The United States Federal Government Should Increase Its Biomedical Exploration of Ocean

Notes

You should also draw on the Abelkop / Fitzmier lab’s Deep Sea Exploration files. Many of those cards don’t apply to this aff, but some do.

1AC

Plan

The United States Federal Government should increase its biomedical exploration of ocean microbes.

Pandemics

Contention 1: Pandemics—

We are entering an era of global diseases that will kill humans and destroy biodiversity

Kock 13 – R. A. Kock of the Department of Pathology and Pathobiology, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane Hatfield, UK (23 October 2013, "Will the damage be done before we feel the heat? Infectious disease emergence,” Cambridge University Press 2013 Animal Health Research Reviews 14(2); 127–132, ISSN 1466-2523, doi:10.1017/S1466252313000108, ADL)

This initial progress in resolving age-old infectious disease problems might well turn out to be a false dawn. If we take a broader view on disease at the ecosystem level, rather than human infection alone, the situation is not looking so promising. There are a growing numberof diseases at the interface between humans, animalsand the environment (including plants), which arehaving a significant impact on human well-being, mostly through food systems. For example, the USA has suffered a series of highly significant and costly disease epidemics in the last decade West NileVirus (WNV) in New York City, which subsequently spread to all 48 States of the continental USA, caused mortalities and sickness in a wide range of domestic animals, wild birds and people (Kilpatrick, 2011). Although the costs are still being calculated, WNV showedhow rapidly such disease events can occur and therewas nothing that could be done to stop the epidemic. This was followed shortly after by another epidemic disease coined ‘white nose syndrome’ affecting bats (Blehert et al., 2009). This is caused by a fungus Geomyces destructans, most probably introduced by travelers and cavers (Warnecke et al., 2012), which, to date, has killed an estimated 6.5 million bats. The consequences are a conservation crisis and a multi-billion dollar cost to the agricultural industry from lost predation on agricultural pests, a significant ecosystem service provided by bats (Boyles et al., 2011). Similarly, a global insidiousspread of a fungal disease of amphibians is resulting inan unexpected and ‘premature’ extinction crisis, long before the planet heats up (Berger et al., 1998; Rosenblum et al., 2010). Over a third of amphibian species are expected to disappear in the coming years but these extinctions are not only a result of this disease (Heard et al., 2011). These taxa have provided significantunappreciated benefits to humanity through the controlof mosquitos and other vectors of serious infectiousdiseases. Moreover, if this is not enough, there are numerous tree diseases that are spreading globally, some fungal and others insect-based, which are devastating woodlands and individual tree species populations in North America and Europe with wide spread economic consequences. It seems the rapid increase intransportation networks and frequency of human andanimal movements by air and sea, a consequence of free market capitalism and globalization, has created a‘perfect storm’ for infectious disease emergence acrossecosystems (Brown, 2004). It is rather like humanspicking up Pandora’s box, giving it a thorough shake,and then sending its contents to every corner of the earth. A massive experiment in human-assisted pathogenevolution and spread, gives every advantage to themicroorganisms to gain access to immunologically naivehosts and for them to gain dominance over largerorganisms, the latter too sluggish in their ability to respond immunologically and adapt. This physicalreassortment and distribution of current pathogens alonecould drive an era of plague and pestilence affecting mostbiological taxa.Unfortunately the story does not stop here, humanengineering of landscapes and biological systems areassociated with pathogen evolution and disease emergenceat the interface, but almost without exception the drivers are poorly researched (Jones et al., 2013). These events are not all new but we are only justbeginning to appreciate the extent of our influenceon their occurrence. Wolfe et al., 2007 elegantly described how several major human diseases, including smallpox, malaria, campylobacteriosis, rotavirus, measles, diphtheria, mumps, HIV-AIDS and influenza virus, are derived from our domestication of animals and/or harvesting of wild animals over the millennia. These diseases became firmly established in humans, no longer driven or dependent on zoonotic cycles. This is on top of approximately 900 zoonotic infections recorded; of which about 292 are significant pathogens, most associated with domestic animals but many originating from wildlife, sometimes directly (e.g. Ebola virus) (Cleaveland et al., 2001). It seems that this process is accelerating, with