science.org SCIENCEPHOTO: ALAN DYER/STOCKTREK IMAGES/SCIENCE SOURCE‘Human challenge’ ends safely
COVID-19 | Opening an avenue to test new
COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, scientists
reported last week they had safely infected
healthy young volunteers with SARS-CoV-2.
In the unprecedented experiment, known as
a human challenge trial, research subjects
ages 18 to 29 were inoculated with nose
drops containing a very low dose of an early
strain of the pandemic coronavirus. Eighteen
of 34 who were tracked developed confirmed
infections, but none resulted in serious
illness, the study investigators reported in
a preprint on Research Square. Strikingly,
symptoms and detectable virus in the throat
developed quickly, by an average of 2 days
after inoculation. None of the volunteers
had contracted or been vaccinated against
COVID-19, but they would have received
medications to treat any serious illness. The
organizers of the human challenge study, at
Imperial College London and elsewhere, are
preparing to launch a follow-up trial, funded
by the Wellcome Trust, with the more conta-
gious and pathogenic Delta variant.Acquitted professor reinstated
RESEARCH SECURITY | Nearly 5 months
after being acquitted of charges he lied to
U.S. officials about his ties to China, Anming
Hu is again a tenured engineering professor
at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. It
fired Hu in October 2020, 8 months after
his arrest. Hu’s case was the first to go to
trial under the Department of Justice’s 2018
China Initiative, which has brought similarcharges against some two dozen academ-
ics and resulted in the recent conviction of
Harvard University chemist Charles Lieber.
Last month, university officials agreed to
help Hu, a Canadian citizen, with his appli-
cation for permanent U.S residency, the final
sticking point in Hu’s bid to be reinstated.
The university gave Hu, who returned to
campus on 1 February, $300,000 to resume
his research on nanomaterials.Cancer Moonshot relaunched
BIOMEDICINE | President Joe Biden
last week proposed a “reignited” Cancer
Moonshot, the research program he led
as vice president during former President
Barack Obama’s administration—but the
lack of a price tag has left research advocatesIN BRIEF
Edited by Jeffrey BrainardT
he International Astronomical Union (IAU) an-
nounced a new center last week to address the
burgeoning constellations of satellites that may
interfere with ground-based observations. A U.N.
committee also said it would consider the issue—
a first step toward international regulations. The
constellations, such as SpaceX’s Starlink, aim to pro-
vide global broadband access, but the sheer number of
satellites—2800 now, potentially rising to 50,000—has
alarmed professional and amateur stargazers alike.On 3 February, IAU, which represents professional as-
tronomers, announced the founding of its Centre for
the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite
Constellation Interference. The center will gather data,
sponsor research on making satellites less reflective
and removing their trails from images, and lobby for
regulation of satellite operators. Meanwhile, following
advocacy by IAU and others, the U.N. Committee on
the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space agreed to discuss on
14 February the satellites’ impact on astronomy.ASTRONOMYAstronomers organize to combat satellite interference
NEWS
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