Forests are expanding—which could Problematic internet use Policy implications of research be bad news for climate parallels drug addiction on biological sex p. 788 p. 798 p. 802 $15 20 MAY 2022 science.org LASTING IMPRESSIONS FFossiill iimpriintts shhow tthhe resiilliience of nannoplankton pp. 795 & 853 Thank you to the 2021 members of the AAAS Corporate Circle AAAS is thankful to last year’s members whose philanthropic contributions provide critical support to AAAS and its programs. 0520Product.indd 774 5/12/22 7:30 AM Advertorial Produced by the Science(cid:6)(cid:10)(cid:10)(cid:10)(cid:5)(cid:4)(cid:19)(cid:15)(cid:7)(cid:12)(cid:13)(cid:14)(cid:4)(cid:16)(cid:15)(cid:8)(cid:17)(cid:18)(cid:7)(cid:20)(cid:18)(cid:21)(cid:3)(cid:4)(cid:11)(cid:9)(cid:2)(cid:1)(cid:0) Stories that captivated youth in 2021 included AI-driven approaches to predicting protein structure. 2021 Tencent–Science Breakthroughs: Continuous Curiosity and Innovation Despite challenges spurred by the ongoing pandemic, last year was a wellspring for component of grain as well as an important industrial feedstock. In nature, it is scientific discovery, exploration, and innovation. From the launch of a massive new mainly produced by green plants fixing CO through photosynthesis, and for crops 2 space station and “microflyers” inspired by maple seeds to new methods for predicting the theoretical energy conversion efficiency of this process is no more than 2%. protein structure and manufacturing starch from carbon dioxide, and from enlightening Since it does not rely on plant photosynthesis, this new technology requires only discoveries about the obesity gene to revelations about the muon’s magnetism that could carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and electricity as raw materials, saving extensive farming, upend the Standard Model of particle physics, 2021 gave us gift upon gift of scientific fertilizing, and processing of large quantities of crops. The novel artificial route delights. We marveled at the identification of a skull belonging to a previously unknown designed by researchers consists of only 11 core reactions to convert CO into starch, 2 species that could be an even closer ancestor to modern humans than we’ve ever seen with an efficiency 8.5-fold higher than starch biosynthesis in maize. Synthesizing before, and we got closer to potentially harnessing fusion energy. It’s fitting that we starch will be a significant disruptive technology in today’s world. It allows us to pause a moment and honor those whose tireless yearning for discovery contributed to see more possibilities: A shift in the agricultural mode from traditional planting our knowledge about nature’s systems and structures in spectacular ways. to industrial manufacturing, which helps address the pressing issues of food For more than 30 years, Science magazine has been recognizing the intersection production, arable land, ecology, and climate. And even further into the future, this of human curiosity and the gusto of people who want to give back through technology will prove to be indispensable for space colonization. innovation. The 2021 breakthroughs described below were collected by the News Expanded capacity and innovative methodology has emboldened us, team at Science with suggestions from the next generation of science’s movers and engendering a renewal of the human spirit to take on the most formidable shakers: kids. Tencent—a world-leading internet company and artificial intelligence challenges. As scientists and engineers collaborate in harmony, prompted only (AI) leader—leveraged its social, data, and analysis services, and collected votes by a dedication to excellence and a commitment to serve, we witness from over 3.4 million young users via Tencent Docs, QQ Browser, and Sogou breakthroughs that help us to see the world differently. But perhaps more Wenwen. After fully gauging the interests of these teens, Tencent and editorial and importantly, these breakthroughs enable us to see ourselves differently—as news teams of Science chose the final 10 breakthrough topics. better, stronger, more agile, and more committed to excellence than ever before. This year, the breakthroughs have two especially interesting themes: Each This selection of annual breakthroughs is more than just a review of achievements OM showcases humanity’s ever-increasing capacity to tackle tough problems, while in the past year. More importantly, it carries forward the spirit of science from C K. OC it also takes a significant