the majority (75%) of emerging human pathogens being zoonotic (Taylor et al., 2001). The trend in zoonotic disease emergence correlateswith the expansion of domestic animal populations inparallel to that of human growth. This has fundamentallyaltered the epidemiological environment. Paradoxically, increasing animal production for human use, through industrialization of crop and animal agriculture, hasresulted in an increasing opportunity for pathogenevolution (Arzt et al., 2010; Jones et al., 2013). These larger epidemiological units of plants and animals, with considerable homogeneity, when densely packed (ironically for reasons of biosecurity and production efficiency) are perfect pathogen factories. The recent ‘bird flu’panzootic is an example of this. The emergence of the atypical, highly pathogenic influenza virus H5N1 was coincident with a massive expansion of the duck and poultry industry in South East Asia. Water birds are natural hosts of avian influenza viruses and are highly tolerant of infection (Alexander, 2007). However, the growth in domestic duck farms including exploitation of semidomestic ducks in close proximity to both wild bird populations and densely packed chicken farms, created an opportunity for the rapid evolution of this highly virulent strain of avian influenza, its amplification and spread. H5N1 was first isolated in 1997 (Xu et al., 1999) with epidemics recorded in Hong Kong in 1998 and with a significant wild bird epidemic between 2005 and 2007 (Chen et al., 2006). The infection spread rapidly across Eurasia between poultry systems and as far as Egypt (Abdelwhab and Hafez, 2011) and Nigeria (Newman et al., 2008). Wild bird cases reported appear to be mostly during epidemics or spillover cases from poultry epidemics (Feare and Yasue´, 2006; Lebarbenchon et al., 2010; Soliman et al., 2012), and wild bird epidemics appear to have been largely independent of domestic bird disease. The infections burned out in wildlife with no evidence of a long-term reservoir and only rare cases based on circumstantial evidence of spillover from wild birds to poultry (Hars et al., 2008), predators (Desvaux et al., 2009; Globig et al., 2009) and humans (bird hunters) (Newman et al., 2008). The great fear has beenthat should this virus, which rarely infects humans, evolveinto a form that is highly transmissible among humans, itwill then cause a severe pandemic. Whilst the immediate threat has subsided, with apparent resilience in the wild bird populations to H5N1 increasing (Siembieda et al., 2010) and with mass vaccination and slaughter of poultry providing temporary relief, endemic foci in domestic birds still persist. This strain of virus has been recently joined by a new, more sinister low pathogenic strain (in poultry) of H7N9, which is lethal in humans and can be transmitted more readily between humans than was the case with H5N1. The main reason for failure to stop the emergence of these diseases is the continued expansion of agroecological systems and industry, which cause the problem in the first place. It is not always necessary to have a farm for these spillover events, other concentrations of mixed animal species in e.g. food markets has led to emergence, exemplified by the SARS epidemic. Here a bat virus was involved, most probably spilling into a market and replicating in (probably) a number of species, adapting and amplifying until it was established in humans and an epidemic ensued. Globally, the virus infected approximately 8000 people and caused several hundred deaths. The remarkable fact is that this pathogen jump probably only took a period of 2–3 years (Wang et al., 2005; Zhao, 2007; Tang et al., 2009). Another important driver of disease at the interface has been changing landscapes, with increasing incursion into and modification of diverse habitats for settlement and exploitation of resources. An example is the creation of new vector niche habitats, mostly through urban development (Globig et al., 2009) enabling persistence and emergence of significant problems e.g. dengue fever virus; once only found in primates (Mackenzie et al., 2004). HIV is the most famous example, where frequent spillover of SIV to humans through their exploitation of chimpanzee and gorilla for food, resulted in the establishment of human infection and adaptation of the virus (Gao et al., 1999). However, it was not until road networks were put into the Congo basin that the epidemic really took hold. There were probably a series of stuttering epidemics until the virus entered the urban environment and then the world. It is sobering to note that the African mortality statistics (WHO, 2012) indicate that, far from following the pattern in the Western world, the life expectancy from birth in two of the richest nations, South Africa and Botswana, has significantly decreased between 1990 and 2010; and this was from the impact of only one emerging disease, HIV–AIDS. What if we have ten novel diseases occurringsimultaneously?

