Science 2019-12-20 @SciencePDFbooksandmagazines

CONTENTS NEWS

20 DECEMBER 2019 • VOLUME 366 • ISSUE 6472 IN BRIEF

SPECIAL SECTION 1424 News at a glance

BREAKTHROUGH of the YEAR IN DEPTH

WINNER BREAKDOWNS OF THE YEAR 1427 Australia’s vulnerable species hit ILLUSTRATION: CHARIS TSEVIS
1434 Darkness made visible 1442 The Amazon ablaze hard by fires
Endangered plants and animals with small
RUNNERS-UP 1442 Measles resurgent ranges and few individuals are at high risk
1436 A killer impact and its aftermath By J. Pickrell
1443 Bird counts dwindling
1437 Face to face with the Denisovans 1428 U.S. takes aim at foreign influence
1443 An eleventh hour climate awakening? Defining “sensitive research” remains a sticking
1437 Hope for Ebola patients, at last point By J. Mervis and D. Malakoff
ON THE COVER
1438 Quantum supremacy attained 1429 NIH director pledges action on
In Science’s 2019 harassment after report
1438 A ‘missing link’ microbe emerges Breakthrough of the Panel recommends a process parallel to one
Year, the Event Horizon for research misconduct By J. Kaiser
1439 A close-up of a far-out object Telescope (EHT) imaged
superheated matter 1430 To help the ‘disadvantaged,’ NIH
1440 In a first, drug treats most cases ringing the supermassive refines its definition
of cystic fibrosis black hole in the galaxy Agency aims to help economically stressed
M87. Here it is seen, groups By J. Mervis
1440 Microbes combat outlined by the glowing
malnourishment ring, from an imaginary nearby planet. Hot 1431 ‘Polygenic’ analyses may sharpen
gas and radiation jet from its pole, and its disease risk predictions
1441 Artificial intelligence masters titanic gravity stretches background stars into Genetic background modifies impact of single
multiplayer poker so-called Einstein rings. Dimitrios Psaltis, EHT disease genes By J. Kaiser
project scientist, advised on the illustration.
SEE ALSO EDITORIAL p. 1423; See page 1434. Illustration: Mark A. Garlick 1432 Two Asian American women allege
PODCAST; VIDEO bias by HHMI
Powerhouse institute rejects claims of race,
An illustration suggests how data from multiple radio telescopes made a black hole visible. sex bias in separate legal actions
By M. Wadman

1433 Rude reviews are pervasive
and sometimes harmful, study finds
Survey finds that “unprofessional” comments
abound By C. Wilcox

INSIGHTS

PERSPECTIVES

1444 Mapping words reveals emotional
diversity
Semantic networks reveal cultural variability
in emotion By A. Majid

REPORT p. 1517

1445 Mitochondrial DNA promotes
autoimmunity
Stressed mitochondria leak DNA fragments
that induce inflammation By M. K. Crow

REPORT p. 1531

1447 Producing adipic acid without
the nitrous oxide
Synthesis of nylon monomer from butadiene
avoids emission of a potent greenhouse gas
By T. Schaub

REPORT p. 1514

sciencemag.org SCIENCE

Published by AAAS

CONTENTS

1448 Bypassing the blood-brain barrier 1461 Response 1500 Mechanochemistry
The meninges membranes surrounding the By A. Ganna et al. Redox reactions of small organic
brain are an immune-blood-brain interface molecules using ball milling and
in homeostasis and disease 1462 Technical Comment abstracts piezoelectric materials K. Kubota et al.
By J. Rustenhoven and J. Kipnis
1462 Errata PERSPECTIVE p. 1451
1450 Free at last: Bose metal uncaged
A metallic phase disrupts the classic RESEARCH 1505 Solid-state physics
two-state superconductor-insulator picture Intermediate bosonic metallic state in
By P. W. Phillips IN BRIEF the superconductor-insulator transition
C.Yang et al.
REPORT p. 1505 1467 From Science and other journals
PERSPECTIVE p. 1450
1451 Piezoelectricity drives organic synthesis RESEARCH ARTICLES
Ball milling allows for solvent-free 1509 Solar cells
mechanoredox catalysis By H. Xia and Z. Wang 1470 Molecular biology Constructive molecular configurations for
The biochemical basis of microRNA targeting surface-defect passivation of perovskite
REPORT p. 1500 efficacy S. E. McGeary et al. photovoltaics R. Wang et al.

1452 Targeted drugs ramp up cancer RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY; FOR FULL TEXT: 1514 Organic chemistry
mutability DX.DOI.ORG/10.1126/SCIENCE.AAV1741 Direct synthesis of adipic acid esters
Drug-induced mutagenesis may via palladium-catalyzed carbonylation
accelerate cancer evolution and resistance 1471 Transcriptomics of 1,3-dienes J. Yang et al.
By M. Gerlinger A genome-wide transcriptomic analysis
of protein-coding genes in human PERSPECTIVE p. 1447
RESEARCH ARTICLE p. 1473 blood cells M. Uhlen et al.
1517 Emotion and language
1454 Peptidic catalysts for macrocycle RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY; FOR FULL TEXT: Emotion semantics show both cultural
synthesis DX.DOI.ORG/10.1126/SCIENCE.AAX9198 variation and universal structure
A heptapeptide pulls aldehyde groups of a J. C. Jackson et al.
molecule together for elusive ring-closing 1472 Infection
reactions By A. Gutiérrez Collar and T. Gulder Host monitoring of quorum sensing PERSPECTIVE p. 1444
during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection
REPORT p. 1528 P. Moura-Alves et al. 1522 Immunology
A class of gd T cell receptors recognize
POLICY FORUM RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY; FOR FULL TEXT: the underside of the antigen-presenting
DX.DOI.ORG/10.1126/SCIENCE.AAW1629 molecule MR1 J. Le Nours et al.
1455 Biotechnologies nibbling
at the legal “human” 1473 Cancer 1528 Organic chemistry
Recent advances in the biosciences invite Adaptive mutability of colorectal Foldamer-templated catalysis of
reconsideration of fundamental legal concepts cancers in response to targeted therapies macrocycle formation Z. C. Girvin et al.
such as the definition of “human” M. Russo et al.
By B. M. Knoppers and H. T. Greely PERSPECTIVE p. 1454
PERSPECTIVE p. 1452
BOOKS ET AL. 1531 Mitochondrial biology
1480 Superfluidity VDAC oligomers form mitochondrial
1458 More than a merchant’s trading route Coherent vortex dynamics in a strongly pores to release mtDNA fragments
A vividly illustrated tome traces the cultural interacting superfluid on a silicon chip and promote lupus-like disease
impacts of the Silk Road By A. Robinson Y. P. Sachkou et al. J. Kim et al.

