Science - USA (2020-01-03)

12 3 JANUARY 2020 • VOL 367 ISSUE 6473 sciencemag.org SCIENCE

PHOTO: ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY

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proteins and other large molecules, includ-
ing RNA, which the measles genome is
made of. To extract RNA from such samples,
scientists use techniques pioneered about
10 years ago by cancer researchers inter-
ested in formalin-fixed biopsies. “We put
them at 98° for 15 minutes and that breaks
the cross-links,” Calvignac-Spencer says.
This also breaks up RNA, but modern meth-
ods allow scientists to sequence the frag-
ments and piece them back together.
Calvignac-Spencer’s team drew up a new
phylogenetic tree using the 1912 genome
as well as a new one from 1960, pieced to-
gether from a sample in another collection,
and other available genomes. The result-
ing tree suggests the disease could have
jumped to humans as early as 345 B.C.E.—
right around the time human populations
reached the critical size.
The earlier date for measles’ emergence
also reflects the models that the team used
to analyze the viral sequences. When draw-
ing up a family tree using differences in ge-
nomes, researchers must estimate the speed
at which viral genomes diverge. In the past,
their estimates were often too high, because
some deleterious mutations tend to disap-
pear over time. The new model accounts
for this effect, called purifying selection. It
pushes back the divergence of measles and
rinderpest even without including the 1912
genome. But the genome strengthens the
new timeline, Calvignac-Spencer says.
The researchers can’t rule out that the
measles virus first circulated in humans
and then jumped to cattle, but that seems
unlikely, says Albert Osterhaus of the Uni-
versity of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover,
Germany. For one, ungulate herds probably
reached the critical population size long be-
fore humans did. And the closest relative of
the two viruses, which is even older, causes
peste des petits ruminants, a sheep and
goat disease that probably crossed to cattle
more easily than to humans.
Similar studies have suggested that HIV
and other pathogens also took off in the
wake of major changes in the human popu-
lation structure, Worobey says. “It seems
like changes in human ecology really did
coincide with the successful emergence of
these viruses.”
The ability to fish viral RNA out of very
old samples has renewed interest in the
Virchow collection, says Thomas Schnalke,
head of the museum. “It came as a kind of
revolution for us that researchers are com-
ing and saying: ‘Your samples are interest-
ing for us again.’” Calvignac-Spencer has
already labeled additional specimens he’d
like to study with orange stickers. “It’s a
treasure trove,” he says. “A window to the
past that we can open now.” j

T

he computer scientist whom Presi-

dent Donald Trump picked last

month as the next director of the

National Science Foundation (NSF)

has followed the path taken by an

untold number of foreign-born re-

searchers by seeking greater opportunities

in the United States. If the Senate confirms

him, as seems likely, 58-year-old, India-born

Sethuraman Panchanathan will become

not only the second NSF director of Asian

American descent, but a living embodiment

of how the international flow of talent has

helped fuel U.S. leadership in global science.

Panchanathan, who goes by “Panch,” is

executive vice president for research and

chief innovation officer at Arizona State

University (ASU) where he has worked

since 1997. A former chair of its computer

science and engineering department, he

founded the university’s school of comput-

ing and informatics and created and leads

its center for cognitive ubiquitous comput-

ing, a technology that uses artificial intel-

ligence and machine learning to help those

with disabilities.

“His star has kept rising,” says Subbarao

Kambhampati, an ASU computer scientist

and a longtime colleague and friend. “I

think he’s got three or four jobs. But he has

a crazy amount of energy, and he seems to

like going full speed all the time.”

One of those jobs is being a member of

the National Science Board (NSB), NSF’s

presidentially appointed oversight body.

His 5-year stint has given him an insider’s

look at the $8 billion agency, and a chance

to work with Trump’s science adviser,

Kelvin Droegemeier, who served on NSB to-

gether with Panchanathan for 2 years.

Droegemeier, who hailed the president’s

19 December 2019 announcement of the

pending nomination as “a win for science

in the Trump administration,” has strength-

ened ties between NSB and the White House

Office of Science and Technology Policy since

becoming OSTP director in January 2019.

Some observers credit Droegemeier with not

only championing Panchanathan for the NSF

post, but also persuading the White House

to queue up a new director before France

Córdova finishes her 6-year term in March.

Panchanathan’s interests dovetail with

NSF priorities, says Kambhampati, who at-

tended the same prestigious school, the In-

dian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras,

that launched Panchanathan’s career. “He’s

very strong on interdisciplinary and use-

inspired basic research, as well as entrepre-

neurship and partnerships with industry.”

Curiously, Panchanathan will be the sec-

ond IIT Madras alum to lead NSF; fellow

alum Subra Suresh, a materials scientist,

directed the agency for 2.5 years during

the first term of former President Barack

Obama. Suresh, who is 5 years older than

Computer scientist in line

to become next NSF director

Sethuraman Panchanathan would succeed France Córdova

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

By Jeffrey Mervis

Published by AAAS