Carolyn Beans

Bio: Carolyn Beans is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Medicine & Population. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 28 publications receiving 105 citations.

Core Concept: Phytoremediation advances in the lab but lags in the field

Abstract: In the early 2000s, homeowners in Washington, DC’s leafy Spring Valley neighborhood received some unwelcome news. The Army Corps of Engineers had discovered that the soil on 177 of the Spring Valley properties contained unsafe levels of arsenic, a remnant of World War I-era weapons testing in the area (1). Some plants naturally detoxify soil. Here, the fern known as Edenfern extracts arsenic from a contaminated backyard in Spring Valley, a residential neighborhood in Washington, DC. Image courtesy of Michael Blaylock (Edenspace Systems Corporation, Purcellville, VA). On highly contaminated properties, the Corps dug up yards and hauled soil away. On properties with lower arsenic levels, the Corps gave homeowners another option: the Edenfern. Edenfern is the trademarked name for the brake fern, a group of ferns in the genus Pteris that researchers discovered naturally draw arsenic from soil. Twenty-two homeowners chose these plants to clean up their properties. Edenspace Systems Corporation, the crop biotechnology company that markets the Edenfern, planted one fern for every square foot of contaminated space. The ferns extracted arsenic over the course of their growing season, about five months, and then Edenspace harvested the fronds, leaving purified soil in place. On 16 properties, remediation lasted a single growing season. Other more contaminated sites required repeat plantings and harvests, but all homeowners saw arsenic drop to safe levels within five years. “We were able to save a lot of money in restoration cost because we didn’t have to come back in and restore the landscape,” says Michael Blaylock, president and CEO of Edenspace. Removing arsenic with ferns is just one example of phytoremediation, using plants to purify land or water. By putting plants to work, remediation practitioners can save money on excavation costs and preserve soil structure. Ilya Raskin of Rutgers University coined the term phytoremediation …

News Feature: How "forever chemicals" might impair the immune system.

Abstract: Researchers are exploring whether these ubiquitous fluorinated molecules might worsen infections or hamper vaccine effectiveness . Animal models and human studies suggest that forever chemicals, delivered through water, food, and air, alter the immune system, potentially diminishing our ability to fight disease or respond to a vaccine. Image credit: Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov. Stain-resistant carpets and nonstick pots were once the epitome of “better living through chemistry,” their space-age properties conferred by molecules known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). But in the early 2000s, researchers began to discover that PFAS were somehow reaching the farthest corners of the planet—from polar bears in Alaska (1) to pilot whales in the Faroe Islands of the North Atlantic (2). These molecules contain chains of carbon peppered with fluorine atoms, which together form one of the strongest known chemical bonds. That helps these chemicals excel at repelling grease and water but also makes them astonishingly resistant to degradation in the environment (3). Amid a flurry of new studies, scientists are still figuring out what risks these ubiquitous “forever chemicals” pose to public health (see “PFAS Politics”). Epidemiologists and toxicologists point to myriad possible consequences, including thyroid disease, liver damage, and kidney and testicular cancers (4). Impacts on the immune system are a particular concern. Animal models and human studies have provided strong evidence that PFAS alter the immune system, diminishing the ability to fight disease or respond to a vaccine. These studies have heightened urgency as nations across the globe grapple with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and engage in a vaccination campaign of historic proportions. Researchers are intent on better understanding how PFAS affect coronavirus and other infectious diseases—as well as the vaccinations meant to stymie them. But many questions remain: Scientists don’t know the toxicity levels of most PFAS or how …