step in shaping how we will explore the next frontier of generation to generation. We hope that by passing the torch of science, more RST UTTE the unknown. For example, when scientists utilized two AI-driven approaches to talented young minds will be inspired to devote themselves to scientific careers G/SH predict protein structure—an amazing discovery given the high complexity and and press ahead with a passion for seeking the truth and the audacity to N PERI large quantity of these twisty, geometric shapes—they ticked multiple boxes. By overcome the greatest hardships. CTIO demonstrating that AI could help solve this knotty problem, they further opened the Sponsored by U OD door to AI’s expanding power as a tool for pursuing other scientific investigations. R O: © P Another 2021 breakthrough involved Chinese scientists discovering a de novo HOT route for artificial starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO). Starch is the major P 2 0520Product.indd 775 5/13/22 2:07 PM REWARDING HIGH-RISK RESEARCH. SUPPORTING EARLY-CAREER SCIENTISTS. HELPING TO FIND CURES FASTER. APPLY TODAY NowacceptingapplicationsfortheMichelson Philanthropies&SciencePrizeforImmunology. TheMichelsonPhilanthropiesandSciencePrizefor Immunologyfocusesontransformativeresearchin “TheMichelsonPhilanthropies&Science humanimmunology,withtrans-diseaseapplications PrizeforImmunologywillgreatlyimpact myfuturework.AsIamjuststartingmy toacceleratevaccineandimmunotherapeutic scientificcareer,itwillilluminatemywork, discovery.Thisinternationalprizesupportsinvestigators sparkinterestandsupportmetocontinue 35andyounger,whoapplytheirexpertisetoresearch myresearchinthisfield.” thathasalastingimpactonvaccinedevelopmentand immunotherapy.Itisopentoresearchersfromawide PaulBastard,MD,PhD, rangeofdisciplinesincludingcomputerscience, LaboratoryofHumanGenetics artificialintelligence/machinelearning,protein ofInfectiousDiseases,Imagine engineering,nanotechnology,genomics,parasitology Institute(INSERM,Universityof Paris),Paris,France;andThe andtropicalmedicine,neurodegenerativediseases, RockefellerUniversity,NewYork. andgeneediting. Dr.Bastardreceivedtheinaugural GrandPrizeforhisessay:“Why Applicationdeadline:Oct.1,2022. dopeoplediefromCOVID-19: Autoantibodiesneutralizingtype Formoreinformationvisit: Iinterferonsincreasewithage.” www.michelsonmedicalresearch.org GRANDPRIZE: #MichelsonPrizes $30,000 FINALISTPRIZE: $10,000 0520Product.indd 776 5/12/22 7:30 AM CONTENTS 20 MAY 2022 • VOLUME 376 • ISSUE 6595 788 Forests produce water vapor and other compounds that promote cloud formation, helping to cool the planet. NEWS FEATURES 798 Can internet use become addictive? 788 The forest forecast Problematic internet use parallels drug addiction, but the mechanisms are not yet Climate change could lead to a net expansion of global forests. But will a more forested clear By M. Brand IN BRIEF world actually be cooler? 800 Electric buzz in a glass 780 News at a glance By F. Pearce of pure water Hydrogen bond charge transfer in water IN DEPTH INSIGHTS may have far-reaching chemical implications 782 ‘COVID-ization’ of research By D. Ben-Amotz levels off Researchers who pivoted from distant POLICY FORUM disciplines produced lower impact work, PERSPECTIVES 802 Law, policy, biology, and sex: study finds By J. Brainard 792 Managing forests for Critical issues for researchers competing goals Researchers should be aware of 783 Do you hate your face mask? Tree plantations face difficult trade-offs how sex-difference science is (mis)applied There’s hope between production and ecological goals in legal and policy contexts A U.S. government contest has By J. Gurevitch By M. Sudai et al. 10 companies competing to make RESEARCH ARTICLE p. 839; better face coverings REPORT p. 865 BOOKS ET AL. By J. Cohen 805 Shaping Earth in our image 794 Mitochondrial complex An interdisciplinary interrogation of complexification 785 Shadow of Milky Way’s giant the Anthropocene misses the Variation in complex composition provides black hole revealed chance to probe broader and deeper clues about the function of individual Scene resembles earlier image from a By E. C. Ellis and M. Maslin subunits By M. A. Huynen and D. M. Elurbe distant galaxy, as Einstein’s theory predicts By D. Clery RESEARCH ARTICLE p. 831 806 The fastest R&D lab on the planet NDEN PICTURES P78O6D CSAoSiTls’ coating helps keep 7oM9fa 5trhi nFeeo p spashsiyltt iomplparniknttosn f srohomw o ncoetaanbsle Fminrtooomt oo rtcshapero rs raatr fieenntnyao tsvo aB rtyoi oLan.d V