Hello Nature readers,
Today we learn that the authors of a controversial gene-editing paper have been cleared of deception, discover India’s surprise plan to send people to space by 2022, and hear why the key to a happy lab life is in the manual.
Argonautes are a group of proteins that includes NgAgo.Credits: Laguna Design/SPL
University clears authors of deception
A Chinese university has concluded that the authors of a controversial gene-editing paper, which was eventually retracted, did not intend to deceive the scientific community. But the investigation did find that the experiments were flawed. The original paper detailed how an enzyme called NgAgo could edit genomes with an accuracy similar to the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing system. After other scientists failed to reproduce the results, the authors agreed to retract the paper last year.
Nature | 2 min read
Reference: Nature Biotechnology paper
India’s surprise plan to send people to space by 2022
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set his country an ambitious goal to send people to space by 2022. The mission’s short timeline surprised many, including the head of the country’s space agency. The agency is now working on a plan to send three astronauts to space for between five and seven days. The government says that the entire programme will cost about 100 billion rupees (US$1.4 billion). Critics say the mission will detract from more-useful space programmes.
Nature | 3 min read
Maths confirms three bird species are extinct
Zoologists using statistical methods to analyse bird sightings have recommended that nine species be reclassified on the IUCN Red List, with three of those now qualifying as extinct. Researchers at BirdLife International found that the cryptic treehunter (Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti), Alagoas foliage-gleaner (Philydor novaesi) and poo-uli (Melamprosops phaeosoma) will not be seen again. They also found one species that was probably not extinct after all (although still extremely endangered): the Moorea reed warbler (Acrocephalus longirostris). “Historically 90% of bird extinctions have been small populations on remote islands,” says zoologist Stuart Butchart. “Our evidence shows there is a growing wave of extinctions washing over the continent driven by habitat loss from unsustainable agriculture, drainage and logging.”
The Guardian | 6 min read
Reference: Biological Conservation paper
FEATURES & OPINION
The space-junk collectors
Humanity is launching an unprecedented number of new satellites, which join roughly 20,000 human-made objects already in Earth orbit. It would take only a few uncontrolled space crashes to generate enough debris to set off a runaway cascade of fragments, rendering near-Earth space unusable. Scientists are using innovative methods to track and destroy the most dangerous space junk.
Nature | 12 min read
Open access — the movie
A new film makes a convincing case that scientists should ditch journal subscriptions and go all in on open-access publishing, reports blogger Richard Poynder in his review. But he says that Paywall fails to tackle the downsides of open access, such as article-processing charges that many can’t afford, especially in the global south.
Nature | 6 min read
The key to a happy lab? Read the manual
When she was preparing to launch her own lab, psychologist Mariam Aly wrote a lab manual to introduce her trainees to her philosophy for research and work–life balance, plus a wiki to go with it. She shares how she did it — and how she gets people to actually read it.
Nature | 6 min read
One day inside a metabolic chamber
Science journalist Julia Belluz spent 23 hours eating, sleeping and exercising in a sealed room, with her every movement and mouthful being recorded. The result was a detailed map of how her body turns food into fuel: her metabolism. Belluz explores the mysteries of metabolism and its relationship to weight — and how metabolism myths are exploited by the diet industry.
Vox | 18 min read
