CANADIAN NEWS

BENEFITS OF CORAL REEFS CUT IN HALF IN THE LAST 70 YEARS

The capacity of coral reefs to provide ecosystem services relied on by millions of people worldwide has declined by half since the 1950s, according to a recent University of British (UBC) Columbia-led study.

The study offers the first comprehensive look at what climate change, overfishing, and habitat destruction of coral reefs mean for the ecosystem, or the ability of coral reefs to provide essential benefits and services to humans, including food, livelihoods, and protection from storms. The findings showed that the significant loss in coral reef coverage is the culprit.

Other findings are equally bleak. The authors found that global coverage of living corals had declined by about half in the last 70 years and, consequently, the diversity of species also declined by more than 60 per cent.

“We know coral reefs are biodiversity hotspots. And preserving biodiversity not only protects nature, but supports the humans that use these species for cultural, subsistence and livelihood means,” said lead author Tyler Eddy, who led the research at the UBC Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries.

The researchers also found catches of fishes on coral reefs have steadily declined; the catch per unit effort, often used as an indication of changes in biomass, is now 60 per cent lower than it was in 1950.

The findings led the researchers to conclude that continued degradation of the reef in years to come now threatens the wellbeing and sustainable development of human communities that depend on coral reefs. Their loss will be especially felt in parts of the world with few alternative sources of nutrition; coastal Indigenous communities, for instance, consume 15 times more fish than other communities.

Moving to clinical trial for a hallucinogenic alkaloid found in some toadstools

Diamond Therapeutics, a drug development company focused on low-dose psychedelic therapies for use in the treatment of mental health, recently received the green light from Health Canada to proceed with a human clinical trial to evaluate psilocybin from toadstools for the treatment of psychiatric disorders, including anxiety and depression. Health Canada’s clinical trials database shows only two other Canadian clinical trials involving psilocybin.

PARTNERSHIP AIMS TO BOOST MADEIN-CANADA DRUG PRODUCTION

Canadians are left at the mercy of a global supply chain in drug manufacturing which is largely controlled by just two countries. China and India supply 80 per cent of the raw ingredients for producing drugs, according to a 2020 report by the federal Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. That’s why API, an industry-led Edmonton non-profit, is partnering with the University of Alberta’s Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute to create the Canadian Critical Drug Initiative. The partnership will help Canada gain a critical lifeline in the production of small-molecule drugs, which represent the majority of drugs administered in the country.

Nova Mentis Files Fragile X Orphan Drug Designation with European Medicines Agency

Canadian-based biotechnology company Nova Mentis, specializing in psilocybin-based therapeutics and complementary diagnostics for neuroinflammatory disorders, has sought orphan drug designation from the European Medicines Agency for its psilocybin drug. The drug has been shown to improve cognition without apparent psychedelic side effects in patients with fragile X syndrome, the leading genetic cause of symptoms in autism spectrum disorder.