Children's rights advocates say there's nothing wrong with efforts to reduce international adoption ? if those efforts are focused on strengthening families and encouraging domestic adoption. Russia, however, has a long way to go to find domestic families for its orphans.
By Mark Trumbull,?Staff writer / December 27, 2012
Orphan children have a meal at an orphanage in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, December 19. Russia's parliament initially approved a bill banning Americans from adopting Russian orphans on Wednesday in reprisal for a U.S. law punishing alleged Russian human rights violators in a row that has strained bilateral relations.
Vladimir Konstantinov/Reuters
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Russian President Vladimir Putin says he will sign a ban on US adoptions of Russian children ? a move that would close off a major avenue by which orphans in that country find their way into families.
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Supporters of the bill, passed by the parliament before Christmas, say it's designed to promote domestic adoption and to put an end to alleged endangerment of children by their adoptive parents in the United States. The bill is also a retaliatory measure, in response to an American law that imposes sanctions on Russian officials deemed to be human rights violators.
"I still don't see any reasons why I should not sign it," Mr. Putin said at a televised meeting Thursday, adding that he "intends" to do so.
But statistics suggest that the move might be putting politics above practicality, when it comes to finding alternatives for thousands of youngsters now growing up in institutions rather than in families. Children's rights advocates say there's nothing wrong with efforts to reduce international adoption ? if those efforts are focused on strengthening families and encouraging domestic adoption. Russia, however, has a long way to go to find domestic families for its orphans.
About 120,000 orphans are listed as up for adoption in a Russian government database, while only 18,000 Russian families are signed up to become adoptive parents, according to numbers cited by The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and other sources.
"These children have already lost the chance to be adopted by a Russian family," before they are considered for US adoption, says Jennifer Phillips, an adoption supervisor at Lutheran Social Services in Rocky Hill, Conn. It's unclear, she says, whether Putin can succeed in getting more orphans placed with Russian families.
Even before any ban takes effect, Russia has been slowing the pace of international adoption. In the US, adoptions of Russian children totaled just 962 in 2011, down from nearly 6,000 in 2004, according to the US State Department. Despite the decline, the US remains the top foreign destination for Russian orphans being adopted internationally.
And despite the decline, only China and Ethiopia outranked Russia in 2011 as a "country of origin" for international adoptions by US parents. If Putin signs the ban, the move would not only block new adoptions but also cast doubt over US adoptions from Russia that are currently under way.
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Supporters of Pakistan's assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto pray during her fifth death anniversary in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has launched his political career at his ancestral place Larkana, with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
Supporters of Pakistan's assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto pray during her fifth death anniversary in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has launched his political career at his ancestral place Larkana, with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
Supporters of Pakistan's slain leader Benazir Bhutto, one listens to speeches, right, and the other checks his mobile phone, at a ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of her death, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has launched his political career with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Supporters of Pakistan's assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto listen to speeches during her fifth death anniversary in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has launched his political career at his ancestral place Larkana, with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
A supporters of Pakistan's assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto throws rose petals at a picture of her to pay tribute on her fifth anniversary in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has launched his political career at his ancestral place Larkana, with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
Supporters of Pakistan's assassinated leader Benazir Bhutto gather to pay tribute on her fifth anniversary in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Thursday, Dec. 27, 2012. The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has launched his political career at his ancestral place Larkana, with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination. (AP Photo/B.K. Bangash)
ISLAMABAD (AP) ? The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto launched his political career Thursday with a fiery speech before thousands of cheering supporters observing the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination.
Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's speech comes several months before national elections are expected to be held. He is too young to participate in the elections himself ? the minimum age is 25 ? but is likely to be a key asset for the ruling Pakistan People's Party. The party's popularity has plummeted since it took power nearly five years ago as the country has struggled with a weak economy and bloody Taliban insurgency.
Before dawn on the same day, dozens of militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two tribal police posts in Pakistan's northwest, killing two policemen, officials said. Twenty-one other policemen are missing and presumed kidnapped.