Core Concept: Probing the phytobiome to advance agriculture

Abstract: The Colorado potato beetle had Gary Felton stumped. Felton, an entomologist at Pennsylvania State University, has built his career on revealing how plants defend themselves against voracious insects. Plants often detect chemicals in an insect’s oral secretions and respond by producing proteins that wreak havoc on insect digestion and nutrient absorption. Bacteria in the oral secretions of Colorado potato beetle larvae can trick potato and tomato plants into defending against microbes instead of the insect pest. Image courtesy of Nick Sloff (Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA). But the Colorado potato beetle was different. Felton found that oral secretions from its larvae actually prevented potato and tomato plants from launching a proper defense. He tested chemical factors in the secretions that might help the beetle foil the plant, but came up short. “Maybe there is something else here that we’ve totally overlooked,” he recalls thinking. That something else turned out to be bacteria. If he applied antibiotics, the plants could launch a defense and inhibit potato beetle larvae growth (1). Bacteria in the insect’s oral secretions were tricking the plants into defending against microbial invaders instead of insect ones. Kill the bacteria and the cover is blown. Myriad factors affect crop health, such as genetics, insects, microbes, weather, soil nutrients, weeds, fertilizer, tilling. Until recently, scientists typically studied one variable at a time, says plant pathologist Jan Leach of Colorado State University. “When a plant is sitting in the field, it’s not just exposed to one pathogen, one temperature, one insect. It’s exposed to everything at once,” says Leach. “If we want to understand how plants respond to a single pathogen, we really need to take the whole system into account.” Leach calls this whole system the phytobiome, a term that encompasses plants, the environment they inhabit, and the surrounding …

Inner Workings: Crop researchers harness artificial intelligence to breed crops for the changing climate.

Abstract: Until recently, the field of plant breeding looked a lot like it did in centuries past. A breeder might examine, for example, which tomato plants were most resistant to drought and then cross the most promising plants to produce the most drought-resistant offspring. This process would be repeated, plant generation after generation, until, over the course of roughly seven years, the breeder arrived at what seemed the optimal variety. Researchers at ETH Zurich use standard color images and thermal images collected by drone to determine how plots of wheat with different genotypes vary in grain ripeness. Image credit: Norbert Kirchgessner (ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland). Now, with the global population expected to swell to nearly 10 billion by 2050 (1) and climate change shifting growing conditions (2), crop breeder and geneticist Steven Tanksley doesn’t think plant breeders have that kind of time. “We have to double the productivity per acre of our major crops if we’re going to stay on par with the world’s needs,” says Tanksley, a professor emeritus at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. To speed up the process, Tanksley and others are turning to artificial intelligence (AI). Using computer science techniques, breeders can rapidly assess which plants grow the fastest in a particular climate, which genes help plants thrive there, and which plants, when crossed, produce an optimum combination of genes for a given location, opting for traits that boost yield and stave off the effects of a changing climate. Large seed companies in particular have been using components of AI for more than a decade. With computing power rapidly advancing, the techniques are now poised to accelerate breeding on a broader scale. AI is not, however, a panacea. Crop breeders still grapple with tradeoffs such as higher yield versus marketable appearance. And even the most sophisticated AI …

News Feature: What happens when lab animals go wild.

Abstract: Experiments on mice living in more natural habitats can deliver results dramatically different from those in traditional laboratories—with profound implications for biomedical science. In the summer of 2015, a pioneering band of laboratory mice did something their ancestors hadn’t done for roughly 1,000 generations—they went outside. Andrea Graham of Princeton University moved lab mice outdoors to test their susceptibility to nematodes in a more natural setting. Image courtesy of David Tricker (photographer). It was hardly a trek into the wilderness. The 90 mice were fenced into pens, with feeding stations providing all the mouse chow they could eat and aluminum pie plates dangling over their heads to deter passing hawks. Still, it was a world away from their former home in the laboratory of Andrea Graham, an ecological and evolutionary immunologist at Princeton University. These mice could now roam around an area of roughly 180 square meters, feeling the dirt under their feet and rain on their backs. Graham’s project aimed to show how a mouse’s natural environment affects its susceptibility to parasitic worms called nematodes, which live in the animal’s digestive tract. As with so many other conditions, from cancer and diabetes to Alzheimer’s disease and stroke, scientists study nematode infestations in mice to develop treatments for humans. Most of these studies take place in laboratory settings where researchers can control myriad complicating variables such as temperature, diet, and social interactions. But researchers such as Graham are questioning whether this tactic is always the best approach. If the natural environment of a mouse—or a human—is itself a major factor affecting a disease or its treatment, studying it under strict lab conditions could skew the results. As pressure mounts for scientists to make mouse findings translatable to humans, a small but growing number of researchers are designing studies that use …

Environmental enrichment, new neurons and the neurobiology of individuality.

