GWAS analysis solely for coffee
and tea preferences, which,
however, identified specific
genetic variants associated
with caffeine metabolism
and perception. The authors
conclude from these results
that whereas taste plays some
role in coffee-drinking behavior,
caffeine perception was a larger
determinant in the preference
for black coffee, black tea, and
dark chocolate. —LMZ
Sci. Rep. 11 , 23845 (2021).REGENERATION
Mice with a special ability
Most adult mammals are unable
to regenerate damaged axons,
for example, after spinal cord
injury. Repair is hindered by the
inhibitory environment caused by
fibrosis (scarring) at the damage
site. Nogueira-Rodrigues et al.
report that spiny mice (Acomys
cahirinus), which repair skin
and ear without scarring, can
astonishingly regenerate spinal
axons and lower limb function
after complete transection of the
spinal cord. The authors found
that the activity of several glyco-
sylation pathways was altered
in these mice at the injury site. A
proteoglycan signature was asso-
ciated with scarless regeneration,
in which b-1,3-N-acetylglucos-
aminyltransferase 7 (b3gnt7)
was highly expressed. Neurons
from Mus musculus (used
in laboratory experiments)
co-cultured with cells overex-
pressing b3gnt7 also exhibited
increased axon growth in vitro.United States, Cornelis and
van Dam included informa-
tion on dietary preferences.
Correlations emerged between
drinking bitter beverages
without modifications and
candidate genetic variants asso-
ciated with taste and behavior.
The authors followed up with aPHOTO: EUGENEKEEBLER/ISTOCK.COM
SCIENCE science.org 11 FEBRUARY 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6581 627Despite milk and sugar counteracting the bitter avors in tea, co ee, and chocolate,
these additives are not as important to consumers as the ca eine hit.rapid proliferation, although the
overall numbers of mature cells
remained stable. Thus, GABA
not only carries neuronal signals
but also informs the develop-
ment of the cells that support
and speed up neuronal signals.
— PJ H
Dev. Neurobiol. 82 , 16 (2022).HUMAN GENOMICS
Taste or morning
euphoria?
Genetic variants can affect
people’s preferences for certain
foods, such as the perception
of bitter flavors. Modification
of foods, such as by adding
milk and sugar, will offset the
naturally bitter flavors of coffee,
tea, and chocolate products.
Examining genome-wide
association study (GWAS) data
from about 6000 individuals
in the United Kingdom and theFurther analysis of spiny mice
could reveal mechanisms of
regeneration that might be
translatable to humans. —GKA
Dev. Cell 10.1016/
j.devcel.2021.12.008 (2022).FLOODS
A shift in kind
Climate change may or may
not be affecting the intensity
and frequency of floods, but
it might have an effect on the
factors that cause them. Huang
et al. examined the history of
flooding in the western United
States over the past 80 years,
finding that although the
frequency and magnitude of
rain-on-snow–driven floods
have decreased, they have
increased for floods caused
by convective storms. There
has also been a temporal shift
of snowmelt-driven floods to
earlier in the year. The charac-
teristics of floods produced by
other mechanisms are gener-
ally stable. —HJS
Geophys. Res. Lett.
10.1029/2021GL097022 (2022).PHYSICS
A pressure-induced
crossover
In most superconductors,
the pairs of electrons that
are responsible for super-
conductivity are large and
overlapping. This so-called BCS
(Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer)
limit can be contrasted with the
Bose-Einstein condensation
(BEC) regime of small pairs.
To cross over from the BEC to
the BCS regime, experiment-
ers can vary parameters such
as carrier density, but finding
materials that undergo such a
crossover is tricky. Suzuki et al.
studied the transport proper-
ties of the organic compound
k-(BEDT-TTF) 4 Hg2.89Br 8 as they
subjected the samples to exter-
nal pressure. The character of
the superconducting phase
that formed at low tempera-
tures could be varied from
the BEC to the BCS limit by
increasing the pressure. —JS
P h y s. Rev. X 12 , 011016 (2022).