¡¡ Prior Omicron infection protects against BA.4 and BA.5 variants Recibidos View this email in your browser - B.- : View this email in your browser Friday 22 July 2022 Nature Briefing Hello Nature readers, Today we hear that monarch butterflies are now on the endangered ‘red list’, explore how the war in Ukraine is changing global science and learn that prior Omicron infection protects against BA.4 and BA.5 variants.,... -- ¡¡.

 

A.- : Prior Omicron infection protects against BA.4 and BA.5 variants

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View this email in your browser Friday 22 July 2022

Hello Nature readers, Today we hear that monarch butterflies are now on the endangered ‘red list’, explore how the war in Ukraine is changing global science and learn that prior Omicron infection protects against BA.4 and BA.5 variants.

Intensive agriculture and climate change have disrupted the supply of milkweed (Asclepias spp.), which monarch larvae need to survive. (Credit: Creative Touch Imaging Ltd/NurPhoto/Shutterstock)

Monarch butterflies are an endangered species The migrating monarch butterfly, which each year undertakes an epic journey from central Mexico to southern Canada, is now listed as endangered. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has added Danaus plexippus plexippus to its ‘red list’ for the first time: estimates suggest that its population in North America has declined by up to 72% in the past ten years. “From planting native milkweed and reducing pesticide use to supporting the protection of overwintering sites and contributing to community science, we all have a role to play in making sure this iconic insect makes a full recovery,” says conservation biologist Anna Walker, who led the monarch-butterfly assessment. Associated Press | 3 min read Reference: IUCN Red List press release

‘We are bearing witness’ Reproductive-health researchers are scrambling to track the effects of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federally protected right to an abortion. Across the board, researchers are grappling with how to study a deeply personal issue that can upend lives and livelihoods. Recent studies have shown that: Maternal deaths could rise by an estimated 29% in some of the states expected to ban the procedure, because pregnancy and childbirth are deadlier than abortion. Pregnant people who visited two hospitals in Texas — where there are strict laws against abortion — with potentially deadly complications were significantly more likely to experience serious effects than people in states who could choose termination in the same situation. Other studies are collecting data to track what happens to people who seek abortions and how legal sanctions might exacerbate existing disparities. Nature | 7 min read Reference: SocArXiv preprint (not peer reviewed) & American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology paper

Omicron infection protects against subvariants The Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of SARS-CoV-2 have proven to be better at evading people’s immune defences than all of their predecessors. But data from Qatar suggest that previous infection with an older variant (such as Alpha, Beta or Delta) offers some protection against reinfection with BA.4 or BA.5. And a prior Omicron infection is even more effective. Critics warn that people’s Omicron infections might have been more recent than infections with older variants, so it might not be fair to compare the protection they offer. Nature | 4 min read

Features & opinion

The war in Ukraine is changing global science In just five months, Russia’s war on Ukraine has killed thousands of people, displaced millions and ruptured global geopolitics and economics. It is marking science, too. The heaviest impacts are in Ukraine, where researchers have seen their institutions bombed and are facing upheaval and threats to their livelihoods. In Russia, scientists are contending with boycotts and sanctions in response to their country’s actions. More widely, the crisis has created economic and political rifts that have already affected research in physics, space, climate science, food security and energy. A prolonged conflict could foment a significant realignment of scientific-collaboration patterns. Nature | 13 min read

Futures: Missing person A half-forgotten colleague creates a temporal mystery in the latest short story for Nature’s Futures series. Nature | 4 min read

Podcast: Ears point to warm-blooded origins Fossilized inner-ear canals suggest that the moment mammals evolved to be warm-blooded — the timing of which is highly contested — occurred around 230 million to 200 million years ago. A team of researchers hypothesized that hotter, more active bodies would have less viscous fluid in their vestibular system, which maintains balance and spatial orientation — and the inner ear’s shape would adapt in turn. Nature Podcast | 29 min listen Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s possible for an autodidact from outside academia to get time on Webb. You could live in a country that doesn’t necessarily like our country, or that didn’t do anything to help build the telescope, and in most cases you can still use it.” Most time on the James Webb Space Telescope is allocated through open and anonymous competition so that the best ideas can rise to the top, says Jane Rigby, Webb’s operations project scientist. (Scientific American | 10 min read)

Today, our clandestine penguin friend, Leif Penguinson, is frolicking in the Savica Waterfall in Triglav National Park in Slovenia. 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 briefing@nature.com. Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing With contributions by Nicky Phillips

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