Science - USA (2020-01-03)

SCIENCE sciencemag.org

PHOTO: K. MCGRATH

ET AL., SCIENTIFIC REPORTS

9 , 11027 (2019)

Crunch time for climate policy

POLICY |The politics of climate change

faces crucial moments this year. The

Trump administration’s opposition to

regulations reducing fossil fuel emissions

has emerged as a primary talking point

for the president’s Democratic challengers.

One day after the U.S. presidential election

on 3 November, the country, the second

largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is set

to leave the Paris climate accord, although

a Democratic president could quickly rejoin

after taking office in 2021. Less than 1 week

later, the United Nations will convene

in Glasgow, U.K., for its most important

climate summit since 2015, where nations

are expected to increase their pledges to

cut greenhouse gas emissions—even though

they are behind on meeting existing ones.

Without stepped-up efforts, there is little

hope the world can keep future warming

below 2°C, the level scientists forecast

will produce catastrophic damage to

human communities and ecosystems.

Counting on the census

DEMOGRAPHICS |The U.S. government has

conducted a decennial census since 1790.

But the 2020 census that kicks off on 1 April

faces unprecedented political challenges.

Although civil rights groups won a fight to

block a question about citizenship that the

Trump administration wanted to add, it

has ordered the Census Bureau to generate

the equivalent data using existing govern-

ment records so that states can use the

information when they redraw boundaries

for federal and state elections. Researchers

fear that assignment may not be doable,

and that the political debate has further

alienated those already hardest to count.

Demographers also worry that the census’

use of a new way to protect respondents’

privacy could distort analyses of demo-

graphic trends. At stake are not only how

more than $1.5 trillion in federal funds are

distributed each year, but also the integrity

of the nation’s largest statistical agency.

CRISPR’s big clinical tests

BIOMEDICINE |The CRISPR gene-editing

tool faces key tests this year of its promise

to treat cancer and genetic diseases. A small

U.S. clinical trial is using CRISPR to disable

three genes in T cells that are then returned

to a cancer patient’s body, an approach that

could help these immune system soldiers

stop malignant cells from growing and

extend patients’ lives. More results may also

come from separate CRISPR cancer trials

in China. Other researchers are working to

treat people with sickle cell disorder and

thalassemia by using the DNA editor to turn

on the gene for a fetal version of hemoglo-

bin to compensate for a defective adult form

of the oxygen-carrying protein; last fall, sci-

entists reported success in two patients and

in 2020 will present longer-term results for

a larger group. Another clinical trial in the

United States could show whether CRISPR

improves vision in people with an inherited

disorder that causes progressive blindness.

Proteins tell ancient tales

ARCHAEOLOGY |Ancient proteins will

shed new light this year on the identity

and behavior of humans and other animals

that lived more than 1 million years ago.

Proteins are more stable than DNA, and as

analytical methods improve, researchers

can apply them to understand more about

older fossils lacking DNA, including the sex

and age of remains of enigmatic ancient

hominins. Most hominins are known by

bones and teeth alone, and proteins could

provide a new tool for sorting them in

family trees and to identify fragments too

small to classify. Although tooth enamel

offers the best source of ancient proteins,

researchers are also extracting them from

bones and hair. In addition, proteins can

reveal new information about artifacts

made of plant and animal materials, and

researchers hope this year to analyze

parchment manuscripts and the beeswax

once used to seal documents. Scientists

are also analyzing residues on pots for

more clues to whether early pastoralists in

the steppelands of Mongolia, for example,

drank camel or goat milk first—and what

people living on the edge of the Roman

E mpire in England ate.

‘Foreign influence’ worries grow

NATIONAL SECURITY |The political debate

over how to respond to China’s emer-

gence as a scientific superpower is likely

to intensify this year. In the United States,

some federal agencies have banned their

employees from participating in foreign

talent recruitment programs—an approach

that China has used to connect with thou-

sands of scientists—to prevent disclosure

of information that could damage national

security and U.S. economic competitiveness.

Two new bodies created by Congress will

work to harmonize practices across federal

agencies and chew over how best to balance

openness and security. U.S. academic lead-

ers are hoping to convince policymakers

not to fence off certain types of research,

which they say would throttle U.S. innova-

tion. A new report to the National Science

Despite long-standing

biodiversity conservation

plans, both African elephants

and African wild dogs

are listed as endangered.

3 JANUARY 2020 • VOL 367 ISSUE 6473 7

Proteins in these

400-year-old bone

fragments, found in

Iroquois settlements

in Canada, revealed whether

they were animal or human.

Published by AAAS