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Rogue antibodies might drive severe COVID
Evidence is growing that self-attacking ‘autoantibodies’ could be the key to understanding some of the worst cases of COVID-19. One theory is that some people might be predisposed to producing autoantibodies, which then wreak havoc during an infection. Or infections might trigger the production of autoantibodies. In contrast to cytokine storms, which tend to cause systemic, short-duration problems, autoantibodies are thought to result in targeted, longer-term damage.
Secrets of the largest animal genome ever
The Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri) has the largest animal genome ever sequenced. The fish has a whopping 43 billion base pairs, around 14 times longer than the human genome — although most of its genome is made up of non-coding and repeating regions. A genomic analysis confirms that the surface-breathing fish are the closest living relatives of land vertebrates that last shared a common ancestor around 420 million years ago. The lungfish, which has genes for lungs, articulated limbs, and detecting airborne smells, “is genomically halfway between a fish and a land-based vertebrate”, says co-author Siegfried Schloissnig.
Features & opinion
The top physics predictions of all time
Theory and experiment often advance hand in hand. But sometimes a theorist makes a stark prediction that shakes our understanding of nature. From James Clerk Maxwell’s electromagnetic-wave-based calculation of the speed of light in air, to Maria Goeppert Mayer’ s anticipation of an entire new row of the periodic table, Physics World picks its ten greatest predictions in physics.
The Pope’s poison trials on humans
In Europe in the sixteenth century, poison was applied to people — usually prisoners — in clinical trials to test antidotes, according to documents presented in The Poison Trials, a new book by historian Alisha Rankin. In one such trial, Pope Clement VII ordered two prisoners to be fed deadly aconite. The one anointed with a medicinal oil survived; the other suffered a slow, agonizing death. Clement concluded that it worked. Aside from these hair-raising episodes, the book argues that this was a new start for controlled trials, which had emerged in ancient Greece but then faded. Descriptions of the trials often appealed to their social benefit and stated that the participants had consented, presaging the bioethical requirements of modern trials.
How science can put the SDGs back on track
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations’ flagship plan to end poverty and protect the environment. Researchers need to launch a rapid response to help end the current crisis and get onto a pathway to greater well-being and, eventually, prosperity and environmental sustainability, argues a Nature editorial. “The UN’s science advisers have been given a bigger responsibility than many are ever likely to face,” says the editorial. “Everyone must be ready to work with them and help them succeed.”
