Nature (Vol. 433, No. 7022, 13 January 2005)

86 Pages·2005·7.605 MB·English

Vol 433 No 7022 pp91-178
Editorials
News
News Feature
Correspondence
Books and Arts
Essay
News and Views
Brief Communications
Brief Communications Arising
Articles
Letters to Nature
Naturejobs

13 January 2005
Editorials
Dangerous state of denial 91
Despite the warning shots of SARS and last year's Asian outbreak of avian flu, governments are still
not doing enough to monitor and prepare for the next viral pandemic. This inaction is scandalous.

Rockets in Russia's back yard 91

Users of the Baikonur rocket base should care more about the health of local people

News
Forces gather behind proposal for a natural-disaster agency 93

Asian tsunami prompts political support for new international body.

Agencies fear global crises will lose out to tsunami donations 94

AIDS, malaria among the issues that may face funding shortfall.

Scientists seek action to fix Asia's ravaged ecosystems 94

Environmental concerns will be key to repairing communities.

Study links sickness to Russian launch site 95

Baikonur Cosmodrome may cause disease in Siberia.

European research framework set to expand 96

Seventh funding programme set to be twice as big as the sixth.

Health rules may hamper Japanese import of lab mice 96

New regulations to stem disease may make research harder.

Science's next generation finds its own way 97

Young researchers meet in Marrakech for World Academy.

news in brief 98

News Feature
Historical monuments: The film crew 100
Cave paintings and catacomb walls around Europe are decaying under microbial attack. Are
nightclub lights and designer chemicals the answer? Federica Castellani finds out.

Infectious disease: Vietnam's war on flu 102
Having suffered heavily from avian influenza in 2004, Vietnam might now be brewing the next

human flu pandemic. Yet, as Peter Aldhous discovers, local researchers don't have the resources to
investigate the risk properly.

Correspondence
Oceans need protection from scientists too 105

Unregulated research poses a serious threat to some unique marine environments.

Oceans: fisheries not to blame for damage 105

No political interference in US agricultural grants 105

Books and Arts
Science lessons 107
I
YOSHIAKI ITO reviews Genomu Haiboku (A Defeat in the Genome Project) by Nobuhito Kishi
Japan must learn from its mistakes in the human genome project.

Museum collection: A taste of their own medicines 108

Positive thinking 108

DANIEL NETTLE reviews Exuberance: The Passion for Life by Kay Redfield Jamison

Stemming the tide of turtle extinction 109
GRAEME C. HAYS reviews Sea Turtles: A Complete Guide to their Biology, Behavior, and
Conservation by James R. Spotila

Essay
Body doubles 111
ALBERTO G. SÁEZ AND ENCARNACIÓN LOZANO

Cryptic species: as we discover more examples of species that are morphologically
indistinguishable, we need to ask why and how they exist.

News and Views
Medicine: Knockout malaria vaccine? 113
ROBERT MÉNARD
An effective vaccine against malaria remains elusive. But the finding that a genetically manipulated
malaria parasite can protect its host lends fresh appeal to the idea of vaccines involving live
attenuated parasites.

Planetary science: Construction-site inspection 114
ALYCIA J. WEINBERGER

How do you build a planetary system? Astronomers are tackling the question by peering back in time
at the gas and dust surrounding stars younger than our Sun.

Palaeoclimate: Ripples of stormy weather 115

HEIKE LANGENBERG

100 and 50 years ago 116

Mammalian palaeobiology: Living large in the Cretaceous 116
ANNE WEIL
Discoveries of large, carnivorous mammals from the Cretaceous challenge the long-held view that
primitive mammals were small and uninteresting. Have palaeontologists been asking the wrong
questions?

Astrophysics: The process of carbon creation 117
MOUNIB EL EID
In the Universe, the element carbon is created only in stars, in a remarkable reaction called the
triple- process. Fresh insights into the reaction now come from the latest experiments carried out
on Earth.

Conservation biology: Parasite rattles diversity's cage 119
PETER D. MOORE
Grazing and mechanical mowing can increase plant diversity in grassland, probably by weakening
dominant species and so allowing others to thrive. A partially parasitic flower can, it seems, have a
similar effect.

Brief Communications
Behavioural ecology: Tool manufacture by naive juvenile crows 121
BEN KENWARD, ALEX A. S. WEIR, CHRISTIAN RUTZ & ALEX KACELNIK
The use of twigs by these birds to coax out hidden food seems to be an instinctive skill.

Brief Communications Arising
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: Hyphal fusion and multigenomic structure E3

JAMES D. BEVER AND MEI WANG

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi: Hyphal fusion and multigenomic structure (reply) E4

TERESA E. PAWLOWSKA AND JOHN W. TAYLOR

Articles
Extreme winds and waves in the aftermath of a Neoproterozoic glaciation 123

PHILIP A. ALLEN AND PAUL F. HOFFMAN

Simultaneous determination of protein structure and dynamics 128
KRESTEN LINDORFF-LARSEN, ROBERT B. BEST, MARK A. DEPRISTO, CHRISTOPHER M. DOBSON &
MICHELE VENDRUSCOLO

II
Letters to Nature
Mid-infrared images of Pictoris and the possible role of planetesimal collisions in the
central disk 133
CHARLES M. TELESCO, R. SCOTT FISHER, MARK C. WYATT, STANLEY F. DERMOTT,
THOMAS J. J. KEHOE, STEVEN NOVOTNY, NAIBI MARIÑAS, JAMES T. RADOMSKI,
CHRISTOPHER PACKHAM, JAMES DE BUIZER & THOMAS L. HAYWARD

