Nature (Vol. 434, No. 7034, 7 April 2005)

139 Pages·2005·9.53 MB·English

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7 April 2005 Volume 434Issue no 7034
Uncomfortable truths
A thorough investigation of German scientists’ actions under the Nazi regime reveals a more complex and ambiguous story
than that implanted in the public mind at the end of the Second World War.
The inhumanity ofsome ofthe research carried out in Germany requiring scientists to join the Nazi Party.And it found that,far from
during the Third Reich is well known, and universally being subjected to force,many scientists voluntarily oriented their
abhorred.The work ofJosefMengele,the young doctor who work to fit the regime’s policies — as a way ofgetting money and of
conducted deadly genetics experiments on inmates ofAuschwitz,is exploiting the new resources that Nazi policies made available
perhaps the most notorious example ofthese appalling crimes. through, for example, the invasion of other countries. Most
For decades after the Second World War,the prevailing view of researchers,it turns out,seem to have regarded the regime not as a
how scientists interacted with the Nazi regime was fixated on such threat,but as an opportunity for their research ambitions.
cases ofdramatic criminality.According to this view,science during
the Nazi era was contaminated by a few, very rotten apples. This Lessons for the future
version ofhistory also held that these rotten apples were engaged in It has taken more than 50 years for such a serious, dispassionate
‘pseudoscience’— low-quality research whose results were meaning- reanalysis to become possible,at least in Germany — for both psycho-
less;that the Nazis held ‘real’science in low esteem,so that the main logical and practical reasons.First,a generation ofacademics is retir-
body ofscientists simply trod water for the duration;and that most ing,and their successors need a clear path,unburdened by the legacy
of those who did work to further the aims of the regime did so of the Third Reich and the pressures to rebuild Germany after the
under duress. war.Second,important Russian archives became available to Western
This conventional wisdom was broadly framed at the Nuremberg historians only after the end ofthe cold war.
trials,which condemned the heinous crimes ofhigh-ranking Nazis, The programme’s final conference, held last month in Berlin,
but did not enquire into the behaviour ofless notorious individuals, made clear the productivity ofthe endeavour.A thick dossier ofpub-
including rank-and-file scientists. lications is also freely available on the website ofthe Max Planck Insti-
This account suited both the winners and losers ofthe war.By tute for the History ofScience,which hosted the independent group
eliminating the worst offenders,justice was seen to be done.Experi- in Berlin (www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ KWG/engl.htm).The dossier
enced scientists and research managers were left alone to rebuild the portrays individuals who clearly overstepped the ethical line,such as
science infrastructure ofthe destroyed country.The victorious Allies plant geneticist Hans Stubbe,who collaborated with the SS to get
needed what was then West Germany to function as a strong but hold ofvaluable Russian plant collections after the invasion ofRussia.
peaceful country,as a bastion against the communist threat to the It reveals even more about a large ethical grey area.Researchers at
East.And science was an integral part ofthat. the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Metal Research in Stuttgart,for exam-
ple,voluntarily came up with many projects to improve the perfor-
Second take mance ofexisting weapons.And it bears out accusations made against
More recently,science historians have begun to question the rotten- AdolfButenandt,the Nobel-prizewinning biochemist who was presi-
apple/pseudoscience view, in parallel with a broader historical dent ofthe MPS during 1960–72 (see Nature393,109–111;1998).
reassessment ofthis calamitous period in German history.The ambi- It seems that Butenandt must have known that Auschwitz blood
guity and complexity ofindividual behaviour and motivation during samples were being handled at his Institute for Biochemistry in Berlin.
the war have been reflected not just in academia,but also in plays The exercise has also brought historians to the point where they
such as Copenhagen,and a flurry of films including Taking Sides, can formulate new questions, moving on from the identification
Sophie Scholland Downfall (Der Untergang). and condemnation ofindividuals to the more general issue ofhow
Germany’s main scientific institutions have been moved to the scientific community interacted with the regime,to better under-
reassess their own twentieth-century histories.For example,the uni- stand the history ofthat time and to learn from it.
versity grant-giving agency,the DFG,has investigated its funding of In the 1930s and early 1940s,it seemed to those living under fascist
research that supported Nazi policies.But it is the Max Planck Society flags that fascism was immortal. Until 1942, few Germans — or
(MPS),which administers 80 research institutes in Germany,that has Italians,for that matter — imagined that the ruling regimes would be
taken the lead in exposing its own past to unflinching scrutiny. overthrown,or be replaced by a democratic system that would judge
In 1999,Hubert Markl,then MPS president,launched a six-year, many ofthe actions they considered loyal,patriotic,or simply getting
€4-million (US$5-million) programme,conducted by independent on with their job,as unacceptable support for a criminal regime.
science historians,to systematically analyse the role ofthe society — The MPS is to be praised for its courage in opening itselfup so
then known as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society — and its scientists in completely to scrutiny,and for funding the investigation at a time
supporting the Nazi regime’s policies.The programme ended last when its own finances are being severely curtailed.The work has shed
month,and the results ofits many projects confirm the superficiality light on the behaviour ofscientists as individuals and as groups.And
ofthe accepted view. it serves as a timely reminder ofthe need for strict ethical limits to be
The MPS has found that a large part ofthe most criminal research defined,and adhered to.