Abstract: 'Enriched environments' are a key experimental paradigm to decipher how interactions between genes and environment change the structure and function of the brain across the lifespan of an animal. The regulation of adult hippocampal neurogenesis by environmental enrichment is a prime example of this complex interaction. As each animal in an enriched environment will have a slightly different set of experiences that results in downstream differences between individuals, enrichment can be considered not only as an external source of rich stimuli but also to provide the room for individual behaviour that shapes individual patterns of brain plasticity and thus function.

Phytoremediation of Heavy Metal-Contaminated Sites: Eco-environmental Concerns, Field Studies, Sustainability Issues, and Future Prospects.

Abstract: Environmental contamination due to heavy metals (HMs) is of serious ecotoxicological concern worldwide because of their increasing use at industries. Due to non-biodegradable and persistent nature, HMs cause serious soil/water pollution and severe health hazards in living beings upon exposure. HMs can be genotoxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic, and teratogenic in nature even at low concentration. They may also act as endocrine disruptors and induce developmental as well as neurological disorders, and thus, their removal from our natural environment is crucial for the rehabilitation of contaminated sites. To cope with HM pollution, phytoremediation has emerged as a low-cost and eco-sustainable solution to conventional physicochemical cleanup methods that require high capital investment and labor alter soil properties and disturb soil microflora. Phytoremediation is a green technology wherein plants and associated microbes are used to remediate HM-contaminated sites to safeguard the environment and protect public health. Hence, in view of the above, the present paper aims to examine the feasibility of phytoremediation as a sustainable remediation technology for the management of metal-contaminated sites. Therefore, this paper provides an in-depth review on both the conventional and novel phytoremediation approaches; evaluates their efficacy to remove toxic metals from our natural environment; explores current scientific progresses, field experiences, and sustainability issues; and revises world over trends in phytoremediation research for its wider recognition and public acceptance as a sustainable remediation technology for the management of contaminated sites in the twenty-first century.

Polysaccharide Based Scaffolds for Soft Tissue Engineering Applications.

Abstract: Soft tissue reconstructs require materials that form three-dimensional (3-D) structures supportive to cell proliferation and regenerative processes. Polysaccharides, due to their hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, abundance, and presence of derivatizable functional groups, are distinctive scaffold materials. Superior mechanical properties, physiological signaling, and tunable tissue response have been achieved through chemical modification of polysaccharides. Moreover, an appropriate formulation strategy enables spatial placement of the scaffold to a targeted site. With the advent of newer technologies, these preparations can be tailor-made for responding to alterations in temperature, pH, or other physiological stimuli. In this review, we discuss the developmental and biological aspects of scaffolds prepared from four polysaccharides, viz. alginic acid (ALG), chitosan (CHI), hyaluronic acid (HA), and dextran (DEX). Clinical studies on these scaffolds are also discussed.

Biological Utility of Fluorinated Compounds: from Materials Design to Molecular Imaging, Therapeutics and Environmental Remediation

Abstract: The applications of fluorinated molecules in bioengineering and nanotechnology are expanding rapidly with the controlled introduction of fluorine being broadly studied due to the unique properties of C-F bonds. This review will focus on the design and utility of C-F containing materials in imaging, therapeutics, and environmental applications with a central theme being the importance of controlling fluorine-fluorine interactions and understanding how such interactions impact biological behavior. Low natural abundance of fluorine is shown to provide sensitivity and background advantages for imaging and detection of a variety of diseases with 19F magnetic resonance imaging, 18F positron emission tomography and ultrasound discussed as illustrative examples. The presence of C-F bonds can also be used to tailor membrane permeability and pharmacokinetic properties of drugs and delivery agents for enhanced cell uptake and therapeutics. A key message of this review is that while the promise of C-F containing materials is significant, a subset of highly fluorinated compounds such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have been identified as posing a potential risk to human health. The unique properties of the C-F bond and the significant potential for fluorine-fluorine interactions in PFAS structures necessitate the development of new strategies for facile and efficient environmental removal and remediation. Recent progress in the development of fluorine-containing compounds as molecular imaging and therapeutic agents will be reviewed and their design features contrasted with environmental and health risks for PFAS systems. Finally, present challenges and future directions in the exploitation of the biological aspects of fluorinated systems will be described.