Revised rates for the stellar triple- process from measurement of 12C nuclear
resonances 136
HANS O. U. FYNBO, CHRISTIAN AA. DIGET, UFFE C. BERGMANN, MARIA J. G. BORGE,
JOAKIM CEDERKÄLL, PETER DENDOOVEN, LUIS M. FRAILE, SERGE FRANCHOO,
VALENTIN N. FEDOSSEEV, BRIAN R. FULTON, WENXUE HUANG, JUSSI HUIKARI,

HENRIK B. JEPPESEN, ARI S. JOKINEN, PETER JONES, BJÖRN JONSON, ULLI KÖSTER,
KARLHEINZ LANGANKE, MIKAEL MEISTER, THOMAS NILSSON, GÖRAN NYMAN,
YOLANDA PREZADO, KARSTEN RIISAGER, SAMI RINTA-ANTILA, OLOF TENGBLAD,
MANUELA TURRION, YOUBAO WANG, LEONID WEISSMAN, KATARINA WILHELMSEN, JUHA ÄYSTÖ
& THE ISOLDE COLLABORATION

Systematic design of chemical oscillators using complexation and precipitation
equilibria 139
KRISZTINA KURIN-CSÖRGEI, IRVING R. EPSTEIN & MIKLÓS ORBÁN

Efficient export of carbon to the deep ocean through dissolved organic matter 142

CHARLES S. HOPKINSON JR AND JOSEPH J. VALLINO

Magma-assisted rifting in Ethiopia 146

J.-M. KENDALL, G. W. STUART, C. J. EBINGER, I. D. BASTOW & D. KEIR

Large Mesozoic mammals fed on young dinosaurs 149

YAOMING HU, JIN MENG, YUANQING WANG & CHUANKUI LI

The simplicity of metazoan cell lineages 152
RICARDO B. R. AZEVEDO, ROLF LOHAUS, VOLKER BRAUN, MARKUS GUMBEL,

MURALIKRISHNA UMAMAHESHWAR, PAUL-MICHAEL AGAPOW, WOUTER HOUTHOOFD,
UTE PLATZER, GAËTAN BORGONIE, HANS-PETER MEINZER & ARMAND M. LEROI

Unexpected complexity of the Wnt gene family in a sea anemone 156
ARNE KUSSEROW, KEVIN PANG, CARSTEN STURM, MARTINA HROUDA, JAN LENTFER,

HEIKO A. SCHMIDT, ULRICH TECHNAU, ARNDT VON HAESELER, BERT HOBMAYER,
MARK Q. MARTINDALE & THOMAS W. HOLSTEIN

Low gene copy number shows that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi inherit genetically
different nuclei 160
MOHAMED HIJRI AND IAN R. SANDERS

Genetically modified Plasmodium parasites as a protective experimental malaria
vaccine 164
ANN-KRISTIN MUELLER, MEHDI LABAIED, STEFAN H. I. KAPPE & KAI MATUSCHEWSKI

Binding of brassinosteroids to the extracellular domain of plant receptor kinase BRI1 167
TOSHINORI KINOSHITA, ANA CAÑO-DELGADO, HIDEHARU SETO, SAYOKO HIRANUMA,
SHOZO FUJIOKA, SHIGEO YOSHIDA & JOANNE CHORY

Stabilization of microtubule dynamics at anaphase onset promotes chromosome
segregation 171
TORU HIGUCHI AND FRANK UHLMANN

Naturejobs
Prospects: Scientific personalities 177

PAUL SMAGLIK

Career View 178

Job outlooks from the scientific community

Graduate Journal: Over-specialization? 178

ANNE MARGARET LEE

Scientists & Societies 178

DARLENE ZELLERS

Movers 178

III
13.1 Editorial 91 MH 11/1/05 2:14 pm Page 91
13 January 2005 Volume 433Issue no 7022
Dangerous state of denial
Despite the warning shots of SARS and last year’s Asian outbreak of avian flu, governments are still not doing enough to
monitor and prepare for the next viral pandemic. This inaction is scandalous.
For Mrs Luat,the H5N1 avian flu virus could bring economic The WHO has appointed an official in Geneva to coordinate Asian
ruin.Three years ago,she and her husband borrowed US$12,500 research efforts,and has enlisted the help ofthe US National Institute
to establish a small chicken farm in Hay Tay province,near the of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to establish a regional clinical
Vietnamese capital Hanoi.They raise 6,000 chickens at a time in research network.But much more needs to be done.
their single shed,selling the entire stock every couple ofmonths to On the veterinary side,the picture is even bleaker.Rich govern-
a Thai company that distributes the meat within Vietnam.But last ments are disinclined to build up poor countries’ability to keep track
year,their shed lay empty for six months after H5N1 flu hit neigh- of animal viruses, seeing this as economic assistance rather than
bouring farms.Mrs Luat estimates the couple’s losses at $1,500.Ifit humanitarian aid.The experience ofsmallholders like Luat shows that
happens again,they may be unable to service their debts. surveillance for such viruses has vast local economic significance.
While smallholders such as the Luats face the most immediate But rich countries must abandon their mindset ofprotectionism and
threat,the continuing presence ofthe H5N1 virus in Vietnam and realize that establishing global surveillance will ultimately help pro-
neighbouring countries could spell a global disaster,in both econ- tect the health and economic productivity oftheir own citizens.
omic and humanitarian terms.H5N1 is deadly to both chickens and The lack ofassistance with surveillance is hardly surprising,how-
people,but thankfully isn’t easily transmitted from person to person. ever,when you consider that few rich nations have made any effort to
But ifit exchanges genes with a mammalian flu virus,H5N1 could stockpile Tamiflu,the one drug that can combat a flu virus as patho-
become a mass killer that would rapidly sweep the globe. If that genic as H5N1,nor to ramp up capacity to produce large quantities of
happens,tens ofmillions ofpeople could perish. a new vaccine should a pandemic strain emerge.On 8 December,the
Since H5N1 starting spreading through Asian poultry flocks in WHO summarized the situation:“While it is impossible to accurately
2003,the World Health Organization (WHO) has been sounding the forecast the magnitude ofthe next pandemic,we do know that much
pandemic alarm.Two main actions are required.First,surveillance ofthe world is unprepared for a pandemic ofany size.”
for human and animal flu viruses in affected countries needs to be The world dodged a bullet in 2003,when a newly emerging corona-
stepped up,to provide an early warning ofthe emergence ofa possi- virus sparked an outbreak ofsevere acute respiratory syndrome,or
ble pandemic strain.Second,nations around the world must develop SARS.We may yet avoid H5N1 flu,but sooner or later we will face a
plans to protect their populations should this occur.This will require new global viral pandemic,probably triggered by a chance encounter
stringent quarantine procedures, plus the rapid deployment of between a mammalian flu virus and an avian one,such as H5N1.
vaccines and antiviral drugs. When that happens,and the corpses start piling up,world leaders
Surveillance in Asia leaves much to be desired.In Vietnam,where will be asked some searching questions about the steps they took to
at least 22 people have already died,officials lack the resources to con- avoid such a calamity and to prepare for the worst.
duct the extensive serological studies that are needed to investigate After the SARS outbreak,Naturetook stock ofour preparedness
the full extent ofhuman infection (see page 102).Neighbouring Laos for the next viral threat (see Nature424,113;2003) and asked what we
and Cambodia,meanwhile,have virtually no monitoring capacity. have learned.The answer so far,it seems,is not very much. ■
Rockets in Russia’s back yard
Users of the Baikonur rocket base should care more about the health of local people.
Picture this scenario.A rocket lifts off,carrying a cargo destined respected organization.At the very least,it should serve as a warning
for Earth orbit.As the rocket heads upwards,it dumps highly flag to any agency that uses the base.
toxic fuel onto the land below it.People living below the flight Rosaviakosmos,the Russian space agency,says its own studies
path say the pollution is making them ill,and demand compensation. show that the launches do not cause ill health.But the satellite launch-
In Europe or the United States,this would be headline news.We ing business is highly profitable,so the agency has a clear conflict of
would expect NASA or the European Space Agency (ESA) to investi- interest.ESA and NASA do not run the base but share some responsi-
gate.And should the allegations ofill-health prove correct,national bility for how it is used.There is a recent analogy here with Western
governments would be forced to pay compensation. companies who are rightly under pressure to clean up their act in
For US and European residents,this problem is hypothetical.For nations where employment law does little to protect workers.
the Siberian people who live north ofthe Baikonur Cosmodrome in There are currently insufficient data for firm conclusions to be
Kazakhstan,it isn’t (see page 95).Both ESA and NASA use Baikonur, drawn,so Rosaviakosmos should fund a detailed independent inves-
but neither they nor the Russian administrators of the base seem tigation,and ESA and NASA should offer to help.All three should
overly concerned about the population. commit to making the results publicly available as soon as possible.
The first detailed epidemiological study of people living under Ifthe Western agencies wonder why they need be involved,they
the flight path suggests that the rocket fuel is indeed causing health shouldask themselves what would happen ifUS or European resi-
problems.The study has not been peer reviewed,but it is funded by a dents made similar complaints to those emanating from Siberia. ■