conducted was not ‘pseudoscience’— in fact,it followed conventional The action has been positive,and in its grim way liberating,for
scientific methods and was at the cutting edge of research at the German scientists.“Those who are fixated only on the past will move
time.It has also demonstrated that the Nazis held basic research in blindly into the future,”Markl told the programme’s final conference,
high esteem,increasing funding for it during the war years without “as will those who are concerned only with the present.” ■
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Fighting back Career move Off the agenda Arctic role
US denies accusations Change ofjob Plug pulled on study Fur flies as critics
ofdesign flaw in provides refuge for to test health effects attack rise in hunting
nuclear warhead Japanese researcher ofAgent Orange quota for polar bears
p684 p685 p687 p688
Warning system steps up a gear
for fresh Indonesian earthquake
Declan Butler quickly and decisively than in P
A
Warnings about the risk of a December.Shortly after that quake TT/
E
tsunami after the recent earth- it issued two bulletins — but only NK
U
quake in Indonesia spread faster to members ofthe Pacific warning PL
S.
and more widely than they did for system. One, issued 15 minutes
last December’s calamitous event, after the event,stated that a quake
officials in the region say. of magnitude 8.0 had occurred,
The latest earthquake struck off with no risk oftsunamis to Pacific
the coast ofSumatra on 28 March, nations. The second, issued 45
just days before an interim tsunami minutes later,upgraded the quake
warning system for the Indian to magnitude 8.5 and stated that
Ocean was due to come into force there was “the possibility of a
on 1 April.But warnings were still tsunami near the epicentre”.
delivered much more rapidly than The centre’s team then also
they had been in December. attempted to contact colleagues in
In the event,the magnitude-8.7 The 28 March disaster caused devastation on the island ofNias. Indonesia and Thailand, both
earthquake didn’t generate a large members of the Pacific system.It
tsunami.That was just as well,because when and the Japan Meteorological Agency will was four-and-a-halfhours before the PTWC
it struck,only a handful ofthe 25 countries in provide alerts on all seismic activity in the sent a message to the Tsunami Bulletin Board
the interim warning system had provided Indian Ocean region to round-the-clock — which goes by e-mail to international
names and numbers for national points of contact points in the surrounding countries. tsunami scientists and organizations —
contact.“The earthquake happened before The system, agreed in March (see Nature mentioning press reports of the disastrous
our deadline for receiving contact points,” 434,261;2005),is intended as a stopgap until tsunami.
says Keith Alverson, head of UNESCO’s 2006,when agreement is due on the details of The reaction was very different this time.
Global Ocean Observing System in Paris. a full-blown warning system based on tide Twenty minutes after the earthquake, the
Under the interim system,the US Pacific gauges and seafloor pressure monitors. PTWC sent out a bulletin simultaneously to
Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) in Hawaii The PTWC itselfresponded much more Pacific centres and to the bulletin board,
warning that the event had “the potential to
Plotting the course of a quake
generate a widely destructive tsunami in the
Researchers are hoping that data collected in whether changes in Earth’s structure can be ocean or seas near the earthquake”.It explic-
the wake of the recent earthquakes in Indonesia seen before an earthquake. Such land itly advised evacuating coasts within 1,000
will allow them to build better models of the ‘deformations’ were not seen in the run-up to kilometres ofthe epicentre.
relationship between different seismic events other well-monitored large earthquakes, such The PTWC also alerted the US Depart-
in the region. as Tokachi-Oki in northern Japan in 2003. ment of State, which sent messages to US
Kerry Sieh, for example, a seismologist at the Some scientists say that failure to see anything embassies in the Indian Ocean region.The
California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, here would be another nail in the coffin for embassies, in turn, informed local emer-
is pulling together data from global positioning these efforts. gency management agencies. “The PTWC
system receivers on and around Sumatra. More positive results will probably come now pays particular attention to the Indian
He hopes to study how the land moved before, from mixing the geological observations with Ocean;last time they weren’t looking at it,”
during and after the 28 March event and the physical modelling of how earthquakes affect says Peter Pissierssens, head of ocean
one last December that generated a tsunami. the surrounding region. In a 17 March paper services at the Intergovermental Oceano-
Data coming in as Naturewent to press in Nature, John McCloskey of the University graphic Commission in Paris.
showed some surprisingly large movements of Ulster used models of how stress can move But international organizations report
afterthe March earthquake, such as land at an down faults to identify areas that could be at that responses to these warnings were patchy.
airport on the nearby island of Simeulue, which risk of rupture following the December The authorities in some coastal areas did
rose 1.6 metres and shifted 2.3 metres towards earthquake (J. McCloskey, S. S. Nalbant and issue prompt alerts and evacuated coastal
the ruptured fault, says Sieh. S. Steacy Nature434,291; 2005). McCloskey areas.And vibrations from the earthquake
Sieh’s data, taken continuously at various and Sieh now plan to work together to assess itselfwere enough to send many people run-
locations on the islands near the earthquake the risks of a rupture on faults south of the ning inland.“There has been some progress
fault, should help to resolve a controversy over recent epicentres. David Cyranoski,Tokyo in getting a warning system,but not a huge
amount,”says Alverson. ■
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Pope praised for P
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partial conciliation of HIL
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B.
science and religion
Quirin Schiermeier,Munich
Catholic researchers and bioethicists
have responded to the death ofPope John
Paul II with tributes to his efforts to
achieve reconciliation between faith and
science.And some are optimistic that his
successor will keep on the same path.
The Polish Pope had a strong personal
interest in science and worked to reduce
hostility between the scientific
community and the Roman Catholic
Church.Nonetheless,his strict rejection Water bombs:US submarines such as the Virginiaare armed with W76 thermonuclear warheads.
ofabortion,embryonic stem-cell
research and contraception,including Nuclear chiefs scotch story
the distribution ofcondoms to help
contain AIDS,drew him into conflict
on frailty of ageing warheads
with some scientists.