Zardari was made chairman of the Pakistan People's Party after his mother's death but has mainly played a background role until now while he completed his studies at Oxford University in Britain.
"I want to tell you that thanks to God he has completed his studies, but now is the time of his training," his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, told the crowd of supporters Thursday in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh village in southern Sindh province, site of the Bhutto family mausoleum. "He has to study Pakistan, he has to learn from you and he has to work according to your thinking,"
The Bhutto family has played a prominent role in Pakistani politics for much of the country's 65-year history. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's grandfather, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founded the Pakistan People's Party and served as both the country's president and prime minister in the 1970s. He was eventually hanged in 1979 after Gen. Zia ul-Haq seized power in a military coup.
Benazir Bhutto twice served as prime minister in the 1980s and 1990s but never completed a full term. Her governments were dismissed both times under the cloud of corruption allegations by presidents who were close to the country's powerful army. She was killed in a gun and suicide bomb attack on Dec. 27, 2007, shortly after returning from self-imposed exile to participate in national elections.
After her death, the Pakistan People's Party rode a wave of public sympathy to garner the most seats in the 2008 elections, and Asif Ali Zardari was elected president. But the popularity of both the party and the president has fallen significantly since then as the government has failed to address pressing problems, such as Pakistan's shortage of electricity and stuttering economy. The government has also struggled in its fight against the Pakistani Taliban, who have killed thousands of people in attacks throughout the country.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais, a political science professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences, said it was not a surprise that the Pakistan People's Party unveiled Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in an attempt to boost its fortunes in the upcoming elections, which are expected by June at the latest.
"This is Pakistan and dynastic politics is the norm," said Rais. "Bilawal is perhaps the only card left in the chest of the Pakistan People's Party."
Both Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and his father sought to whip up the emotions of the crowd Thursday by shouting "Long live Bhutto" and "Bhutto is alive." Many of the supporters waved the red, black and green flag of the Pakistan People's Party and held pictures of Benazir Bhutto and her father.
"If you kill one Bhutto, one thousand more Bhuttos will emerge," said Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
He took a swipe at the judiciary, which has clashed with the current government, by asking why people arrested for suspected involvement in his mother's murder have yet to be convicted.
But some critics have questioned why Zardari has not done more to push forward the investigation during more than four years as president.
The president at the time of her death, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the attack, and five suspected militants are facing trial for alleged involvement in the killing. The Pakistani Taliban have denied targeting Bhutto.
A Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for Musharraf last year over allegations he played a role in the attack, which he has denied. Arrest warrants were also issued for two senior police officials accused of negligence in the assassination. Prosecutors accused one of the officials of failing to provide proper security for Bhutto and the other of cleaning the crime scene before evidence could be collected.
A U.N. investigation into the assassination said it could have been prevented and blamed all levels of government for failing to provide adequate security. It also accused intelligence agencies and other officials of severely hampering the investigation into those behind her murder.
The attack on the tribal police posts before dawn Thursday took place in the town of Darra Adam Khel in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, government officials said. The town is located near Pakistan's tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban militants in the country.
Security forces have launched an operation to try to recover the 21 missing policemen, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion will likely fall on the Pakistani Taliban.
____
Associated Press writer Riaz Khan contributed to this report from Peshawar, Pakistan.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? The economic threat that's kept many Americans on edge for months is nearing reality ? unless the White House and Republicans cut a budget deal by New Year's Day.
Huge tax increases. Deep cuts in domestic and defense programs. The likelihood of sinking stock prices, reduced consumer spending and corporate layoffs. The risk of a recession within months.
Still, the start of 2013 may turn out to be far less bleak than feared. For one thing, the two sides may strike a short-term agreement before New Year's that postpones spending cuts until spring. President Barack Obama and members of Congress return to Washington Thursday.
Even if New Year's passed with no deal, businesses and consumers would not likely panic as long as some agreement seemed imminent. The $671 billion in tax increases and spending cuts could be retroactively repealed.