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13.1 News 93 MH 11/1/05 2:17 pm Page 93
news
Vital repairs Fuel proof Looking ahead Teen Titians
Ecosystems deemed Russian rockets Europe discusses its Artists scoop
key to recovery sparks claims of next Framework Huygens probe
from tsunami health risks programme with views ofTitan
p94 p95 p96 p98
Forces gather behind proposal
for a natural-disaster agency
P
A
O/
K
HI
OS
H
E.
As reliefworkers survey the wreckage from the Asian tsunami,international pressure is being channelled into moves to anticipate such crises.
Jim Giles,London and Emma Marris,Washington reduction schemes, warning systems and A similar quake in California the same month
Following the recent tsunami in the Indian future research priorities,he says.The body killed only two people.
Ocean,momentum is building behind a plan could complement an international disaster- With extra funding and political backing,
for an international body that would coordi- relief organization,calls for which are also Briceno says,the ISDR could do the job that
nate preparations for natural disasters. attracting political attention. King is proposing.At the World Conference
David King,the UK government’s chief “There are a large number of bodies on Disaster Reduction,scheduled for 18–22
scientific adviser,is actively pushing for such already doing this.We need to pull things January in Kobe,Japan,Briceno plans to call
a body.He says the idea will be promoted by together under a single umbrella,”says King. on governments to channel a fraction of
UK officials at meetings of the G8 — the their humanitarian aid budgets into an
world’s eight largest industrialized countries Existing foundations enlarged ISDR,creating a fund worth hun-
— which will take place in Britain this year. The organization currently performing the dreds ofmillions ofdollars a year.
“With world attention focused on natural role closest to that proposed by King is the Despite broad support for a coordinating
disasters,it’s an idea that many people feel is United Nations International Strategy for body, disagreement persists over how it
ripe,”says King. Disaster Reduction (ISDR),based in Geneva, should function.Some experts say that,like
Academics who were contacted by Nature Switzerland. This agency has an annual the IPCC,the panel should simply pass on
had varying ideas about how such a panel budget ofjust US$5 million and is currently assessments rather than making explicit rec-
should function,but gave the thrust of the restricted to promoting governments’ ommendations and helping to implement
proposal almost unanimous support.“This awareness ofthe need to prepare for natural them.“When scientific bodies tell govern-
needs to be put together now,”says Robert disasters, from wildfires to storms and ments what to do they get rejected,”says Wat-
Watson,chiefscientist at the World Bank in droughts. son,a former chairman ofthe IPCC.It can
Washington DC. Salvano Briceno, the agency’s director, be more effective to provide analyses and let
Although the proposal is still in its infancy, says it had been advocating a tsunami warn- governments take their own steps,he adds.
King has put some thought into how it ing system for the Indian Ocean for several Others say the practicalities of handing
should work.He suggests that a permanent years,but lacked the political clout to imple- out funds should be left to an organization
group ofnatural and social scientists,together ment it.Also in need ofurgent attention,says such as the World Bank.It has the experience
with economists,should periodically review Briceno,are building regulations in the earth- to ensure that scientific advice actually gets
research into natural disasters,in much the quake-prone areas of less developed coun- implemented, says Debarati Guha-Sapir,
same way that the Intergovernmental Panel tries.When building codes are not enforced, director of the Center for Research on the
on Climate Change (IPCC) looks at research the results can be catastrophic — as demon- Epidemiology ofDisasters in Brussels,Bel-
on global warming.Their findings would be strated by the earthquake in Bam, Iran, in gium.“And it has the financial muscle to get
channelled into recommendations for risk- December 2003,in which 30,000 people died. governments involved in projects.” ■
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13.1 News 94 MH 11/1/05 2:18 pm Page 94
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Agencies fear global E
B
O
GL
crises will lose out to AL
T
GI
DI
tsunami donations
Declan Butler
The huge outpouring ofdonations to the
tsunami reliefeffort is raising concerns
that the disaster might soak up funds badly
needed for other humanitarian crises.
Last week the medical aid group
Médecins Sans Frontières announced that
it now has enough money — €41 million
(US$54 million) — for the first phase ofits
tsunami reliefoperations,and so began
encouraging people to donate to its
general fund instead.This money provides Before and after:the Asian tsunami has done untold damage to the region’s environment.
aid to places such as war-torn Sudan.
Tony Blair,the UK prime minister, Scientists seek action to fix
also expressed concern last week that
tsunami aid could detract from other
Asia’s ravaged ecosystems
pressing development needs.He pointed
out that there was a disaster comparable
to a “preventable tsunami every week in
Africa”,where 10,000 people die daily Helen Pearson about its previous condition.And some key
from AIDS and malaria alone.Blair Repairing the ecosystems damaged by the research labs that could monitor progress
hopes to persuade the G8 nations to Asian tsunami should be a priority, say have been damaged. At Sri Lanka’s main
approve an aid package worth half-a- environmental organizations, if the long- aquatic research centre,the National Aquatic
trillion dollars to address such issues term livelihood ofdevastated communities Resources Research and Development
in developing countries. is to be secured. Agency near Colombo,flooded instruments
Governments have so far pledged They are urging the international com- and a ruined research vessel will delay efforts
more than US$3.4 billion to the tsunami munity to ensure that marine parks are main- to resume studies,says its director-general
effort,and as Naturewent to press, tained,some communities are shifted inland, Sepalika Jayamanne.
donors were meeting with the United and defensive buffer zones ofmangrove are Environmental scientists say that pre-
Nations to firm up the figures.In the case planted against future erosion and typhoons. existing damage to coastlines and marine
