You have full access to this article via your institution.
Hello Nature readers, would you like to get this Briefing in your inbox free every day? Sign up here.
Antibodies (three-lobed structures, artist’s impression) that attack a person’s own tissues can lead to autoimmune disease.Credit: Ruslanas Baranauskas/SPL
A woman with an ultra-rare combination of three autoimmune diseases has had no symptoms since receiving a single dose of engineered immune cells. Researchers used the woman’s own T cells to develop chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells that targeted a protein on her B cells — the culprits behind her trifecta of autoimmune conditions. The woman experienced no side effects from the treatment, and fourteen months on she doesn’t take any medication for her conditions, says haematologist Fabian Müller, who helped to develop the treatment.
A US database of people found guilty of academic misconduct or workplace harassment could prevent such individuals from securing jobs at new universities without disclosing their bad behaviour, a Science editorial suggests. Such a measure is necessary to “make it much more difficult for offending scientists to evade accountability”, says Michael Lauer, a former official at the US National Institutes of Health and one of the editorial’s authors. But researchers who spoke to Nature are divided over whether this centralized, confidential list would solve the problem or generate new ones, such as the risk that the identities of witnesses could be compromised.
My time in the room where it happened
On Monday this week, as four humans flew around the far side of the Moon, I entered the heart of the Artemis II mission’s science operations. From a mesh office chair by the wall, I watched the faces of researchers I knew well: lunar scientists I’d talked to at conferences, met on field trips or followed during the days when Twitter existed. Many were women; many were early in their careers. The lunar fly-by was about to start. The next few hours were a flurry of tension, excitement and, as Houston radioed to the crew aboard Orion just before the fly-by, “Moon joy”. Read my full account of my time at mission control (6 min read) or listen in as I tell Nature Podcast all about it (14 min listen)
Alexandra Witze, Nature correspondent
Catch up with her coverage of the lunar fly-by as it happened on Nature’s live blog.
Features & opinion
In her debut poetry collection, fisheries biologist Liz Renner chose to celebrate the organism she studied for her dissertation, the gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum):
O silver-bellied keeper of the lake,/ Whose schools like drifting coins revolve below —/ You rise where sunlight quivers into wake,/ And churn the silt where hidden stories flow.
Renner is one of many scientists who told Nature why they write poetry, from explaining the complexities of their work to processing the difficulties they’ve faced in their careers. Writing poetry “slows you down”, says engineer and amateur poet Fionn Rogan. Poetry, he says, “is about looking seriously at the world and seeing what’s right in front of you, but you’ve forgotten to notice”.
‘The Extractor’ learns that some things can’t be bought in the latest short story for Nature’s Futures series.
Andrew Robinson’s pick of the top five science books to read this week includes an argument for art as the ‘fifth pillar of health’ and a deep dive into the language we use to describe the natural world.
After a week in black and white, Leif Penguinson is enjoying the vibrant hues of the Gruta do Lago Azul (Blue Lake Cave in English), a natural monument in Bonito, Brazil. Can you find the penguin?
The answer will be in Monday’s e-mail, all thanks to Briefing photo editor and penguin wrangler Tom Houghton.
This newsletter is always evolving — tell us what you think! Please send your feedback to [email protected]
Thanks for reading,
Jacob Smith, associate editor, Nature Briefing
• Nature Briefing: Careers — insights, advice and award-winning journalism to help you optimize your working life
• Nature Briefing: Microbiology — the most abundant living entities on our planet — microorganisms — and the role they play in health, the environment and food systems
• Nature Briefing: Anthropocene — climate change, biodiversity, sustainability and geoengineering
• Nature Briefing: AI & Robotics — 100% written by humans, of course
• Nature Briefing: Cancer — a weekly newsletter written with cancer researchers in mind
• Nature Briefing: Translational Research — covers biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma
