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UPFRONT
Fungus caught on the hop THERE is no point sending healthy animals out into the world if they’re just going to catch a deadly disease. Pacific tree frogs that can survive a normally lethal fungus infection are spreading it to species that cannot. Such “reservoir” species could threaten frogs released from captive breeding programmes. Between 2003 and 2010, the deadly chytrid fungus slashed the populations of two frog species in the Sierra Nevada, while populations of a third species – the Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla) – held steady. That isn’t because the Pacific tree frogs avoided infection: two-thirds of the Sierra Nevada population carry the fungus, Vance Vredenburg of San Francisco State University has now found. That suggests they can
tolerate infection and so could spread the pathogen to new areas (PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033567). Conservationists are breeding threatened amphibians in captivity in the hope of eventually re-establishing them in the wild. But reintroductions will fail if there is a reservoir species nearby, Vredenburg warns. The solution may be to breed from frog populations already decimated by the chytrid fungus, says Matthew Fisher of Imperial College London. There is evidence that some frogs are evolving tolerance, and survivors from an affected population are more likely to have the vital genes. These frogs could be cross-bred with susceptible individuals, accelerating the spread of tolerance – although Fisher admits the approach will be expensive.
–You can’t trust a Pacific tree frog–
Diagnostic debate THE new psychiatry “bible” has as many authors with ties to the drug industry as the previous version had. A study now raises concerns over the independence of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and set for publication in May 2013. For DSM-5, the APA required authors to declare their financial ties to industry and limited the amount they could receive from drug companies to $10,000 a year and stock holdings to $50,000. Lisa Cosgrove of Harvard University and Sheldon Krimsky of Tufts University in Medford,
“Work groups with the most members with industry ties were considering illnesses treated by drugs” Massachusetts, analysed the financial disclosures of 141 members of the “work groups” drafting the manual. Just as many – 57 per cent – had links 4 | NewScientist | 17 March 2012
to industry as was found in a previous study of DSM-IV (PLoS Medicine, DOI: 10.1371/ journal. pmed.1001190). What’s more, the work groups that had the most members with industry ties were considering illnesses for which drugs are the front-line treatment and for which proposed changes to diagnosis are especially controversial. James Scully, medical director of the APA, insists the association is “committed to evaluating and monitoring the issue of financial conflicts of interest”. DSM-5 has attracted criticism from psychologists, who tend to favour counselling over drug treatments. An online petition calling for greater involvement from psychologists has attracted more than 12,000 signatures, and is backed by professional bodies. The APA has rejected a call for an independent scientific review of DSM-5. “There is no outside organisation that has the capacity to replicate the range of expertise that DSM-5 has assembled to review diagnostic criteria,” said APA president John Oldham.
Space blindness SPACE is bad for your eyesight. Changes found in astronauts’ eye tissue may cause vision problems, and possibly even blindness. Larry Kramer of Texas Medical School in Houston and colleagues carried out MRI scans on 27 NASA astronauts after they had spent an average of 108 days in space. Four had bulging of the optic nerve, three had kinks in the nerve sheath, and six had flattening of the eyeball (Neuroradiology, DOI: 10.1148/radiol.12111986).
The changes match those seen in idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a condition that can cause blindness. They are probably caused by living in free-fall – perhaps because it raises blood pressure in the skull, says Kramer. The findings tally with a survey last year in which astronauts reported deteriorations in vision. “If astronauts are showing these changes after only 100 days in space, what will happen on a three-year flight to Mars?” asks Jason Kring at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.
Welcome, Red Deer Cave cousin AND so it begins. For years, biologists have predicted that new human species would start popping up in Asia as we begin to look closely at bones found there. This could be one. The 11,500-year-old skull from China has prominent brow ridges, a short flat face and lacks a typically human chin. In short, it is unique among the human family, says Darren Curnoe at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. We know little about how humans
evolved in East Asia. The new hominins, dubbed the Red Deer Cave people, will help fill the gap. Curnoe says they bear similarities to early members of Homo sapiens but not Neanderthals, setting them apart from other known hominins (PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal. pone.0031918). Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London says the skull could belong to an Asian group called the Denisovans, known only from a few small bones.
