Science - USA (2021-07-16)

SCIENCE sciencemag.org 16 JULY 2021 • VOL 373 ISSUE 6552 261

PHOTO: LES GIBBON/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) last week narrowed the group of

patients for whom it recommends the

drug. Biogen’s aducanumab, marketed as

Aduhelm, was approved on 7 June despite

equivocal evidence that it can slow cogni-

tive decline (Science, 11 June, p. 1141). FDA

initially approved aducanumab for anyone

with Alzheimer’s, though Biogen had only

tested it in people with relatively mild,

early stage disease. In an 8 July update, the

agency specified the drug should be used in

“patients with mild cognitive impairment or

mild dementia.”

House panels boost research

FUNDING | Relieved of an annual spend-

ing cap that has been in effect for the past

decade, the U.S. House of Representatives’s

Committee on Appropriations has 8% more

than last year to allocate for all discretionary

programs across the federal government in

2022—some $1.5 trillion in all—and the sci-

ence agencies appear to be benefiting from

that largesse. The budgets of the National

Institutes of Health and the National Science

Foundation would rise by 15% and 13%,

respectively, in bills approved this week by

appropriations subcommittees. NASA sci-

ence programs would rise by 10%, to nearly

$8 billion, and the Office of Science at the

Department of Energy would grow by 4%,

to $7.32 billion. The bills must eventually be

reconciled with counterparts in the Senate.

Research fuel clouds Iran deal

NONPROLIFERATION | Iran’s decision last

week to manufacture enriched uranium fuel

for a research reactor in Tehran that pro-

duces medical isotopes has further muddied

the fate of the Iran nuclear deal. Negotiators

have been striving to reboot the 2015

pact before Iran’s hardline President-elect

Ebrahim Raisi assumes power on 8 August.

In 2018, the Trump administration pulled

out of the agreement, which restrained

Iran’s nuclear program in return for relief

from economic sanctions. U.S. President Joe

Biden has vowed to rejoin the pact, but Iran

remains at odds with the United States and

other signatories. Tensions rose over Iran’s

plan to move ahead on fuel fabrication;

some Western experts view the uranium

metallurgy involved as cover for advancing

its nuclear weapons related knowledge.

Outspoken evolution pioneer dies

GENETICS | Richard Lewontin, a combative

Harvard University geneticist who pio-

neered the study of molecular evolution

and undermined the idea that race had a

genetic basis, died last week at age 92, of

unknown causes. In the 1970s, his evalu-

ation of blood proteins revealed much

more genetic variation within a “race,”

as socially defined, than between races, a

finding since replicated by more in-depth

studies. To some, Lewontin was a gadfly,

opposing the Vietnam War, IQ tests, the

human genome project, sociobiology, and

the idea that genes solely determine traits

and who we are. Others revered him; a

generation of researchers was influenced

by his 1974 book, The Genetic Basis of

Evolutionary Change.

Pfizer, FDA clash on booster

COVID-19|Pfizer and BioNTech last

week drew rare public pushback from top

U.S. health agencies after the companies

announced they will soon seek regula-

tory authorization for a booster dose of

their vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The

firms cited results from a phase 1 clinical

trial of a third dose of their messenger

RNA vaccine, administered 6 months

after the second dose. They report that it

increased levels of antibodies against the

original pandemic coronavirus and the

Beta variant by five to 10 times; based on

lab studies, they expect it will also boost

antibodies to the widely circulating, more

transmissible Delta variant. Other studies

IN FOCUS The Entomological Society of America last week said it has removed

“gypsy moth” and “gypsy ant” from its official list of common names for insects

because those terms include an ethnic slur against the Romani people. The

decisions were the first in the society’s new project to review and replace other

inappropriate or offensive common names. The society plans to consult with

members to develop a new one for the moth (below), Lymantria dispar, whose

caterpillars are a major pest in North American forests.

have shown current vaccination regi-

mens provide good protection against

Delta. Within hours, the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration and the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention issued

an unusual joint statement asserting

that fully vaccinated people do not need

boosters “at this time,” and that they are

monitoring the science for “whether or

when” boosters might be necessary.

J&J vaccine linked to malady

COVID-19|The U.S. Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) on 12 July updated

the fact sheet on Johnson & Johnson’s

COVID-19 vaccine to suggest an increased

risk of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS),

a rare neurological malady. The agency

said it received 100 reports of GBS after

administration of 12.5 million doses

of the vaccine. Ninety-five people were

hospitalized, and one died. GBS occurs at a

background rate of 3000 to 6000 U.S. cases

annually. FDA wrote that current evidence

is insufficient to establish a causal relation-

ship to the vaccine, and that its benefits

“clearly outweigh” risks. Separately, FDA

last month amended fact sheets for the

Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to

note the rare risk of heart inflammation,

and the European Medicines Agency last

week said it will do so.

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