Nature Briefing

Hello Nature readers,
Today we learn that engineered immune cells have tackled a trio of autoimmune diseases in one person, consider the use of a national database to record instances of academic misconduct and hear what it was like to be in the room with Artemis II’s scientists at each stage of the mission so far.

One CAR-T to cure them all

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.

Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Med paper

Misconduct database divides researchers

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.

Nature | 5 min read
Reference: Science editorial

‘Seeing what you’ve forgotten to notice’

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”.

Nature | 8 min read

Futures: Immolation

‘The Extractor’ learns that some things can’t be bought in the latest short story for Nature’s Futures series.

Nature | 6 min read

Five best science books this week

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.

Nature | 4 min read