Legal Support of Environmental Safety with Targeted and Non-Targeted Changes in the Genome of Living Organisms

Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Special Issue on Environment, Management and Economy, Pages: 935-938

J. Environ. Treat. Tech.

ISSN: 2309-1185

Journal web link: http://www.jett.dormaj.com

Legal Support of Environmental Safety with

Targeted and Non-Targeted Changes in the

Genome of Living Organisms

Elena V. Luneva

Faculty of law, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya str, 18, 420008, Kazan, Russia

Received: 05/08/2019

Accepted: 20/11/2019

Published: 20/12/2019

Abstract

the paper explores social relations for targeted and non-targeted changes in the genome of living organisms based on the

analysis of the work of Russian and foreign geneticists, biochemists, biotechnologists, bioecologists, molecular biologists and

microbiologists. Ecological risks from targeted (genetic research, biotechnology, genetic engineering, experimental mutagenesis,

genomic selection, etc.) and non-targeted (under the influence of the consequences of the negative impact on the environment)

genome changes that are subject to an account upon environmental regulation of corresponding public relations are identified. It

is advisable to provide in the legal support of genomic research the incentives (tax incentives, credit incentives, public-private

partnerships, etc.) of targeted change in the genome, which allows solving social, economic, food and environmental problems.

To prevent environmental risks, it is worthwhile to provide a system of legal prohibitions and restrictions when conducting any

genomic research, as well as legal measures, means and methods aimed at protecting the natural environment, ensuring human

environmental safety and rational nature management. The expediency of organizing an ecological genetic monitoring and

cytogenetic monitoring service to determine the mutagenic potential of the environment has been proved. The analysis of genetic

data is recommended to be used when making managerial decisions in the area under consideration.

Keywords: Environmental and legal regulation, Genomic research, Environmental safety, Targeted change in the genome, Non-

targeted change in the genome

the period until 2030, approved by the Government of the

Introduction

Russian Federation, indicates that the prospects for the

development of biotechnologies determine such challenges

as preventing biodiversity loss; climate change and scarcity

of agricultural land; urbanization and increasing pressure

on the environment; distribution of genetically modified

foods.

In the Strategy for Scientific and Technological

Development of the Russian Federation approved by

Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 642

dated December 1, 2016, the following are among the

biggest challenges for society, the state and science:

An increase in anthropogenic pressures on the

The above Forecast also draws attention to the

dependence of the intensive development of genomic,

proteomic and postgenomic technologies on the need to

ensure food security; preservation of resource potential;

countering the spread of various types of diseases of

humans and animals; obtaining biomaterials from

renewable raw materials to replace traditional industries

and the emergence of new products with unique properties;

restoration of rare and endangered species of flora and

fauna; conservation of biological resources of the oceans

and many other circumstances. Recently, research has been

actively conducted in the field of high-performance genome

analysis methods, bioinformatics methods for processing

genomic analysis data, regulating genome expression,

genomic biomarkers, etc.

environment to a scale that threatens the reproduction of

natural resources, and the associated increase in risks to the

life and health of citizens associated with their inefficient

use;

The need to ensure food security and food

independence of Russia, the competitiveness of domestic

products on world food markets, reduction of technological

risks in the agricultural sector.

Genomic research is capable of partially solving the

identified major problems of social, economic, food, and

environmental nature. The forecast of scientific and

technological development of the Russian Federation for

Corresponding author: Elena V. Luneva, Kazan Federal

University, Kremlevskaya str, 18, 420008, Kazan, Russian

Federation. E-mail: vilisa_vilisa@mail.ru. Tel.: 8 (843)

The purpose of this work: to identify the features of the

legal support of environmental safety with a targeted and

233-72-13.

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Special Issue on Environment, Management and Economy, Pages: 935-938

non-targeted change in the genome of living organisms.

organism

(biotechnology,

genetic

engineering,

experimental mutagenesis, genomic selection, etc.) can

affect natural patterns, processes, and phenomena,

especially when it comes to environmental genomics

Materials and Methods

(

population ecogenomics, community genomics, landscape

The identification of the peculiarity’s characteristic to

genomics, etc.). Manipulations with the genomes of viruses

and phages can pose an even greater danger to biota. These

circumstances should be the basis for the environmental

and legal regulation of genomic research.

