News & Comment

Increasing awareness and better technology bodes for a more positive future for scientists who are deaf or hard of hearing, explains John Dennehy.

Being a postdoctoral researcher opens many doors, but it can also bring feelings of loneliness and uncertainty, which are exacerbated during a pandemic. Making career choices that support and strengthen mental health should be normalized, writes Ann Gregory.

Crewed missions to other planets are currently being planned, and fully automated, robotic missions are likely to return samples from other planets to Earth, so it will be important to carefully evaluate and minimize any associated microbiological risks.

Focused research efforts provide important advances in science, but huge global problems will only be solved through interdisciplinary collaborations, argues David Ng.

Here the implications of gender inequity in the face of infectious disease outbreaks such as Ebola and SARS-CoV-2 in Africa are discussed, with a proposal as to how we can address the unequal burden of outbreaks on women.

Elizabeth Anne Bukusi is a research professor in obstetrics and gynaecology and global health at the University of Washington and a senior principal clinical research scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI). Her research focuses on sexually transmitted infections, reproductive health and HIV prevention, care and treatment.

Despite evidence of sex-specific pathogenesis, few studies of infectious diseases report or analyse sex or gender, unless it is the primary focus. Using HIV as an example, it is argued here that this leaves potentially informative data unexplored and that integrating sex and gender in analyses may accelerate research in microbial pathogenesis.

Many women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) need to make decisions about marital name change, and have to consider how this might affect their publication record and future career. Mentorship that considers race, ethnicity, culture, religion and parenting, as well as a centralized system to dynamically and retroactively streamline name change, will promote agency and choice for women navigating STEM careers, writes Bala Chaudhary.

Francine Ntoumi is a Congolese parasitologist, founder, chair and executive director of the Congolese Foundation for Medical Research, Republic of Congo, and research group leader at the University of Tübingen, Germany. She established the first research centre on infectious diseases in the Republic of Congo.

We present a specially commissioned set of articles to mark UN International Women’s Day that highlight gender inequalities that impact women in academia, clinical research and healthcare, and celebrate the achievements of female microbiologists.

The sciences will never be a truly equitable workplace as long as patriarchy, racism and oppressive social norms persist, writes Kelly Ramirez.

Esperanza Martínez-Romero is a professor of ecological genomics and was coordinator of the undergraduate programme on genomics at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her work on plant symbioses, and outreach with local farmers has encouraged uptake of sustainable practices and the use of biofertilizers.

Margaret McFall-Ngai is the inaugural director of a new division in biosphere sciences at the Carnegie Institution for Science. She has explored the impact of evolving in a microbial world on the biology of animals and plants through a set of adventures that began with a lecture by Carl Woese early in her graduate career.

Understanding the interplay between the microbiome and menopause holds promise for new interventions to alleviate menopausal symptoms and improve quality of life for women.

Space exploration carries with it risks of biological contamination. Here, the planetary protection efforts currently in place to control microbial contamination during space exploration are discussed, including plans related to sample and crew returns to Earth from other Solar System destinations such as Mars.

One of the most powerful yet little-recognized benefits of visualization is the way it synthesizes our knowledge and externalizes our mental models of the science.