h dinaessse silgpnil,l ed over O/MI dust storms at bay resilience during extreme ocean states HOT Breakdown of “biocrusts” allows wind to By J. Henderiks LETTERS OSP attack dryland soils By E. Pennisi REPORT p. 853 809 Good science requires RY/BI better animal welfare HEN 787 NIH rolls out stricter disclosure 796 T cell immune responses deciphered By V. Neville et al. PE rules for sexual harrassment A machine-learning approach reveals antigen P HILI Institutions now legally required to inform encoding that predicts T cell responses 810 Indigenous lands protect P O: agency if grantees are “disciplined” for By A. Nourmohammad Brazil’s agribusiness PHOT workplace misbehavior By J. Kaiser REPORT p. 880 By L. Ferrante and P. M. Fearnside SCIENCE science.org 20 MAY 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6595 777 CONTENTS 860 Superconductivity 860 Enhanced charge density wave coherence in a light-quenched, high-temperature superconductor S. Wandel et al. 865 Forestry Multispecies forest plantations outyield monocultures across a broad range of conditions Y. Feng et al. PERSPECTIVE p. 792 869 Biocatalysis Directed evolution of nonheme iron enzymes to access abiological radical-relay C(sp3)−H azidation J. Rui et al. 874 Geophysics Optical interferometry–based array of seafloor environmental sensors using a transoceanic submarine cable A pulse of light enhances the coherence of charge density waves in a high-temperature superconductor. G. Marra et al. 880 Immunology 810 Irrawaddy dolphins continue 823 Molecular evolution Universal antigen encoding of T cell activation to decline Epistatic drift causes gradual from high-dimensional cytokine dynamics By C. Sonne et al. decay of predictability in S. R. Achar et al. protein evolution Y. Park et al. PERSPECTIVE p. 796 RESEARCH 831 Structural biology Structures of Tetrahymena’s DEPARTMENTS respiratory chain reveal the diversity 779 Editorial of eukaryotic core metabolism The Court is ignoring science IN BRIEF L. Zhou et al. By D. G. Foster 812 From Science and other journals PERSPECTIVE p. 794 886 Working Life 839 Forest ecology RESEARCH ARTICLES Don’t panic By S. Holzer The biodiversity and ecosystem 815 Microtubules service contributions and Posttranslational modification of trade-offs of forest restoration microtubules by the MATCAP detyrosinase ON THE COVER approaches F. Hua et al. L. Landskron et al. Scanning electron micrograph of minuscule PERSPECTIVE p. 792 coccolithophorid plankton cell wall coverings RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY; FOR FULL TEXT: DOI.ORG/10.1126/SCIENCE.ABN6020 844 Kinetochore preserved as exquisite fossil impressions on the surface of 183-million-year-old Jurassic Structure of the human inner 816 Topological matter organic matter. Coccolithophores are a type All topological bands of all nonmagnetic kinetochore bound to a of microscopic marine phytoplankton, and stoichiometric materials M. G. Vergniory et al. centromeric CENP-A nucleosome their hard calcareous plates, called coc- S. Yatskevich et al. coliths (~5 micrometers long), are normally RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY; FOR FULL TEXT: DOI.ORG/10.1126/SCIENCE.ABG9094 abundant in the fossil record. Here they have REPORTS dissolved from these RY O 817 Neurodevelopment 853 Fossil record ancient rocks deposited RAT Oligodendrocyte precursors guide during a global warming BO interneuron migration by unidirectional Global record of “ghost” nannofossils interval, leaving only their R LA contact repulsion F. Lepiemme et al. reveals plankton resilience to imprint “ghosts” behind. ATO RDEOSI.EOARRGC/H10 A.1R1T2I6C/LSEC SIEUNMCMEA.ARBYN; 6FO20R4 FULL TEXT: hPEigRhS CPEOC2T aInVdE wp.a 7r9m5ing S. M. Slater et al. SCreeed pita: Sgaems 7M9.5 S alantedr ,8 P5a3u.l ACCELER Bown, Richard J. Twitchett, AL N 818 Cell biology 857 Plant science Silvia Danise, Vivi Vajda ATIO The deubiquitinase USP8 targets Recognition of pathogen-derived C N A ESCRT-III to promote incomplete cell sphingolipids in Arabidopsis SL division J. Mathieu et al. H. Kato et al. Science Careers ........................................885 WART, STE G SCIENCE (ISSN 0036-8075) is published weekly on Friday, except last week in December, by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20005. Periodicals mail GRE postage (publication No. 484460) paid at Washington, DC, and additional mailing offices. Copyright © 2022 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The title SCIENCE is a registered trademark of the AAAS. Domestic