Biodiversity loss causes human extinction

Coyne, professor of ecology and evolution – University of Chicago, and Hoekstra, associate professor of biology – Harvard, 9/24/‘7

(Jerry and John L., “The Greatest Dying,”

But it isn't just the destruction of the rainforests that should trouble us. Healthy ecosystems the world over provide hidden services like waste disposal, nutrient cycling, soil formation, water purification, and oxygen production. Such services are best rendered by ecosystems that are diverse. Yet, through both intention and accident, humans have introduced exotic species that turn biodiversity into monoculture. Fast-growing zebra mussels, for example, have outcompeted more than 15 species of native mussels in North America's Great Lakes and have damaged harbors and water-treatment plants. Native prairies are becoming dominated by single species (often genetically homogenous) of corn or wheat. Thanks tothese developments, soils will erode and become unproductive - which, along with temperature change, will diminish agricultural yields. Meanwhile, with increased pollution and runoff, as well as reduced forest cover, ecosystems will no longer be able to purify water; and a shortage of clean water spells disaster. In many ways, oceans are the most vulnerable areas of all. As overfishing eliminates major predators, while polluted and warming waters kill off phytoplankton, the intricate aquatic food web could collapse from both sides. Fish, on which so many humans depend, will be a fond memory. As phytoplankton vanish, so does the ability of the oceans to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. (Half of the oxygen we breathe is made by phytoplankton, with the rest coming from land plants.) Species extinction is also imperiling coral reefs - a major problem since these reefs have far more than recreational value: They provide tremendous amounts of food for human populations and buffer coastlines against erosion. In fact, the global value of "hidden" services provided by ecosystems - those services, like waste disposal, that aren't bought and sold in the marketplace - has been estimated to be as much as $50 trillion per year, roughly equal to the gross domestic product of all countries combined. And that doesn't include tangible goods like fish and timber. Life as we know it would be impossible if ecosystems collapsed.Yet that is where we're heading if species extinction continues at its current pace. Extinction also has a huge impact on medicine. Who really cares if, say, a worm in the remote swamps of French Guiana goes extinct? Well, those who suffer from cardiovascular disease. The recent discovery of a rare South American leech has led to the isolation of a powerful enzyme that, unlike other anticoagulants, not only prevents blood from clotting but also dissolves existing clots. And it's not just this one species of worm: Its wriggly relatives have evolved other biomedically valuable proteins, including antistatin (a potential anticancer agent), decorsin and ornatin (platelet aggregation inhibitors), and hirudin (another anticoagulant). Plants, too, are pharmaceutical gold mines. The bark of trees, for example, has given us quinine (the first cure for malaria), taxol (a drug highly effective against ovarian and breast cancer), and aspirin. More than a quarter of the medicines on our pharmacy shelves were originally derived from plants. The sap of the Madagascar periwinkle contains more than 70 useful alkaloids, including vincristine, a powerful anticancer drug that saved the life of one of our friends. Of the roughly 250,000 plant species on Earth, fewer than 5 percent have been screened for pharmaceutical properties. Who knows what life-saving drugs remain to be discovered?Given current extinction rates, it's estimated that we're losing one valuable drug every two years. Our arguments so far have tacitly assumed that species are worth saving only in proportion to their economic value and their effects on our quality of life, an attitude that is strongly ingrained, especially in Americans. That is why conservationists always base their case on an economic calculus. But we biologists know in our hearts that there are deeper and equally compelling reasons to worry about the loss of biodiversity: namely, simple morality and intellectual values that transcend pecuniary interests. What, for example, gives us the right to destroy other creatures? And what could be more thrilling than looking around us, seeing that we are surrounded by our evolutionary cousins, and realizing that we all got here by the same simple process of natural selection? To biologists, and potentially everyone else, apprehending the genetic kinship and common origin of all species is a spiritual experience - not necessarily religious, but spiritual nonetheless, for it stirs the soul. But, whether or not one is moved by such concerns, it is certain that our future is bleak if we do nothing to stem this sixth extinction.We are creating a world in which exotic diseases flourish but natural medicinal cures are lost; a world in which carbon waste accumulates while food sources dwindle; a world of sweltering heat, failing crops, and impure water. In the end, we must accept the possibility that we ourselves are not immune to extinction.Or, if we survive, perhaps only a few of us will remain, scratching out a grubby existence on a devastated planet. Global warming will seem like a secondary problem when humanity finally faces the consequences of what we have done to nature: not just another Great Dying, but perhaps the greatest dying of them all.