ofsome pledges,including those ofthe Although emergency help to survivors ecosystems from settlements, over-fishing,
United States and Japan,the hundreds of clearly remains the main concern,environ- climate change and pollution worsened the
millions promised come mainly from mental groups are already counting the impact ofthe tsunami and have lessened the
existing budgets for development aid. wider cost,including eroded coastlines and ability ofmarine ecosystems to bounce back.
“Unless there is a supplemental saltwater pollution offresh water and farm- “It’s stacking one stress on top ofanother,”
appropriation,then the dollars pledged lands. Some coral reefs, seagrass beds and says Jerker Tamelander,who coordinates the
will definitely have to come out ofcurrent mangrove swamps,which are vital feeding World Conservation Union’s marine pro-
budgets and thus will compete with other and breeding grounds for fish and other gramme in Colombo.
needs,”says Enriqueta Bond,president of ocean life,are thought to have been uprooted In one preliminary study,Parish and his
the US Burroughs Wellcome Fund. or smothered by sand and debris. colleagues analysed satellite images ofAceh
“There is reason for concern.The Without efforts to repair these ecosys- province in Sumatra, one of the worst hit
tsunami will decrease the probability of tems,researchers say that there could be seri- regions,before and after the tsunami.They
major new investments in global disease ous,long-term consequences for the com- say that destruction was far worse where pro-
control in 2005,”adds Allan Schapira, munities that rely on the coast and ocean for tective mangrove swamps had been replaced
policy coordinator for the World Health food,fuel and storm protection.“It’ll be crit- by fish farms and settlements.
Organization’s branch ofRoll Back ical to ensure that they are re-established as To avoid repeating these mistakes,Parish
Malaria,a UN-led partnership. quickly as possible,”says Faizal Parish,a wet- and other researchers say it is vital to consider
Despite the massive loss oflife,the lands researcher who directs the Global conservation priorities from the start of
tsunami’s impact on the economies of Environment Centre in Selangor,Malaysia. reconstruction.
the countries affected will be relatively Environmental organizations say that the The catastrophe should also serve as a
modest,as ports and other major first priority is to document the amount and wake-up call to other regions of the globe:
economic centres survived largely types ofdestruction wrought by the waves. areas such as those around the Pacific Ocean,
unscathed,according to US investment Some have already launched preliminary where environmental damage may also have
bank Morgan Stanley. surveys with satellite images and divers.And weakened natural defences against earth-
“While everyone opens up their the United Nations Environment Pro- quakes and tsunamis,says Ian Dutton,who
coffers for these disasters,the ongoing toll gramme announced in late December that it heads the Indonesia programme for the
from malaria,AIDS and tuberculosis is would initially commit US$1 million to an Nature Conservancy, an environmental
much larger than these one-time events,” environmental assessment. group headquartered in Arlington,Virginia.
says Bond.“We would do more good to But working out exactly what has been “It’s a chance for the world to take stock
invest in prevention and good public- lost and its rate ofrecovery will be difficult. of how we’re increasing our vulnerability
health measures such as clean water.” ■ For some regions there is no information to disasters.” ■
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Study links sickness to Russian launch site
Jim Giles,London A
ES
Rocket launches in Kazakhstan are causing A/
serious illness among people who live near RVAJ
O
the take-off site, according to an unpub- S.C
lished study seen by Nature.
The Baikonur Cosmodrome is the launch
pad for many missions to the International
Space Station.But highly toxic fuel from spent
rocket stages falls on to the sparsely populated
regions close to cosmodrome,where it causes
serious health problems,say researchers from
Vector,the State Research Center ofVirology
and Biotechnology in Novosibirsk.The level
ofsome diseases,such as endocrine and blood
disorders,in polluted areas is more than twice
the regional average,they say.
Epidemiologists outside Russia who have
seen the study say that the findings are diffi-
cult to verify without more detailed knowl-
edge of how the data were collected.They
say that although such results should be
regarded with caution,given the sometimes
disorganized state ofthe country’s medical
records,the problem deserves international
attention. Baikonur is run by Rosavia-
kosmos,the Russian space agency,but both
NASA and the European Space Agency Unburned fuel from rockets launched at Baikonur could be causing ill health in Siberia.
(ESA) pay to have craft launched from there.
The most detailed part ofthe study,led by But some question whether the Russian standards in the Altai region, which are
Vector epidemiologist Sergey Zykov,focuses authorities will be willing to face up to any below average for Russia.
on children in the Altai Republic,a moun- pollution. Baikonur is one of the world’s Others note that Russian researchers have
tainous region on the southern fringes of busiest launch sites and a source ofconsider- previously been accused of producing
Siberia.Zykov chose the republic because it able income for the Russian government. alarming findings in order to attract funding
has been contaminated by fuel, such as One expert on the country’s space industry, from the West.Valerie Beral,an epidemiolo-
dimethylhydrazine,that is used to power the who asked not to be named,estimates that gist at Cancer Research UK in Oxford,points
early stages ofsome Russian launchers. the profit on an individual commercial out that some studies ofthe 1986 Chernobyl
He estimates that a typical launch results launch could be as much as US$25 million. nuclear disaster produced conclusions that
in dozens of litres of unburned fuel being Zykov says he has discussed the problem could not be replicated. She says that the
sprayed over several square kilometres of with Rosaviakosmos officials, but that they Baikonur issue deserves attention,but cau-
land.“These propellants are nasty,toxic sub- have a “negative attitude” to studies con- tions that the same may be happening here.
stances,”says Fabio Caramelli,an engineer at ducted outside their agency.And one scientist The study does have the backing of the