N: individual membership, including subscription (12 months): $165 ($74 allocated to subscription). Domestic institutional subscription (51 issues): $2212; Foreign postage extra: Air assist delivery: $98. First class, airmail, student, and O emeritus rates on request. Canadian rates with GST available upon request, GST #125488122. Publications Mail Agreement Number 1069624. Printed in the U.S.A. ATI Chahnadnlgineg o afv aadiladbreles fsr:o Amll obwa c4k wiseseukess,. sgcivieinngc eo.lodr agn; bdu nlek wra atde dorne sreseqsu easntd. A8-udtihgoitr aizcactoiuonnt tnou rmepbreor.d Puocset mmaasteterira:l Sfoern idn tcehrannagl eo ro pf aedrsdorneassl u tose A uAnAdSe,r P c.Oir.c Buomx s9t6an17c8e,s W naost hfainllgintogn w, DithCi n2 0th0e9 f0a–ir6 u1s7e8 p. Sroinvigslieo-ncso opfy t shael eCso:p $y1r5ig ehat cAhc pt lcuasn s bheip opbintagi annedd USTR through the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), www.copyright.com. The identification code for Science is 0036-8075. Science is indexed in the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature and in several specialized indexes. ILL 778 20 MAY 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6595 science.org SCIENCE EDITORIAL The Court is ignoring science A recently leaked draft opinion indicated that the The research revealed that patients who were able US Supreme Court is prepared to overturn Roe to receive an abortion were more than six times more v. Wade as early as next month in the matter likely to report aspirational 1-year plans than those of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organiza- who were denied one. They are more likely to have tion. In doing so, the Justices won’t just be dis- a wanted child later and better able to take care of regarding decades of precedent. They’ll also be the children they already have. Because the majority of disregarding ample evidence of abortion’s posi- abortion patients are already parents, this means that tive impact on patients’ health and well-being. being able to obtain an abortion has powerful, multi- Diana Greene Foster In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Court struck down a Texas generational impacts. is a professor in law criminalizing abortion and held that the Consti- By contrast, if people are forced to carry a pregnancy the Department tution protects the right to decide whether to end a to term, they are more likely to experience lasting finan- of Obstetrics, pregnancy. Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked opinion in cial hardships. After being denied an abortion, women Gynecology, and Dobbs stems from the idea that abortion rights are not had three times greater odds of being unemployed Reproductive mentioned in the Constitution or rooted in US history. than those who obtained abortions and had four times But we, as a society, are equipped with more factual higher odds of being below the federal poverty level. Sciences and information today than the framers of the Constitu- Their physical and mental health are also at risk: director of research tion were. There is a long history of Supreme Court Women unable to obtain an abortion said they had at Advancing abortion decisions drawing on evi- more symptoms of anxiety, lower New Standards dence. In Whole Woman’s Health self-esteem, and lower life satis- in Reproductive v. Hellerstedt (2016), the Court faction. They were more likely to Health, University “It is critical now emphasized the importance of report “fair or poor” health than of California San considering data when reviewing those who had received abortions. Francisco, CA, USA. that the Court… abortion restrictions. It is critical And, again, their families feel the diana.foster@ now that the Court adhere to prec- effects: Patients report more diffi- ucsf.edu be guided by edent and insist that constitutional culty bonding with their baby, and rights be guided by evidence, not their older children have worse evidence, by ideology. developmental outcomes and are The Turnaway Study, which I more likely to live in poverty. led, was designed to contribute to not by ideology.” The clearest finding from the that body of evidence. Launched in Turnaway Study is that people 2007, more than 40 scientists from know what is best for themselves nine universities and four research and their families. The results are institutes worked on the study. We were inspired to do not theories or guesses. They are not anecdotes to be so by Justice Anthony Kennedy, who raised the ques- trotted