AIDS activist groups around the
world still condemn John Paul’s refusal
to endorse the use ofcondoms.“It should Geoff Brumfiel,Washington told the The New York Times.Morse did not
not be forgotten that millions have died Senior weapons scientists emphatically respond to Nature’s requests for an interview.
in Africa as a result ofthis theological denied a report this week that the most Other scientists familiar with the weapon
rigidity,”the London-based Independent important US nuclear warhead has a design dispute Morse’s assertions. “I think he’s
newspaper said in an editorial. fault that could make it unreliable. wrong,”says Richard Garwin,a prominent
However,John Paul frequently The New York Timesreported on 3 April former hydrogen-bomb designer. Agnew,
discussed scientific matters with such that the W76, a thermonuclear warhead who was present at several tests ofthe W76,
luminaries as Stephen Hawking,who is launched from submarines,has a flaw in the says that it never failed to detonate.He adds
one ofthe 80 members ofthe Pontifical design of its casing that could cause it to that six to nine warheads are carefully
Academy ofSciences.And the Vatican explode with much less force than expected analysed every year to make sure that ageing
received regular scientific advice (see — or not at all. will not affect their performance.
Nature432,669;2004). Leading scientists who designed the war- “We have looked into this concern exten-
“Many ofus have witnessed a special head say that the accusations are completely sively,and our best technical judgement is
feeling between the Pope and scientists,” unfounded,however,and that the report’s that it is simply wrong,”Linton Brooks told
says Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti,a sources weren’t heavily engaged in the design the Senate on 4 April.Brooks is the adminis-
theologian and astrophysicist at Rome’s project.“There is nothing wrong with the trator of the National Nuclear Security
Pontifical University ofthe Holy Cross. W76,”says Harold Agnew,who was director Administration, which oversees the US
In 1980 at Cologne Cathedral, of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in nuclear stockpile.
Germany,John Paul declared that there New Mexico when the lab designed and But Brooks added that his agency is now
was “no contradiction”between faith tested the warhead 30 years ago. planning a study to create a more robust type
and science.He said on several occasions Exact numbers are classified,but arms- of warhead. This might eventually replace
that the concepts ofthe Big Bang and control experts estimate that the W76 makes weapons such as the W76, which was
darwinian evolution were more than up almost one-third of the US stockpile of designed for minimum size and weight.He
mere hypotheses.In 1992,he officially 10,000 warheads,as well as dominating the says that the Reliable Replacement Warhead
rehabilitated Galileo Galilei,conceding far smaller British nuclear arsenal.The war- programme will design weapons that have
that the Church was wrong to arrest him. heads are compact and lethal:up to eight of wider performance margins and can be more
More recently,the Vatican has stopped them can sit in a single missile,each yielding easily maintained without testing.
opposing modern techniques such as an explosive force more than five times Arms-control experts are sceptical ofthe
organ transplantation and genetic bigger than that of the bomb dropped on project,which will cost $9 million in 2006.
modification ofanimals. Hiroshima in 1945. “The existing stockpile is safe and reliable,
Ludger Honnefelder,a Catholic For about a year, some scientists have and it is likely to be so for some time,”says
theologian and philosopher at the been expressing concern to government offi- Daryl Kimball, executive director of the
Institute ofScience and Ethics in Bonn, cials about the uranium case surrounding Arms Control Association in Washington,
Germany,claims that John Paul helped the warhead.The case is thin and light so that DC.“This programme seems unnecessary.”
religion and science to coexist.He notes it can be carried on smaller, submarine- The replacement warhead programme
that the next Pope will have to deal with launched missiles.The critics claim that it would itself replace an ‘advanced concepts’
issues such as the implications ofgenetic might fail when the fission trigger of the project,which has been criticized as a step
modification in humans.“We expect bomb detonates,meaning the bomb’s pow- toward development ofnew nuclear weapons
well-balanced answers from the Church erful fusion fuel would not ignite. (see Nature 428, 455;2004).Opponents of
to new ethical challenges,”Honnefelder The bombs are “at best unreliable and new weapons note that doubts about the
says,“just as we expect science not to probably much worse”, Richard Morse, a W76’s reliability could boost political sup-
think ofitselfas an almighty system.” ■ retired plasma physicist from Los Alamos port for the replacement programme. ■
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Job switch stymies Japan’s abduction probe
David Cyranoski,Tokyo the 30 March debate, Suto told M
O
A geneticist has landed a plum job Machimura that it was “surprising” C
WS
at the Tokyo police department, that “a civilian without real police E
N
just weeks after his work rekindled training”should suddenly obtain a UN/
B
a row over the fate of Japanese top position in the police depart- M
HI
citizens abducted by North Korea. ment. “Isn’t this just hiding a S
Y.
But critics are claiming that the witness?”Suto asked.
transfer of Tomio Yoshii from Yoshii’s results were taken as
Teikyo University to head the conclusive by the government
forensics unit at the Tokyo metro- despite contrary reports from the
politan police department is National Research Institute of
intended to shield him from Police Science in Chiba, which
enquiries about the accuracy ofhis found that no DNA could be
DNA tests. In a fractious parlia- gleaned from the remains.“If we
mentary exchange with foreign are going to take the word of a
minister Nobutaka Machimura on single academic at a private univer-
30 March,Nobuhiko Suto,a mem- DNAtesting hasbeenusedtoidentifyvictims abductedbyNorthKorea. sity over that ofthis huge research
ber of the opposition Democrat institute,shouldn’t we just get rid of
Party of Japan, suggested that the govern- result ofcontamination (see Nature433,445; the institute?”Suto asked Machimura.
