give rise to all extra-embryonic
primitive endoderm tissues and
support fetal development of PrE-
depleted blastocysts in mouse
chimeras. —BAP
Science, aay3325, this issue p. 574
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
Nighttime surprise
Isoprene, which is emitted
primarily by terrestrial veg-
etation, is the most abundant
volatile organic compound
in Earth’s atmosphere and is
central to controlling the oxidiz-
ing capacity of the troposphere
and forming organic aero-
sols. Palmer et al. report that
nighttime concentrations of
tropospheric isoprene are unex-
pectedly high in much of the
tropics. The authors link these
anomalies to low concentra-
tions of atmospheric nitrogen
oxides and suggest that their
findings will help to explain
some observations of elevated
levels of cloud condensation in
the lower troposphere. —HJS
Science, abg4506, this issue p. 562
NEUROSCIENCE
Feedback for breeding
familiarity
Social memory enables the
recognition of others and the
formation and maintenance of
relationships and is partially
supported by the hormone oxy-
tocin. Wang et al. found that an
oxytocin-receptor-dependent
PLANT SCIENCE
Global peanut
improvement
Wild relatives of crop plants
can supply genetic diversity
useful for improving agricultural
yields. In one such interaction
six decades ago, the cultivated
peanut was hybridized with
a wild relative. The improved
cultivar was resistant to certain
diseases. Since then, those
interested in crop improvement
shared the peanuts through
international networks. Bertiolia
et al. track where the hybrids
have been shared globally. This
genetic and pedigree analysis
finds traces of the improved
peanut cultivar in Africa, Asia,
Oceania, and the Americas.
Thus, food security and agricul-
tural sustainability have been
aided both by the scientific
access to diverse gene plasms
and by the social network that
shared the results. —PJH
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 18 ,
e2104899118 (2021).NEUROSCIENCE
Choosing simultaneously
or sequentially
Economic decisions are linked to
neuronal activity in the orbito-
frontal cortex. Neurons in this
brain region represent different
decision variables in a categorical
way. For example, when animals
choose between different types
of juice drinks, different groups of
neurons encode individual offer
values into the binary decision
and the chosen value. In most
studies, two types of juices
were presented simultaneously.
However, in real life, choices often
appear sequentially. Therefore,
Shi et al. alternated trials under
simultaneous and sequential
offers of drinks. The authors
found that the same neural
circuits supported both types of
choice sequence. Ideas about
how economic choices are made
can now be generalized to a
broader domain of decisions than
previously recognized. —PRS
J. Neurosci. 42 , 33 (2022).positive feedback loop contrib-
utes to long-term social memory
in rodents. Reciprocal phos-
phorylation between the receptor
and the kinase PKD1 promoted
downstream oxytocin recep-
tor signaling in cultured cells.
Rodents in which this loop was
disrupted in the medial amygdala
of the brain showed behav-
iors and neuronal activity that
indicated impaired recognition of
familiar cage mates. —LKF
Sci. Signal. 15 , eabd0033 (2022).BIOMATERIALS
Sealing the deal
Tissue sealants and adhesives
are potentially useful alterna-
tives to sutures for tissue repair,
but application to wet tissue
can be complex or take too long
to set during surgery. Wu et al.
developed a flexible, transpar-
ent adhesive polymer hydrogel
patch that seals gastric tissue
defects. The patch could be
applied to wet tissue and
showed strong adhesion shortly
after application and when fully
swollen (6 hours after applica-
tion). Patches sealed defects in
rat colon, stomach, and small
intestine, promoting tissue heal-
ing and maintaining adhesion
over 4 weeks. The technology
could be scaled to seal defects
in pig colon. Results support
further investigation of this
easy-to-apply patch as an alter-
native to commercially available
tissue adhesives. —CC
Sci. Transl. Med. 14 , eabh2857 (2022).PHOTOS: (LEFT TO RIGHT CHRIS SCUFFINS/GETTY IMAGES; POSNOV/GETTY IMAGES510 4 FEBRUARY 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6580
IN OTHER JOURNALS Edited byCaroline Ash
andJesse SmithRESEARCH | IN SCIENCE JOURNALS
science.org SCIENCEA molecular feedback loop in neurons mediates social bonding in rodents.
ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICSProtecting wetlands pays off
T
he 47 million hectares of US wetlands provide an estimated
$1.2 to 2.9 trillion in flood damage mitigation, benefits
that can reach far downstream. Taylor and Druckenmiller
integrate data on flood insurance claims, hydrography,
land cover, and property values to show that wetland loss
to development increased insurance claims. Wetland increase
showed no impact, suggesting that conservation should be pri-
oritized over restoration. Wetlands that were 500 to 750 meters
from the nearest stream or river were the most valuable, calling
into question the 2020 removal of protections for “isolated”
wetlands lacking a connection to surface water. —BW
Am. Econ. Rev.https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/
aer.20210497 (2021).