Editorial 1: Testing breakthrough challenges ‘world’s worst wildlife disease’
Context
- For the past 40 years, a devastating fungal disease has been ravaging frog populations around the world, wiping out 90 species. A a multinational study has now developed a method to detect all known strains of this disease, caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus.
The Panzootic
- Unlike the global COVID-19 pandemic, you may not even be aware of this “panzootic” – a pandemic in the animal world. Yet it’s the world’s worst wildlife disease.
- A panzootic is an epizootic (an outbreak of an infectious disease of animals) that spreads across a large region (for example a continent), or even worldwide. The equivalent in human populations is called a pandemic.
- A panzootic can start when three conditions have been met:
- the emergence of a disease new to the population.
- the agent infects a species and causes serious illness.
- the agent spreads easily and sustainably among animals.
An extreme mortality rate
- Chytridiomycosis, or “chytrid” for short, has driven severe declines in over 500 frog species and caused 90 extinctions, including seven in Australia.
- The extreme rate of mortality, and the high number of species affected, makes chytrid unequivocallythe deadliest animal disease known to date.
- Chytrid infects frogs by reproducing in their skin. The single-celled fungus enters a skin cell, multiplies, then breaks back out onto the surface of the animal.
- This damage to the skin affects the frog’s ability to balance water and salt levels, and eventually leads to death if infection levels are high enough.
- It’s believed that global travel and trade in amphibians led to the disease being unwittingly spread to other continents like Asia.
Natural immunity
- The most puzzling thing about chytrid is that some amphibian species – even those that have not evolved with the pathogen – don’t become sick when they carry the fungus. These species have some form of natural immune resistance.
- However, frog immunity is extremely complex. Immunity might come from anti-microbial chemicals within the skin, symbiotic bacteria on the skin, white blood cells and antibodies in the blood, or combinations of these mechanisms.
- So far, no clear trend has been found between resistance and immune function. To make matters more complicated, there is also evidence chytrid can suppress a host’s immune response.
- Because there haven’t been any observed chytrid declines in Asia, and because detecting chytrid in Asia has been difficult, Asia is lagging behind the rest of the world in chytrid research. Yet the new qPCR test detected high levels of chytrid in a range of amphibian species across India.
- While the new qPCR test was successful at detecting chytrid in samples from India, Australia, and Panama, we will need to validate and promote the method so it becomes the new gold standard for chytrid testing.
Conclusion
- Understanding patterns and mechanisms of amphibian responses to chytrids is critical for conservation and management. Robust estimates of population numbers are needed to identify species at risk, prioritize taxa for conservation actions, design management strategies for managing populations and species, and to develop effective measures to reduce impacts of chytrids on amphibians.
Editorial 2: Using Buddhism as a tool of soft power
Introduction
- India’s cultural and historical ties with Buddhism can help strengthen its soft power diplomacy with neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bhutan, China etc and other Southeast Asian countries .
Soft power diplomacy
- Soft power is the ability to obtain preferred outcomes by attraction rather than coercion or payment. Soft power diplomacy refers to the use of cultural, social, and economic means to influence the attitudes and behaviours of other countries, rather than relying solely on military or economic coercion.
- The concept of soft power was coined by Joseph Nye in the 1990s.
- Examples of soft power diplomacy include cultural exchanges, educational programs, humanitarian aid, and public diplomacy campaigns.
India’s Buddhism
- For India, Buddhism provided an identity of peace and tranquillity during the formation of the Republic, which was a time of intense violence and division between the country’s two key religions, Hinduism and Islam.
- The usage of Buddhist symbolism has been a means of escaping difficult times, whether it be the Ashoka Pillar or the wheel in the flag. In addition, the inscriptions on the edifice erected by King Ashoka provided evidence of the life and teachings of the Buddha.
- Due to such usage and evidence, India likes to claim Buddhism as its own. It convened the Global Buddhist Summit in April primarily to provoke China by promoting Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama.
- The summit was hosted by the International Buddhist Confederation, a Buddhist organisation based in India.
- The India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage is coming up in Lumbini, Nepal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in May 2022. A year later, little progress has been made on the construction of this centre.
- India’s claim over Buddhism by excluding discussions with the pallbearers of tradition and the larger Buddhist community will only serve the purpose of irritating China.
India’s soft power diplomacy through Buddhism
- Revival & international value: Buddhism’s potential utility in foreign policy is derived to a large extent from the manner in which the faith was revived in the aftermath of the Second World War.
- Pan-Asian presence: Today, 97 percent of the world’s Buddhist population lives in the Asian continent. The Buddhist faith, due to its emphasis on peaceful co-existence and its wide pan-Asian presence, lends itself well to soft-power diplomacy.
- Diplomacy: In speeches made on official international visits such as to Sri Lanka and China, among others, India’s Prime Minister has made a conscious effort to emphasise shared Buddhist heritage.
- Tourism: India is currently home to seven of the eight most significant Buddhist sites in the world. the Ministry of Tourism is promoting a number of tourist circuits that transgress national borders.
- The holy places of Buddhism, where Lord Buddha was born and He taught, preached, and attained ‘Enlightenment’ and ‘Nirvana’, are termed as Buddhist Circuit.
- Organization of international conferences: International conferences have been organised and councils convened that facilitated interaction between members across sectarian and national boundaries.
Conclusion:
- As Buddha was the first diplomat of peace, his teachings of peace and cooperation can become the guiding light of Indian diplomacy on the world stage. By promoting Buddhism, India can reinforce its image as a responsible global power committed to peaceful cooperation and regional stability while also strengthening ties with the global Buddhist community.