1459 The ongoing quest for pure foods 1486 Neurodevelopment PERSPECTIVE p. 1445
Early adulteration sowed mistrust in the Potassium channel dysfunction in human
food production system that endures today neuronal models of Angelman syndrome D E PA R T M E N T S
By D. Blum A. X. Sun et al.
1423 Editorial
LETTERS REPORTS Seeing is believing By H. Holden Thorp

1460 Retraction 1492 Materials science BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR p. 1434
By E. Berret et al. Intragranular three-dimensional stress
tensor fields in plastically deformed 1574 Working Life
1460 Genome studies reveal flaws polycrystals Y. Hayashi et al. Learning to teach By Firdous A. Khan
in broad consent
By S. Holm and T. Ploug 1496 Quantum gases AAAS News & Notes................................1464
Dissipation-induced structural New Products........................................... 1537
1461 Genome studies must account instability and chiral dynamics Science Careers .......................................1538
for history in a quantum gas N. Dogra et al.
By S. S. Richardson et al.

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SCIENCE sciencemag.org 20 DECEMBER 2019 • VOL 366 ISSUE 6472 1419

Published by AAAS

EDITORIAL

Seeing is believing

S cientists can often make indirect measurements to talk about it today. (Spoiler alert: Jack and Annie are
that tell us about things we can’t actually see. rescued from spaghettification at the event horizon by
For scientists who work on molecules, such as Mary Pope Osborne herself.)
myself, this is especially true: Many of the small
and large molecules that dance in my head are If we made the show today, we wouldn’t have to guess
objects that I’ve never actually looked at. But for at what the black hole looks like. The image of the event
horizon of the supermassive black hole in the nearby

many outside of science, seeing is believing. galaxy Messier 87 was a magnificent technical achieve-

In my first administrative job at the University of ment and a worthy Breakthrough of the Year. But it is H. Holden Thorp
Editor-in-Chief,
North Carolina, I learned about this while running the more than that. For a skeptical public that often rolls Science journals.
[email protected];
campus planetarium. On clear nights, we would set up their eyes when they hear scientists say that they know @hholdenthorp

telescopes for public view- things exist even though

ings. It was common for peo- they cannot be seen, this is

ple to see Saturn through the one more important object

telescope for the first time that we can see. Given the

and then frantically look to influence of black holes on

see whether we had taped a the evolution of galaxies,

cartoon of the ringed planet this is a remarkable mile-

to the end of the telescope. stone in every respect.

They had assumed that Sat- There were also some ex-

urn didn’t really look like traordinary runners-up this

the pictures in their grade- year. When I was at Washing-

school classrooms. ton University in St. Louis, I

While I was in that job al- had the privilege of watch-

most 20 years ago, I was for- ing research progress on re-

tunate enough to convince storing the gut microbiome

the authors Will and Mary in malnourished children.

Pope Osborne to work with “The image of...the It’s intensely encouraging
the university on a plane- to know that there is a way

tarium show based on their supermassive black hole... to do this, and the compan-
blockbuster children’s book ion papers that show how

series Magic Tree House. At was a magnificent the microorganisms develop
the most suspenseful part of technical achievement...” make it great science, as
the show, the protagonists well. This has implications
Jack and Annie end up dan- for public health in the de-

gerously close to the event veloped world, too: Children

horizon of a black hole—the need to start with excellent

point beyond which not even light can escape. That nutrition, and when they don’t, it isn’t enough just to get

PHOTOS (TOP TO BOTTOM): CAMERON DAVIDSON; EHT COLLABORATION/CC 4.0 meant we had to project a convincing and exciting im- food to them—it has to be the right food.

age of a black hole onto the planetarium dome. A series of papers that reveal details of how the Chicx-

Most of today’s planetariums project a continuous ulub asteroid impact wiped out the dinosaurs and how

digital image. Back then, planetarium operators had to mammals reemerged afterward provide very important

be wizards of improvisation with baby food jars, film- pieces of science about the history of life on Earth. Like

strip projectors, and various kinds of motors. Our pro- the black hole image, seeing is believing. The mammal

jector genius, Richard McColman, created an ominous fossils recovered in Colorado tell a story that needs to be

black hole by using a simulated image of what was then shared widely as scientists make the case for preserving

the most current idea of an accretion disk orbiting an life on Earth. Objective science such as these discover-

event horizon; he printed the image on transparent film ies creates a powerful narrative that can compel society

and rotated it on top of a projector bulb that moved to consider the trajectory of Earth in the aftermath of

closer and closer to the image. Combined with dramatic tremendous ecological upheavals—those of the past as

music, it was enough to create substantial suspense, in- well as those that may yet come.

cluding for my 5-year-old daughter, who is still scared – H. Holden Thorp

10.1126/science.aba5359

SCIENCE sciencemag.org 20 DECEMBER 2019 • VOL 366 ISSUE 6472 1423

Published by AAAS

NEWS “ ”Very exciting for the louse community.

Evolutionary biologist Julie Allen, about the discovery by paleontologists in China of
fossilized lice that, when alive, appeared to have feasted on dinosaurs’ feathers. Lice are thought to

have evolved during the age of dinosaurs but rarely fossilized; these were preserved in amber.

