Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam - The #Scicomm Challenge Facing Animal Agriculture

Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education

“Scientific Communication about Animal Agriculture”

Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D.Cooperative Extension SpecialistAnimal Biotechnology and Genomics Department of Animal Science University of California, Davis, USA

Email: [email protected]: @BioBeef Blog: http://biobeef.faculty.ucdavis.eduhttp://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotech

Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016

http://blogs.egu.eu/network/palaeoblog/files/2012/10/science.jpg

GMOS MAKE LIVESTOCK SICK

PINK SLIME

MEAT IS ALWAYS BAD

FOR YOU

CONVENTIONAL AGRICULTURE DESTROYS THE ENVIONMENT

FARMERS MISTREAT ANIMALS

GRASSFED IS BETTER

EATING MEAT CAUSES GLOBAL WARMING

ANTIBIOTIC USE IN ANIMAL AG IS ALWAYS BAD

SCIENTISTS ARE BAD;ACTIVISTS ARE GOOD

Google image search for “Ideal Farm”Audio from “No Scrub Bulls” (Civil eats)

http://www.wallstickeroutlet.com/Images/oopsy-daisy-ideal-farm-wall-art-2.jpghttp://civileats.com/2015/02/19/no-scrubs-breeding-a-better-bull-audio

Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016

http://www.wallstickeroutlet.com/Images/oopsy-daisy-ideal-farm-wall-art-2.jpg

http://civileats.com/2015/02/19/no-scrubs-breeding-a-better-bull-audio

Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Canada 4/25/2016

98% US farms family owned and there are no “buildings” on the range

Illustration by Maki Naro Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016

Opinion: Scientists’ Intuitive FailuresMuch of what researchers believe about the public and

effective communication is wrong.

“given the norms of our profession…it is ironic that many of these debates about how to best communicate science with lay populations are driven by intuitive assumptions on the part of

scientists rather than the growing body of social science research on the topic that has developed over the past two decades”

Matthew C Nisbet and Dietram A Scheufele

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32384/title/Opinion--Scientists--Intuitive-Failures/


Part of the problem is that communication styles need to differ

depending upon the audience


Communication aspect AcademicMain information channel Audio and visualStructure Information is fineMode of response CerebralNeed humor? Not necessarilyLike sincerity? Suspicious of itSex appeal? Potential disasterKnow your stuff? YesEffective elements Information Effective organs Head Preferred voice Robotic

How Academic audiences respondto various aspects of

communication

Olson, R. 2009. Don’t be such a scientist. Talking substance in an age of style. Island Press.


Communication aspect Academic General PublicMain information channel Audio and visual VisualStructure Information is fine Need a storyMode of response Cerebral VisceralNeed humor? Not necessarily Pretty muchLike sincerity? Suspicious of it AlwaysSex appeal? Potential disaster The ultimateKnow your stuff? Yes No (don’t trust you!)Effective elements Information Humor, sincerity, sexEffective organs Head Heart, gut, gonadsPreferred voice Robotic Human

How Academic versus “General Public” audiences respond to various aspects

of communication

Olson, R. 2009. Don’t be such a scientist. Talking substance in an age of style. Island Press.


Animal Biotechnology and Genomics Education

This is a picture of D _ A.

B N C L

0% 0%0%0%

1. B2. N3. C4. L

?



Given this information……



1. 12. 23. 34. 4

Which do you think is my dog?

1 2 3 4

0% 0%0%0%

1 2

3 4Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016


What is Sustainability?balancing environmental, social,

and economic goals


Which sustainability goal is most important to you?

Social

Econom

ic

Environmen

t

0%0%0%


1. Social2. Economic3. Environment

1. Improved product quality and safety.

2. Improved animal welfare and natural behavior.

3. Decreased impact on the environment and efficient use of natural resources.

Illustrations from Stern,S., Sonesson,U., Gunnarsson,S., Oborn,I., Kumm,K.I., & Nybrant,T. Sustainable development of food production: A case study on scenarios for pig production. Ambio 34, 402-407 (2005).

WHICH SYSTEM IS SUSTAINABLE?


Which system do you think is the most sustainable?

Food Sa

fety

Animal W

elfare

Decrease

d footp

rint

0%0%0%

1. Improved product quality and food safety; low cost intermediate environmental footprint

2. Improved animal welfare and natural behavior; highest cost and environmental footprint

3. Decreased impact on the environment and efficient use of natural resources; low cost and lowest environmental footprint



There are almost always goal conflicts between environmental,

social, and economic goals

Each scenario fulfil led different aspects of sustainability, but there were goal conflicts

because no scenario fulfil led all sustainability goals

The authors also wrote that the evaluation and ranking of sustainability goals is mainly a political question. Leaving sustainability goal evaluation to the political process potentially exposes the process to subjective interpretation and political pressure from special interest groups

Stern,S., Sonesson,U., Gunnarsson,S., Oborn,I., Kumm,K.I., & Nybrant,T. Sustainable development of food production: A case study on scenarios for pig production. Ambio 34, 402-407 (2005).


