NEWS | IN BRIEFscience.org SCIENCECREDITS: GRAPHIC C. BICKEL/SCIENCE; DATA N. COXET AL., N AT U R E10.1038/S41586-022-04664-7 2022estimated. The toll represents 60% of all
adult COVID-19 deaths since then and one-
quarter of the nearly 1 million U.S. deaths
from COVID-19 since 2020.Pandemic cut kids’ vax rates
INFECTIOUS DISEASES |COVID-
drove down the rate at which U.S.
kindergartners received three routine
vaccinations during the 2020–21 school
year, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said last week. In 47 states,
percentages of those receiving the diph-
theria, tetanus, and acellular pertussis
vaccine; the measles, mumps, and rubella
vaccine; and the varicella (chickenpox)
vaccine fell to about 94%, just below the
95% mark considered necessary to main-
tain populationwide immunity. The
agency blamed missed checkups because
of the pandemic.Ukraine’s fallen include scientists
CONFLICT |As the war in Ukraine grinds
into a third month, deaths are mounting—
and scholars young and old are among
the casualties. Russian soldiers have
gunned down scientists in cold blood,
including Vasyl Kladko, an x-ray0 25 50 75 100
Testudines (tortoises, terrapins, and other turtles)Crocodylia (crocodiles, alligators, etc.)Iguania (iguanas, chameleons, etc.)All reptilesSerpentes (snakes suborder of Squamata)Conservation status Critically endangered Endangered Vulnerable Other% of speciescrystallo-grapher at the V.E. Lashkaryov
Institute of Semiconductor Physics, slain
last month in a Kyiv suburb. In Kharkiv,
scientists have died in rocket attacks.
And in early April, Andriy Kravchenko, a
chemist at the Chuiko Institute of Surface
Chemistry, died when a land mine shred-
ded his car near Kyiv. A few days earlier, his
team delivered to a hospital the first batch
of something he’d spent years develop-
ing for battlefield use: a topical coagulant
that stanches bleeding until a doctor can
reach an injured soldier. “He dreamed it
would appear in the first-aid kit of every
Ukrainian soldier,” says Chuiko colleague
Mariia Galaburda. “Such a heavy and
painful loss.”U.K. funder regrets IDing critics
WORKPLACE |The funding agency UK
Research and Innovation last week apolo-
gized for encouraging a UKRI-linked analytics
firm to report critical comments made by
academics—a move researchers said was a
threat to their academic freedom. Scholars
had tweeted criticisms about the Researchfish
software platform, which collects data for
UKRI on the impact of its research grants;
the platform then told them it had shared its
concerns about the tweet with the research-
ers’ funders. In its apology statement, UKRI
said Researchfish had flagged six tweets
over 4 years. The agency called its approach
“wrong” and promised to stop it. “At no point
was this ever intended, or used, to affect cur-
rent or future grants from UKRI.”Swedish pandemic leader stays put
NEWSMAKERS |Anders Tegnell, former chief
epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health
Agency who drew controversy over his coun-
try’s subdued response to COVID-19 (Science,
9 October 2020, p. 159), will remain with the
agency after a reported new position consult-
ing for the World Health Organization on
pandemic vaccinations didn’t materialize. “An
agreement could not be reached,” the Swedish
agency said last week, adding that Tegnell will
now work on international issues.Prenatal tests get FDA warning
GENETICS |Screening evaluations that ana-
lyze blood from pregnant people to look for
abnormalities in fetal DNA can be unreliable,
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
warned last week. The tests, marketed in
the United States by several companies, are
less invasive than diagnostic tests that use
amniotic fluid or placenta samples, which in
rare cases cause miscarriage. But the blood
tests have often incorrectly indicated rare
genetic conditions, such as those caused by
small missing pieces of chromosomes, FDA
said on 19 April. It noted, for example, that
follow-up tests fail to confirm seven of 10
positive results for a rare genetic condition
called DiGeorge syndrome. Nevertheless,
some parents have chosen to end pregnan-
cies based on these results alone, it said. FDA
doesn’t regulate the tests, and most makers
of microdeletion tests don’t publicize usage,
The New York Times reported in January.
FDA recommends patients consult a health
care provider before deciding to take prenatal
blood tests and to confirm any positive result
with further tests.NAME SPECIALTYCAUSE
O F D E AT H
Oleksandr Korsun Chemistry Shelling
Oleg Amosov Economics Shelling
Yulia Zdanovska Math Shelling
Yevhen Khrykov Education research Shot
Va sy l K l a d ko Physics Shot
Andriy Kravchenko Chemistry Land mineShelled, shot, bombed
This partial list of Ukrainian researchers killed, based
on Science reporting, shows the war’s toll on civilians.SCIENCE.ORG/NEWS
Read more news from Science online.Grim reckoning
In some orders of reptiles, more than 50% of species were deemed threatened, grouped in one of three
categories of risk used by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (Some orders are not shown.)440 29 APRIL 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6592CONSERVATIONMany reptile species face risk of extinction
H
alf of turtle and crocodile species are in danger, says an extensive global review of
reptiles. Experts evaluated data for 10,196 species in 10 major taxonomic groups
of reptiles and assessed their conservation status. Hunting and fishing contributed
to the high figure for turtle species, the research team reports this week in Nature.
Overall, 18% of reptile species are threatened; the figure rose to 21% when the
scientists extrapolated to include data-deficient species. Reptiles are less at risk than
amphibians (41%) and mammals (25%) but worse off than birds (14%).