IN BRIEF U.S. science gets spending boost

Edited by Jeffrey Brainard FUNDING | Most U.S. research agencies
will receive healthy budget increases in
Scientists modified the OSIRIS-REx probe (illustrated in photo) to better navigate a difficult landing. 2020 after Democrats and Republicans CREDITS: (PHOTO) NASA/GODDARD/UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA; (GRAPHIC) J. BRAINARD/SCIENCE; (DATA) U.S. CONGRESS
resolved a 3-month stalemate. The spend-
PLANETARY SCIENCE ing levels for the fiscal year ending on
30 September 2020, expected to become
Risky site picked for asteroid sample grab law this week, also reject the deep cuts
proposed by President Donald Trump in
M ission leaders last week announced they picked a challenging his 2020 budget request in February. The
landing site on the asteroid Bennu for a spacecraft to suck up fine National Institutes of Health will receive
grit and return it to Earth for analysis. The 16-meter-wide tar- by far the largest increase in absolute
get is among the most flat and accessible places on the boulder- dollars, as legislators approved a fifth
strewn surface. Even so, the NASA-funded space probe— year of annual budget hikes of at least
the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, $2 billion. Congress also allocated
Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx)—must avoid nearby tall rocks $25 million for gun violence research,
nicknamed “Mount Doom” during its visit, planned in August 2020. ending a 23-year de facto federal spend-
The crater’s location, toward the north pole of the 500-meter-wide ing freeze, and extended for 10 years a
body, keeps it cool, which may have preserved water and organic mate- government-funded nonprofit that studies
rials from the Solar System’s earliest days. Another spacecraft, Japan’s the relative benefits of medical treat-
Hayabusa-2, this year successfully navigated around boulders on a dif- ments. Climate, energy, and space science
ferent asteroid, Ryugu, to collect surface samples for return to Earth. also fared well: Legislators again rejected
Trump’s request to kill the Advanced
Research Projects Agency-Energy, for
example, and they gave NASA a
$36 million down payment for a new
mission to monitor near-Earth objects.
The National Science Foundation got
less love, as its $203 million increase
fell below what appropriators in the
Senate and House of Representatives
had previously approved.

m What selected agencies got

AGENCY/PROGRAM 2020 BUDGET INCREASE
($ BILLION) OVER 2019

National Institutes $41.684 7%
of Health $8.278 2.5%
$7.139 3.4%
National Science
Foundation

NASA science office

Map reveals Antarctic terrain published last week in Nature Geoscience, Department of Energy $7 6.3%
was inferred using the flow and volume of science office $2.603 3%
GLACIOLOGY | The lowest land canyon on ice. It reveals previously unknown ridges $1.271 9.5%
Earth is in East Antarctica, plunging that sit above sea level in the deep valleys Department of Defense $0.754 4.1%
3.5 kilometers below sea level, according to that drain the Transantarctic Mountains, basic science
a new map of the land below the conti- stabilizing glaciers there. Researchers had $0.716 1.4%
nent’s ice sheets. The canyon is seven times hoped the map would reveal similar ridges U.S. Geological Survey $0.590 4.3%
deeper than the shores of the Dead Sea, the under West Antarctica’s fastest melting gla-
lowest exposed spot on Earth’s surface. The cier that might stabilize it as well. But none National Institute
map, called BedMachine Antarctica and beyond the two already known was found. of Standards
and Technology labs
1424 20 DECEMBER 2019 • VOL 366 ISSUE 6472 Published by AAAS
EPA science programs

NOAA

sciencemag.org SCIENCE

MARINE ECOLOGY French Polynesia’s
reefs benefit in part from
Coral surprise in French Polynesia
its remoteness.
E ven as coral reefs almost everywhere are dying, those in
French Polynesia stand out as an exception, a study has the world, according to a final report released 12 December. In
found. Six years ago, the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans comparison, coral coverage on the iconic Great Barrier Reef
Foundation in Annapolis carried out censuses of fish and reaches only about 45%. And big fish such as grouper and bar-
coral and developed detailed satellite and underwater maps racuda that have almost disappeared elsewhere are thriving in
of reefs around 29 of that country’s islands. On some atolls, live French Polynesia. The country’s remoteness and milder climate
coral covers 70% of the reef’s surface, the highest coverage in likely account for why many reefs were doing so well, although
scientists say some have declined since the surveys.

PHOTO: © MICHELE WESTMORLAND/ILCP Climate talks bog down at an airport in Zurich, Switzerland, on Name that exoplanet
7 December, Iran released Xiyue Wang,
SUSTA I N A B I L I T Y | A Madrid meeting of a U.S. citizen and graduate student in PU B L I C E N GAG E M E N T | The International
nations that have signed the Paris cli- history at Princeton University who Astronomical Union (IAU) this week
mate pact ended in disappointment on was arrested in Tehran in 2016 while announced a set of evocative names for
15 December. Climate activists had hoped conducting archival research on Persia’s 112 exoplanets and their stars. Each pair
nations would rachet up commitments to Qajar Dynasty. Wang was convicted in of names was suggested by a different
cut carbon emissions and agree on how 2017 of espionage and sentenced to country from ideas offered by 780,000
to set up a global market that would help 10 years of prison. In the exchange, people across the world. Exoplanets
create financial incentives for reducing the United States handed over Masoud are routinely named after the star they
emissions. Poorer nations also wanted Soleimani, a stem cell researcher at orbit or the telescope that discovered
to nail down how richer countries will Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran them, such as 51 Pegasi b or Kepler-62e.
compensate them for damages caused detained in Chicago, Illinois, in October In response to IAU’s call, Irish partici-
by climate change. But delegates failed 2018—en route to a stint at the Mayo pants suggested two mythological dogs,
to reach agreement on these and other Clinic—on charges of attempting to Bran and Tuiren, for their planet-star
issues, delaying action until next year’s evade trade sanctions by smuggling pair. Jordanians honored famed historic
talks in Glasgow, U.K. U.S.-made growth factors into Iran. Two places, the ancient city Petra and desert
of Soleimani’s former students who site Wadi Rum, whereas the stargazers
U.S., Iran swap detainees purchased and transported the proteins of Burkina Faso picked prominent riv-
are also in the clear: On 11 December, a ers, Nakambé and Mouhoun. Names in
I N T E R N AT I O N A L A F FA I RS | A harrow- U.S. federal judge approved a motion by Indigenous languages were encouraged,
ing saga has ended for four researchers prosecutors to dismiss charges against so Argentinians suggested Naqaya and
ensnared in the poisonous politics of the Iranian American scientists “in the Nosaxa in the Moqoit language. With
U.S.-Iranian relations. In a prisoner swap interest of justice.” more than 4000 worlds now discovered,

