Science (Vol. 305, No. 5685, August 2004)

122 Pages·2004·11.058 MB·English

by  Donald, (ed.) Kennedy

E
DITORIAL
European Research Momentum
L
ast year, a Science Editorial (29 August 2003) surveyed recent developments in European
science and research policy. It highlighted the call for a restructuring that would double
support for science, with a renewed focus on basic research, better priority-setting, re-
gional centers of excellence, integration of European Union (EU) science policy with re-
spect to broader issues, and a new balance between basic and applied research. It hinted
at the formation of a European Research Council (ERC) as a partial answer to dissatis-
factions expressed by researchers with the EU’s Framework Programmes for research funding.
One year later, the dynamics look truly impressive. The EU has become larger, and the European
Constitution, agreed on in June 2004, makes explicit reference to research and a convergent European
Research Area “in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely.” This gives
EU research policy a more solid base and broadens its scope, making research a “shared competence.”
The last Communication of the outgoing EU Commissioner for Research, M. Philippe Busquin, enti-
tled Science and Technology, the Key to Europe’s Future, contains an outline of Framework Programme
7 (FP7), a proposal based on a prospective EU research budget that would be doubled. Politically, the
importance of research has received recognition. New financial instruments have
been designated that allow, for instance, reallocation of funds from highways to re-
search infrastructures. None of these developments should be taken for granted. Our The challenge is
common efforts need to be directed to ensure that the new EU Commission and the
newly elected European Parliament will build on this momentum. to create a
One of the six objectives of FP7, to begin in 2007, supports basic research and
an ERC that would encompass all disciplines, including the humanities and social
European
sciences. The ERC mission would be to generously support the very best re-
searchers, making them truly competitive on a global scale. This is a welcome de-
knowledge base
velopment after a vigorous public debate. But if basic research, investigator-
driven and conducted solely through competition based on scientific excellence,
for research and
is to be effectively organized, the Competitiveness Council, presided over by
Maria van der Hoeven, Minister for Education, Culture and Science (the Nether-
lands), must ensure an autonomous ERC that fits these objectives. An ERC innovation.
should also help to create working conditions at least as good as those in the Unit-
ed States for young and talented researchers in Europe.
But an ERC is no miracle cure, nor can it compensate for other deficiencies.
The challenge is to create a European knowledge base for research and innovation in which human
resources, adequate infrastructures, and mechanisms to encourage excellence receive the necessary
sustained boost. Political support for a better balance between basic and applied research stems from
recognition of the impact of basic research on economic performance. Comparing research institu-
tions in the United States with those in Europe shows the overall greater mission orientation of the
U.S. federal R&D system and the concomitant importance attached to management. In contrast,
research in Europe is still often seen as belonging to the separate categories of “basic” and “applied,”
and we seem to put more effort into inventing rules for management than into having management
meet objectives. We should not be surprised that the general climate for university/industry
cooperation and for innovation is more favorable in the United States.
A key to the overall challenges is the transformation of European universities, which in the end
will determine whether support for basic research through EU mechanisms will have the desired
effects. Throughout Europe, there is clear recognition that brakes of a political, financial, and
administrative nature on universities have to be removed. Some countries, such as Germany, are
discussing the creation of elite universities. Many cultural mindsets will have to change. European
science needs a two-pronged approach if the present momentum is to lead to robust organizational
solutions: sound research policies and much hard work on local and national levels.
Finally, European research and innovation policies must be rooted in a broader-based culture that tru-
ly integrates European citizens. Such a culture of science must also address the public’s occasional skep-
ticism, and even its refusal, of such a climate. This month, the EuroScience Open Forum 2004 (Stock-
holm), with its deliberately provocative yet cheerful embrace of controversial issues, is not only timely
but indispensable. It alerts us that focus and momentum must be kept at this crucial period of transition.
Helga Nowotny
Helga Nowotny is director of Society in Science:The Branco Weiss Fellowship and chair of the European Research
Advisory Board.
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 305 6 AUGUST 2004 753
This Wee k
N
EWS PAGE 764 765
Archaeopteryx’s Philip Abelson:
bird brain An appreciation
Such complicated science issues rarely
ELECTION 2004
rise to prominence in national elections.