It is necessary to take into account the constant rapid

development of molecular biology. New interconnected

disciplines appear, including genomics, proteomics,

transcriptomics, etc. New relations are emerging that

require independent legal interpretation, especially from the

standpoint of natural resource, agricultural and

the legal provision of environmental safety with targeted

and non-targeted changes in the genome of living

organisms was based on an analysis of Russian political

and legal documents and the works of various geneticists,

biochemists, biotechnologists, bioecologists, molecular

biologists and microbiologists (M. Asad, J.C. Avise, K.

Dearfield, H.M. Kim, P. Nymark, N.J. Ouborg, C.S.

Riesenfeld, J. Robinson, Stepanauskas R., et al.). Our

studies devoted to the developments of scientists of natural

sciences in genomic research made it possible for us to

formulate proposals for the legal support of the

corresponding block of public relations.

environmental legislation as

environmental and food security.

a legal framework for

Thus, a rather large block of diverse relations arises,

covering the field of genomic research, which require their

legalisation. At the same time, it should be thought out and

taken into account that there are many environmental risks

in addition to the significant advantages of biotechnologies

for various segments of the economy, human social

security, and environmental safety.

The development of a legal concept for the impact on

participants in relations in the field of genomic research

should be based on a legal assessment of the occurrence of

adverse environmental consequences. Legal measures,

means and methods of biological and physical protection

during genomic research need a separate study, as well as

the ability of the latter to serve for an assessment of the

genetic consequences of environmental pollution.

The methodological basis of the study was the

dialectical method which made it possible to learn in

indissoluble unity and in

a general connection the

peculiarities of the legal provision of environmental safety

with a targeted and non-targeted change in the genome of

living organisms. The achievement of the goal set in the

introduction was also promoted by logical methods in the

form of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction,

comparison and generalization, analogy and typology. The

formal legal technique helped to clarify the significance of

the proposed new laws aimed at ensuring environmental

safety in conducting relevant genomic research.

Results

We believe that the legal provision of environmental

safety in carrying out genomic research should be based on

the separation of relations concerning genomic research

depending on targeted and non-targeted changes in the

genome. The specified classification basis takes into

account the specifics of the object and the subject of

environmental legal relations in the field of genomic

research.

Discussion

The most neighbouring area of genomics and ecology is

environmental genomics, which includes a whole range of

environmental genetic disciplines: landscape genomics,

population ecogenomics, community genomics, nature

protection

genomics,

toxicogenomics,

ecological

epigenomics, symbiogenetics, speciation ecogenomics, etc.

Beyond the environmental genomics there are only applied

disciplines exploring the ecological aspects of biomedical

and agricultural genomics, with the area of intersection

with the considered relations.

Ecological genomics is aimed at studying the structure

and functioning of the genome in order to gain an

understanding of the relationship between the body and its

biotic and abiotic environment (6). Landscape genomics

studies the effect of landscape variables on genomic and

genic flows and other microevolutionary processes that

determine the genetic coherence and variability of

populations (7, 8, 28). The focus of population

ecogenomics is the gene pool of populations and its change

both in space and in time (9). Community genomics is

focused on genomics and genetics of species interactions

and their environmental and evolutionary consequences

Non-targeted genome change does not depend directly

on the will of people but occurs under the influence of the

consequences of

a negative impact on the natural

environment. So, it has been proved by applied scientists

that environmental pollution poses a threat to the stability

of the biota genome and the human genome. This

circumstance necessitates studying the mechanisms of

mutagenicity of various pollutants and conducting

population-genetic studies to assess their real risk to the

population and ecological systems (1, 2) with subsequent

legal “registration” of the relevant relations.

Of no less importance are the genotoxic contaminant

bioindication capacities and the study of the effects from

contaminants at the genomic level. For example,

cytogenetic disorders (the frequency of hypo- and

hyperdiploid cells and chromosomal aberrations) can be

used as a bioindicator of environmental pollution (3-5).

Subsequently, such bioindication can be recognized as a

legal criterion for the “favourableness” of the natural

environment or ecological safety of humans.

(

10). Nature protection genomics studies small isolated

populations that are threatened by a decrease in genetic

diversity resulting from genetic drift and inbreeding (11,

12, 26, 27). The given scientific directions of ecogenomics

A purposeful change in the genome of a living

partially demonstrate a wide range of relations on genomic

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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques

2019, Special Issue on Environment, Management and Economy, Pages: 935-938

research in the field of environmental protection, ensuring

human environmental safety and rational nature

management.