ment had used its influence to plant Yoshii in 2005). Japanese government officials have Machimura called Suto’s scepticism “an
his new position. disputed the Nature article, claiming that insult”and said that the ministry had taken
The Japanese government has claimed Yoshii says he was misquoted.A documen- the investigation seriously.“We were not just
that Yoshii’s DNA analysis proves beyond tary film-maker from Australia, a South trying to pull out some predetermined con-
doubt that cremated remains provided by the Korean broadcasting company and other clusion,” he protested. “I wish you would
North Korean government late last year were reporters have since sought,without success, choose your words more carefully.”
from someone other than Megumi Yokota — to interview Yoshii. Suto still plans to call Yoshii to testify,and
a Japanese woman kidnapped by North Korea Suto says he wants Yoshii to testify on the says he will get to the bottom of why the
in 1977. Japan has been demanding a full matter before parliament’s foreign affairs government set so much store by Yoshii’s
account of the fate of Yokota and several committee.But in Yoshii’s new position with results.“If Japan keeps going in this direc-
others who were allegedly kidnapped. the police force, he can only appear if his tion,”he warns,“it will undermine its scien-
But in an interview with Nature,Yoshii has employer agrees — an arrangement that tific reputation.” ■
conceded that his results could have been the Suto says is being used as an obstacle.During Additional reporting by Junko Chikatani.
Image problems jeopardize comet mission’s impact
Rex Dalton,San Diego space telescopes,including Hubble,they say. A
AS
Researchers are working against the clock to The problem telescope was built by N
fix a blurry telescope whose malfunction Ball Aerospace & Technologies ofBoulder, JPL/
could undermine a $330-million Colorado.Ball officials refused requests
US space mission to a distant comet. for an interview.
The Deep Impact spacecraft is on course As the Deep Impact spacecraft
for comet Tempel 1,about 160 million approaches Tempel 1,the impactor will
kilometres from Earth.The car-sized craft separate from the main craft.The impactor
has an ‘impactor’that is due to split offand itselfhas an onboard telescope and camera,
strike the comet on 4 July,while cameras on which will be used for navigation and for
the main spacecraft capture the collision, capturing images up to the point ofcollision.
enabling researchers to analyse the comet’s The main spacecraft is due to fly past the
make-up in unprecedented detail. Out offocus:images ofthe Deep Impact craft’s comet at a distance ofabout 700 kilometres.
But Deep Impact’s main instrument collision with comet Tempel I may be blurred. It carries the problematic high-resolution
— a high-resolution telescope on the fly-by telescope,as well as a back-up medium-
probe— is out offocus,admit project problem on 25 March,after an enquiry resolution instrument,which is due to
officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from Nature. capture a wider view ofthe collision.The
(JPL) in Pasadena,California.This will JPL scientists have organized a special back-up instrument is functioning properly,
affect the quality ofthe images captured team to study possible remedies.But so far, officials say.
from the experiment,the officials say. efforts to correct the focus have failed,JPL But even ifpictures from the high-
The JPL project team has been working officials say. resolution telescope cannot be improved,
quietly for more than a month to try to fix Project scientists now plan to employ the instruments are expected to provide
the focus problem,which was discovered computer imaging techniques that “the most detailed pictures ofa comet ever
shortly after the probe was launched in they hope will improve data from Deep taken”,says Michael A’Hearn,an astronomer
Florida on 12 January.NASA,which is Impact.Similar techniques have been from the University ofMaryland at College
funding the project,acknowledged the successfully employed in the past on other Park who is chiefscientist on the project. ■
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Global health agency M
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split over potential
anti-terrorism duties
Erika Check,Washington
A revision ofthe rules that govern the
World Health Organization (WHO) is
being held up as countries disagree on
how the agency should deal with
suspected bioterror events.
The United States and its allies are
pressing the WHO to take the lead in
bioterror investigations.But other
nations — especially poorer ones where
the body has a vital role in public health
— say this would involve the agency in
questions ofnational security,and would
compromise its political neutrality.
“This is a very big issue,”says Barbara
Rosenberg,an analyst at the Center for Flag waving:conservative David Horowitz is touring campuses to promote his academic bills ofrights.
Arms Control and Non-Proliferation
in Washington.“Countries are already Professors bristle as states
reluctant to report disease and permit
WHO access because ofrepercussions on
act to mould lecture content
trade and tourism.Throwing the security
aspect in there will only make it worse.”
Last November,a working group was
unable to agree on how the WHO should Emma Marris,Washington nationally, saying that faculty members
tackle bioterrorist threats,and a meeting University faculty members in the United should decide course content.“This effort is
in February also failed.A last-ditch States are gearing up to oppose state bills that part ofa larger pressure on higher education
attempt to resolve the issue is scheduled are being put forward by conservatives in the to politicize the agenda,”says Ruth Flower,
for 12 and 13 May — just days before the name ofacademic freedom. the AAUP’s director ofpublic policy.
negotiators are due to present the revised Critics say that these ‘Academic Bills of David Horowitz,a marxist radical turned
guidelines to the World Health Assembly, Rights’,which are written to make sure that conservative activist,has written a template
the agency’s governing body. each side ofan issue is presented in lectures at for the bills introduced in Florida and else-
A working draft ofthe international public universities,could in fact stifle acade- where.The Center for the Study ofPopular
health regulations says that ifthe mic freedom — and disrupt the teaching of Culture,a Los Angeles-based think-tank co-
intentional release ofa biological agent science in contentious fields such as evolu- founded by Horowitz,has helped to establish
in a member country is suspected,that tion and global warming. campus-based groups to back the measure.
country shall “provide to WHO all “This would be a right-wing political The campaign has gathered steam in
relevant public health information, takeover of the universities,” says Tom recent weeks,with bills introduced in several
materials and samples”.This would force Auxter, president of the United Faculty of states.Georgia passed a non-binding motion
cooperation with the WHO;currently,the Florida,the state’s main academics’union. supporting the idea in March 2004, and
agency must be invited to enter a country Along with introducing protection from Colorado dropped the bill only when major
before it conducts an investigation there. discrimination based on political or reli- universities agreed to adopt its language at
Rosenberg argues that this change gious convictions,a bill being proposed in the administrative level.Other states,among
will be seen as a threat,and make Florida calls on faculty members to refrain them Maryland and Washington, have
countries less inclined to cooperate. from introducing “controversial matter” already rejected bills or put them on hold.