The Calculus of Making Stem
But the death of former president Reagan,
along with public criticism of Bush’s policy
Cells a Campaign Issue from his widow Nancy and son, helped fo-
cus public attention on the issue. And that
spotlight presented Kerry—who has long
Most scientists predict that it will be at least Cell Biology in Bethesda, Maryland. But, opposed the Administration’s restrictions
several years before human embryonic stem Wilson and others warned, the high-profile on stem cell research and raised the issue in
cells are used to treat disease. But Democratic embrace could also create problems, from his stump speeches—with an opportunity
presidential candidate John F. Kerry is betting unrealistic public expectations for quick to make a “double-edged” case, says
that the political payoff from his support for stem cell cures to strained relationships Matthew Nisbet, a communications profes-
stem cell research will be much quicker. with Republican allies. “I had hoped that sor at Ohio State University in Columbus
Last week, the Kerry campaign took the we could keep stem cell research separate who has studied public opinion on stem cell
unusual step of elevating a complicated bit of from election-year politics. … Politiciza- research. “It allowed Kerry to highlight a
science policy to a top-tier election issue. tion of this critical issue will only serve to major policy difference between the candi-
Kerry used his tele- alienate more poten- dates on a health issue that is relevant to
vised nomination tial supporters,” pre- millions of Americans,” he says. It also al-
speech to attack the dicted Senator Orrin lowed him to reinforce reservations that un-
Bush Administra- Hatch, a Utah Re- decided voters may already have about
tion’s handling of sci- publican who has led Bush being “an ideologue who doesn’t lis-
ence and promised to efforts to reverse the ten to experts who hold other views.”
lift restrictions on White House policy. Still, Nisbet warns that many voters are
government-funded Many polling ex- “queasy” about the moral issues raised by
stem cell research perts, however, say stem cell research. And the Bush campaign
that his opponent, Kerry’s move is believes those voters will be reassured by the
President George W. smart electoral poli- current policy, which Hauck says “balances
Bush, imposed in tics, given surveys our need to respect human life and move
2001. “What if we ahead with research.”
have a president who Should Bush Administration Other analysts say Kerry’s OLL
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like stem cell research to treat illness and 100 sought-after suburban women 16 JU
save millions of lives?,” Kerry asked in the voters, while the suggestion that ON,
29 July address to the Democratic National 80 Bush doesn’t believe in science ORATI
Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Two could appeal to white males ORP
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cell research. Per 40 Democratic strategist. OPINIO
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naled success in attracting attention to their searchers to using just a few dozen existing own minds. Analysts on both sides expect the M) BR
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key concerns. “For science and stem cells stem cell lines. The White House has held candidates to be asked questions about their OTT
to make it [into Kerry’s speech] shows that firm against relaxing the restrictions, in stem cell policies in the upcoming debates. O B
tmhaejsoer ilsesaugeuse sh,”avsea yms aKdeev iitn tWo tilhseo np,o pliutibclaicl pCahrrti sftoiar nf evaort eorfs awliheon aotpinpgo sceo dnesestrrvoaytiinvge With reporting by David Grim–m D AaVnIdD CMoAnLsAtaKnOcFeF DITS:(TOP T
policy director of the American Society for human embryos to harvest stem cells. Holden. CRE
760 6 AUGUST 2004 VOL 305 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org
Foc us
766 770 772
How did the Mars in a Dendritic cells
nucleus arise? new light in action
RESEARCH PROTESTS
Britain Unveils a Plan to Curb Animal-Rights ‘Extremists’
CAMBRIDGE, U.K.—Britain is weighing thrown at vehicles—have doubled, and “The government has pledged to support
tough new measures to crack down on in- protests at the homes of company directors the project; we just hope that that would in-
timidating tactics used by a radical minori- have increased by 45%, according to the As- clude financial support,” she says, adding
ty of animal-rights activists. In a report sociation of the British Pharmaceutical In- that there are no plans to use troops to assist
published on 30 July, the government pro- dustry. “It does make it difficult to get any- the project, as some newspaper reports have
poses new criminal penalties for protests thing done,” says Keverne. suggested.