As a result of these goal conflicts we have all sorts of marketers profiting off this to suggest THEIRS is the ONLY truly sustainable system!


Sustainable label definition:Sustainable agriculture is a way of raising food that is

healthy for consumers and animals, does not harm the environment, is humane for workers, respects animals, provides a fair wage to the farmer, and

supports and enhances rural communities.


Google image search for “Ideal Farm”

http://www.wallstickeroutlet.com/Images/oopsy-daisy-ideal-farm-wall-art-2.jpgAnimal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016

Of the total annual pest losses in crops, weeds account for 37%, insects 29%, diseases 22% and other pests 12%.


Weeds use water, nutrients and decrease yield per acre


Sonoma 8/3/2016

Toxicity of pesticides (red line) used in agriculture dropped

dramatically over past 50 years

Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge, Richard Nehring, Craig Osteen, Seth Wechsler, Andrew Martin, and Alex Vialou. 2014a. Pesticide Use in U.S. Agriculture: 21 Selected Crops, 1960-2008, EIB-124, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, May 2014. http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1424185/eib124.pdf

Average quality characteristics of pesticides applied to four major crops, 1968-2008

http://www.ers.usda.gov/media/1424185/eib124.pdf

What choice would you make to control agricultural weeds?

Do nothing an

d...

Apply

herbici

d...

Plough th

em un

...

Burn

them

with

...

Use

man

ual lab

...

Cro

p rotat

ions...

Use

integ

rated

...

0% 0% 0%0%0%0%0%

Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016 Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education

1. Do nothing and lose crop 2. Apply herbicide to kill weeds3. Plough them under (tillage)4. Burn them with propane5. Use manual labor & hoe6. Crop rotations 7. Use integrated pest

management that involves use of variety of approaches which could include all of the above

Pinkeye is caused by bacteria carried by face flies


What happens to animal welfare when raised antibiotic-free?


What choice would you make to care for cows with pink eye?

Do nothing

Antib

iotic

the...

Put a patc

h ov...

Not e

nough in

f...

0% 0%0%0%


1. Do nothing 2. Antibiotic therapy3. Put a patch over the eye4. Not enough information

(i.e. need to know the therapy that the peer-reviewed literature has shown to be the most efficacious)


Plant and animal breeders have perhaps the most compelling sustainability story of all time

https://grist.files.wordpress.com/2015/12/corn-hybrid-yields.jpeg

Chart from Matt DiLeo/USDA

1944: 25.6 million animals; total annual milk production of 53.1 billion kg. 1997: 9.2 million animals; total annual milk production of 84.2 billion kg.

About half of this 369% increase in production efficiency is attributable to genetic improvement enabled by AI

VandeHaar, M.J. and St-Pierre, N. (2006). Major Advances in Nutrition: Relevance to the Sustainability of the Dairy Industry. Journal of Dairy Science 89, 1280-1291.

AI


2014 total production

2014 Amount needed at 1950s rate

Additional needed

Soybeans 3,927,090,000 BU

(235,562,540,000 lb)(106,849,370,802 kg)

82,591,000 Acres

(33,423,392 ha)

180,971,889 Acres

(73,236,725 ha)

~ 98 million Acres

(~40 million ha)

Corn 14,215,532,000 BU

(796,069,979,000 lb)(361,091,268,460 kg)

83,136,000 Acres

(33,643,946 ha)

372,134,346 Acres

(150,597,427 ha)

~ 289 million Acres

(~120 million ha)

Dairy cattle 206,046,000,000 lbsmilk

(93,460,893,469 kg)

9,257,166 head 38,774,181 head ~ 30 million head

Broilers 51,373,100,000 lbsmeat

(23,302,446,000 kg)

8,544,100,000 head

16,679,545,455head

~ 8 billion head+ an additional81.5 billion lbsfeed due to less

efficient FCRAnimal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016

Genetic improvement (permanent, cumulative) as a solution to animal

disease rather than chemicals



http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3434

Holtkamp et al. 2015. Gene-edited pigs are protected from

porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus

(PRRSV). Nature Biotechnology


http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3434

Gene Edited Polled Calves

Tan et al. 2013. Efficient nonmeiotic allele introgression in livestock using custom endonucleases. PNAS 110: 16526-31.