Others add that the agency does not unrelated to the course subject. It also The AAUP also objects to a clause in
have enough funds to take on such a role requires them to present “serious scholarly Horowitz’s draft ofthe bill that requires uni-
without compromising its public-health viewpoints”other than their own. versities and professional societies to “main-
mission.However,given the lack of Although the bill was written primarily tain a posture of organizational neutrality
alternatives,many analysts believe the with the humanities in mind,it would apply with respect to the substantive disagreements
WHO must take some part in bioterror to all academic disciplines. On 22 March, that divide researchers on questions within,
inquiries,and they predict that the Dennis Baxley (Republican,Ocala),who is or outside,their fields ofinquiry”.Most states
negotiations will agree on a softer backing the bill,said that it would make sure have dropped this clause,as they do not have
version ofthe current draft. that alternatives to evolution are not shut out jurisdiction over national societies.
“For public-health and political ofuniversities. According to the AAUP,Florida could be
purposes,there needs to be a process for “I do believe it has implications for the the first state to pass the bill.Baxley,a close
carrying out that kind ofinvestigation,” hard sciences,”says Auxter.“It will waste a lot ally ofGovernor Jeb Bush,says the outraged
says Michael Powers,an analyst at the oftime in the classroom because you will have reception is evidence that academics are
Chemical and Biological Arms Control to spend time covering a bunch ofextraneous too inflexible.“I’ve been called an ass in the
Institute in Washington.“Ifwe continue to stuff— every crazy idea out there.” school newspaper at the University ofFlor-
put it offwe’re likely to have to carry out The American Association ofUniversity ida,”he says,“and that demonstrates exactly
one without procedures in place.” ■ Professors (AAUP) is opposing similar bills what I am talking about.” ■
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US abandonshealth study on Agent Orange
Declan Butler valid scientific reasons,this was not fully ES
G
A programme to investigate the health explained to Vietnamese officials, who MA
and environmental damage caused by viewed it as a snub,says Carpenter. Y I
T
T
widespread use of the defoliant Agent “The NIEHS was probably insisting E
G
Orange during the Vietnam War has on protocols to ensure a real,valid study; AFP/
been cancelled before it even began. the implications of which the Viet- M/
A
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Scientists say that the collapse ofthe namese either didn’t understand when H
N
project is largely the result ofcultural dif- they agreed,or else simply don’t want,” DI
G
ferences,a lack ofcommunication,and a says Jeanne Mager Stellman,a scientist at N
A
deep reservoir ofsuspicion between the Columbia University in New York,whose HO
Vietnamese and US governments. research has provided maps ofherbicide
The United States used Agent Orange spraying in Vietnam (see Nature 422,
to reduce forest cover during the Viet- 649;2003).
nam War.But since the war’s end in 1975, Anne Sassaman, a director at the
Vietnam has suffered a high number of NIEHS,defends the decision to cancel the
birth defects — estimated to be 2–3 times project, saying that progress has been
the expected number in some areas — minimal despite repeated visits by NIEHS
which it blames on the defoliant. officials to Vietnam and the agency play-
The herbicides that made up Agent ing host to three Vietnamese delegations.
Orange were contaminated with dioxins, A general agreement to conduct joint
a highly toxic group ofchemicals.But a research between the countries (see
lack of reliable epidemiological studies Nature416,252;2002) is still in place,she
means that there is uncertainty over the adds,and the NIEHS “remains hopeful
suspected link between dioxins and birth that other studies on Agent Orange can be
defects.Such studies are difficult to do in conducted in the future;we would be very
part because a single test for dioxins costs Vietnam blames many ofits birth defects on Agent Orange. happy to support them”.
US$1,400. But researchers close to the pro-
The joint US–Vietnamese research pro- David Carpenter, the study’s principal gramme say that the Agent Orange study was
ject would have analysed dioxin levels in 300 investigator and an environmental health viewed by the NIEHS as a test case,and in the
mothers ofbabies with birth defects,along researcher at the University at Albany in New wake of its failure the agency is likely to be
with 300 mothers of healthy children.The York,says that the project fell victim to poli- reluctant to entertain new proposals.“I’m not
study was approved in May 2003 by the US tics with “two different cultures coming optimistic about what’s next,”says Carpenter.
National Institute ofEnvironmental Health together and not communicating well”.This The study was expected to provide evi-
Sciences (NIEHS) based in Research Trian- led to misunderstandings from the outset,he dence for a class action suit on behalf of
gle Park,North Carolina.But the institute says.Before funds of$1 million a year for the millions ofVietnamese plaintiffs against US
pulled the plug on the project last month three-year project were freed up,the NIEHS manufacturers of Agent Orange.This case
because, after two years, the Vietnamese provided $300,000 for a pilot study to verify was dismissed by a US judge on 10 March on
Ministry ofHealth had still not approved the that dioxin levels would be detectable in the grounds that use ofthe defoliant in Viet-
research protocols needed to begin the work. Vietnamese women. Although done for nam could not be considered a war crime. ■
Postdocs slam zealous attitude of NIH ethics office
Rex Dalton,San Diego director ofthe Washington-based NPA, outside the NIH.“It’s madness,”says John
Is an honorary plaque costing little more thought when her young organization sought Hardy,chiefofthe neurogenetics lab at the
than $25 enough to cause a conflict of to present Kirschstein with its inaugural National Institute on Aging.But he says the
interest for a US National Institutes of Distinguished Service Award.“We had a hard sometimes arbitrary rules are just something
Health (NIH) administrator? time finding a plaque that cheap,”says Reed. that researchers should learn to live with.“It
The biomedical research agency’s ethics Holli Beckerman Jaffe,an attorney who is very hard for a large organization to have
office certainly thought so last year when directs the NIH ethics office,explains that common sense,”he says.“You just accept it.”