the European Space Research and Technol- who has campaigned against the launches in respected Moscow-based International Sci-
ogy Centre in Noordwijk,the Netherlands. the region alleges that he has been harassed by ence and Technology Center.Zykov says that
“A tablespoon of hydrazine in a swimming the FSB,the main successor to the Soviet KGB. the centre and other funders provide about
pool would kill anyone who drank the water.” Between 2000 and 2004, ecologist Sergey $11,000 per month in funding for 35
Pashenko ofthe Institute ofChemical Kinet- researchers who have worked on the project.
Health scare ics and Combustion in Novosibirsk studied Rosaviakosmos is considering alternatives
Zykov examined health records of about pollution from a rocket testing ground in to hydrazine,but has no immediate plans to
1,000 children in two polluted areas for Biysk,also in the Altai.He says he was arrested replace the fuel.Proton launch vehicles,one of
1998–2000, comparing them with 330 twice and also had his equipment confiscated. three types of Russian rockets that use
records from a nearby unpolluted control hydrazine,are due to launch two telecommu-
area.Grouping all cases ofdisease together, Official view nications satellites from Baikonur this year.
Zykov’s team concluded that children from Rosaviakosmos rejected the conclusions of Despite using Baikonur for launches,
the worst affected area were up to twice as Zykov’s study when approached by Nature. neither NASA nor ESA accepts responsibility
likely to require medical attention during Spokesman Vyacheslav Davidenko says the for problems associated with the site.NASA
the three years studied and needed to be agency monitors the health oflocal popula- says it is aware ofthe pollution,but notes that
treated for twice as long. tions and has found no problem with the Rosaviakosmos has made “positive progress”
Local environmental groups have cam- launches.The agency accepts that pollution in reducing the quantity offuel released with
paigned against the pollution,but this has occurs and says the regions involved are spent rocket stages.An ESA spokesman said
had little international impact. Zykov says compensated, although it did not supply that the agency was only buying a service at
his work is the first to collect the detailed details of the sums involved. Davidenko Baikonur and was not responsible for the
medical statistics needed to confirm that the adds that the affected areas contain so few rockets. Most other major bases used by
problem is real. He and his colleagues are people that the fuel has little human impact NASA and ESA,such as Cape Canaveral in
now seeking funding for a larger study. and any ill health is likely to be due to living Florida,send rockets out over the sea. ■
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European research framework set to expand
Alison Abbott,Munich M
O
Officials in Brussels are drawing up plans C
WS
for the European Union’s Seventh Frame- E
N
work Programme of Research (FP7), and TY/
T
the proposed scope may cheer the conti- GE
P/
nent’s scientists. AF
The officials hope to avoid major revi- RLES/
sions to the existing, Sixth Framework CE
Programme (FP6)— but FP7 will be twice as G.
big and include a more extensive basic-
research component.
The proposal still has to survive months
of political wrangling that will follow its
publication by the European Commission in
April. But early indications of its content
suggest that the form-filling requirements
that irked researchers in previous pro-
grammes will not worsen significantly.
According to commission insiders, the In the frame:Janez Potocˇnik,an EU commissioner,is bullish about Europe’s research programme.
‘instruments’ of the programme, such as
the transnational Integrated Projects and objectives’, set out in 2000, which aim to grantees.But Janez Potocˇnik,the Slovenian
Networks of Excellence, will remain the increase Europe’s long-term competitiveness economist who became EU research com-
same.Instruments have sometimes changed by strengthening research.In view ofthese,it missioner in November,remains confident.
radically between each Framework,so that will request that the four-year budget be “I hope we won’t be forced to cut priorities
experience gained in applying for one pro- more than doubled to some €30 billion that were favoured in Lisbon,”he says,adding
gramme did not help much in the next. (US$40billion). that he doesn’t expect this to happen.
The thematic areas are likely to remain After publication, the plan has to be A separate budget for a European
the same:life sciences,information sciences, approved by both the European Parliament Research Council will probably be included
nanosciences, aeronautics, food quality, and the European Council. To ensure a in the proposal.Some fear that the creation
energy and governance.But they will be joined smooth transition from FP6, which runs ofthis council could make the basic-research
by two new ones:space science and security. until 2006, final approval will be sought component ofFP7 politically vulnerable,but
In preparing its plans,the EU Research this September. This approval process has Potocˇnik says he will fight to maintain it.
Commission has taken into account various previously reduced Framework programmes “Basic research is fundamental to our plans
political demands, including the ‘Lisbon and increased the bureaucratic burden on at all levels,”he says. ■
Health rules may hamper Japanese import of lab mice
Ichiko Fuyuno,Tokyo National Institute ofGenetics in Shizuoka. P
A
Japan is to introduce a new regulation for Many institutions and universities in KO/
N
animal imports,in an effort to prevent the United States and Europe already issue RE
A
outbreaks ofdiseases that could infect hygiene certificates indicating that rats or PIS
humans.But biologists worry that the rule mice are free from specific pathogens.“We N.
will simply make it harder to do research. wonder why existing certificates won’t work
From September 2005,the health — and how much government certificates
ministry will require importers ofbirds can help to prevent disease,”Shiroishi says.
and most mammals to provide a health He adds that the government’s approach
certificate issued by the government ofthe is unreasonable,considering that imports
exporting country.For rodents — including oflab rats or mice are not known to infect
rats and mice — these certificates must show On form:lab animals will have to be certified as humans.Researchers say it will be difficult
that the animals are clear ofseven diseases healthy before they can be imported into Japan. to get exporting countries to test animals for