SCIENCE sciencemag.org Published by AAAS 20 DECEMBER 2019 • VOL 366 ISSUE 6472 1425

NEWS | IN BRIEF

there will be plenty of opportunities for species arrived on the island. H. erectus’s companies must pay for damages they caused
additional creative naming. long presence in Southeast Asia supports and for reducing the risks of future ones.
the hypothesis that the species gave rise to
H. erectus lingered late on Java at least two others, H. floresiensis and H. Tool tracks threatened species
luzonensis, as it migrated across Southeast
PA L EOA N T H R O P O LO GY | The extinct Asia’s necklace of islands. CO N S E RVAT I O N | Collaborators from
human ancestor Homo erectus likely Google and conservation organizations on
lived out its final days on the Indonesian Exxon wins climate lawsuit 17 December unveiled a tool to analyze pho-
archipelago approximately 100,000 years tos of endangered and threatened species to
ago, according to a new analysis of fossils L EGA L A F FA I RS | Exxon Mobil did not generate useful information about their popu-
from a site in Central Java. A dozen partial fraudulently downplay the financial costs lation trends. The website, Wildlife Insights,
skulls and two leg bones of H. erectus it faces from possible regulations to control relies on crowdsourcing: Users upload photos
were first identified at the riverside site climate change, a New York state judge ruled of passing fauna taken by motion-sensing
known as Ngandong in the 1930s. But last week. The state attorney general had cameras stationed in the wild. The system
those fossils proved notoriously difficult alleged in a civil lawsuit that the company employs artificial intelligence to identify
to date, so paleoanthropologists returned duped investors and inflated its share price and count unique individuals in the photos,
to the original bone bed and uncovered by low-balling those costs. Judge Barry based on a tiger’s unique pattern of stripes,
hundreds of animal bones from the same Ostrager said that his decision was based for example—automating a task that is time-
layers. Combining five methods to date on securities fraud law and did not settle consuming for ecologists who examine the
those bones, the researchers concluded this whether the company had contributed to photos one by one. Uploaded images will
week in Nature that the H. erectus fossils climate change through greenhouse gas become part of a worldwide public data-
date from 117,000 to 108,000 years ago— emissions from its products. Other state and base that researchers can study. There are
the latest known reliable evidence for the city governments are suing Exxon Mobil and countless “hard drives around the world full
species. The authors suggest a climate shift other energy companies under a different of very, very useful data just sitting there,
significantly transformed the island’s land- legal theory, alleging that the emissions unused,” says Margaret Kinnaird, a wildlife
scape, dooming H. erectus before our own worsened floods and hurricanes and that the practice leader at the World Wildlife Fund.

Researchers fitted AWARDS
more than 1 million
butterflies with Science wins journalism prizes
tags like this one.
Members of our visuals and news teams were
ANIMAL BEHAVIOR honored for work published in 2018. PHOTO: LYNN M. STONE/MINDEN PICTURES

Sun’s angle may spark monarch migrations “Starry eyes,” an online feature about NASA’s
proposed space telescopes with graphics and
D ata from tagged monarch butterflies (above) indicate they begin and end their design by Jia You and Chris Bickel and text by
4000-kilometer migrations from Canada and the United States to Mexico based on Daniel Clery, won an Ozzie Award from Folio for
a surprising cue: the angle of the noon Sun above the horizon, which changes with visual digital storytelling and a bronze EXCEL Award
the seasons and with latitude. Researchers knew these butterflies navigate using from Association Media and Publishing for website
the horizontal movements of the Sun. Now, in the 10 December issue of Frontiers design excellence. (See the presentation at
in Ecology and Evolution, Orley Taylor from the University of Kansas in Lawrence and col- https://scim.ag/StarryEyes.)
leagues propose that the butterflies also read changes in the Sun’s vertical position.
Each summer they launch their migrations, and continue to fly south, when it dips Chrystal Smith won a gold EXCEL Award from
between 48° and 57° above the horizon. Association Media and Publishing for the design of
the 29 June 2018 issue’s cover, “Tomorrow’s Earth.”
1426 20 DECEMBER 2019 • VOL 366 ISSUE 6472 The visuals team also won a gold EXCEL Award for
design excellence for three issues of Science that
appeared in December 2018.

Val Altounian received an Award of Excellence
from the Society for News Design for a 19 April
2018 illustration about kidney disease.

Martin Enserink won the American Society of
Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s Communications
Award for his 19 July 2018 article, funded by the
Pulitzer Center, on a young doctor’s quest to
eradicate yaws, a forgotten tropical disease that
still takes a major toll.

SCIENCEMAG.ORG/NEWS
Read more news from Science online.

sciencemag.org SCIENCE

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IN DEPTH

Fires, such as this one in
New South Wales, have

burned more than 3 million
hectares in Australia.