it advised the National Postdoctoral only plaques of“little intrinsic value”are But researchers may soon have to accept
Association (NPA) that it could spend only permitted.The $25 was probably a rough even more ofit:last month the NIH
$25 on an award plaque for Ruth Kirschstein, estimate made by an office staffer,she says. published tighter conflict-of-interest rules
the former acting director ofthe NIH. Another implication ofthe ethics rules (see Nature434,3–4;2005).These are
The ethics office,which deals with issues became apparent last month when three top already under attack from organizations
at the 27 NIH institutes and their 18,000 NIH officials — including Tony Fauci, such as the Federation ofAmerican Societies
employees,faces a tough challenge.It is director ofthe National Institute ofAllergy for Experimental Biology (FASEB).
supposed to prevent lobbyists from and Infectious Diseases — were introduced “Many ofthe rules are overly restrictive,”
corrupting the agency and to guard against by name,but not affiliation,at a dinner held says Paul Kincade,president ofFASEB.He
insiders exploiting the system for personal by the lobby group Research!America. adds that their implementation will “limit the
gain.But critics say it is going too far. The steady flow ofsuch anecdotes is ability ofNIH scientists to engage in critically
That’s certainly what Alyson Reed, beginning to irk researchers both inside and important teaching and scholarly activity.” ■
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news in brief
US scraps study on
Zoologists get bear quota in their sights
cancer fallout from
MunichA hike in the annual quota of polar WIIG
nuclear testing bears that can be killed by indigenous Ø.
people and sports hunters in Canada could
WashingtonA study ofthe link between put the species at risk, say zoologists.
thyroid cancer and above-ground US Canadian authorities decided in January
nuclear tests has been cancelled by its to allow 518 bears to be killed this year, a
funding agency. 29% increase on 2004. The rise was
The project,which was being led by granted at the request of indigenous
Joseph Lyon,a preventive-medicine expert hunters, who say that they have observed
at the University ofUtah in Salt Lake City, more bears this year than in recent years.
aimed to look for thyroid cancer and other Some researchers say that the
ailments in 4,000 people who lived in Utah quotasare not based on the best available
and Nevada in the 1960s.Above-ground scientific data and were set without proper deserves more trust than it has had in the past.
experiments at the Nevada Test Site may consultation with experts in other countries. But ØysteinWiig, a mammalogist at the
have caused as many as 75,000 additional Officials counter this, saying that scientific University of Oslo, told Naturethat: “The harvest
cases ofthyroid cancer,according to an studies were considered, and adding that could be much higher than the populations in
earlier study by the National Cancer traditional Inuit knowledge about population size some areas can actually take.”
Institute (see Nature389,534;1997).
Lyon’s study,which was funded by the Female physicists get no more likely to leave than their male
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ‘expected’ share of jobs colleagues.Some observers blame the low
(CDC) in Atlanta,Georgia,had already number ofwomen — who make up just
spent US$8 million examining some 1,300 WashingtonFamily obligations and hostile 10% ofphysics staffat US degree-granting
patients.He was informed ofthe working environments are not to blame for departments — on factors such as a lack
cancellation on 21 March.Lyon says the the small number offemale researchers in offamily-friendly policies.“The most
study would take another $6 million and physics departments,claims an analysis by surprising thing is that women are on the
three years to finish,but believes it was the American Institute ofPhysics. faculty at about the rates we would expect”
halted because ofthe government’s The study,which looked at physics from given the starting numbers,says Rachel Ivie
reluctance to discuss the impacts oftesting. high-school to university level,says that ofthe institute’s statistical research centre,
The CDC says the decision was the result of the number ofwomen entering the field based in College Park,Maryland,which
a normal peer-review process. is small,but that those who sign up are published the report in February.
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But she adds that less than one-quarter politics he is too intelligent and soft,”says ofthe Joint Chiefs ofStaffbetween 1985 and P
A
ofphysics bachelors’degrees are awarded Gennady Mesyats,director ofthe institute. 1989,as well as John Dalton,former EV/
R
to women.“It is still primarily considered “But in the scientific community Akayev is Secretary ofthe Navy,and national security TA
E
a man’s occupation,”says Ivie. an authority.” experts from several US think-tanks. KR
E
S
Akayev left Kyrgyzstan on 24 March I.
