly, I recommend that the label anthropause be reserved for events of high magnitude at continental to global scale (and of any duration; Fig. 1b, Supplementary Note 1). According to this definition, the Black Death pandemic and early COVID-19 lockdowns caused anthropauses, while the Chernobyl disaster was followed by a regional human pause. A schematic classification cube can be used to compare these and other events (Fig. 1b); but first, a few points need clarifying.First, it is crucial to ensure that terminology is firmly tied to underlying processes. Some authors have used the word anthropause as a synonym for positive environmental change caused by lockdowns. While an initial focus on potential benefits is understandable, conflating cause (change in human mobility) and effect (environmental responses) is unhelpful when using the term in a scientific context. Indeed, the way the anthropause concept was originally framed, it makes no assumptions about the sign of environmental responses and any associated conservation impacts1 (Fig. 1a). Emerging empirical evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic indicates a broad range of lockdown effects2,3.Second, human mobility must be defined. COVID-19 lockdowns caused notable reductions in pedestrian counts and road, water and air traffic (and associated pollutant outputs), all of which likely caused environmental impacts1,2,3,4. For modern human pauses, it is reasonable to consider changes across the full range of human-mobility metrics, but comparisons with pre-industrial events inevitably need to focus on the environmental presence of people. In this context it is worth noting that humans might disappear from an area because they shelter, move elsewhere or perish, and that changes in human mobility can be driven by a variety of factors, including disease, natural and anthropogenic disasters, and conflict5. The ultimate drivers and proximate mechanisms affecting changes in human mobility are important research targets, but not part of the classification scheme itself (Fig. 1b). It is important to be mindful of the fact that many events will be associated with human tragedy and suffering1.Third, operational definitions are required for the scheme’s spatio-temporal scales. While human pauses are easily ordered according to their duration, classifying their spatial extent is more challenging, for both conceptual and practical reasons7. The categories proposed here are pragmatic — spanning four orders of magnitude (Fig. 1b) — and will enable meaningful comparison of the environmental impacts caused by different types of human pauses.Finally, it is important to clarify how the magnitude of events should be measured. Since human mobility dramatically increased over the past centuries, and will likely change further in the future, the magnitude of human pauses should be assessed against baseline levels for the time period and area under consideration, rather than in absolute terms. As illustrated by the COVID-19 pandemic, human mobility is not necessarily reduced to zero during an anthropause, and there can be substantial spatio-temporal variation in response levels. Preliminary analyses indicate that ~57% of the world’s population were under partial or full lockdown in early April 20202, and there were conspicuous local spikes in mobility once governments started allowing personal exercise1. More

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15 March 2022

Forest protection: invest in professionals and their careers

Douglas Sheil

 ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1166-6591

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Douglas Sheil

Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

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Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia.

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The protection and restoration of forests has major implications for the world’s climate, biodiversity and economic and societal development. But high-level commitments — such as those made by 141 nations at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK, last year — are being undermined by a dearth of people trained to fulfil those pledges.

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Nature 603, 393 (2022)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00706-2

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Sleeper fish (Bostrychus africanus) are a staple food in West Africa. Harvesting them provides an important source of income for hundreds of communities across the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean. Yet little is known about the genetics of this fish — information that is crucial to safeguarding its genetic diversity, and to enhancing its resilience in the face of climate change and other pressures.This situation is all too familiar across Africa. Consider orphan crops, which have a crucial role in regional food security, even though they are not typically traded internationally. More than 50% of these have not had their genomes sequenced — from the fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis) to the marama bean (Tylosema esculentum). The same is true of more than 95% of the continent’s known endangered species (see ‘Africa’s neglected genomes’).