CONSERVATION BIOLOGY

Australia’s vulnerable species hit hard by fires

Endangered plants and animals with small ranges and few individuals are at high risk

PHOTO: WOLTER PEETERS/THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD VIA GETTY IMAGES By John Pickrell, in Sydney, Australia both arid, fire-prone ecosystems and typi- area protected by national parks has gone
cally fireproof wetlands and rainforests, up in flames. Affected areas include at least
U ntil recently, the Ngunya Jargoon have already destroyed the habitats of doz- 35 of the 41 total reserves scattered across
Indigenous Protected Area here in ens of rare animals and plants. Worse news both the Greater Blue Mountains World
the state of New South Wales (NSW) may be coming: Peak summer fire season Heritage Area, west of Sydney, and much
had the healthiest remaining popu- still has 2 months to go, and as Science of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
lation of the northern long-nosed went to press, the already parched region World Heritage Area in the north of the
potoroo, a hare-size wallaby that was bracing for another heat wave. state. Officials estimate about 48% of the
feeds on truffles that grow around the iconic Gondwana reserves, which include
roots of gum trees. But in October, after an “There’s little question that threatened rainforests that have existed since the time
unprecedented drought reduced the forest species are going to be affected; even com- of the dinosaurs, have now burned.
to tinder, an intense blaze incinerated the mon species are being pushed towards
preserve. When ecologists and rangers re- becoming vulnerable by the size of these Maurizio Rossetto, an evolutionary eco-
turned to survey the damage they found no fires,” says Euan Ritchie, an ecologist at logist at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney,
sign of the endangered marsupial, which Deakin University in Melbourne. says that in Nightcap National Park, one of
had declined to a few hundred animals. the Gondwana reserves, he fears for about
Now, “The future of the largest known The fires have prevented researchers 30 rare tree species and a similar number
population is in serious doubt,” says Mark from reaching many study sites to fully as- of rare animals, because their habitats
Graham, an ecologist with NWS’s Nature sess the damage. As a result, “We are in the have likely been destroyed. The park has
Conservation Council, who has worked for fog of war,” says David Bowman, director of some of Australia’s most biodiverse forests,
20 years to protect the potoroo. the Fire Centre Research Hub at the Uni- “with high proportions of [species from]
versity of Tasmania in Hobart. But satellite ancient, endemic lineages that go back to
It isn’t the only Australian species facing images and other data sources paint a grim Gondwanan times” more than 60 million
potentially catastrophic losses as a result picture. Some scientists have even watched years ago. And it is precisely the absence of
of the unusually severe and widespread in horror as the automated camera traps fire in the forests of Nightcap and nearby
wildfires that have so far burned some they use to monitor wildlife instead have reserves that has allowed rare tree species
3 million hectares in the eastern states of captured flames reducing their study sites to persist there, Rossetto notes. “Many of
Queensland and NSW—an area nearly the to ash. these trees have thin bark that does not
size of Belgium. The blazes, which have hit provide protection against fire,” he says.
In NSW, which covers a large part of
southeastern Australia, at least 20% of the

SCIENCE sciencemag.org 20 DECEMBER 2019 • VOL 366 ISSUE 6472 1427

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NEWS | IN DEPTH

He is particularly concerned about three of water, and in October fire burned through SCIENCE & SECURITY PHOTOS: (LEFT TO RIGHT) DAVE WATTS/MINDEN PICTURES; AGU/EPNAC
species, each of which has just a few hun- 3000 hectares, eliminating 90% of the reed
dred remaining trees “tightly grouped in a bed, the bittern’s key nesting habitat. U.S. takes
single population.” aim at foreign
In Queensland, which covers northeast- influence
The Gondwana rainforest’s frogs are also ern Australia, researchers fear fires have
under threat. One species, the pouched or consumed key habitats within Bulburin Na- Defining “sensitive research”
hip pocket frog, is a delicate, 2-centimeter- tional Park, which harbors an endangered remains a sticking point
long amphibian that raises its tadpoles in native macadamia reduced to fewer than
pouches on its hips. It needs moist leaf 150 remaining trees. Satellite images sug- By Jeffrey Mervis and David Malakoff
litter to survive and “has no tolerance to gest fire may have reached all three parts
fire,” Graham says. He suspects the fires of the park that have the trees, says Diana U .S. policymakers are making headway
have caused “mass mortality” and won- Fisher, a mammal ecologist at the University on the thorny question of how to deal
ders whether NSW officials will have to re- of New England in Armidale. The Bulburin with foreign threats to U.S. research.
classify the frog, now listed as vulnerable, fires also menace the silver-headed antechi- Congress has created two new panels
as endangered. nus, an endangered shrew-size marsupial to wrestle with the topic and an influ-
carnivore. Just a few hundred individuals ential panel has recommended steps
In the Greater Blue Mountains, flames remain, and Bulburin has the largest of the that the National Science Foundation (NSF)
have ravaged about 50% of its heritage three known populations. should take. But there is no consensus on
reserves, threatening regions inhabited the core issue of whether protecting national
by endangered species with small ranges, Researchers say even animals that sur- security and U.S. innovation requires new re-
including a shrub called the Kowmung vive the fires are likely to face long-term strictions on basic research.
hakea, a lizard known as the Blue Moun- challenges. Some silver-headed antechi-
tains water skink, and the Wollemi pine, a nus, for instance, might have escaped the Concern is rising across the U.S. govern-
“living fossil” discovered in 1994. heat by squeezing into rock crevices, Fisher ment that foreign entities, especially the Chi-
says. But they may emerge to find little nese government and affiliated institutions,
Ross Crates, an ecologist at the Austra- shelter or food. “If they lose all of their are making systematic efforts to steal the
lian National University in Canberra, notes leaf litter and ground cover, then they’re fruits of U.S.-funded research. The National
the mountains are also the “final strong- not going to persist,” she says. In the past, Institutes of Health (NIH) has led the charge
hold” of a critically endangered bird, the antechinus from other areas might have among federal funding agencies by cracking
repopulated vacated territories, she adds, down on grantees who have failed to dis-
Fires have wiped out prime habitat used by one of but habitat fragmentation now makes that close foreign ties or have violated the confi-
the largest populations of the long-nosed potoroo. nearly impossible. dentiality of peer review. NIH has examined
140 such cases to date, says Michael Lauer,
regent honeyeater. Just 250 to 400 of these Surviving potoroos, too, will likely have head of NIH’s Office of Extramural Research
striking black-and-yellow nectar feeders to avoid cats and foxes, introduced preda- in Bethesda, Maryland, and has found “a sub-
remain, and an estimated 80% of breeding tors that move into disturbed forests “and stantial compliance issue” in 75% of them.
pairs nest in the Greater Blue Mountains. quickly mop up ground-living wildlife,”
The fires have so far destroyed honeyeater says Mike Letnic, an ecologist at the Uni- In a bid to address those concerns, a ma-
nesting sites in at least five valleys; some versity of New South Wales here. “It’s like a jor defense bill that Congress approved this
had nests that still held chicks. He’s also double whammy.”
lost about 10% of the 1200 honeyeater
monitoring stations he set up over the past More mobile animals, such as adult
5 years, which can include cameras and honeyeaters, probably fled from trouble.
other sensors. But the specific types of rare gum tree blos-
soms that the honeyeaters prefer to feed
Farther west in NSW, well into Aus- on, and nest near, could be in short sup-
tralia’s inland, another endangered bird ply. “It’s about the long-term cumulative
faces new peril. The Australasian bittern impacts on breeding success, rather than
inhabits the Macquarie Marshes, an inter- death of individuals,” Crates says. “For a
nationally significant protected wetland species already on the brink of extinction,
that supports hundreds of thousands of wa- it’s not great.”
ter birds during times of plenty. But Austra-
lia’s lengthy drought has deprived the marsh The fires have amplified many scien-
tists’ complaints that Australia’s current
government, led by Prime Minister Scott
Morrison, has failed to acknowledge the
role of climate change in the drought and
fires, and has done little to cut national
greenhouse gas emissions. The looming
question, scientists say, is whether climate
change will make catastrophic fire seasons
like this one—which started unusually
early—the norm in Australia. If so, Ritchie
and other researchers say, even Australian
species and habitats with some level of fire
tolerance may face existential threats. j