Former president finds after his offices in the capital Bishkek were Lockheed locks horns
stormed by protestors demonstrating
physics niche in Russia over Los Alamos lab
against corruption and the disputed
MoscowAskar Akayev may have been run elections in February.Unlike most San DiegoTechnology giant Lockheed
out ofhis job and his country during scientists in Russia,he is unlikely to be Martin has entered a race to manage Los
popular uprisings last month,but the troubled by thetask ofliving on a meagre Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
former president ofKyrgyzstan is being salary:he has considerable property and There are only two bidders for the lab,
provided with a soft landing — the Russian business interests in central Asia. which has an annual budget of$2.2billion
science community. and houses over 10,000 employees.The
A former physicist,with 80 publications Defence doyens push Bush other is its current manager,the University
to his name,Akayev has been offered a ofCalifornia,which has been humbled in
to invest in green energy
position at the Institute ofElectrophysics recent years by security missteps and
in the Urals branch ofthe Russian WashingtonA group containing some high- management strife (see Nature433,447;
Academy ofSciences in Ekaterinburg.“For profile conservatives has called for the 2005).The university’s contract expires on
United States to wean itselfoffforeign oil by 30 September this year.
investing in energy-efficiency measures and Lockheed Martin,which is based in
alternative fuels such as biomass. Bethesda,Maryland,says that changes to
The group wrote to President George W. the lab’s employee pension plans and
Bush on 24 March to ask for $1 billion of management structure prompted it to
investment over the next five years.Green enter the running late last month after
groups have long argued for increased declining to do so in 2004.
spending on technology such as alcohol- The move is likely to generate mixed
fuelled and electric cars on environmental feelings among lab personnel.Many want
grounds,but this group argues that US to see a competitive process,but staffalso
reliance on oil threatens the country’s value the academic atmosphere generated
commercial and security interests. by having a university,rather than an
Out:Kyrgyzstan ditched its president in March.
Authors include William Crowe,chairman industrial company,manage the facility.
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7.4 News Feat Melioidosis MH 5/4/05 9:48 am Page 692
Melioidosis?
Never heard of it…
Deadly tropical infections that kill within 48 hours don’t usually go unnoticed. M
O
C
But one killer has been largely ignored for decades. Now, thanks to worries GES.
A
M
about bioterror, it is being taken more seriously. Peter Aldhous reports. A-I
ASI
Mention melioidosis in most circles new antibiotics,to see ifthey can reduce this first became sick 26 years later. Vanaporn HALL/
— even those with a passing interest toll.But for Thailand’s overstretched health- Wuthiekanun, who works on B. pseudo- ARS
M
in tropical medicine — and you’ll care system, such drugs are prohibitively malleiin the Wellcome Trust unit at Mahidol J.
be met with blank stares. The infection is expensive.No pharmaceutical company has University in Bangkok,has cultured the bac-
often misdiagnosed because the bacterium volunteered to donate its products, so terium from a sample kept in distilled water
that causes it,the soil-dwelling Burkholderia Chaowagul’s plans remain stalled.“Ifwe use for a decade.“It’s very tough,”she observes.
pseudomallei, triggers multiple symptoms our own money,we have a problem,”she says. For the most part, B. pseudomallei is
that mimic those of other diseases.In parts thought to get its nutrition from rotting
of Asia where B. pseudomallei is endemic, In from the cold organic matter,and when the opportunity
this serial killer often commits its crimes This tale is echoed for ‘orphan’ diseases arises, by parasitizing soil-dwelling amoe-
without even being identified as a suspect. across the developing world — unless bae. Its ability to infect human cells may
Not so in Ubon Ratchathani,a bustling pathogens afflict rich Westerners,they tend to simply be an unhappy consequence of the
provincial capital in northeast Thailand.For attract little research money.But B.pseudo- mechanisms that allow it to do the latter.But
Wipada Chaowagul,a specialist in internal mallei may soon lose its orphan status, these mechanisms are poorly understood,
medicine at the city’s Sappasitprasong Hos- thanks to fears that it might be used as a bio- as are the ecological factors that influence
pital, melioidosis is public enemy number logical weapon. Through its richly funded B. pseudomallei’s distribution across the
one.Each year,the hospital admits about 200 biodefence initiative,the US National Insti- tropics.One mystery is why it is absent in
people who test positive for B.pseudomallei. tute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases central Thailand — where it is replaced by its
Up to halfofthem die. (NIAID) is now encouraging microbiologists cousin,the harmless B.thailandensis.
Chaowagul’s patients are mostly rice to begin working on the bacterium.“We’re “It’s probably something to do with the
farmers. When the rains come each year, looking at building a research base,” says soil,but we haven’t worked it out yet,”says
between May and October,B.pseudomallei Michael Schaefer,an official at the NIAID’s Nick Day,who heads the Wellcome Trust’s
threatens anyone paddling in the flooded headquarters in Bethesda,Maryland. Bangkok unit.As ifthe scientific challenges
paddy fields that surround Ubon — espe- There are many puzzles to solve.Burk- weren’t enough,researchers out in the field
cially those already weakened by other holderia pseudomallei is a resilient organism, also face obstacles imposed by southeast
conditions such as diabetes.Some develop able to hunker down in the soil or inside the Asia’s history ofconflict.“We’re keen to do
internal abscesses or inflamed joints;others cells ofits human victims for years on end, soil surveys in Cambodia,but we’re afraid of
have difficulty breathing. Many are over- only emerging when conditions favour its the landmines,”says Wirongrong Chierakul,
whelmed by the infection, and die from growth.One US Vietnam veteran,probably who works in Day’s unit.
septic shock within 48 hours. infected after breathing in aerosols of From the limited information available,it
Chaowagul wants to run clinical trials of B.pseudomalleiwhipped up by helicopters, is clear that B.pseudomalleiis present in the
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news feature
soil in parts ofAsia that record few cases of has not yet been used as a biological weapon, US
O
melioidosis.Almost certainly,this is because but its close relative,B.mallei,was used as a H
D
of inadequate medical diagnosis.“The dis- biological agent in the First World War. It AL
P.
tribution ofcases tends to follow the distrib- causes glanders, a disease that kills horses
ution ofdecent microbiology labs,ofwhich and,more rarely,people.The bacterium was
there are remarkably few,”says Day. spread by German troops in an attempt to
In places where melioidosis has been rec- disable the Russian army’s horses and mules.