And the impact of the tax increases would be felt only gradually. Most people would receive slightly less money in each paycheck.
"The simple conclusion that going off the cliff necessarily means a recession next year is wrong," says Lewis Alexander, an economist at Nomura Securities. "It will ultimately depend on how long the policies are in place."
It's always possible that negotiations between President Obama and Republican congressional leaders will collapse in acrimony. The prospect of permanent tax increases and spending cuts could cause many consumers and businesses to delay spending, hiring or expanding.
Without any agreement at all for months, the fiscal cliff would cause the U.S. economy to shrink 0.5 percent in the first half of 2013 and fall into recession, the Congressional Budget Office estimates.
But most economists expect a deal, if not by New Year's then soon after. Businesses and consumers will likely remain calm as long as negotiators seem to be moving toward an agreement.
"The atmosphere is more important than whether the talks spill" into next year, said Paul Ashworth, an economist at Capital Economics.
Here's why many are optimistic that a brief fall over the cliff wouldn't derail the economic recovery:
? Though the fiscal cliff would boost taxes by $586 billion for all of 2013, the tax hit for most people would be modest at first. The expiration of Social Security and income tax cuts would be spread throughout 2013. For taxpayers with incomes of $40,000 to $65,000, paychecks would shrink an average of about $1,500 next year. That would be a significant bite over the full year, but the initial hit would be just $130 in January, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
? About a third of the tax increases wouldn't touch most Americans. Some would hit businesses. Others, such as higher taxes on investment income and estates, and the expiration of middle-income tax credits, wouldn't come due until Americans filed their 2013 taxes in 2014.
? The Internal Revenue Service has delayed any increases in tax withholding that would otherwise kick in. Without a deal, the top income tax rate for single people with taxable income between about $36,000 and $88,000 would rise from 25 percent to 28 percent. But that won't start to reduce Americans' paychecks in early January, even if no deal is reached by then.
? About $85 billion in spending cuts to defense and domestic programs would take weeks or longer to take effect. That means government agencies wouldn't cut jobs right away.
If a short-term agreement is struck, some taxes would probably still go up. These would include a 2 percentage point cut in Social Security taxes that's been in place for two years. Its expiration would cost the typical household about $1,000 a year. With income gains sluggish, that could dampen consumer spending.
A temporary deal that delays some hard decisions could reduce business and consumer confidence. It would also mean:
? Extended unemployment benefits would end for 2 million people. The federal government's program pays for about 32 weeks of extra benefits, on average, on top of the 26 weeks most states provide. Weekly unemployment checks average about $320 nationwide.
? The stock market would probably drop, though maybe not by much. Many Wall Street analysts expect a partial deal of some kind. "There is starting to become a little bit of an acceptance that we fall off the fiscal cliff," said J.J. Kinahan, a strategist for TD Ameritrade.
? The expiration of the Social Security tax cut and the end of emergency unemployment benefits would likely shave 0.7 percentage point off economic growth next year, the CBO estimates. The economy is now growing at about a 2 percent annual pace.
If no deal at all was reached by January and budget talks dragged on, many businesses might put off investment or hiring. That's why most economists say it would be crucial to reach a deal within roughly the first two months of 2013.
In addition, many more people would be affected if something called the alternative minimum tax isn't fixed.
The financially painful AMT was designed to prevent rich people from exploiting loopholes and deductions to avoid any income tax. But the AMT wasn't indexed for inflation, so it has increasingly threatened middle-income taxpayers. Congress has acted each year for a decade to prevent the AMT from hitting many more people.
If it isn't fixed again, roughly 33 million taxpayers, including married couples with income as low as $45,000 ? down from $74,450 in 2011? could face the AMT. Previously, only 5 million taxpayers had to pay it. Taxpayers subject to the AMT must calculate their tax under both the regular system and the AMT and pay the larger amount. Without a fix, a middle-income household would pay an average of $1,231 more, according to the Tax Policy Center.