UPFRONT
Fungus caught on the hop THERE is no point sending healthy animals out into the world if they’re just going to catch a deadly disease. Pacific tree frogs that can survive a normally lethal fungus infection are spreading it to species that cannot. Such “reservoir” species could threaten frogs released from captive breeding programmes. Between 2003 and 2010, the deadly chytrid fungus slashed the populations of two frog species in the Sierra Nevada, while populations of a third species – the Pacific tree frog (Pseudacris regilla) – held steady. That isn’t because the Pacific tree frogs avoided infection: two-thirds of the Sierra Nevada population carry the fungus, Vance Vredenburg of San Francisco State University has now found. That suggests they can
tolerate infection and so could spread the pathogen to new areas (PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0033567). Conservationists are breeding threatened amphibians in captivity in the hope of eventually re-establishing them in the wild. But reintroductions will fail if there is a reservoir species nearby, Vredenburg warns. The solution may be to breed from frog populations already decimated by the chytrid fungus, says Matthew Fisher of Imperial College London. There is evidence that some frogs are evolving tolerance, and survivors from an affected population are more likely to have the vital genes. These frogs could be cross-bred with susceptible individuals, accelerating the spread of tolerance – although Fisher admits the approach will be expensive.
–You can’t trust a Pacific tree frog–
Diagnostic debate THE new psychiatry “bible” has as many authors with ties to the drug industry as the previous version had. A study now raises concerns over the independence of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and set for publication in May 2013. For DSM-5, the APA required authors to declare their financial ties to industry and limited the amount they could receive from drug companies to $10,000 a year and stock holdings to $50,000. Lisa Cosgrove of Harvard University and Sheldon Krimsky of Tufts University in Medford,
“Work groups with the most members with industry ties were considering illnesses treated by drugs” Massachusetts, analysed the financial disclosures of 141 members of the “work groups” drafting the manual. Just as many – 57 per cent – had links 4 | NewScientist | 17 March 2012
to industry as was found in a previous study of DSM-IV (PLoS Medicine, DOI: 10.1371/ journal. pmed.1001190). What’s more, the work groups that had the most members with industry ties were considering illnesses for which drugs are the front-line treatment and for which proposed changes to diagnosis are especially controversial. James Scully, medical director of the APA, insists the association is “committed to evaluating and monitoring the issue of financial conflicts of interest”. DSM-5 has attracted criticism from psychologists, who tend to favour counselling over drug treatments. An online petition calling for greater involvement from psychologists has attracted more than 12,000 signatures, and is backed by professional bodies. The APA has rejected a call for an independent scientific review of DSM-5. “There is no outside organisation that has the capacity to replicate the range of expertise that DSM-5 has assembled to review diagnostic criteria,” said APA president John Oldham.
Space blindness SPACE is bad for your eyesight. Changes found in astronauts’ eye tissue may cause vision problems, and possibly even blindness. Larry Kramer of Texas Medical School in Houston and colleagues carried out MRI scans on 27 NASA astronauts after they had spent an average of 108 days in space. Four had bulging of the optic nerve, three had kinks in the nerve sheath, and six had flattening of the eyeball (Neuroradiology, DOI: 10.1148/radiol.12111986).
The changes match those seen in idiopathic intracranial hypertension, a condition that can cause blindness. They are probably caused by living in free-fall – perhaps because it raises blood pressure in the skull, says Kramer. The findings tally with a survey last year in which astronauts reported deteriorations in vision. “If astronauts are showing these changes after only 100 days in space, what will happen on a three-year flight to Mars?” asks Jason Kring at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.
Welcome, Red Deer Cave cousin AND so it begins. For years, biologists have predicted that new human species would start popping up in Asia as we begin to look closely at bones found there. This could be one. The 11,500-year-old skull from China has prominent brow ridges, a short flat face and lacks a typically human chin. In short, it is unique among the human family, says Darren Curnoe at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. We know little about how humans
evolved in East Asia. The new hominins, dubbed the Red Deer Cave people, will help fill the gap. Curnoe says they bear similarities to early members of Homo sapiens but not Neanderthals, setting them apart from other known hominins (PLoS One, DOI: 10.1371/journal. pone.0031918). Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London says the skull could belong to an Asian group called the Denisovans, known only from a few small bones.