out at politically expedient moments. They are tion of an abortion’s effect on a pregnant woman in based on a large set of data in which statistically sig- Gonzalez v. Carhart (2006), a case that considered nificant patterns emerged across many people. And the constitutionality of a federal ban on one abortion they are the basis for more than 50 articles that have procedure. In his majority opinion, Justice Kennedy been published in high-quality, peer-reviewed scien- argued that there were “no reliable data to measure tific journals*. the phenomenon” of potential abortion regret, and the As a researcher, I believe that science should not Court thus upheld the law. be merely an ivory-tower pursuit, divorced from the My colleagues and I resolved to find that data—so world around it. Understanding the nature, causes, that Supreme Court Justices and policy-makers could and solutions to human problems is one of the primary base their decisions not on conjecture, but on hard sci- goals and great gifts of science. Science is clearly rel- ence. To that end, the Turnaway Study followed almost evant to the controversial issues of our time, including 1000 women across the country for 5 years to see how abortion access in the United States—in fact, science is having an abortion, or being denied one, affected their especially critical in these moments. The highest court physical health, mental health, finances, relationships, in the United States should not ignore it. and children. What we found was staggering. –Diana Greene Foster NE REE G A R SID * https://www.ansirh.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/ O: turnawaystudyannotatedbibliography.pdf Published online 16 May 2022; 10.1126/science.adc9968 OT H P SCIENCE science.org 20 MAY 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6595 779 NEWS “We don’t think that [China’s zero COVID-19 policy] is sustainable, considering the behavior of the virus.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the World Health Organization, referring to strict lockdowns to prevent spread. China called the remark “irresponsible” and censored it. IN BRIEF Edited by Shots cut risks of Long Covid Jeffrey Brainard PUBLIC HEALTH | A study of more than 1 million Americans has found vaccination is linked to substantially lower risk of lingering symptoms after COVID-19 infections, often called Long Covid. The result, published on 7 May in Open Forum Infectious Diseases, confirms similar findings from smaller studies. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University used electronic medical records to compare symptoms in vac- cinated and unvaccinated people before and 3 months after an infection, both before and after vaccines became available. The data include about 1.5 million unvaccinated U.S. residents and 25,000 who had been vaccinated. All participants had infections confirmed by polymerase chain reaction testing. The researchers looked for a range of new health concerns after infection, such as diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension. They also examined the persistence of symptoms associated with COVID-19, such as fatigue and body aches. For each symptom or diagnosis studied, rates were lower in the vaccinated cohort. For A worker disinfects a store in Pyongyang, North Korea, as an illness believed to be COVID-19 spreads. example, rates of persistent headaches and body aches in the vaccinated group COVID-19 were roughly half. A ‘fever’ hits unprotected North Korea Antidepressant nixed as COVID Rx A id agencies are gearing up for a robust response against what DRUG DEVELOPMENT | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided this North Korea calls a “malignant fever” sweeping the country that week not to approve the antidepressant is almost certainly COVID-19. As Science went to press, new fluvoxamine to treat COVID-19. cases of the illness appeared to be doubling every 2 days in the Fluvoxamine is a selective serotonin world’s last large population, some 25 million people, lacking reuptake inhibitor typically prescribed for depression or obsessive-compulsive immunity to the disease from vaccination or infection. “We’re disorder. In October 2021, a randomized, looking at a major, major catastrophe,” says Kee Park, a global health controlled trial in Brazil showed unvac- specialist at Harvard Medical School. Early in the pandemic, North cinated people with preexisting conditions Korea closed itself off from the world in a bid to keep the virus at bay. who took the drug