that cause “harassment, alarm, or distress,” Matfield says protesters have turned their A recent Royal Society survey (Science,
to be enforced by a newly created special attention from heavily guarded private facili- 18 June, p. 1731) found that security against
police unit and network of 43 prosecutors. ties to “softer targets”: the universities. In animal-rights extremism was costing univer-
The move comes in the wake of animal- January, a planned primate research facility sities $320,000 per year on average. The Na-
rights campaigns that contributed to tional Association of Pension
the University of Cambridge’s deci- Funds, whose members con-
sion to abandon a primate research trol about 20% of the U.K.
facility this year and now threaten to stock market, are considering
derail construction of a building at establishing a $46 million
the University of Oxford. fund to reward information
Leaders of the research community on extremists. Seeking to
welcomed the plan: “It’s great that the offset the impact of protests,
Home Office is doing something three big drug companies—
about this at long last,” says neuro- GlaxoSmithKline, Astra-
scientist E. Barry Keverne, chair of the Zeneca, and Pfizer—last
Royal Society’s Committee on Ani- week announced a $7.3 mil-
mals in Research. But antivivisection lion fund for animal research
groups suggest that ratcheting up in U.K. universities over the
penalties won’t deter their protests. next 4 years.
In addition to outlawing harass- The protesters say they’re
ment of people at home, the govern- unimpressed. Cogswell sees
ment seeks to make it an offense for the tougher measures as a
protesters to return within 3 months to “knee-jerk reaction” to com-
a place they’ve been ordered to leave. plaints from pharmaceutical
The government also plans to extend companies. “The govern-
antiharassment laws to apply to all em- OOnn tthhee mmaarrcchh..After the University of Cambridge canceled a primate re- ment needs to think carefully
ployees of an organization rather than search center this year,protesters targeted a lab building at Oxford. why people are engaging in
specific individuals and may outlaw actions,” he says, arguing that
acts that cause economic damage to at Cambridge University was abandoned af- many are disappointed over its failure to de-
research-related operations. The government ter protests led by the group Stop Primate liver a promised inquiry into animal re-
did not seek—but is considering—a single Experiments at Cambridge escalated security search. “The more people feel dis-
law targeting animal-rights extremists. costs (Science, 30 January, p. 605). “It gave empowered, the more they’re going to take
Scientists hope the new measures will be the activists a victory they hadn’t had for 5 the law into their own hands.” However, he’s
more effective than past efforts at deterring years,” says Matfield. The university is now confident that opponents can stop the Ox-
threatening behavior. Personal intimidation, seeking to carry out primate studies at exist- ford facility “by legal means.”
such as calling researchers “torturers” in let- ing laboratories, an official says. Ian Gibson, chair of the U.K. Parlia-
ters to neighbors, has increased in the last 18 The animal activist group, now calling it- ment’s science and technology committee,
months, says Mark Matfield, executive di- self Speak, has since set its sights on an ani- doubts that the new measures will stop the
UELTY r(RecDtoSr) , owf htihceh Rreepsreesaerncths sDceiefnetnisctes eSnogcaigeetyd mUnailv reersseitayr.c Ch ofnasctirluitcyt iobnei nogf tbhuei l$t 3a3t Omxilfloiordn mtheoys’tl ld “egteivrme isnoemde e bxrtereamthiinstgs , sbpuact eh”e f ohro pdees-
MAL CR in animal research. RDS reports that 50 sup- laboratory ground to a halt last month when bate. Matfield and Aisling Burnand, CEO of
NI pliers for animal research facilities have the main contractors pulled out following the BioIndustry Association, suggest that the
ON A pulled out of contracts this year alone. Over threats to staff and shareholders and damage government may need to adopt even stronger
D
NG the past year, instances of damage to proper- to property (Science, 23 July, p. 463). Speak measures. To move quickly, the government
NTI ty—mostly involving corrosive substances co-founder Robert Cogswell says that the has opted primarily to amend existing legis-
U
H
DIT:STOP *plAen firmoaml Wanelifmarael: rHiguhmtas ne xRtigrehmts—istPsr.owtewctwin.gh poemoe- groAup swpaosk neospt einrvsoolnv efdo rin t haney u inllievgearls aitcyts .de- linatdiiovnid, ubaults ’thheo mneews wlaiwll rbeaqnunirine ga ppprorotevsatls bayt
CRE office.gov.uk scribes the delay as a “temporary hiccup.” Parliament. –FIONAPROFFITT
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 305 6 AUGUST 2004 761
N E W S O F T H E W E E K
NEUROBIOLOGY
Untangling Alzheimer’s by Paring
Plaques Bolsters Amyloid Theory
Consider it a potential biomedical bargain— confirmation that accumulation of βamyloid
two therapies for the price of one. New re- can lead to accumulation of tau and eventually
search in mice suggests that targeting one of to tangles,” says neuroscientist Michael Hut-
the two molecular aggregates gumming up ton of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in
brains with Alzheimer’s disease also rids tis- Jacksonville, Florida.