Sources: Analysis by T. E. Ebenezer et al./Ref. 1/S. Hotaling et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 118, e2109019118 (2021)

What’s more, by our estimate, around 70% of the 35 or so projects that have focused on studying, conserving or improving biological diversity in Africa over the past 15 years have been led from outside the continent. In fact, among the plant genomes sequenced globally over the past 20 years, almost all of the African species were sequenced elsewhere — mainly in the United States, China and Europe1. This offshoring slows down the much-needed building of expertise and resources in genomics and bioinformatics in Africa (see ‘Africa left out of global genomics efforts’).The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) is an effort to sequence the genomes of 105,000 endemic species: plants, animals, fungi, protists and other eukaryotes. It currently involves 109 African scientists (87 of whom work in Africa) and 22 African organizations.This store of reference genomes — built in Africa, for Africa — will help plant and animal breeders to produce resilient and sustainable food systems. It will inform biodiversity conservation across the continent. And it will strengthen Africa’s ability to deliver on the goals of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). These goals, one of which is to maintain at least 90% of genetic diversity for all known species by 2030, are to be agreed on next month at a meeting in Kunming, China.
Africa left out of global genomics efforts

Most projects that aim to study, conserve or improve biological diversity in Africa have been led by researchers outside the continent.
Projects to sequence biodiversity rarely meet the needs of people in Africa or align with its countries’ science agendas4,14–16 (such as on agricultural technologies15). Take the Human Genome Project. Less than 2% of genomes analysed in the two decades since the project began are from African individuals, even though Africa harbours more human genetic diversity than any other continent.
African researchers who contribute to data collection in such projects are not always credited for their work. A 2021 study17 revealed that about 15% of 32,061 articles on global health research conducted in sub-Saharan Africa had no authors based in the country in which the research took place.
Currently, the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration, the core infrastructure for the collection and sharing of the world’s nucleotide sequence data and metadata, names only those who have submitted samples or sequence data, not the primary owners or custodians of the sample. In practice, this means that if an African scientist collects samples from Bioko squeaker frogs (Athroleptis bioko) in Equatorial Guinea, for example, and sends them to a colleague in Canada who then submits a sequence to the database, only the Canadian researcher will receive recognition for the data. Recent efforts by the consortium and others18 will help to address some of these gaps. By December this year, the consortium will make it mandatory for those submitting sequence data to declare the country or region in which the sample was collected. But it is still unclear whether the credit given to sample custodians will be similar to that of sample submitters.
Besides the lack of recognition, African researchers rarely retain access to the data they help to collect, nor do they receive related benefits — either from royalties resulting from specific discoveries in genetics, or those stemming from technological advances and growth in scientific capability that such projects can bring.
For instance, during the 2014–16 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, around 269,000 blood samples were obtained from patients for diagnosis. Thousands of those samples were shipped overseas, including to Europe and North America. None of the genomics researchers working in Africa knows where these samples are now housed19 and, as far as the African human-genetics community knows, the sample providers never received the results of their blood collections.

An AfricaBP pilot project was launched in June 2021. In this, researchers are sequencing 2,500 indigenous African species, including the Boyle’s beaked blind snake (Rhinotyphlops boylei) from southern Africa and the red mangrove tree (Rhizophora mangle) from Nigeria. They are also mapping out the ethical, legal and social issues raised by a major biodiversity sequencing project — because of cultural sensitivities around certain species, or questions around who has access to the data and who benefits from any resulting discoveries.For AfricaBP to be scaled up and sustained over the next decade, agencies and organizations need to allocate long-term investments to the project. Such groups include the African Union Commission, national and regional scientific agencies (such as the African Academy of Sciences), and international partners and organizations, including the US National Science Foundation and the UK research funder Wellcome. By our calculations, this will require at least US$100 million per year for the next 10 years (see ‘AfricaBP: structure and costs’).Some might argue that $1 billion would be better spent on combating malnutrition and disease in impoverished communities across Africa. Yet consider the Human Genome Project, which cost around $3 billion in 2003. By 2019, the human genetics and genomics sector alone was contributing $265 billion annually to the US economy2. Likewise, the World Bank invested millions of dollars in outbreak preparedness from 2017, some of which was used to fund the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases in Ede, Nigeria. This investment meant that Africa was much better equipped to meet the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
AfricaBP: structure and costs