were 32% less likely than those who took a placebo to be That strategy largely succeeded for 2 years, despite occasional reports hospitalized or need prolonged medical GES o6f6 ,p0o0s0s ipbeleo poluet bforre aCkOs.V UIDnt-1il9 laasntd m reopnothrt,e Nd ozretrho Kcaosreesa. hIta da lsteos tigend ojruesdt ceaffreec.t Bivuetn FesDsA w saasi d“n porto poef rosfu tahseiv der.”u Og’tsh er GETTY IMA offers of COVID-19 vaccines. But the “great upheaval,” as North Korea’s treatments for COVID-19, including the WS/ oral antiviral pills Paxlovid and molnupi- NE leader Kim Jong Un calls the outbreak, may persuade the reclusive O ravir, have been available since October OD nation to accept such assistance as vaccines, antivirals, and rapid diag- KY 2021 and have proved to be more effective O: nostic tests. “We need to fast-track the aid,” Park says. than fluvoxamine. HOT P 780 20 MAY 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6595 science.org SCIENCE A 1380-ton section of the ITER fusion reactor is one of nine that will be welded together. ENERGY RESEARCH Leader who revamped fusion project dies B ernard Bigot, who as director-general of the giant ITER say. In fact, the parts for the ITER reactor are now more than fusion test reactor under construction in France was 75% complete. Last week, ITER announced the installation of credited with turning around the behind-schedule and the first of nine segments of its 11-meter-tall, doughnut-shaped overbudget project, died last week at age 72 after an vacuum chamber—although further work is paused as regula- illness. A theoretical chemist, Bigot took control of the tors look into certain safety issues. When it starts up in 2025, world’s biggest science project in 2015, as some politicians in the facility, costing more than €17 billion, aims to fuse hydrogen the United States were pushing to withdraw from the seven- nuclei to form helium, ultimately yielding 10 times more energy member partnership. Bigot transformed ITER from an industrial than is needed to produce the plasma. Bigot will be succeeded stimulus program to a bona fide scientific experiment, observers on an interim basis by Deputy Director-General Eisuke Tada. Tooth puts Denisovans in Laos China probes academic database Energy science office head OK’d ARCHAEOLOGY | A molar recovered from PUBLISHING | China’s market regulation LEADERSHIP | The U.S. Senate last week a cave in northeastern Laos in 2018 closely agency last week announced it is inves- confirmed a soil scientist as chief of the resembles the few known examples of tigating whether the country’s largest U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of molars of the mysterious extinct human academic database engages in monopolis- Science, the nation’s single largest funder species known as Denisovans, close cousins tic behavior. China National Knowledge of the physical sciences. Asmeret Asefaw of the Neanderthals. Previous Denisovan Infrastructure (CNKI), launched in 1996 Berhe of the University of California fossils have been found in Siberia and Tibet. by Tsinghua University and a state-owned (UC), Merced, studies how soil absorbs The new finding, from Southeast Asia, software firm, provides access to the atmospheric carbon dioxide. Some physi- greatly expands Denisovans’ known range full text of 280 million papers and dis- cists complained that Berhe, who served and suggests they occupied several eco- sertations in both Chinese and English as interim associate dean of UC Merced’s RG/ logically diverse landscapes. The research collected from more than 90% of the graduate division, lacks leadership O WW.ITER. tmeaomlar d taot eadp pthroex siimngaltee,l yh u13m0a,0n0-l0o otok i1n6g0 ,000 cmoautnetrriayl’s i sa cfaoduenmd iicn j oouthrenra ldsa. tLaibttalsee os.f Itnh is egxropuernide ntcoe l eaandd arnel eovffaicnet tshciaetn stpifeinc dbsa cthk-e W P:// years ago. Although they couldn’t extract recent years, CNKI’s aggressive accu- large majority of its $7.48 billion budget HTT DNA, they managed to identify strands of mulation of papers has led to copyright on physics research. But some previ- N/ ancient proteins within the enamel that disputes, and the database has faced ous directors of the office argued the O ATI confirmed it was from a member of our complaints about fees. Last month, the criticism was off base, and many climate ANIZ genus, Homo, and was most likely female, Chinese Academy of Sciences refused to researchers cheered her selection. The G OR the team reports this week in Nature