sue of the other, as long as treatment starts Researchers have had difficulty testing the Double trouble. β-amyloid plaques (diffuse
early enough. This finding and a recent analy- relative roles of plaques and tangles, because black structures) and tau tangles (open,black
sis of an interrupted Alzheimer’s vaccine trial until last year, no one had generated mice that circles) mar this slice of mouse brain.
in people have brought new life to the idea of develop both. LaFerla and his colleagues re-
immunotherapy for the debilitating disease. cently endowed mice with a triple threat: a jection, plaques in the injected animals had
An ongoing debate within the Alzheimer’s mutant copy of the gene for amyloid pre- disappeared. Between 5 and 7 days after the
disease community centers on the importance cursor protein (APP), a mutated gene for pre- injection, tau, which in the mice had aggre-
of brain plaques, extracellular clumps of a senilin-1, which helps chop APP into βamy- gated within neurons but not yet formed tan-
protein fragment called β amyloid, and tan- loid, and a mutant form of the tau gene. These gles, also had melted away.
gles, filaments of the protein tau that form in- rodents develop plaques and tangles in the LaFerla’s group tested the antibody treat-
side neurons. In the 5 August issue of Neuron, cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus, just as ment on another set of triple-mutant mice;
a team led by neuroscientist Frank LaFerla of people with Alzheimer’s disease do. The these animals have two copies of each mutant
the University of California, Irvine, reports plaques precede tangles, consistent with the gene and develop tangles in under a year. The
that antibodies against β amyloid can wash idea that β-amyloid buildup starts brains off antibodies erased plaques in 6- and 12-
mice brains free of amyloid plaques—and on the road to dementia. month-old animals. They also cleared pre-
mutant tau before it tangles. Some researchers In the new work, the team injected anti- tangle tau aggregates in the 6-month-old ani-
have argued that plaques instigate the forma- bodies against β amyloid into the hippo- mals but couldn’t budge the tangles in year-
tion of tangles, but there’s been little solid evi- campus of their transgenic mice once the ani- old mice. “Once tau forms tangles, it can’t be
dence for that. “This is the most complete mals were 1 year old. Three days after the in- removed,” says LaFerla.
The rodent work seems to mirror recent
findings in autopsies of brains from people
NANOTECHNOLOGY
involved in a vaccine trial for Alzheimer’s
Yellow Light for Nanotech
disease. In 2000, investigators showed that
immunizing mice with amyloid itself could
LONDON,U.K.—Although “gray goo” made The panel concluded that nanoparticles rid mouse brains of plaques. In 2002, how-
of self-replicating “nanorobots” is unlikely and nanotubes—tiny tubes of carbon that ever, clinicians abruptly halted a human
to doom the planet, some kinds of nano- have many potential uses, such as in fric- study of the vaccine when a small percentage
materials could be hazardous and require a tion-reducing oil additives and electronic of patients developed brain inflammation.
closer look, according to a 12-month study* displays—should be tested and regulated as Last month, at the 9th International Confer-
published last week by the U.K. Royal Soci- new chemicals under existing U.K. and ence on Alzheimer’s Disease and Related
ety and the Royal Academy of Engineering. E.U. legislation. “We believe no new bodies Disorders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sid
Overall, however, the report concludes that are needed to regulate nanotechnologies,” Gilman of the University of Michigan, Ann
most nanotechnologies pose no new risk Dowling said, but existing bodies should re- Arbor, described the brains of four people
and no general moratorium is needed. view their regulations, and manufacturers with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease
Many products that incorporate nano- should publicly disclose test results. Only who had received the vaccine and sub-
particles, such as computer chips and self- large quantities of new materials would sequently died from unrelated causes. Each
cleaning windows, are no cause for new need to be tested; small-scale producers brain showed an almost complete lack of
concern, said Cambridge University me- such as laboratories would not be affected. βamyloid; the tangles remained, however.
