Science - USA (2022-04-22)

SCIENCE science.org

PHOTO: AILEEN DEVLIN/VIRGINIA SEA GRANT

just a few days. The subscription model pro-

vides guaranteed income for drugs that have

been proven efficacious and licensed. A test

of the subscription model could begin soon

using two new antibiotics, one developed by

Japanese drugmaker Shionogi and the other

by U.S. manufacturer Pfizer. In an impor-

tant milestone, the U.K. National Institute

for Health and Care Excellence concluded

last week that the drugs’ medical value was

worth paying each company £10 million

yearly for up to 10 years. Negotiations with

the companies are underway.

Team finds Notre Dame relics

ARCHAEOLOGY|Scientists have discovered

a trove of significant artifacts and tombs

beneath the floor of Notre Dame de Paris

Cathedral, some of which may date to the

13th century. The excavation was to help

prepare a section of the floor for scaffolding

to support the planned replacement of the

iconic cathedral’s spire, which toppled

in a catastrophic 2019 fire. The team found

10 sarcophagi, which it estimates were

buried between the 14th and 18th centuries,

the French National Institute of Preventive

Archaeological Research said last week in a

summary. Scientists peeked through a crack

in one of the vessels using a tiny camera and

saw a skeleton and what appeared to be fab-

ric and hair. Scientists plan to conduct DNA

and carbon-dating tests. The team also recov-

ered well-preserved painted sculptures and

many pieces of the medieval rood screen,

which once divided congregants from clergy

until it was demolished under Louis XIV.

Young kids get mystery hepatitis

INFECTIOUS DISEASES|Scientists are

investigating an outbreak of severe hepa-

titis that has sickened dozens of formerly

healthy young children in Western Europe

and the U.S. state of Alabama. The viruses

that commonly cause hepatitis were not

found in the children, but many were carry-

ing adenovirus, which usually causes colds

and conjunctivitis. None was vaccinated

against COVID-19, and several had the

disease at or shortly before hospital admis-

sion. At least nine children have required

liver transplants.

NSF seeks safer field studies

#METOO|The U.S. National Science

Foundation (NSF) pledged last week to

better police sexual and other forms of

harassment at field sites and on research

vessels, as part of a push on diversity by

President Joe Biden’s administration. In an

“equity action plan” released on 14 April,

the $8.8 billion agency noted that field sites

and vessels have been associated with higher

risks of harassment, especially for minorities

within a field team. It said it would “engage

in [harassment] monitoring, evaluation,

and mitigation activities” with its grantees.

The agency, a major funder of field studies,

published on 13 April proposed changes

to its grant awards procedures, requiring

applicants to submit a written plan for

maintaining safe, inclusive fieldwork sites.

MARINE ECOLOGY

Rebuilt oyster reefs thrive, benefiting ecosystems

Volunteers deposit

recycled oyster shells

for a reef restoration

project in Virginia’s

Piankatank River.

O

yster reefs can be restored and gain important ecological

functions in coastal zones in as few as 6 years and persist,

according to a long-term study. Oysters filter water, and

reefs made of their shells provide habitats for young fish

and other creatures. Beginning in the 19th century, many

U.S. reefs were overharvested for food, and diseases wiped

out others. After 2000, publicly and privately funded groups

expanded projects to rebuild reefs by seeding them with oyster

shells and larvae—but scientists have typically not monitored

results for more than a year or two. A research team at the

University of Virginia tracked dozens of reefs in coastal Virginia

created by the Nature Conservancy during the past 15 years, in

work supported by the National Science Foundation’s Long-Term

Ecological Research program. Many have become just as large

and densely populated as nearby, surviving natural reefs, the

team reported this month in Conservation Letters. The rebuilt

reefs are stable in storms, and mud crabs—which serve as food

for large fish—are now just as abundant as elsewhere.

22 APRIL 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6591 331