The African BioGenome Project (AfricaBP) will involve researchers and organizations from all economic regions in the African Union, and will cost US$100 million per year.
AfricaBP will convene 55 African researchers and policymakers from genomics, bioinformatics, biodiversity and agriculture — 11 for each of the 5 African Union geographical regions (northern, eastern, southern, central and western Africa). Another 165 people will be involved in the project (33 for each geographical region), including academic and industrial researchers, policymakers, and staff from governmental organizations, such as the National Institute of Agricultural Research of Morocco.
Ultimately, these people will feed genome sequences into various national or regional facilities. These include the National Gene Bank of Tunisia, which is using genetics to promote the conservation and sustainable use of Africa’s plants, animals, fungi and protists, and the International Center for Research and Development on Livestock in the Subhumid Zone in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, which was established in 1994 to reduce poverty by improving food and nutritional security.
We estimate that producing high-quality reference genomes for around 105,000 endemic African species will cost around $850 million to sequence, and around $20 million to store, download, transfer and process the data (using high-performance computing and a mix of cloud platforms).
We reach this sum using our estimate of average genome sizes for plants and animals — 2.5 and 1.5 gigabases, respectively — and because the average cost per species per gigabase is $4,200 (taking into account the price differences between North America and Africa for consumables, shipments and other overheads). We estimate the costs of sample collection, including permits, consultations and workshops, at $41 million. Lastly, using the Newton International Fellowship as a benchmark, AfricaBP’s early-career research fellowships will cost roughly $90 million over a 10-year period.

Species sidelined Thousands of African species have been ignored by the global genomics community. Only 20 of the 798 plant genomes sequenced globally over the past 20 years are native to Africa1, for example. Yet sub-Saharan Africa alone, which is home to at least 45,000 plant species3, is the second-largest contributor to global plant diversity after South America. Last year, researchers reported that 60% of these species are endemic, and that many could have potential applications in agriculture or drug development4. Evidence suggests, for instance, that African ginger (Siphonochilus aethiopicus) could be used to treat asthma and influenza, among other conditions5,6.Most of the genomics and bioinformatics expertise that does exist across Africa, including the sequencing facilities, is concentrated in private and non-governmental organizations, such as Inqaba Biotechnical Industries in Pretoria, South Africa, and Redeemer’s University in Nigeria. This means that, although the national research institutes are given the responsibility of setting the country’s scientific agenda, the tools needed to actually improve public health, agriculture and conservation are outside their control7.
Sequence three million genomes across Africa
AfricaBP will focus on endemic African species that have economic, scientific and cultural significance for African communities.Sustained government investment in genomics — including the creation of permanent university positions — will help to ensure that African scientists who have received training through African-coordinated genomics projects stay in Africa.National and regional expansion of tissue-sample collection, taxonomic identification, biobanking of samples and cataloguing of metadata will make it much easier for researchers to monitor species — and ultimately to protect them. Species discovered as a result of the genomics project could be added to the CBD 2030 targets.Lastly, if the African Union Commission includes AfricaBP in the suite of schemes it is currently backing, the project could enable the commission to achieve at least three of the development goals encapsulated in the African Union Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. These are: the use of modern techniques and technology to increase agricultural productivity sustainably; the sustainable use of ocean resources to drive economic growth; and the development of environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient economies. (Agenda 2063 is the blueprint for the continent’s transformation into a global powerhouse, as laid out by leaders of the 55 African Union member states in 2013.)Key prioritiesAfricaBP will bring together national and regional institutions, countries and corporations, including already recognized genomics infrastructures, such as the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The project has three main goals.Improve food systems. The first goal is to provide a resource that enables plant and animal breeders to use various approaches (from conventional breeding to gene editing) to build resilient and sustainable food systems. A 2021 genome analysis8 of 245 Ethiopian indigenous chickens, for instance, revealed the genetic basis of various adaptations that enable the chickens to tolerate harsh environmental conditions (from cold temperatures to water scarcity) — crucial information for poultry producers worldwide. To help achieve this goal, AfricaBP will partner with the African Plant Breeding Academy and the African Animal Breeding Network, both of which were established in the past decade to improve African breeders’ training and research practices.Improve conservation. The second goal is to make it easier for researchers to identify species and populations that are at risk of extinction, and to design and implement effective conservation strategies. A 2020 study9 on the genetic structure of African savannah elephant populations, for example, revealed that the long-term survival of the elephants requires establishing at least 14 wildlife corridors between 16 of the protected areas in Tanzania. Similarly, a genome study10 of 13 individuals representing 2 subspecies of eastern gorilla showed that inbreeding has led to the purging of severely harmful recessive mutations from one of the subspecies (Gorilla beringei beringei, or mountain gorillas). The accumulation of such damaging mutations in eastern gorillas over the past 100,000 years has reduced their resilience to environmental change and pathogen evolution.

