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A mutant form of huntingtin protein, which causes Huntington’s disease, accumulates in nerve cells.Credit: Frederic Sadou, ISM/Science Photo Library

‘Devastated’ by Huntington’s drug failure

Two pharmaceutical companies have halted clinical trials of gene-targeting therapies for Huntington’s disease (HD), following the drugs’ disappointing performance. Researchers had hoped that the treatments — known as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) — would be a game changer for HD, an incurable genetic condition that affects cognition, behaviour and movement. But back-to-back announcements from Roche and Wave Life Sciences have dealt a crushing blow to those affected by the disease. “It’s the saddest possible result,” says neurologist Claudia Testa.

Nature | 6 min read

Nuclear reactions smoulder in Chernobyl

Rising levels of neutrons from an inaccessible room at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant indicate that fission reactions are smouldering again at the site of the 1986 disaster. “It’s like the embers in a barbecue pit,” says nuclear-materials chemist Neil Hyatt. Entombed under concrete, the room contains some of the congealed lava that includes much of the reactor's uranium fuel. The mechanism driving the reaction, how it might develop and how to suppress it are all open questions.

Science | 6 min read

COVID-19 coronavirus update

What level of COVID risk will we accept?

As more people get vaccinated, scientists and health officials are pondering how societies can live with the virus and the level of risk that they are willing to take on. In some countries, such as Australia and New Zealand, the response to potential threats is swift and severe — but this cannot be sustained indefinitely. “We have to accept that people will get infected, will go to hospital and will die from COVID-19 in the future,” says infectious-diseases epidemiologist James McCaw, who advises the Australian government.

Nature | 6 min read

US backs waiving patents on vaccines

In a shock move, the US government has announced its support for waiving patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines. The measure is aimed at boosting supplies so that people around the world can get the shots. “This marks a major shift in US policy in a pro-public health way,” says global-health researcher Matthew Kavanagh. But a waiver on patents would be just the first step in ramping up vaccine supply. “It’s a 1-2-3,” explains Rachel Cohen, the US director for the non-profit organization Drugs and Neglected Diseases initiative. “First we need to remove patent obstacles, second we need to transfer the knowledge on how to make them, and step three is a massive investment in manufacturing capacity.”

Nature | 4 min read

The downside of genome data sharing

Some researchers are pushing back on calls to share SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences on fully open databases. Critics say that getting rid of all restrictions on data sharing deprives contributors of credit and undermines their efforts — particularly for those in resource-limited countries. Fears of inequitable data use are amplified by the fact that only 0.3% of COVID-19 vaccines have gone to low-income countries. “Imagine Africans working so hard to contribute to a database that’s used to make or update vaccines, and then we don’t get access to the vaccines,” says Christian Happi, a microbiologist in Nigeria. “It’s very demoralizing.”

Nature | 6 min read

Read more: Scientists call for fully open sharing of coronavirus genome data (Nature | 6 min read)

Notable quotable

“For months, individual epidemiologists, virologists, immunologists and public-health experts had been warning that the fight against the pandemic was not over, that better data were needed and precautionary measures were warranted. They went unheard.”

Warnings from scientists in India were ignored because arguments did not fit the government’s narrative that the pandemic was under control, argues science journalist T. V. Padma. (Nature | 5 min read)

Features & opinion

Source: Schlegel, R. W. Marine Heatwave Tracker (2020)

How to predict deadly ocean heatwaves

Devastating marine heatwaves are ravaging ecosystems, bleaching coral and putting key fisheries at risk. A grim example was dubbed The Blob: an expanse of warm, low-nutrient water in the northwest Pacific that lasted for three years and decimated plankton, fish and seabird populations. Researchers are pushing the science of ocean forecasting forward, and are looking to develop tools that will help fisheries managers and policymakers respond to these painful symptoms of a warming world.

Nature | 10 min read

Source: Ref. 7

Wisps of hope for long-sought HIV vaccine

Four decades after the start of the AIDS epidemic, results from a small clinical trial hint at some progress towards a vaccine that protects against HIV. Researchers announced at an AIDS conference in February that 35 of the 36 people who received the new HIV vaccine produced antibodies that might help their immune systems to fend off infection. But the findings haven’t yet been peer-reviewed, and experts caution that a vaccine is still a long way off. HIV has proved an elusive foe for immunization because of its rapid rate of mutation — but a lack of funding is also a major issue. “If society really valued an HIV vaccine, we would have done several efficacy trials in parallel, as was done with COVID,” says virologist José Esparza. “Expensive, yes. But the cost of the HIV epidemic has been enormous.”

National Geographic | 11 min read

Image of the week

A facial reconstruction of John Gregory, the first sailor from John Franklin’s doomed expedition to find the Northwest Passage to be identified by genealogical sleuthing. Researchers matched DNA from Gregory’s remains, found in what is now the Nunavut territory of Canada, with a living descendent who lives in South Africa. (The New York Times | 5 min read)Diana Trepkov/University of Waterloo

Quote of the day

“Naming species in honour of people is a centuries-old tradition among taxonomists. To honour someone means to respect their self-identity, and gender is part of that.”

Entomologist Phillip Hoenle explains the name of the newly described ant species Strumigenys ayersthey, which uses the suffix 'they' instead of the Latin -i for male or -ae for female. The ant was named by Hoenle, ecologist Douglas Booher and R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe in honour of the artist and activist Jeremy Ayers. (Yale News blog | 5 min read)

Reference: ZooKeys preprint

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