New zoonotic diseases are inevitable – they will go global

Karesh et al 12 - Dr William B Karesh, Prof Andy Dobson DPhil, Prof James O Lloyd-Smith PhD, Juan Lubroth DVM h, Matthew A Dixon MSc i, Prof Malcolm Bennett PhD j, Stephen Aldrich BA k, Todd Harrington MBA k, Pierre Formenty DVM l, Elizabeth H Loh MS a, Catherine C Machalaba MPH a, Mathew Jason Thomas MPH m, Prof David L Heymann MD i n (1/12/2012, "Ecology of zoonoses: natural and unnatural histories," ADL)

More than 60% of human infectious diseases are caused by pathogens shared with wild or domestic animals. Zoonotic disease organisms include those that are endemic in human populations or enzootic in animal populations with frequent cross-species transmission to people. Some of these diseases have only emerged recently. Together, these organisms are responsible for a substantial burden of disease, with endemic and enzootic zoonoses causing about a billion cases of illness in people and millions of deaths every year. Emerging zoonoses are a growing threat to global health and have caused hundreds of billions of US dollars of economic damage in the past 20 years. We aimed to review how zoonotic diseases result from natural pathogen ecology, and how other circumstances, such as animal production, extraction of natural resources, and antimicrobial application change the dynamics of disease exposure to human beings. In view of present anthropogenic trends, a more effective approach to zoonotic disease prevention and control will require a broad view of medicine that emphasises evidence-based decision making and integrates ecological and evolutionary principles of animal, human, and environmental factors. This broad view is essential for the successful development of policies and practices that reduce probability of future zoonotic emergence, targeted surveillance and strategic prevention, and engagement of partners outside the medical community to help improve health outcomes and reduce disease threats.This is the first in a Series of three papers about zoonoses Introduction Pathogens shared with wild or domestic animals cause more than 60% of infectious diseases in man.1 Such pathogens and diseases include leptospirosis, cysticercosis and echinococcosis, toxoplasmosis, anthrax, brucellosis, rabies, Q fever, Chagas disease, type A influenzas, Rift Valley fever, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Ebola haemorrhagic fever, and the original emergence of HIV.2—6 Zoonotic diseases are often categorised according to their route of transmission (eg, vector-borne or foodborne), pathogen type (eg, microparasites, macroparasites, viruses, bacteria, protozoa, worms, ticks, or fleas), or degree of person-to-person transmissibility.7 The greatest burden on human health and livelihoods, amounting to about 1 billion cases of illness and millions of deaths every year, is caused by endemic zoonoses that are persistent regional health problems around the world.2 Many of these infections are enzootic (ie, stably established) in animal populations, and transmit from animals to people with little or no subsequent person-to-person transmission—for example, rabies or trypanosomiasis.