Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here.
Old rhesus monkeys perform better in memory tests after being given an injection of klotho. Credit: Arno Burgi/AFP via Getty
Anti-ageing protein boosts monkey memory
Injecting ageing monkeys with a ‘longevity factor’ protein called klotho can improve their cognitive function — hinting at possible treatments for neurodegenerative diseases in people. Klotho is a naturally occurring protein whose level in our bodies declines as we age. Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) aged about 22 years — around 65 years in human terms — became better at remembering where food was hidden after receiving klotho. Before the injections, they identified the correct location around 45% of the time, compared with around 60% of the time after injection. The effect lasted for up to two weeks. It is still not clear how injecting klotho has this effect or why it lasts this long.
Reference: Nature Aging paper
Early Universe seems to run at 20% speed
Researchers have spotted the earliest instance of cosmological time dilation, which makes time seem to run at one-fifth of today’s speed in the early Universe — a phenomenon explained by the general theory of relativity. Observing a quasar hailing from a time when the Universe was just one-tenth of its current age is “like watching a movie with the speed turned down”, says astrophysicist and study leader Geraint Lewis. Quasars are supermassive black holes surrounded by an extremely bright disc of hot gas and are among the oldest objects in the Universe. Previous observation of time dilation made using distant supernovae went back to only around half the age of the Universe, when time seemed to run at 60% of today’s speed.
Reference: Nature Astronomy paper
How snakes lost their legs
Snakes are missing DNA from three parts of a gene that helps to control limb development, which is probably the cause of their leglessness. Mice with an equivalent mutation have much shorter toe bones, according to researchers who sequenced the genomes of 14 snake species and analysed another 11 that had previously been sequenced. Snakes are also missing two genes that usually guide an embryo’s symmetrical development, which is how they end up with only one lung to fit into their elongated bodies.
Money key for turning preprints into papers
Only 40% of preprints by researchers in lower-income countries will eventually be published as peer-reviewed papers, compared with 61% authored by researchers in high-income nations. An analysis of almost 140,000 papers posted on the preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv between their inception (in 2013 and 2019, respectively) and 2021 also found that when a researcher in a richer country was added to the author list, the preprint-to-paper conversion rate increased. A lack of financial resources in poorer regions is likely to be one of the key factors preventing the transition from preprint to paper.
Features & opinion
Lessons from COVID digital contact tracing
Contact-tracing apps, which detected if a person had been in close proximity to someone with COVID-19, were controversial at the beginning of the pandemic. Three years on, the evidence shows that the apps saved many lives, writes digital epidemiologist Marcel Salathé. He urges countries to invest in the technology, while learning lessons about how to respect people’s privacy. He also points to a system he co-developed, later adapted by Google and Apple, that doesn’t share your information with any central server.
Reference: Nature Communications paper
Why economic crashes boost globalization
Financial crises spur progress through cycles of inward and outward change, argues historian Harold James in Seven Crashes. After a crisis, nations often close in on themselves, seeking safety and stability. Simultaneously, there is a push for greater globalization through new technologies or the search for fresh resources. A case in point is the economic shock caused by COVID-19: the rise of populist movements reflects a backlash against globalization, yet there’s an equal demand for international coordination to help to avoid another pandemic. “It is a fascinating idea that many of humanity’s greatest achievements have, ultimately, come as responses to times of crisis, which bring suffering and present deep conceptual problems,” says science writer and reviewer Mark Buchanan.
‘A bitter blow to educational inclusion’
The US Supreme Court’s decision to strike down race-conscious admissions to academic institutions is “superficial colorblindness in a society that systematically segregates opportunity”, wrote Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissenting opinion. It “deprives universities of a crucial tool”, argues a Nature editorial, which calls on institutions to find innovative and alternative ways to continue progress towards racial equity.
Where I work
Nosipho Mngomezulu is an anthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.Credit: Chris de Beer-Procter for Nature
For anthropologist Nosipho Mngomezulu, podcasting is a way to share her research in a more dynamic way than through journal articles. “While podcasting, you can be a scholar, a researcher and an activist simultaneously,” she says. From her home in Johannesburg, Mngomezulu explores issues in higher education in South Africa, from decolonizing science to the politics of academic publishing. “Podcasts are a part of reimagining universities as a public good, because anyone can tune in.” (Nature | 3 min read)
