SCIENCE science.org 4 MARCH 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6584 941PHOTO: RENAN BANTIM
lost an earlier patent battle over a similar
claim, retains 40 other U.S. patents related
to CRISPR and an intellectual property
portfolio in 30 countries. A CVC represen-
tative said the team “is considering various
options to challenge this decision.”Panel to mull risky virus research
BIOSECURITY | In the wake of the corona-
virus pandemic, the U.S. government is
revisiting its oversight of “gain-of-function”
studies that modify pathogens in ways that
could make them more harmful to people.
This week, the White House and National
Institutes of Health asked the National
Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to
review the scope and effectiveness of poli-
cies for research on “enhanced potential
pandemic pathogens.” The assessment
could examine whether controversial
coronavirus experiments previously funded
by the United States in China fall under
that definition and should have received
stricter scrutiny. The board will also look
at existing policies on “dual-use research of
concern” involving pathogens that could be
misused to cause harm. Some board mem-
bers cautioned against overly restrictive
rules that could shut down research essen-
tial to fighting pandemics. But some critics
have called existing policies too permissive.
A report is due by December.Subvariant proves no more severe
COVID 19 | BA.2, a more contagious version
of the already highly infectious Omicron
SARS-CoV-2 variant, does not make people
sicker than the original Omicron, the World
Health Organization (WHO) concluded last
week, based on data from three countries
where the subvariant has become dominant.
Both a 19 February preprint from South
Africa’s National Institute for Communicable
Diseases and a 25 February report by the UK
Health Security Agency showed no increase
in the risk of hospitalization for people who
carried BA.2, compared with those infected
by the original Omicron variant, known as
BA.1. And in a 22 February preprint, the
Danish public health agency reported that
reinfection by BA.2 did not lead to worse
symptoms than an initial BA.1 infection,
which were mild or moderate.Edited gene’s effect persists
THERAPEUTICS | The first team to edit
a disease gene by deploying CRISPR, the
DNA scissors, within the body, reported
this week that levels of a toxic protein
stayed low for as long as 1 year, suggest-
ing long-term benefits. In June 2021,Intellia Therapeutics and Regeneron
Pharmaceuticals announced that 1 month
after receiving an injection of fat particles
carrying messenger RNA for the CRISPR
enzyme and a guide RNA sequence, six
people with transthyretin amyloidosis, an
inherited, progressive disease, had a drop
in blood levels of a misfolded liver protein
that can damage the heart and nerves.
The companies said in a 28 February press
release and webcast with investors that the
reductions in levels—ranging from 41% to
93%, depending on the CRISPR dose—have
remained stable in the six original partici-
pants and nine more, all treated between
2 and 12 months ago. The researchers do
not know yet whether the patients’ neuro-
pathy symptoms have improved.Colonialism in fossil studies
RESEARCH ETHICS | Two basins —one in
northeastern Brazil, the other in north-
ern Mexico—have provided dozens of
well-preserved fossils from the Jurassic
and Cretaceous periods for research. But
many journal articles about those finds,
published during the past 3 decades,
serve as glaring examples of what a new
analysis calls “paleontological colonial-
ism.” Examining about 200 such published
studies, a team of scientists including ones
from those countries found that approxi-
mately half the studies were led by foreignBrazilian police seized fossils illegally offered for sale
and presented them to a museum at a 2021 event.researchers. Of those, half lacked any local
researchers as co-authors or showed no
evidence of any collaboration with them—
even though Brazil and Mexico require
such partnerships. Many publications did
not state whether the authors obtained
permits for fieldwork, and many of the
specimens described in the papers had
been illegally deposited in foreign collec-
tions, according to the study, published
on 2 March in Royal Society Open Science.Vaccine’s protection for kids dives
COVID 19 | Children ages 5 to 11 inoculated
with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine lose most
protection against infection by SARS-CoV-
in as little as 1 month, although defense
against hospitalization seems to persist,
new evidence shows. The news disap-
pointed public health specialists because
the Pfizer vaccine is the only one authorized
in the United States for that age group. The
findings drew on New York state medical
databases and compared more than 1 mil-
lion vaccinated 5- to 17-year-olds with their
unvaccinated peers. Among 5- to 11-year-olds
who received two doses of Pfizer’s messen-
ger RNA–based vaccine by the second half
of December 2021, the vaccine’s effectiveness
against infection dropped from 65% to 12%
a month later; in teenagers vaccinated in
that same period, the decline was smaller,
from 76% to 56%, according to the analy-
sis by researchers at the New York State
Department of Health. The authors of the
study, posted on 28 February as a preprint
on medRxiv, suggest younger children may
have lost more protection because they
received smaller doses of the Pfizer vaccine
than teenagers.LGBTQ disclosure linked to papers
DIVERSITY | LGBTQ scientists who don’t
disclose their sexual orientation in the
workplace publish fewer papers than their
peers, a study has found. Researchers
surveyed 1745 academic scientists in
2016, 1093 of whom identified as a sexual
minority, asking them questions about
their publishing history and openness in
the workplace. Based on the information
each provided, straight men and openly
gay or bisexual men published the most
papers, whereas LGBTQ individuals whose
colleagues weren’t aware of their sexual
orientation published the fewest. The
authors of the study, which appeared this
week in PLOS ONE, say the publishing gap
may reflect the challenges that LGBTQ
individuals face when working in environ-
ments in which they’re not comfortable
sharing their identity.