Naturally-occurring bovine allele at polled locus



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qks_LMmodw

Breeding Method:Selective Breeding Genomic SelectionMutagenesis (ENU)Gene Knockout (ES) Genetic engineering

Sterile insect techniqueCloning

Gene Editing

Research PetsPharmaproducts

BiomedicalProducts

Pest Control AgricultureMillions of

Mice/Laboratory Rodents/Zebrafish

GloFishMicropigsRabbit -

RuconestGoat – ATryn,

spider silk

Pigs -XenotransplantationCattle – polyclonal human antibodies

AquAdvantage Salmon –fast growth

Polled HolsteinsDisease resistance

Improved product qualityDecrease environmental

footprintSingle gender offspring

Species

Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education

TseTse fly –sleeping sickness

Mosquitoes –zika/malaria resistance Moths –

agricultural pest control



Which of these breeding methods is not a “sustainable” method?

Selectiv

e Bree

...

Gen

omic Sele

ct...

Mutag

enes

is Us...

Gen

e Knock

outs

Gen

etic E

ngine...

Sterile

Inse

ct...

Cloning

Gen

e Edit

ing

More

than

one ...

None o

f the a

b...

0% 0% 0% 0% 0%0%0%0%0%0%


1. Selective Breeding2. Genomic Selection3. Mutagenesis Using Chemicals4. Gene Knockouts5. Genetic Engineering (GMOs)6. Sterile Insect Technique7. Cloning 8. Gene Editing9. More than one of the above 10. None of the above


Agricultural breeding programs align with many sustainability goals including improved animal

well-being, increased efficiency of production and reduced environmental footprint of agriculture

• Naturally polled Holsteins• Disease resistant animals• Sex selection for ♀ in

dairy and egg industries

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/pi_2015-01-29_science-and-society-00-01/Image from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/150129-public-opinion-aaas-health-education-science/


The problem is the public, not scientists or policymakers

“Scientists have long believed that when the public disagreed with them on matters of policy, public

ignorance was to blame….. But research shows that science literacy has only a limited connection to public

attitudes. Instead, trust, emotion, social identity, and how an issue is framed matter more, putting much of

the burden of effective communication on scientists and their institutions.”

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/32384/title/Opinion--Scientists--Intuitive-Failures/

Matthew C Nisbet and Dietram A Scheufele


LOGOSLogic/reason/proof

Appeal to logic

ETHOSCredibility/trustAppeal to ethics

PATHOSEmotions/values

Appeal to emotion

Aristotle’s Rhetorical Triangle -the available means of persuasion

Background

Supporting details

Results

Sharedvalues and

bottom line

So what?Supporting

details


LOGOSLogic/reason/proof

ETHOSCredibility/trust

PATHOSEmotions/values

Main techniques Stories/Anectodal information

Inspirational quotesVivid languageScare tactics

They (insert enemy here) worked against everything we’ve worked so hard to build, and they don’t care about (insert shared value

here). Make no mistake, they’re the enemy, and they

won’t stop until we’re all destroyed.


This is very effective

Animal Biotechnology and Genomics Education Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016

Narratives that are based on emotion or fear are difficult to address using logic or reason

Jenny McCarthy – Vaccinations Vani Hari – Chemicals in food

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYubiuv5HKAhUK52MKHRusB54QjRwIBw&url=http://www.amazon.com/Vani-Hari/e/B00KWWWHJS&psig=AFQjCNG0nyc6EzEvg44E2BCCuB-V_QlExA&ust=1452042844993599

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiYubiuv5HKAhUK52MKHRusB54QjRwIBw&url=http://www.amazon.com/Vani-Hari/e/B00KWWWHJS&psig=AFQjCNG0nyc6EzEvg44E2BCCuB-V_QlExA&ust=1452042844993599

Weeds use water, nutrients and decrease yield per acre


Intelligence Squared debate on GM food New York City, December 2014

Genetically modify food?


Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016 New York City, December 4, 2014

Animal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Van Eenennaam 9/25/2015http://intelligencesquaredus.org/debates/past-debates/item/1161-genetically-modify-food

YouTube: http://youtu.be/lhh0t-y86XkWhat do the facts say?

http://youtu.be/lhh0t-y86Xk

Alison Van Eenennaam, Ph.D.Cooperative Extension SpecialistAnimal Biotechnology and Genomics Department of Animal Science University of California, Davis, [email protected]: @BioBeef

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotechAnimal Genomics and Biotechnology Education Van Eenennaam 9/20/2016

Thanks for inviting me

mailto:[email protected]

http://animalscience.ucdavis.edu/animalbiotech

Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam - The #Scicomm Challenge Facing Animal Agriculture

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