A technician checks cassava plants in a research laboratory near Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.Credit: Sia Kambou/AFP via Getty

Improve sharing of data and benefits. The third goal is to kick-start a process in which existing multilateral agreements around data sharing are improved and harmonized across the continent — to ensure that the benefits derived from genetic resources are shared equitably across Africa.In 2010, nations adopted the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefits Sharing to ensure that the benefits arising from the use of biological resources are shared fairly. Certainly, any benefit derived from the genetic resources obtained through AfricaBP should be shared by the people of Africa — whether it be a superior strain of drought-resistant sugar beet (Beta macrocarpa Guss) or a new drug derived from the rooibos plant (Aspalathus linearis).As written, however, the Nagoya Protocol has gaps when it comes to Africa. It fails to take into account the customs and practices of the diverse ethnic groups across the continent. These might not be documented or written into law, but have shaped how people interact with certain plants or animals for hundreds — sometimes thousands — of years. In West Africa, for example, some communities forbid the cutting down or harming of iroko trees, which are thought to have supernatural powers.
The next chapter for African genomics
There are also inconsistencies in how the Nagoya Protocol is applied in different countries. The African Union guidelines for the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in Africa states that those countries that are not parties to the Nagoya Protocol should be refused access to the genetic resources of other African member states. But only some countries follow this; South Africa grants non-parties access to the nation’s genetic resources, whereas Ethiopia does not.Likewise, not all countries require researchers wanting to extract genetic resources to consult community protocols. These include the rules and standards around the handling of biological specimens — as laid out by communities under the guidance of the custodians of customary laws (local chiefs and community heads). These custodians, in turn, work closely with state and national governments; sometimes, community protocols will refer to state, national or international laws. In Benin, for example, such protocols state that researchers cannot enter Gbévozoun forest or take any specimens from it because it houses the deity Gbévo, which protects the community.Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the African Union Commission to improve and harmonize the treaties and guidelines around data and benefit sharing. Doing this would make it easier for AfricaBP researchers to obtain sampling permits, in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol and material transfer agreements (the legal documents required to send biological materials from one organization to another, or from one country to another).But AfricaBP will enable the African Union, the CBD and other African agencies, such as the African Academy of Sciences, to integrate genomic information into their policymaking around biological diversity across Africa. This in itself will raise awareness about the Nagoya Protocol, and so encourage greater harmonization in its use.Furthermore, the 109 scientists championing AfricaBP will coordinate with the African Group of Negotiators on Biodiversity (researchers, policymakers and other stakeholders who represent the continent in CBD negotiations) to ensure that sequencing information is specifically included in the post-2020 global biodiversity framework.