John Pickrell is a journalist in Sydney, Australia.

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Presidential science adviser Kelvin Droegemeier search that it feels poses a security risk, but SCIENCE POLICY
will lead a new panel on foreign influences. leave the rest in the open. It also said that
fundamental research should “remain un- NIH director
week creates two high-level bodies—one restricted … to the maximum extent pos- pledges action
inside and one outside the government—to sible.” Even so, former President George W. on harassment
search for the right balance between scien- Bush alarmed many scientists in 2008 by after report
tific openness and security. One panel, led by creating a new category of controlled unclas-
the White House Office of Science and Tech- sified research (CUI). Two years later, former Panel recommends a
nology Policy, will try to harmonize actions President Barack Obama preserved that cat- process parallel to one for
by more than a dozen agencies to protect fed- egory but suggested it should be a last resort. research misconduct
erally funded research projects from cyber-
attacks, theft, and other foreign threats. That’s not what has happened, however. By Jocelyn Kaiser
The other group, a roundtable convened by “Despite good intentions, the number of
the National Academies of Sciences, Engi- CUI categories has continued to prolifer- I n a widely anticipated report, an advi-
neering, and Medicine, will bring together ate and now stands at 125,” according to the sory group last week issued sweeping
officials from academia, government, and in- new report, prepared by an independent recommendations for cracking down
dustry for discussions on how to assess and group of prominent scientists, known as Ja- on sexual harassment in labs funded by
mitigate the risks posed by foreign collabora- son, which advises the government on tech- the National Institutes of Health. NIH
tions involving U.S. researchers. nical issues. The report, prepared at NSF’s Director Francis Collins said he “will
request, says it would be a bad idea for the make every effort” to follow the group’s ad-
U.S. higher education organizations lob- government to limit fundamental research vice. However, he said NIH does not have
bied hard for both bodies. They are hoping that is not already classified in hopes of the legal authority to take some key steps,
the White House panel will eliminate mixed thwarting foreign access. which could blunt the report’s impact.
messages from research agencies about
what they expect from grantee institutions. “Take a topic like quantum properties— NIH is already acting on some interim
The roundtable, meanwhile, could help any attempt to fence off some aspects of that recommendations the group made in June
build consensus between the research and work would strangle basic research across a (Science, 21 June, p. 1117). The agency will
intelligence communities, whose cultures huge swath,” says Ellen Williams, a materi- soon release a procedure it will follow when
and missions differ sharply. als scientist at the University of Maryland it receives an allegation of sexual miscon-
in College Park and chair of Jason. (She did duct, and it has set up a phone and web hot-
The defense bill, which also authorizes not participate in the study.) “It’s just crazy.” line for complaints. It has also stepped up
some $738 billion in military spending for enforcement. Since January, NIH has re-
the current fiscal year, contains a provision Despite warning against additional re- ceived 105 inquiries (compared with 28 in
that raises the hackles of most scientists. It strictions, the report agrees the threat to 2018), removed 12 principal investigators
orders the director of national intelligence U.S. research is serious. It suggests univer- (PIs) from grants, and barred 55 from peer
to produce an annual report that assesses sities and funders treat failures to disclose review. But Collins said the agency may
the extent to which foreign entities are try- foreign ties as violations of research integ- need to go through a formal policymaking
ing to obtain “sensitive research” done at rity rules, although it does not spell out how process to take other steps the report rec-
U.S. universities. investigations or punishments might work. ommended. These include requiring grant
personnel to undergo training to prevent
But that exercise will likely inflame the Citing anecdotal evidence, the Jason re- sexual harassment and mandating that
long-running debate over what research port asserts that some foreign scientists may grant personnel check a box on grant ap-
should be protected. In 1985, then-President not be familiar with U.S. norms of what con- plications and annual progress reports to
Ronald Reagan issued an order, known as stitutes research integrity. Some Chinese stu- attest that there have been no sexual ha-
National Security Defense Directive 189, that dents and scientists working in the United rassment findings against them.
creates a bright line: The government should States might consider it acceptable to share
classify federally funded fundamental re- confidential research information with their Still, observers welcomed the report
government, it says, referring to a Chinese from a 21-member working group that in-
law that “requires a degree of cooperation cluded NIH officials, NIH-funded research-
from citizens in ways the United States does ers, and victims of sexual harassment. The
not.” At the same time, the report chides U.S. report “addresses sexual harassment at
intelligence agencies for assuming theft in all levels, from institutional leadership to
cases that “actually appear to be the collegial protecting the safety and careers of tar-
sharing of academic work.” gets of harassment,” said Heather Pierce,
senior director of science policy for the As-
Jason admits it doesn’t know the mag- sociation of American Medical Colleges in
nitude of the problem, nor whether rule Washington, D.C. “I really appreciate your
violations are due to simple ignorance or attention to these issues,” neuroscientist
deliberate subterfuge. In either case, it says
NSF should insist that grantee institutions
implement “more robust” training in ethi-
cal research practices.