ognized as an important public-health issue,
the priority is finding more effective treat- Potent weapon
ments.Having evolved to compete in the soil Given the potential for B.pseudomallei and
with organisms that secrete antibacterial B.malleito be deployed by bioterrorists,the
compounds,B. pseudomallei is resistant to NIAID is keen to promote research on both,
many drugs.Until the mid-1980s,melioido- and last August held a meeting in Bethesda
sis was treated in Thailand with a cocktail of to kick-start interest. Those who have for
four conventional antibiotics. Only about years ploughed a lonely furrow in melioido-
one in five patients pulled through. sis research can scarcely believe the shift in
That was when Chaowagul teamed up gear.“Two or three years ago, no one else
with Nick White,who now directs the Well- was working on this disease in North Amer-
come Trust’s southeast Asia programme,but ica,”says Donald Woods,a microbiologist at
was then heading up its Bangkok unit.The the University of Calgary in Alberta,
trust, Britain’s largest biomedical research Canada.“Now there are ten labs.”
charity,has a long-standing interest in tropi- The time is right for an influx ofmoney
cal diseases,and so agreed to launch a clinical and personnel.Last year saw the publication
trial to test a newer antibiotic, called cef- of the complete genome sequence of
tazidime.It halved the death rate1.The drug’s Vanaporn Wuthiekanun visits a Thai rice field B.pseudomallei4,a product ofthe Wellcome
high cost posed a problem,but has since been — the favourite haunt ofa bacterial killer. Trust’s enthusiasm for tropical medicine and
lowered.“Ifyou have the results ofa trial,you genomics.It appeared next to another paper5
can create a political snowball,” says Day. routinely,and the death rate has been reduced describing the genome ofB.mallei— a pro-
“Very often the prices will come down.” to less than 20%.But it’s unclear whether sim- ject backed by the NIAID.The two sequences
ilar results could be achieved in Thailand. should provide clues for researchers trying to
Drug shortage Australian melioidosis patients are rushed understand the organisms’ virulence, and
But Chaowagul still loses more than 40% of into intensive care. But in Ubon, those suggest targets for drug development.
her patients.So she and White next turned infected with B.pseudomalleimust take their The genome projects have also revealed
to a class ofantibiotics called the carbapen- chances on overcrowded general wards.At that B.malleievolved directly from B.pseudo-
ems,which in lab tests seemed to be effective least the melioidosis patients get beds near to mallei,losing parts ofits genome along the
against B. pseudomallei2. But carbapenems the nursing stations.Those with less serious way6.For clinicians,this close relationship is
are even more expensive than ceftazidime, conditions are jammed into corridors, on encouraging.With funding from the US mili-
and manufacturers were reluctant to donate balconies and outside the elevators. tary and the Canadian government,Woods
them for trials. It wasn’t until 1994 that Against this gloomy background, the has developed a vaccine against glanders.In
White won a supply of a drug called NIAID’s biodefence initiative has provided a December,he began tests to see whether it can
imipenem from the US-based giant Merck, beacon of hope.Burkholderia pseudomallei prevent horses from becoming infected with
after writing a personal letter to Roy Vagelos, B.mallei.Ifthe results are positive,Woods has
Y
the company’s chiefexecutive. high hopes that the vaccine will also protect OP
C
The initial trial yielded encouraging but people against melioidosis. OS
R
inconclusive results. Although there were Maybe so,but those who have struggled C
MI
fewer treatment failures than for cef- to launch clinical studies in Thailand are EL
K
tazidime,the sample size was too small to unsure about the extent to which the bio- N
U
creodnuficremd3 . Twhhee trheesre artchhee rsd weaatnht edr attoe prweasss dfoerf etnhceem b aonnda nthzae iwr pilal tyiieenldts .taFnogri Cblhe ebnegn,eofnites NNIS K
E
D
ahead with a larger study.But by then Vagelos question overrides all others:“How do we
had left Merck,and White’s requests for fur- stop people dying?”
ther donations ofimipenem fell on deafears. NIAID officials say that the initial focus
With the drug costing about US$100 per will be on basic research.But their goal is to
patient,per day,the trial was doomed.“We use this knowledge to develop improved
just couldn’t afford it,”says White. diagnostic tools, treatments and vaccines.
Allen Cheng,a clinician at the Menzies And Schaefer says that the agency will con-
School of Health Research in Darwin, sider funding clinical trials,ifa strong case
Australia,recounts similar difficulties.He is can be made.“The scope ofthe biodefence
running a trial in Ubon to see whether Thai effort is very broad,”he says. ■
melioidosis patients are helped by granulo- Peter Aldhous is Nature’s chief news & features editor.
cyte colony-stimulating factor (GCSF), a 1. White,N.J.et al.Lancetii,697–701 (1989).
signalling molecule that can boost the pro- 2. Dance,D.A.,Wuthiekanun,V.,Chaowagul,W.& White,N.J.
J.Antimicrob.Chemother.24,295–309 (1989).
duction ofwhite blood cells.“This is virtu-
3. Simpson,A.J.H.et al.Clin.Infect.Dis.29,381–387 (1999).
ally a self-funded project,”says Cheng.The 4. Holden,M.T.G.et al.Proc.Natl Acad.Sci.USA101,
firms he approached showed little interest. 14240–14245 (2004).
Melioidosis is also a local problem in Tough opponent:Burkholderia pseudomalleiis 5. Nierman,W.C.et al.Proc.Natl Acad.Sci.USA101,
a particularly resilient soil bacterium. 14246–14251 (2004).
northern Australia. There, GCSF is used 6. Godoy,D.et al.J.Clin.Microbiol.41,2068–2079 (2003).
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