An iroko tree in Benin. Some West African communities forbid the cutting down of these trees, which locally are thought to have supernatural powers.Credit: Wolfgang Kaehler

Currently, the Nagoya Protocol specifies that ‘biological samples’ can be exchanged for scientific training or technology transfer. The inclusion of sequencing information would mean that early-career researchers who are members of an Indigenous community, such as the Amhara people in Ethiopia, could negotiate to receive training in genome sequencing and analysis if researchers from South Africa, say, wanted to collect tissue samples from their country.Lastly, everyone involved in the AfricaBP project — now and over the next decade — will engage local chiefs and other custodians of traditional knowledge in the project from the outset. One way for researchers to engage with local communities or Indigenous peoples is through monthly meetings with government officials involved in Africa’s Access and Benefit Sharing National Focal Points. These individuals are specifically tasked with guiding compliance between the producers of biological resources, such as the Bedouin community in Egypt, and the users of those resources, such as researchers at the Pasteur Institute of Tunis in Tunisia. Another way this could be achieved is through AfricaBP ethics committees surveying thousands of people in a particular community — such as through town-hall meetings, electronic messages or telecommunications.Making it happenSince 2009, $22 million has been spent on building bioinformatics capacity across Africa through the Pan African Bioinformatics Network for H3Africa (H3ABioNet) project — including through training 150 researchers in core bioinformatics approaches and technologies. But around 10–15% of the trainees in this Africa-led project have relocated to North America or Europe, and there is no guarantee that they will return. What’s more, H3ABioNet funding winds down this year, and there are few permanent positions for trained bioinformatics personnel in African institutions. Because of this, up to 50% of the researchers who have received training through H3ABioNet could leave Africa.In the case of AfricaBP, around 600 eligible early-career African researchers (those pursuing PhDs or postdocs) will be granted 3-year fellowships over the next 10 years. They will be able to work with AfricaBP’s global partners11, such as the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK, through exchange programmes. But they will be based mainly in national and regional AfricaBP facilities, to ensure that any skills they acquire are fed back into the continent.Cloud-based computing and data storage will need to be coordinated to meet regional needs. Exchange programmes involving AfricaBP partners could help those regions or countries that lack resources; there are currently 87 genomic infrastructures in southern Africa, but only 8 in Central Africa7, for instance. These would be similar to the Newton International Fellowships, which enable early-career researchers from overseas to work for two years at a UK institution.
Why some researchers oppose unrestricted sharing of coronavirus genome data
The 374 state-of-the-art Pacific Biosciences HiFi genome-sequencing machines that currently exist worldwide (as of 31 December 2021) can produce high-quality sequence data for more than 350 species per day12. But although the city of Cambridge, UK, alone has 12 of these machines, there are only 2 in the entire African continent. Building genomics capacity on the ground is a huge challenge in Africa because of the difficulty of transporting intact samples in countries that have poor transport infrastructure and hot climates, and because of Africa’s expensive and low-quality Internet service.To achieve such a massive sequencing feat, African researchers need state-of-the-art genome technologies. They also need mobile (albeit less accurate13) sequencing technologies that are less reliant on electricity and Internet connectivity, such as the Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION machine. These are easily transportable and can be used in remote areas; they are roughly the size of a mobile phone13, whereas the Pacific Biosciences HiFi machines are about the size of a household refrigerator.The 109 scientists spearheading AfricaBP are currently in discussion with leading institutions about the development of mobile sequencing platforms and integrated mobile laboratories. Encouragingly, portable, low-cost computing platforms, such as Raspberry Pi and eBioKit, are already being used in Africa, for instance at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, in bioinformatics training programmes.We ask all African life-science agencies to join AfricaBP. We also ask the African Union Commission and the African Academy of Sciences to provide the core funds — US$100 million per year for the next 10 years. In our view, this investment will be dwarfed by the economic and other pay-offs that will stem from AfricaBP-enabled innovations and discoveries.

Nature 603, 388-392 (2022)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-00712-4

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J.K. is a full-time employee and stock holder of Pacific Biosciences, a company mentioned in the article that is developing single-molecule sequencing technologies.

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