chanical engineer Ann Dowling, who led Nanotechnologists seem pleased with the LaFerla’s work “goes hand-in-hand with
the study, at a press conference last week. panel’s conclusions. Physician Michael the vaccine trial,” says neurobiologist Virginia
But because some chemicals are more toxic Horton of the London Centre for Nano- Lee of the University of Pennsylvania in
in their nano form and can penetrate cells technology says, “The report was entirely Philadelphia. The mouse and human data sug-
NE
mjecotreed r etoad tiolyx, inciatnyo smtuadteireisa l“s wshitohuoludt bdee lsauyb,”- righUt .iKn .i tssc oiepnticme ismtiicn cisatuetri oDna.”vid Sainsbury gife rset stehaartc ha evrsa ctrceinate pwatoiuenldts b ien mveoryst etahrelrya psteaugteics NIA,IRVI
she said. Panel member Anthony Seaton, commissioned the study in July 2003 fol- of the disease, before tau forms tangles. OR
amUn.eK de.xi, cpaiednrdet e iadnt, A“oAcbcte utrphdaeet eimonno aUml neainnvtd,e rirst eiwtsypo iuirnaldt o thbryee lirnoewphlaiilncigant gian tlgoa xrgmicrai psyta grrtoeipcolo.e Trst hsa eni ndR ttohhyeea lpm eSreoidlcsii aeo tfay bs aeonlufd-t “bpei piSdete ildnlr,t eiLfaimeeed,” .a bNdemecvaiteusrs,t eht hesaluetc shrse , pmbaiatoiientnesct sha cbcaointm’ to pyf aea-t VERSITY OF CALIF
wrong to pretend we know much about the the Royal Academy will hold a public meet- nies are redesigning amyloid vaccines to make NI
U
t*noitxNiieacsno oalsnocdgie yun noccefe narntaadni onntpaineasor.ttiewcclwhensw.o”.lnoagnieost:eOc.poprgo.rutuk-/ iathnnegd e ttnohd ed oigsfoc tvuhesers ny tmehaeer .nrte psaoyrst oitn w 2i9ll Sreespptoenmdb bery, tAdhipesempaa srseea nifmetlrym ,a tnuhdne o crtohenpersoairdpteeyrd iw ndages an atehnw oe xfc alAignlgizceharela ittmiroiaenlr.s’ s. FRANK LAFERLA/
finalReport.htm –FIONAPROFFITT –MARYBECKMAN DIT:
Mary Beckman is a writer in southeastern Idaho. CRE
762 6 AUGUST 2004 VOL 305 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org
ASTROPHYSICS ScienceScope
Dark-Matter Sighting Ends in Shock
Asia Girds for Bird Flu Battle
Rumors have been flying for months among barely make their presence felt. When two
astrophysicists that a new telescope in Africa WIMPs collide, they should spit out a flurry BANGKOK—Southeast Asian governments
are escalating the battle against a highly
had spotted particles of “dark matter” de- of other particles and gamma rays. Those
pathogenic strain of avian influenza,H5N1,
stroying one another at the heart of our immolations should happen most often at
planning a regional network and wider vac-
galaxy. Now, the telescope’s German-led the Milky Way’s core, where WIMPs are
cination of farm birds.Both initiatives came
team confirms that it has detected gamma thought to swarm in a dense knot around the
out of a meeting held here last week by the
rays blazing directly from the Milky Way’s galaxy’s supermassive black hole.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Orga-
core. But the signal looks more like a shock The steady gamma ray signal seen by
nization (FAO).