that are infectious to humans,including diseases such as rabies.Other countries have
plague,rabies and monkeypox.Imports controlled conditions,for fear that some different rules on lab imports — the United
ofwild rodents will be banned outright. importers might abuse such exemptions. States,for example,imposes few conditions,
The rule,which is part ofa wider clamp- The move comes at a time when demand according to Japan’s health ministry.
down on infectious diseases in Japan,will for rats and mice is growing sharply.At a The ministry plans to ask exporting
also require certificates for frozen carcasses, 16December meeting to explain the new countries to be cooperative in issuing
but not for frozen embryos. requirement,140 researchers complained certificates.But Tadao Serikawa,director of
The ministry says the main purpose of that it would make the import oflab animals the Institute ofLaboratory Animals at Kyoto
the rule is to keep wild rodents out ofJapan. time-consuming and expensive.“This will University,says it’s not clear that this will
But it has decided not to exempt laboratory affect our research,”saidToshihiko Shiroishi, help.The result could be “a big loss for
mice and rats that are bred abroad in strictly who studies mouse development at the scientific research”in Japan,he predicts. ■
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13.1 News 97 VA 11/1/05 9:51 am Page 97
news
Science’s next generation finds its own way
Quirin Schiermeier,Marrakech science-policy discussions at the global level. Jean Fall,a Senegalese fisheries nutritionist
A throng ofyoung scientists from six conti- Granting a stronger say to young scien- who is completing his PhD at the National
nents hit the dance floor of a Moroccan tists is overdue,says Thomas Rosswall,exec- Taiwan Ocean University in Keelung.
disco in the heart ofMarrakech.They were utive director of the International Council WAYS’s projects have yet to take shape,
there to unwind to an eclectic mix ofArabic for Science,a global organization ofnational however.Meeting attendees were too busy
tunes and Latin salsa after three days of scientific bodies and international scientific hammering out an institutional framework
intense networking and discussions about unions.“At any given academy meeting any- to figure out what the group should actually
their future. where on the globe you see grey-haired men do once it gets going. Candidate projects
The crowd was celebrating the founda- speaking to other grey-haired men,”he says. include the creation ofa journal specifically
tion ofthe World Academy ofYoung Scien- “We would appreciate a partnership, for young scientists;training programmes to
tists (WAYS), the first body to represent through WAYS,with the next generation of help people write their research papers;free
young researchers of all disciplines from scientists.We need their inspiration.” online access to scientific literature; and a
every corner of the planet. Earlier in the WAYS has so far accepted membership database ofgroups to help set up collabora-
evening,after lengthy and sometimes heated applications from around 1,000 young sci- tions with young scientists from disadvan-
debate,members had finally agreed on a con- entists,ofvarious ages and experience.Sally taged countries.
stitution,leadership and rules ofgovernance Tan,for example,is just 16 years old and a
for the new academy. mathematics student at the Illinois Mathe- Way to go
Around 150 researchers and observers matics and Science Academy in Aurora,an Poorer nations are particularly optimistic
from 85 countries made it to the inaugural institution for exceptionally talented under- about WAYS.“In many African countries,an
meeting on 13 December,lending the assem- graduates.Other WAYS members are older official affiliation is crucial when speaking
bly the air ofa full-blown carnival ofnations. — working researchers who are worried to the authorities,”explains Serge Sawadogo,
“In all my professional life I have never seen about their generation’s, or their nation’s, an immunologist from Burkina Faso, who
such a diversity of cultures,” gushes Diana lack of representation in debates about recently finished his PhD in Marseille.“Being
Malpede, a science-policy specialist at the scientific issues. a member ofWAYS could open doors.”
United Nations Educational,Scientific and Some members are also on the look-out for Sawadogo plans to build up free online
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which co-workers.“I need partners to help me raise access to journals for science students at
provided most ofthe meeting’s funding. interest in fish farming in my country,”says the University ofOuagadougou in Burkina
The idea ofa global organization ofyoung Faso,where he is about to start a six-month
R
scientists was first conceived at the 1999 malaria project.During his stay in France he E
EI
UNESCO World Conference on Science in has frequently supplied scientific literature RM
E
Budapest, Hungary (see Nature 400, 100; to colleagues in his home country,whom he HI
C
1999).The creation ofWAYS was then offi- feels obliged to support.“Normally it takes Q.S
cially announced at 2003’s World Science them at least three months to get hold ofa
Forum in the Hungarian capital.The group’s paper which they might need for their
primary goal,says Gaell Mainguy,a French work,”he says.
developmental biologist and the first president WAYS accepts all science students and
ofWAYS,is to strengthen the voice ofstudents researchers under 40 who demonstrate an
and young researchers in both science and active interest in research and support the
academy’s goals.But the group — or a divi-
R
E sion ofit — should eventually evolve into a
EI
RM real academy,choosing its members on their
E
HI Researchers at a UNESCO-sponsored conference scientific merits, suggests György Pálfi, a
C
Q.S worked to bring young scientists together. science attaché at the Hungarian embassy in
Paris and senior adviser to WAYS.
Pálfi dreams of a ‘junior Nobel prize’,
awarded by WAYS,and he has begun search-
ing for potential sponsors. The academy’s
honorary members — six Nobel laureates,
including Leon Ledermann,winner of the
1988 prize for physics — might be persuaded
to play jury,he hopes.
But the ambitions ofmost ofthe young
scientists in Marrakech are more down to
Earth. “I hope to get access to other labs
and meet people interested in my field,”says
Nermeen Youssef, a 21-year-old hepatitis
researcher at the University of Cairo, who
joined the nascent WAYS network in 2003.
WAYS’s success in overcoming cultural
barriers in science, and becoming a global
mouthpiece for the younger generation of