Lauer agrees that the foreign influence
problem hasn’t been quantified. And al-
though he supports more education, he
thinks enforcement is at least as impor-
tant. “We have seen so much deception and
heard so many lies,” Lauer says, “that it’s
clear to us this is mostly willful activity.” j

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NEWS | IN DEPTH

and #MeTooSTEM advocacy organization WORKFORCE DIVERSITY
leader BethAnn McLaughlin told the work-
ing group. To help the ‘disadvantaged,’
NIH refines its definition
NIH had come under fire for respond-
ing slowly to rising concerns about ha- Agency aims to help economically stressed groups
rassment. By contrast, in fall of 2018, the
National Science Foundation (NSF) began By Jeffrey Mervis NIH’s National Institute of General Medi-
to require that funded institutions report
sexual misconduct findings and notify cal Sciences in Bethesda, the hub of NIH’s
the agency when an investigator is put on
leave because of a harassment investiga- L iving in near poverty can be a huge diversity activities.
tion. After several high-profile harassment obstacle for someone who wants to Wonder Drake, a professor of medicine
cases involving federally funded investiga- become a biomedical researcher. So
tors made headlines, Collins created the can a confusing definition of “eco- at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, has
working group. nomically disadvantaged” from the received several diversity supplements
and applauds NIH’s move. The new defi-
It followed advice from a National Acad-
emies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine National Institutes of Health (NIH), nition “may attract more students who
(NASEM) panel that sexual misconduct be
treated “as seriously as research misconduct” which wants to increase the diversity of are immigrants, or poor Caucasians,” she
by establishing “parallel processes” for re-
porting and handling the two kinds of mis- the scientific workforce. Now, the agency says. “Just think how useful their input
behavior. “Institutions have paid attention
to research misconduct because NIH has has sharpened its definition. would be in finding solutions to the opi-
tied dollars and funding to it,” said work-
ing group member Carol Greider, a biologist NIH has long offered existing grantees oid crisis, which is ravaging so many low-
at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,
Maryland. The report calls for similar in- additional funding to mentor students and income communities.”
centives for confronting harassment.
early-career scientists belonging to speci- Drake notes that, as a student, she would
The report includes dozens of other rec-
ommendations for NIH, scientific societies, fied groups underrepresented in biomedi- have met several of the new eligibility cri-
and institutions—including that NIH re-
structure awards to give trainees indepen- cal research. The list of groups targeted teria. “I certainly grew up disadvantaged,”
dence from investigators, survey staff on
every grant about workforce climate, and by these “diversity supplements” includes she says, noting she was raised in rural
provide victims of harassment with funding
to resume their careers. Hispanics, African Americans, American Alabama by a single mother who never

It also urges NIH to work toward reduc- Indians, and Native Hawai- graduated from high school.
ing the concentration of funding among
straight white male investigators, because, ians, as well as people with a <1% She is also African American,
as the NASEM report noted, this contrib- disability and the disadvan- however, so she would have
utes to the risk of sexual harassment by taged. NIH found some 84% qualified in that category
creating “hierarchical work environments.”
That shift could be accomplished in many of supplement applications of applications as well.
ways, the report said, from working to re- last year were focused on Af- are in the disadvantaged For her diversity supple-
duce bias in peer review to rewarding in- rican American or Hispanic
stitutions that support diversity. students, and they repre- category ments, Drake typically chooses
students from a racial or eth-
But legal constraints that NSF, an in-
dependent agency, did not face preclude sented 90% of all awards. Fewer than 1% nic minority “because it’s obvious,” she says,
NIH from acting on several key recom-
mendations, among them that NIH require of proposals cited disadvantaged students. and because students of color at Vanderbilt
institutions to notify the agency within
2 weeks when a PI is found guilty of sexual NIH officials blame the agency’s old def- who want a research experience tend to seek
misconduct. Another is the advice that
when a PI is put on leave because of an inition of disadvantaged for that tiny num- her out. But she also contacts nearby col-
investigation, institutions inform NIH that
the reason is sexual harassment concerns. ber. It defined economically disadvantaged leges with large numbers of students who fit
NIH officials say they hope the working
group’s report will help them make the students as those living in “an educational NIH’s criteria. “I call up the chair of the basic
case to Trump administration officials for
new legal authority. “In the meantime,” environment such as that found in certain science department and I tell them, ‘I need
said NIH Associate Director for Science
Policy Carrie Wolinetz, “we’re going to see rural or inner-city environments.” “What your best student,’” she says. The goal is to
how close we can get with the authorities
that we have.” j does [that] mean?” asked Michael Lauer, have them complete a research project over

who leads NIH’s Office of Extramural Re- the summer and then present a poster at a

search in Bethesda, Maryland, in a 26 No- scientific conference. “Based on my expe-

vember blog describing the change. The rience,” she says, “the economically disad-

phrase “is nearly impossible to evaluate.” vantaged students are sometimes the most

NIH’s new definition has seven compo- talented because they have had to overcome

nents. Persons are disadvantaged if they so much adversity.”

