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 "Variant of mpox virus is getting better at human transmission."

Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents.  Accessed on 31 October 2024, 2022 UTC.

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

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Hello Nature readers, Today we learn that an mpox virus variant appears to be spreading between humans in Central Africa, map out tumours in three dimensions and delve into what makes the human brain unique.

After 68 weeks of injections, participants taking semaglutide reported a much bigger drop on the pain scale: an average of 42 points, versus an average of 28 points for placebo recipients. (Dr. P. Marazzi/Science Photo Library)

Anti-obesity drug alleviates knee arthritis

A blockbuster weight-loss drug sharply reduces pain from obesity-related knee arthritis and improves a person’s ability to engage in activities such as climbing stairs. A clinical trial of 400 participants across five continents showed that semaglutide, a drug sold as Wegovy for treating obesity, provided pain relief on a par with opioid drugs. At the end of the trial, many participants’ pain had subsided enough that they were no longer eligible for the study, says rheumatologist Henning Bliddal. “They got a therapy that was so effective that they more or less were treated out of the study,” he says. Nature | 4 min read Reference: New England Journal of Medicine paper

3D maps reveal secrets of tumours

Detailed maps that pinpoint the positions of cells in tumours and probe the tumours’ biology are offering insights into the development of several cancers, and could provide leads for potential treatments. Researchers from the Human Tumor Atlas Network analysed hundreds of thousands of cells from human and animal tissues. Their results describe extremely detailed 3D maps of tumour cells and trace the cellular changes that lead to cancer with ‘molecular clocks’. The clocks reveal other factors, beyond just size, that could help to evaluate the risk of pre-cancerous growths. Nature | 6 min read Reference: Package of twelve papers in Nature journals — start with this beautifully illustrated introductory page.

‘Protocells’ hint to how membranes evolved

A reaction between the amino acid cysteine with short-chain carbon molecules forms small, two-tailed lipids that spontaneously arrange themselves into a membrane-like sphere. Researchers suggest these ‘protocell’ spheres could mimic an early stage of cell membrane evolution. The membranes of our cells are made of large lipids with two tails, called phospholipids. But these phospholipids were probably scarce on Earth before life began. The earliest cells might therefore have relied on smaller lipids, like the ones formed in this reaction. Science | 5 min read Reference: Nature Chemistry paper

Mpox virus spreading human-to-human

Genomic analysis shows that a strain of the virus that causes mpox appears to be spreading from person to person in an outbreak in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Previously, the variant, called clade Ia, was known to transmit predominantly from animals to humans in Central Africa. The pathogen spreading between humans, possibly through sexual contact, could further complicate efforts to halt transmission of the disease in the region. “We don’t know how far these adaptations can go, and we are gathering data to understand how this evolution is occurring,” says Placide Mbala, head of epidemiology and global health at Kinshasa’s National Institute of Biomedical Research. Nature | 6 min read Reference: Preliminary results posted on Virological (not peer reviewed)

What makes the human brain so special?

The human brain develops slowly compared to other animals. It takes almost 30 years, roughly half our average lifespan, to mature and refine its connections. A mouse brain, however, fully develops in just 5% of its lifespan. (Illustration by Phil Wheeler)

The ineffable quality of the human brain

Our brains allow us to do all sorts of things unique to humans: use sarcasm, solve crossword puzzles, envision our future. Their complexity also leaves us susceptible to conditions we don’t see in animals, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. An avalanche of data has started to reveal key differences between human and animal brains, but exactly what gives rise to our unique cognitive skills still isn’t totally clear. Nature | Leisurely scroll (Nik Spencer/Nature; Illustrations by Phil Wheeler.) Brain size is tightly correlated with body size in most animals, but humans buck the trend. Given our body size, our brains are much bigger than expected. Researchers often use a ratio called the encephalization quotient (EQ) to get an idea of how much larger or smaller an animal’s brain is compared to what would be expected given its body size. The EQ is 1.0 if the brain to body mass ratio meets expectations, but the EQ of human brains exceeds this by around 7.5 times. (Nik Spencer/Nature) But it’s not just size that sets the human brain apart. For instance, neurons in the human brain are longer and make more connections with each other than those in chimpanzee brains do, and our brains contain 2.5 more interneurons — a class of cells that dampen neural activity and control excitation — than do the brains of mice. And there’s plenty more to discover about how our brains make us so talkative, sociable and intelligent.

Features & opinion

Crows, bats and witch’s cats

Today marks Halloween, the celebration of all things spooky. As children take to the streets dressed in their best ghoulish costumes, Nature asked nine scientists who study unusual animals and plants what drew them to their favourite — often misunderstood — subjects, from the common raven (Corvus corax) to the corpse plant (Amorphophallus titanum). Nature | 11 min read

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“These people burying her, they did everything they could in order to prevent her from coming back from the dead ... we have done everything we can in order to bring her back to life." Archaeologist Oscar Nilsson has been working to reconstruct the face of 400-year old Zosia, a woman whose body was found buried in Poland with a sharp sickle across her neck in 2022. According to legend, Zosia was considered a vampire, and the farming tool was placed there to prevent her returning from the dead. (CBS News | 4 min read)

Today I’m giggling at the celestial ‘googly eye’ caught by NASA’s Perseverance rover. Phobos, one of Mars’s moons, cast a silhouette as it passed in front of the Sun, briefly turning its orange surface into an iris, with Phobos as a pupil. Let me know what I should be keeping an eye on at briefing@nature.com. Thanks for reading, Jacob Smith, associate editor, Nature Briefing

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