E.Ya. Tetushkin developed approaches and software

tools for the joint analysis of genomic and landscape

variables, allowing those genomic regions to detect that

affect adaptation, which facilitates the planning of

environmental measures and the prediction of the fate of

biological species with the predicted changes in the

especially as a result of varying the dose volume of

mutagens.

Metagenomics is recognised as one of the areas of

ecological genomics. It involves DNA analysis of the

studied microbial community (19,21,22). The advantage of

metagenomics is its universal applicability to the analysis

of any community from which the necessary amount of

DNA can be isolated. The method of genome sequencing of

a single cell genome, which allows analysing the genome

of an individual strain of a microorganism, is recognized as

a certain “antipode” to metagenomics methods (20,23,24).

Therefore, the legal regulation of metagenomic research

should be based on the sustainability of communities of

living organisms.

environment. For

joint analysis of genomic,

environmental, and landscape variables as such, a special

network platform was created as part of the GEOME

project, the purpose of which is to facilitate research in the

field of landscape genomics (8). These circumstances serve

as evidence of the need for analysis of genomic data to

make managerial decisions in the field of nature

conservation, ensuring human environmental safety and

rational nature management.

Summary

Legal support of environmental safety during genomic

research should be carried out along the delineation of

social relations associated with targeted and non-targeted

changes in the genome of living organisms. The

distinguished public relations are characterized by a

significant specificity, which should be taken into account

when developing environmental and legal regulation.

In the legal support of genomic research, it is advisable

to provide legal incentives (tax incentives, credit incentives,

public-private partnerships, etc.) of all the positive and

useful characteristics of the relevant relationships identified

above. For environmental risks already identified, as well

as those discovered later, it is worthwhile to provide for a

system of legal prohibitions and restrictions, as well as

legal measures, means and methods aimed at protecting the

natural environment, maintaining human environmental

safety and rational nature management. In addition, the

analysis of genetic data must be used when making

managerial decisions in this area.

Scientists from the Republic of Kazakhstan studied the

patterns of accumulation and migration of oil products and

heavy metals in the environment and in the body of test

objects, as well as the induction of mutagenic changes at

the subcellular level (chromosomal abnormalities), and

their effect on the stability of the genome of natural

populations (13,29,30). The results of this study are

theoretically significant for the mechanisms of formation of

chromosomal mutations induced by environmental factors

(

as the basis for preserving the gene pools of natural

populations for the sustainable development of

ecosystems), and practically for the legal organization of

the natural environment genetic monitoring and cytogenetic

monitoring service to determine environmental mutagenic

potential.

Environmental

geneticists

associate

genomic

manipulation with the ecological plasticity of crops. Thus, a

study of the molecular structure of genes that control the

synthesis of storage proteins and their organization on the

chromosomes, as well as the structure of the common

wheat genome have revealed the molecular mechanisms of

the genome's variability and its reorganization in response

to a sharp change in living conditions and cultivation

technologies (14,31). Therefore, the change in the state of

the natural genomes of various types of agricultural plants

after the introduction of foreign genes is aimed at

improving the quality and quantity of the resulting crops.

However, legal regulation should take into account that

changes in the genomes of agricultural species in order to

increase biodiversity can adversely affect the development

of plant and animal communities.

Conclusion

The development of genomic, proteomic and

postgenomic technologies is necessary to solve social,

economic, food and environmental problems. At the same

time, it is important by legal means to ensure the optimal

balance between the positive effect of genomic

achievements and the possible negative impact of genetic

modifications on humans and the natural environment.

Conflict Of Interest

The author confirms that the data presented do not

contain a conflict of interest.

In the field of experimental mutagenesis, a number of

foreign scientists have proved that small doses of mutagen

concentrations are more effective and efficient in causing

polygenic variability (15-17). The effect of small doses of

mutagens is also one of the components involved in the

problem of the mutagenic hazard of environmental

pollution since the effects of the exposure to micro amounts

of chemical compounds on the microbial population, higher

plants, animals, and humans remain unknown (18,25).

Therefore, the right regulation of experimental mutagenesis

should be based on a balance of socially beneficial effect

and possible adverse environmental consequences,

Acknowledgements

The work is performed according to the Russian

Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan

Federal University

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