have been homeless, or if they qualified for Lorsch estimates that NIH could accom-

a free or reduced priced lunch in school or modate a 10-fold increase in the number

a federal Pell Grant for college. NIH also of applications that cite the disadvantaged

invites in those who were in foster care, category—in 2018 there were fewer than

whose parents never graduated from col- 11—without straining its budget. Given

lege, or who grew up in a rural area or a that NIH funds nearly two-thirds of the

region with a shortage of health profession- proposals it receives for diversity supple-

als. The change applies to all the agency’s ments, Drake doesn’t understand why

diversity programs, which serve those from more of her colleagues don’t apply.

high school through postdoctoral training. “I think [the diversity supplements] are

“We wanted to make it easy for students one of the best kept secrets at NIH,” she

to self-identify while not being overly re- says. “And we’re doing everything we can

dundant,” says Jon Lorsch, director of at [Vanderbilt] to spread the word.” j

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A woman’s genetic background can powerfully modify
her cancer risk from a BRCA1 mutation.

BIOMEDICINE study populations based on just the single
disease gene mutations. (The team’s mono-
‘Polygenic’ analyses may genic disease risk predictions are lower than
sharpen disease risk predictions many other estimates for several possible
reasons, Khera notes, including that the UK
Genetic background modifies impact of single disease genes Biobank participants are healthier than the
general population.) At the other extreme,
PHOTO: VOISIN/SCIENCE SOURCE By Jocelyn Kaiser ants don’t invariably develop disease, and the polygenic analysis suggested that a few
genomics can be used to help parse carriers people with those mutations have much
W omen who learn that they have a who are at lower risk.” Others caution, how- lower risks than predicted by their single
mutation in the breast cancer gene ever, that risk scores summing how dozens to mutation alone, as low as 11% for colon can-
BRCA1 face a wrenching decision. thousands of other genetic variants interact cer, 13% for breast cancer, and 17% for heart
Their doctor or genetic counselor with a single major disease gene aren’t yet ac- disease—not much higher than other people
will likely tell them that women curate enough to use in the clinic. The new in general.
with such mutations have, on aver- paper “is teasing at the possibility, but there’s
age, a 72% lifetime risk of breast cancer and a lot of work to be done,” says Harvard Uni- Khera’s group says adding polygenic data
a 44% risk of ovarian cancer. Given that, up versity epidemiologist Peter Kraft. to single-gene tests could help people decide
to half decide to have prophylactic mastecto- whether to take aggressive steps to head off
mies, and many have ovaries removed, too. MGH cardiology fellow Akl Fahed and oth- disease—mastectomy or removal of the ova-
ers in Khera’s group explored polygenic in- ries for women carrying BRCA mutations or
But recent studies show a woman could fluences on the three important single-gene frequent colonoscopies for people with Lynch
receive a more individualized, accurate can- disorders in the United States: familial hyper- syndrome. But the new study does not in-
cer risk estimate by factoring in other gene cholesterolemia, which leads to sky-high clude enough data for clinical decisions, says
variants. A preprint posted last month finds cholesterol levels and dramatically elevates genetic epidemiologist Antonis Antoniou of
that a person’s “polygenic” background influ- risk of heart disease; Lynch syndrome, a flaw the University of Cambridge in the United
ences not only the disease risk conferred by a in DNA repair that brings a lifetime risk of Kingdom. Only 116 women in the UK Bio-
BRCA1 defect, but also risks from single gene colorectal cancer of about 60%; and inherited bank sample had BRCA mutations, which he
mutations linked to colorectal cancer and breast cancer, caused by variants in BRCA1 or notes “is an extremely small number to make
heart disease. Some individuals were very BRCA2. They took advantage of databases inferences about risks.”
likely to develop cancer or heart disease by that combine medical and genomic infor-
age 75, the analysis showed, whereas in oth- mation from thousands of people, enabling Two years ago, Antoniou led a study that
ers the risk was not much greater than in a researchers to tally how the many genetic reported on how polygenic scores influence
person without the high-risk mutation. variants with subtle effects modify disease risks in 25,000 carriers of BRCA mutations
risks and complex traits such as height. and found nearly as wide a range of overall
“It’s pretty striking,” says cardiologist and cancer risks. His team has incorporated those
geneticist Amit Khera of Massachusetts Gen- Drawing on some 50,000 participants in data into a breast cancer risk estimator along
eral Hospital (MGH) in Boston, leader of the UK Biobank and 19,000 women tested for with factors such as family history.
the study, which is on the medRxiv preprint BRCA genes by the company Color Genomics,
server. “It’s become clear that there are both the team found that polygenic background The MGH study is “an important and ex-
monogenic and polygenic [disease] drivers. strongly modified the risk of carrying a mu- citing paper” that complements other work,
The future is to assess both.” tation in the key genes for the three disor- says David Ledbetter, chief scientific officer
ders. For a small proportion of major disease for the Geisinger Health System in Danville,
“The message is a very important one for gene carriers, other genetic variants boosted Pennsylvania. His team recently looked at
patients and clinicians,” says Teri Manolio their overall risk of cancer or heart disease 92,000 participants in an ongoing genomic
of the National Human Genome Research to about 80%, well above the average of 30% medicine study called MyCode, focusing on
Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. “Carriers of to 40% that Khera’s group estimated for its those who carried mutations predisposing
BRCA1 mutations or other pathogenic vari- them to 11 rare disorders that affect traits
such as height, weight, and cholesterol lev-
els. Incorporating polygenic scores helped
predict those traits, the group reported on
25 October in Nature Communications.

It may be a while before physicians are
comfortable telling patients how genetic
backgrounds modify the risk posed by a ma-
jor disease gene mutation. But some compa-
nies already offer polygenic scores for cancer
and other diseases, and tests that combine
both kinds of information are imminent.
Before insurance companies agree to pay
for such tests, Ledbetter cautions, “They’re
going to want to see much more clinical
validation”—including for minorities, because
current polygenic analyses draw on data pri-
marily from people of European ancestry. j

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