Nature - USA (2020-09-24)

A GUIDE TO MAKING

‘COCKTAILS’ TO

TREAT COVID-

A new method pinpoints

every mutation that a crucial

SARS‑CoV‑2 protein could use

to evade an attacking antibody.

The results could inform the

development of antibody

treatments for COVID‑19.

The immune system produces

molecules called antibodies to

fend off invaders. Antibodies

that bind to an important region

of the SARS‑CoV‑2 spike protein

can inactivate the viral particles,

making such antibodies

attractive as therapies. But over

time, viruses can accumulate

mutations — and some can

interfere with antibody binding

and allow viral particles to

‘escape’ immune forces.

James Crowe at the Vanderbilt

University Medical Center in

Nashville, Tennessee, Jesse

Bloom at the Fred Hutchinson

Cancer Center in Seattle,

Washington, and their

colleagues created the most

detailed map so far of the spike‑

protein mutations that could

prevent binding by ten human

antibodies (A. J. Greaney et al.

Preprint at bioRxiv https://doi.

org/d8zm; 2020). The team then

used that information to design

three antibody cocktails, each

consisting of two antibodies.

In laboratory tests of the

cocktails against SARS‑CoV‑2,

the virus did not develop

mutations that could escape

antibody binding. The findings

have not yet been peer reviewed.

GENOMES SHOW

CORONAVIRUS

SPREAD ON FLIGHT

Genetic evidence strongly

suggests that at least one

member of a married couple

flying from the United States to

Hong Kong infected two flight

attendants during the trip.

Researchers led by Leo Poon

at the University of Hong Kong

and Deborah Watson‑Jones at

the London School of Hygiene &

Tropical Medicine studied four

people on the early‑March flight

(E. M. Choi et al. Emerg. Infect.

Dis. https://doi.org/d9jn; 2020).

Two were a husband and wife

travelling in business class. The

others were crew members: one

in business class and one whose

cabin assignment is unknown.

The passengers had travelled in

Canada and the United States

before the flight and tested

positive for the new coronavirus

soon after arriving in Hong

Kong. The flight attendants

tested positive shortly

thereafter.

The team found that the

viral genomes of all four were

identical and that their virus

was a close genetic relative

of some North American

SARS‑CoV‑2 samples — but not

of the SARS‑CoV‑2 prevalent in

Hong Kong. This suggests that

one or both of the passengers

transmitted the virus to the

crew members during the flight,

the authors say. The authors

add that no previous reports

of in‑flight spread have been

supported by genetic evidence.

Percentage

Germany

Poland

Switzerland

Spain

Italy

Norway

Denmark

Netherlands

Czech Republic

Belgium

Subtropical or

tropical wood

Certified

sustainable

Incorrect or

incomplete label

Nearly half of charcoal bags bought in Europe contain wood that

originates from tropical or subtropical forests and many are incorrectly

labelled, raising fears that the material has been illegally logged.

CHARRED ORIGINS

0 20 40 60 80 100

Unsustainable charcoal

Nearly half of charcoal bought in Europe contains

wood from tropical and subtropical forests, with little

of it certified as sustainable, raising fears that some is

illegally logged.

“This is just an overview but it’s absolutely enough

to cause alarm,” says study leader Volker Haag, a wood

anatomist at the Thünen Institute of Wood Research in

Hamburg, Germany (V. Haag et al. IAWA J. https://doi.

org/d9n8; 2020).

Haag’s team used a microscopy technique that

digitally reconstructs sections of charcoal from

irregular lumps to create images from which the wood

can be identified. They analysed 4,500 samples from

150 charcoal bags bought in 11 countries. Some 46%

included wood from subtropical and tropical forests,

which have high rates of deforestation. Of these, only

one‑quarter of bags bore the logos of sustainable‑

certification organizations. In addition, only one‑

quarter of the bags specified the species or origin

of the wood — and only half of these were correct.

A wrongly labelled product is a strong indicator of

illegality, says co‑author Johannes Zahnen, a forest‑

policy specialist at WWF Germany in Berlin.

PHOTO: BEN STANSALL/AFP VIA GETTY; DATA SOURCE: V. HAAG

ET AL. IAWA J

. HTTPS://DOI.ORG/D9N8 (2020)

Nature | Vol 585 | 24 September 2020 | 487

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