pay the reported 10 million yuan ($1.5 Senate confirmed her by a 54-45 vote, R © ITE Communications. Some Denisovan DNA million) annual charge and dropped the with just four Republicans voting for her. O: persists in modern human populations, par- service, preventing access to the database Berhe becomes the first Black person to HOT ticularly in people from Southeast Asia. by its more than 100 research institutes. lead the office. P SCIENCE science.org 20 MAY 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6595 781 IN DEPTH PANDEMIC SCIENCE ‘COVID-ization’ of research levels off Researchers who pivoted from distant disciplines produced lower impact work, study finds By Jeffrey Brainard table, below). And in fields more distant from analyses. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, pandemic science, the share of COVID-19 pa- he adds: “There are many other priority I n early 2020, as the COVID-19 pan- pers is declining, suggesting researchers are killer [infectious] diseases which have been demic took hold, a lab run by virologist returning to their core interests. neglected during the COVID-19 era that need John Schoggins at the University of Those developments are not surprising, attention.” Other evidence suggests that in Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Cen- observers say. “Now that many of the clini- some fields, researchers who plunged into ter became one of many around the cal and epidemiological knowledge gaps COVID-19 studies didn’t always produce their world to shift its full attention to the have been [filled], the research focus of most best work. crisis. He and his seven-person lab offered clinicians and epidemiologists is rightfully The pandemic prompted a massive in- help to other scientists and physicians—by moving back towards their own specialist flux of scientists into related research. As tveirsutisn, gf ohru mexaanm spaleli—vaa nfodr atlhseo SpAroRdSu-CceodV -2a itniotuerse sdtiss,”e assaeyss rAesleimarucdhderin a Zt uUmnliav,e rasnit yi nCfeocl-- oref laAtepdr ilj,o umrnoarle arthtiacnle s 5a0n0d,0 0p0r epprainntdse mhaicd- 07.06476 handful of pandemic-related research papers. lege London, who was not involved in the appeared, according to an analysis of the V:21 But in recent months, as vaccines Dimensions bibliographic database RXI A aplanabnd d htearmevaei tcm’tsu esrennvteesd r ihtaeyw,l pmaeyed m frrbeoedmrus c woef o ttrhhkee- Growth chart otbrfyi a MPl haiinlnicpnh oeSvshataetipro,i nrwa. hooAf ltsthhtuoed uUigenhs i vinethrdsouistsye- HILL, ET. AL, The rise in COVID-19 papers has slowed in some fields and peaked in others. R. ing on COVID-19. With so many Data for this year are through mid-April only. Percentages are rounded. publications make up just 4% or D BY researchers piling into the field, so of all scientific papers published USE Sofc hsoatgugriantsi osna.y” sA, s“ tah errees uwlta, sh ias sPehn.Dse. % OFO PRA RPEELRAST AEDBO DUISTE CAOSVEID-19 PCEHRACNENGTEA IGNE tfhroem s u2r0ge19 o ft hpraopuegrhs oeanr lay ntehwis tyoepairc, CE DATA candidates began looking elsewhere 2019 2020 2021 2022 POINTS, 2021–22 was unmatched in the history of sci- CIEN for promising dissertation topics. Virology 3.1% 17.4% 28.4% 37.1% 8.8 ence. In certain disciplines the shift OF S Schoggins’s lab is part of a wider Infectious diseases 0.8% 13.2% 23% 23.8% 0.9 was especially dramatic. Shapira’s WEB prseuivcgeognte tas wta.n aOayvl fyersroeamsll ,o Ctfh OpeVu nbIuDlims-1hb9in errge s otefr aeprnacdnhs-, Pocucbulipca etniovniraoln hmeaelnthtal 0.2% 7.8% 17.0% 17.5% 0.5 abviniroaoRllyoxsgiivys ,— tphprere espshreainnrtete— do fs hpioanwp esr asn tf hoacAtu pserinidl RTAS; (DATA) demic-related papers appears set to on coronaviruses and the diseases HUE decline this year, after explosive and Emergency medicine 0.0% 7.8% 11.4% 8.0% –3.3 they cause went from roughly 3% in ATTY unprecedented growth in 2020 and 2019 to 28% in 2021, and in infec- N) K 2021 (see graph, p. 783). In key dis- Medical informatics 0.0% 6.3% 13.8% 11.5% –2.3 tious diseases the share rose from ATIO R ciplines such as infectious diseases less than 1% to 23%. UST aonf dn epwu pbalipce rhse daeltvho, tethd et op CroOpVoIrDti-o1n9 Respiratory system 0.1% 6.3% 10.1% 9.5% –0.6 cerSnusc ha bnouumt bwehrsa th asovem era issceiden ctiosnts- DITS: (ILL appears to be flattening out (see All science fields 0.0% 1.7% 3.7% 3.9% 0.3 call the COVID-ization of research. CRE 782 20 MAY 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6595 science.org SCIENCE