researchers, will be evaluated by its audit
committee before the next meeting in 2006.■
Road to the future:Marrakech hosted the inaugural meeting ofthe World Academy ofYoung Scientists.
➧ www.waysnet.org
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© 2005 Nature PublishingGroup
13.1 News 98 NIBS MH 11/1/05 2:15 pm Page 98
news in brief
Swift response by
Young talent unveiled in Titan art competition
NASA satellite records
MunichTwo 15-year-old girls have Y
T
a burst of activity landed top prizes in a competition to CIE
O
depict what might lie beneath the haze Y S
R
WashingtonWell,that was quick.NASA’s that envelops Saturn’s biggest moon. TA
E
Swift satellite,launched on 20 November Chelsey Tyler, from Harrisburg, North AN
last year to speed up astronomers’responses Carolina, beat 435 people from 35 E PL
to short-lived (cid:1)-ray bursts,has already countries to scoop the overall prize with G/TH
started returning results.It bagged its first “Chaos Beneath the Veil”, and Xinlu AN
F
detection on 17 December while its main Fang, currently living in McAllen, Texas, X.
instrument,the Burst Alert Telescope,was took a first prize with “By the Shores of
still being calibrated.Four more detections Titan” (pictured right).
followed in the next three days.By 10 Fang imagined a landscape of lakes
January,the count was up to nine. and mountains based on what scientists
As soon as Swift detects a (cid:1)-ray burst, had expected to find — she describes it as If all goes well, images of what the surface
it zooms in with its X-ray,ultraviolet and “a plausible, yet slightly idealistic image”. really looks like will be beamed back by the
optical telescopes (see Nature431,1035; But low-resolution radar images of Titan taken Huygens craft, which has disengaged from
2004),although so far this has been done last month by the Saturn probe Cassini failed to Cassini and will parachute through Titan’s
manually.Ifscientists are to learn about the show evidence of lakes of liquid hydrocarbons. atmosphere on 14 January.
origins of(cid:1)-ray bursts — the collapse ofa
star into a black hole,perhaps — Swift must 56-hectare site,including 70 buildings,was for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore.
respond quickly,as these elusive events last put on the market by Bass’s company Rao is also president ofthe Academy of
barely a few minutes. Decisions Investment ofFort Worth,Texas. Sciences for the Developing World,based in
Project scientists had initially predicted A Tucson-based real-estate agent,CB Trieste,Italy.His new position may carry the
that Swift would see at least 100 bursts a Richard Ellis,has offered it for bids,with no rank ofgovernment minister,although this
year.But “it looks like we’ll have more than price listed,as a potential health spa,school will depend on future discussions.
that,”says principal investigator Neil Gehrels or biotechnology facility. Rao headed the earlier council until the
ofNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center fall ofthe Congress government in the 1996
in Greenbelt,Maryland. United States cottons elections.Although the council continued to
exist on paper,it was in practice moribund.
on to Monsanto bribery
Auctioneers size up domed Its revival under the dynamic Rao has been
San DiegoThe agrochemical company widely welcomed by Indian scientists.Rao
project for Arizona spa
Monsanto last week agreed to pay the US says his priorities will be to reduce
San DiegoAn Arizona research centre government US$1.5 million to settle charges bureaucracy,strengthen the science base in
designed to test man’s impact on the that it had bribed Indonesian officials in an universities and make science a stronger
environment is up for sale. attempt to win regulatory approval for its component in development efforts.
Opened in 1991,Biosphere 2 was the genetically modified cotton seed.The
$200-million dream ofEd Bass,a Texas charges were brought by the Department Oxford to bridge gap
billionaire interested in the environment. ofJustice and the Securities and Exchange
between faith and fact
The 1.3-hectare greenhouse ecosystem near Commission.
Tucson was intended to mimic the Earth’s Monsanto,based in St Louis,Missouri, LondonSubjective human experience and
environment and conditions for future space acknowledged that its employees had paid the abstract world ofbeliefwill be the focal
colonies.It was home to eight ‘biospherians’ $700,000 in bribes to unnamed Indonesian points for a newly set up Oxford Centre for
for two years,before the experiment was government officials between 1997 and Science ofthe Mind.
wound up amid bickering and health 2002.The Monsanto employees failed to The UK centre is being funded for its
concerns (see Nature368,88;1994). secure the legislative change they sought. first two years by a US$2-million grant from
In 1996,New-York-based Columbia A federal criminal charge against the the John Templeton Foundation in West
University took over the complex,seeking to corporation for violating the US Foreign Conshohocken,Pennsylvania,which
make the facility an environmental research Corrupt Practices Act will be held in supports research on the interface
laboratory.But by 2003,the university had abeyance for three years while Monsanto’s between science and religion.
stopped managing the project. performance is monitored by an outside The work will be coordinated by six
With no other universities interested,the auditor.The charge will be dismissed if departments at the University ofOxford,
E no other problems arise. and will be headed by neuroscientist Susan
R
CB “Monsanto accepts full responsibility for Greenfield,director ofthe Royal Institution
these improper activities,”said company ofGreat Britain.Among the projects to be
counsel Charles Burson.He added that the tackled are how social phenomena such as
employees involved had been fired. terrorism are driven by religious beliefs.
Boost for Indian science as Open archive policy
Nature Publishing Group announces a new
advisory board is revived
policy in which its authors are encouraged to
New DelhiIndia’s prime minister Manmohan deposit their own final versions of their papers
Singh has announced the resurrection ofa in their funding body’s and institution’s open
Paradise cost:Biosphere 2 is offered for sale,at high-level scientific advisory council.The archive six months after publication. For details,
an unspecified price,for miscellaneous use. council will be headed by chemist C.N.R.Rao, see http://npg.nature.com/pdf/archiving.doc.
who founded the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre
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