Daily briefing: How philosophy can make you a better scientist

News

More than a year after Brazil detected its first case of COVID-19, the country is facing a devastating surge of infections. Researchers say that the government’s failure to follow science-based guidance in responding to the pandemic has made the crisis much worse. Although scientists acknowledge that the rise is partly due to the spread of coronavirus variants — in particular, a highly transmissible version of the virus called P.1 — they say that government inaction has allowed the spread to happen. “Being a scientist in Brazil is so sad and frustrating,” says epidemiologist Jesem Orellana. “Half of our deaths were preventable. It’s a total disaster.”

Nature | 6 min read

Opinion

Science is losing the information war against well-financed anti-vaccine movements in the United States and disinformation from Russia, argues physician-scientist Peter Hotez. He reports from the front lines of the conflict, as a vaccine scientist and the father of an adult daughter with autism — the subject of his 2018 book, Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism. He calls for “direct, even confrontational, approaches” to counter anti-science campaigns.

Nature | 5 min read

Read more about these studies in Nature’s continuously updated selection of the must-read papers and preprints.

Old colds could shorten COVID illness

Recent infection by viruses related to SARS-CoV-2 could reduce the duration of COVID-19. Researchers analysed samples from 2,000 health-care workers in search of rare antibodies against other coronaviruses that pre-date the pandemic and can bind to SARS-CoV-2 proteins other than spike. The team found that people with the pre-pandemic antibodies that work against SARS-CoV-2 were not protected from contracting the virus and developing COVID-19. But high concentrations of other antibodies that had been elicited by two betacoronaviruses — a category that includes SARS-CoV-2 — were associated with a quicker recovery from COVID-19 symptoms.

(Reference: medRxiv preprint — not peer reviewed)

Care-home outbreak shows vaccine’s powers

In a real-world test, an mRNA-based vaccine protected care-home residents and staff against a new SARS-CoV-2 variant. The Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine was 86.5% and 87.1% effective at preventing COVID-19 among residents and staff, respectively, at a Kentucky care home where an unvaccinated health-care worker had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

(Reference: Morb. Mortal. Wkly Rep. paper)

How to predict a vaccine’s success without a large trial

Moderna’s vaccine provides protection against COVID-19 by triggering the production of antibodies against a key viral protein, a study in monkeys suggests. The insight — if confirmed in humans — could speed the development of next-generation vaccines.

(Reference: bioRxiv preprint — not peer reviewed)

Get more of Nature’s continuously updated selection of the must-read papers and preprints on COVID-19.

Fifteen people who spent 40 days in a cave with no clocks or news of the outside world said it felt more like 30, and most said they wouldn’t have minded staying on. (The Guardian | 4 min read)