Publisher Correction: Science diplomacy for plant health.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Conducting fit-for-purpose food safety risk assessments.

The interplay between science, risk assessment and risk management has always been complex, and even more so in a world increasingly characterised by rapid technical innovation, new modes of communication, suspicion about authorities and experts, and demands for people to have a say in decisions that are made on their behalf. In this challenging era where scientific advice on food safety has never been in greater demand, risk managers should effectively navigate the interplay between facts and values and be able to rely on robust and fit-for-purpose risk assessments to aid them. The fact that societal resistance is often encountered when scientific advice on food safety operates at a distance from social values and fails to actively engage with citizens, has led to increasing emphasis on the need to advance forms of risk assessment that are more contextual, and socially sound and accountable.

Proposed criteria for identifying GE crop plants that pose a low or negligible risk to the environment under conditions of low-level presence in seed.

The low-level presence (LLP) of genetically engineered (GE) seeds that have been approved in the country of origin but not the country of import presents challenges for regulators in both seed importing and exporting countries, as well as for the international seed trade and the farmers who rely on it. In addition to legal, financial and regulatory challenges, such LLP situations in seed may also require an environmental risk assessment by the country of import. Such assessments have typically been informed by the national framework established to support decisions related to wide scale cultivation, and frequently do not take into account the low environmental exposure and prior regulatory history of the GE plant.

A comparative analysis of insertional effects in genetically engineered plants: considerations for pre-market assessments.

During genetic engineering, DNA is inserted into a plant's genome, and such insertions are often accompanied by the insertion of additional DNA, deletions and/or rearrangements. These genetic changes are collectively known as insertional effects, and they have the potential to give rise to unintended traits in plants. In addition, there are many other genetic changes that occur in plants both spontaneously and as a result of conventional breeding practices.

Genetically engineered trees for plantation forests: key considerations for environmental risk assessment.

Forests are vital to the world's ecological, social, cultural and economic well-being yet sustainable provision of goods and services from forests is increasingly challenged by pressures such as growing demand for wood and other forest products, land conversion and degradation, and climate change. Intensively managed, highly productive forestry incorporating the most advanced methods for tree breeding, including the application of genetic engineering (GE), has tremendous potential for producing more wood on less land. However, the deployment of GE trees in plantation forests is a controversial topic and concerns have been particularly expressed about potential harms to the environment.

Ignition of eyelash extensions during routine minor eyelid surgery.

Preoperative patient questionnaires enquiring about the presence of prosthetics are routine. Eyelash extensions are not part of standard preoperative questionnaires. This case illustrates how this impacts patient safety during minor eyelid surgery.

Laminin chain assembly is regulated by specific coiled-coil interactions.

Laminins are large heterotrimeric, multidomain proteins that play a central role in organising and establishing all basement membranes. Despite a total of 45 potential heterotrimeric chain combinations formed through the coiled-coil domain of the 11 identified laminin chains (alpha1-5, beta1-3, gamma1-3), to date only 15 different laminin isoforms have been reported. This observation raises the question whether laminin assembly is regulated by differential gene expression or specific chain recognition.

Structure of the extracellular domain of Tie receptor tyrosine kinases and localization of the angiopoietin-binding epitope.

Angiogenesis is essential for tissue repair and regeneration during wound healing but also plays important roles in many pathological processes including tumor growth and metastasis. The receptor protein tyrosine kinase Tie2 and its ligands, the angiopoietins, have important functions in the regulation of angiogenesis. Here, we report a detailed structural and functional characterization of the extracellular region of Tie2.

Evidence that monoclonal antibodies directed against the integrin beta subunit plexin/semaphorin/integrin domain stimulate function by inducing receptor extension.

The overall structure of integrins is that of a ligand-binding head connected to two long legs. The legs can exhibit a pronounced bend at the "knees," and it has been proposed that the legs undergo a dramatic straightening when integrins transit from a low affinity to a high affinity state. The knee region contains domains from both alpha and beta subunits, including the N-terminal plexin/semaphorin/integrin (PSI) domain of the beta subunit.