The IRS has said it assumes Congress and the White House will fix the AMT in a deal to avoid the cliff. If they don't, the IRS will need weeks to reprogram computers and make other adjustments. In the meantime, about 100 million taxpayers couldn't file tax returns early next year because they couldn't determine whether they owe the AMT. Refunds would be delayed.
The gravest scenario would be if the budget talks collapsed and the tax increases and spending cuts appeared to be permanent.
In that case, Macroeconomic Advisors warns that the Dow could plunge up to 2,000 points within days. Businesses would turn gloomier in anticipation of Americans paying higher taxes and spending less.
The economy would shrink at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the first three months of 2013, estimates Joel Prakken, an economist at Macroeconomic Advisors. That compares with an estimated 1.9 percent growth rate if a deal is reached. CBO forecasts that the unemployment rate would rise to 9.1 percent from the current 7.7 percent.
Last week, Obama and House Speaker John Boehner narrowed their differences on income tax increases and spending cuts. But with the two sides deadlocked, Boehner scheduled a vote on a bill to prevent taxes from rising on those earning less than $1 million a year. Opposition from anti-tax conservatives, and Democrats, forced him to cancel the vote.
The gridlock caused stocks to fall Friday. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 121 points.
Obama called for a vote on a stripped-down agreement that would raise taxes only on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans and extend emergency unemployment benefits. Automatic spending cuts would be postponed.
Whatever the outcome, some trends could offset part of the economic damage. The average retail price for gasoline has dropped 15 percent this fall, for example. Lower gas prices give consumers more money to spend elsewhere.
And if the crisis is resolved, as many expect, the boost to business and consumer confidence would encourage more hiring and spending.
"We could end up with a much more robust recovery than anybody's envisioned" if a deal is reached, said David Cote, CEO of Honeywell International.
__
AP Business Writers Christina Rexrode, Steve Rothwell and Daniel Wagner contributed to this report. Rexrode and Rothwell reported from New York.
__
Follow Chris Rugaber on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber
In November, the Falcons dropped a bomb on the league by dropping defensive end Ray Edwards from the roster.? Since then, however, the veteran has generated scant interest.
Until now.
The Seahawks worked out Edwards on Monday, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.? A source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT that a decision as to whether Edwards will be signed is expected to come on Wednesday.
If the Seahawks do it, it would be another shrewd move for G.M. John Schneider.? Edwards, who was never a great regular-season defensive end, had a great postseason in 2009.? Also, if the Seahawks end up facing the Falcons, which could happen in the divisional round, Edwards will have inside information plus extra motivation to send Atlanta?s postseason record to 0-4 in the Smith/Ryan/Dimitroff era.
Much like many Chinese smartphone brands these days, ZTE sub-brand Nubia had prematurely given away the main selling points of its Z5 ahead of its Beijing launch today, but there were still some surprises. As you probably already know, here's yet another five-inch 1080p Android phone featuring Qualcomm's 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064, 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, along with a 13-megapixel F2.2 main camera (with five-element optics by Konica Minolta, plus separate touch focus and touch exposure in the app) and a two-megapixel front-facing camera. For multimedia consumption, the Z5 supports WiFi Display and MHL output should you wish to beam content to a larger screen; whereas on the audio side you are spoiled with either Yamaha or Dolby Digital Plus. But wait, there's more!
Scientists sequence genome of pathogen responsible for pneumocystis pneumoniaPublic release date: 26-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org American Society for Microbiology
WASHINGTON, DC December 26, 2012 -- Scientists have sequenced the genome of the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, an advancement that could help identify new targets for drugs to treat and prevent Pneumocystis pneumonia, a common and often deadly infection in immunocompromised patients. The study will be published on December 26, 2012 in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The organism cannot yet be isolated and grown for study in the laboratory, so details about Pneumocystis pneumonia, the biology of P. jirovecii, and its pathogenicity are hard to come by. The genome sequence represents a wealth of new information for doctors and researchers tackling this disease.