wave from ordinary matter, the team report- HESS does indeed come from a tiny area at Last winter,H5N1 raged through eight
ed last week at a meeting* in Heidelberg, the galaxy’s center. But there are problems Asian countries,killing at least 24 people
Germany. Dark matter may be “the most in- with a dark-matter interpretation, Hofmann and prompting farmers to kill more than
teresting possible source of gamma rays,” says. First, the pattern of energy looks like a 100 million birds.The outbreak subsided in
says physicist Werner Hofmann of the Max classic shock wave, created by ordinary May only to resurface in late June (Science,
Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in atomic nuclei slamming into ambient mate- 16 July,p.321).Health authorities worry
Heidelberg. “But it is not the most natural rial in space. A likely source is the remnant that the virus could change to a form easily
explanation for what we see.” of a violent supernova next to the galactic transmitted among humans,touching off a
Hofmann and a team of about 100 re- center, where strong magnetic fields have global pandemic.
searchers used the High Energy Stereoscopic trapped and accelerated particles for thou- Hans Wagner,an FAO officer in Bangkok,
System (HESS), an array of four telescopes sands of years, Hofmann says. says 10 countries—Cambodia,East Timor,
completed in December 2003 at a dark high- Moreover, the gamma rays are so power- Indonesia,Laos,Malaysia,Myanmar,Papua
New Guinea,Thailand,the Philippines,and
altitude site in central Namibia. Unlike con- ful that if they came from WIMPS, their
Vietnam—have agreed to form a flu net-
ventional telescopes, which spy their targets masses—expressed in terms of energy—
work.FAO will help with staff training,labo-
directly, HESS watches for the traces of gam- would be at least 12 trillion electron volts.
ratory,and field surveillance capabilities and
ma rays and cosmic rays plowing into Earth’s That’s 10 to 100 times higher than predicted
has pledged $1.2 million to start networks
in South and East Asia.Long-term efforts
will be needed to control H5N1,because
“the evidence is starting to show there is
now no possibility of easily eradicating this
disease,”says Joseph Domenech,chief of
FAO’s Animal Health Service.FAO and oth-
ers are expected to urge wider use of poul-
try vaccines,which are controversial be-
cause of their uncertain efficacy and added
cost.Each bird must be inoculated at least
Seeing sparks.The new HESS telescope array in Namibia sees gamma rays from energetic process- twice,at a cost of about 5 cents per shot
es at the core of the Milky Way—but probably not dark-matter annihilation. plus labor.
–DENNISNORMILE
atmosphere. The impacts spark cascades of by nearly all models of supersymmetry, a
millions of secondary particles, which emit popular framework that extends physics to
Gene Therapy Pioneer Denies
faint meteorlike trails of bluish light called higher energies. “One clearly has to prefer a
Sexual Abuse Charges
Cerenkov radiation. HESS’s multiple eyes, more normal explanation,” Hofmann says.
each covering more than 100 square meters, For now, Hooper agrees: “I won’t com- A gene therapy pioneer has denied allega-
are designed to trace those trails back to their pletely write off an ultraexotic dark-matter tions that he sexually abused a young
origins. “I’m really impressed and amazed by particle, but it will take a lot more evidence girl.William French Anderson,67,this
their sensitivity,” says astrophysicist Dan to convince me.” week pled not guilty to six charges of
Hooper of the University of Oxford, U.K. Researchers should keep an open mind, child molestation brought by prosecutors
Adds astrophysicist Paolo Gondolo of the says physicist Joel Primack of the University in Pasadena,California.The incidents al-
legedly took place between 1997 and
University of Utah in Salt Lake City: “HESS of California, Santa Cruz. Thus far, the HESS
2001,when Anderson was the girl’s men-
is the best gamma ray telescope working now. team has analyzed data from mid-2003, when
tor and martial arts instructor.
It has the resolution necessary to test for the just two telescopes were operating. Now, with
Anderson,who led the first approved hu-
presence of dark matter.” all four scopes running, HESS might see dif-
man gene therapy trial in 1990,is free on a
Theory maintains that the Milky Way is ferent types of gamma rays from the putative
$600,000 bond pending trial.The University
engulfed by a vast halo of dark matter, out- supernova remnant and the adjacent core of
of Southern California has placed him on
weighing the ordinary matter in stars and the galaxy. “It’s likely HESS can disentangle
leave from his position as director of the
planets by a factor of 10 or more. In one the two,” Primack says.
N Gene Therapy Laboratory at the Keck School
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www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 305 6 AUGUST 2004 763