Squeezing out Black people in biosciences: A Nature Briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic and what Artemis can do
A group of researchers working with the world health organization have been using statistical modelling to estimate the number of excess deaths associated with the COVID-19 epidemic. The work estimates that there were almost 15 million deaths either directly or indirectly attributed to the pandemic, almost three times higher than the official toll.
There’s just five Black professors in UK biosciences, one in chemistry and none in physics — figures that have barely shifted in more than a decade. This Nature feature shows, in nine stark charts, how Black people and those from other marginalized ethnicities are squeezed out of science. Black representation at the undergraduate level has been climbing since 2007, but at the postgraduate research level, the number of Black people drops sharply — and only 0.6% of professors are Black. White students have a different trend. The reasons are complex, but a biased curriculum, lack of role model and not being vouched for by others all play a part.
The highlights from the Nature Briefing are discussed. The test of the NASA’s Orion capsule, and what the success of the Artemis programme means, will be covered this time.
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Pfizer and GlaxoSmithkline are racing to get approval for the first ever jabs against respiratory syncytial virus. Nine charts show how UK science is failing black researchers, as well as the best books to read this week.
Researchers have bolstered the power of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cancer therapies, which use genetically altered T cells to seek out tumours and mark them for destruction. Now scientists have further engineered the cells to contain switches that allow control over when and where the cells are active. They can infiltrate tumours and dodge the immune-suppressing defences.
Andrew Robinson’s pick of the top five science books to read this week includes a frank and fascinating book from the leader of the UK COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce, an exploration of how technology can connect us to the sounds of nature and a magnificent revival of mathematician Johann Doppelmayr’s 1742 celestial atlas.
The team talks about the carvings that make up the earliest known narrative scene. They asked if artificial intelligence could lead to the end of student essays, and if there was a lack of diversity in UK academia.
A Ukraine-based climate scientist, a monkeypox watchman and an abortion fact-finder are some of the fascinating people behind the year’s big research stories.