Pneumocystis pneumonia is an opportunistic infection that strikes most often in individuals with diminished immune systems. The corresponding author of the study in mBio, Philippe Hauser of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, in Switzerland, says the disease gained importance in the 1980s.
"Recognized first among malnourished infants, P. jirovecii pneumonia became a public issue with the advent of the HIV epidemic," says Hauser. Today, the disease most commonly affects HIV-infected persons who are unaware of their status as well as solid organ transplant recipients and patients with hemato-oncologic or autoimmune diseases. Since the organism cannot be grown in the lab for study, researchers have long made do with studying P. jirovecii's lab-friendly relatives, species that infect animals and plants, in order to explore the secrets of the human disease.
"It is obviously better to study [P. jirovecii's] genes rather that those of Pneumocystis species from animal models. The genome has both medical and evolutionary interests for the scientific community," says Hauser.
Under normal circumstances, scientists sequencing the genome of a microorganism simply extract DNA from thick cultures of cells they grow in the lab. Since they were unable to grow P. jirovecii cells for their genomic DNA, Hauser and his colleagues took a different approach. They took a sample of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from an individual infected with Pneumocystis pneumonia, then concentrated the P. jirovecii cells using immuno-precipitation and created copies of the DNA in the sample using a technique called random DNA amplification. This mixture of DNA strands, from P. jirovecii, human, and other microbes from the lungs of the infected patient, was then sequenced using high throughput technologies.
According to Hauser and his colleagues, the fact that the sequence data represented DNA from many different species created the biggest challenge they faced. "The major challenge of the study was the in silico sorting of the reads out of a mixture representing the human host and different organisms present in the lung microbiome," he says. This challenge was met through a collaboration with Marco Pagni of the Vital-IT group of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, who provided indispensable expertise and infrastructure.
Once the sorting task was accomplished, the researchers assembled the sequences into a genome and attempted to identify the functions of P. jirovecii's genes. This is the first time scientists have assembled the genome of a fungus from a mixed pool of DNA from a single source, often called a metagenome. Their analyses reveal a surprising fact: P. jirovecii is a parasite that must live within the human body to survive.
P. jirovecii lacks the genes necessary for creating some of the essential ingredients of life, a hallmark of obligate parasites, organisms that must rely on another creature for sustenance. "It implies that they need their host to provide these molecules. Thus, this has been quite an important finding which implied that human beings represent the reservoir of this pathogen," says Hauser. This is useful information, since it means that people are the only significant source of the organism and that both infected people and healthy carriers represent the only control points for limiting the spread of the disease.
The genome also shows that P. jirovecii apparently lacks the ability to make toxins and virulence factors, molecules that enable a microbe to invade and take advantage of its host. This makes sense, since P. jirovecii does not cause disease in healthy people, but only runs out of control when it is not confronted with an immune response.
In the study of infectious disease, access to the genome of a pathogen provides new information that can be pivotal in combating the diseases is causes. The hope is that the genome of P. jirovecii will lead to new advances in therapies for those suffering from Pneumocystis pneumonia. The current drugs of choice for treating Pneumocystis pneumonia are antifolates, but certain isolates of P. jirovecii have already developed resistance to antifolates, an ability that is very likely to spread. Now that the genome of P. jirovecii is assembled and available to researchers all over the world, scientists can tease out clues about the organism that will help identify targets for some badly needed new drugs.
###
mBio is an open access online journal published by the American Society for Microbiology to make microbiology research broadly accessible. The focus of the journal is on rapid publication of cutting-edge research spanning the entire spectrum of microbiology and related fields. It can be found online at http://mBio.asm.org.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Scientists sequence genome of pathogen responsible for pneumocystis pneumoniaPublic release date: 26-Dec-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Garth Hogan ghogan@asmusa.org American Society for Microbiology
WASHINGTON, DC December 26, 2012 -- Scientists have sequenced the genome of the fungus Pneumocystis jirovecii, an advancement that could help identify new targets for drugs to treat and prevent Pneumocystis pneumonia, a common and often deadly infection in immunocompromised patients. The study will be published on December 26, 2012 in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The organism cannot yet be isolated and grown for study in the laboratory, so details about Pneumocystis pneumonia, the biology of P. jirovecii, and its pathogenicity are hard to come by. The genome sequence represents a wealth of new information for doctors and researchers tackling this disease.
Pneumocystis pneumonia is an opportunistic infection that strikes most often in individuals with diminished immune systems. The corresponding author of the study in mBio, Philippe Hauser of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, in Switzerland, says the disease gained importance in the 1980s.
"Recognized first among malnourished infants, P. jirovecii pneumonia became a public issue with the advent of the HIV epidemic," says Hauser. Today, the disease most commonly affects HIV-infected persons who are unaware of their status as well as solid organ transplant recipients and patients with hemato-oncologic or autoimmune diseases. Since the organism cannot be grown in the lab for study, researchers have long made do with studying P. jirovecii's lab-friendly relatives, species that infect animals and plants, in order to explore the secrets of the human disease.
"It is obviously better to study [P. jirovecii's] genes rather that those of Pneumocystis species from animal models. The genome has both medical and evolutionary interests for the scientific community," says Hauser.
Under normal circumstances, scientists sequencing the genome of a microorganism simply extract DNA from thick cultures of cells they grow in the lab. Since they were unable to grow P. jirovecii cells for their genomic DNA, Hauser and his colleagues took a different approach. They took a sample of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from an individual infected with Pneumocystis pneumonia, then concentrated the P. jirovecii cells using immuno-precipitation and created copies of the DNA in the sample using a technique called random DNA amplification. This mixture of DNA strands, from P. jirovecii, human, and other microbes from the lungs of the infected patient, was then sequenced using high throughput technologies.
According to Hauser and his colleagues, the fact that the sequence data represented DNA from many different species created the biggest challenge they faced. "The major challenge of the study was the in silico sorting of the reads out of a mixture representing the human host and different organisms present in the lung microbiome," he says. This challenge was met through a collaboration with Marco Pagni of the Vital-IT group of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, who provided indispensable expertise and infrastructure.
Once the sorting task was accomplished, the researchers assembled the sequences into a genome and attempted to identify the functions of P. jirovecii's genes. This is the first time scientists have assembled the genome of a fungus from a mixed pool of DNA from a single source, often called a metagenome. Their analyses reveal a surprising fact: P. jirovecii is a parasite that must live within the human body to survive.
P. jirovecii lacks the genes necessary for creating some of the essential ingredients of life, a hallmark of obligate parasites, organisms that must rely on another creature for sustenance. "It implies that they need their host to provide these molecules. Thus, this has been quite an important finding which implied that human beings represent the reservoir of this pathogen," says Hauser. This is useful information, since it means that people are the only significant source of the organism and that both infected people and healthy carriers represent the only control points for limiting the spread of the disease.
The genome also shows that P. jirovecii apparently lacks the ability to make toxins and virulence factors, molecules that enable a microbe to invade and take advantage of its host. This makes sense, since P. jirovecii does not cause disease in healthy people, but only runs out of control when it is not confronted with an immune response.
In the study of infectious disease, access to the genome of a pathogen provides new information that can be pivotal in combating the diseases is causes. The hope is that the genome of P. jirovecii will lead to new advances in therapies for those suffering from Pneumocystis pneumonia. The current drugs of choice for treating Pneumocystis pneumonia are antifolates, but certain isolates of P. jirovecii have already developed resistance to antifolates, an ability that is very likely to spread. Now that the genome of P. jirovecii is assembled and available to researchers all over the world, scientists can tease out clues about the organism that will help identify targets for some badly needed new drugs.
###
mBio is an open access online journal published by the American Society for Microbiology to make microbiology research broadly accessible. The focus of the journal is on rapid publication of cutting-edge research spanning the entire spectrum of microbiology and related fields. It can be found online at http://mBio.asm.org.
The American Society for Microbiology is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. ASM's mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 26-Dec-2012
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