Science Magazine


S C I E N C E   sciencemag.org 10 APRIL 2015 • VOL 348 ISSUE 6231    1 9 7

exchange between the Americas 

need to be reconsidered. — HJS

Science, this issue p. 226; 
see also p. 186

DRUG DISCOVERY

Allergy drug inhibits 
viral infection
A drug used to dry up a runny 

nose and itchy eyes may be 

repurposed for treating hepatitis 

C virus (HCV). This viral infec-

tion often goes undetected, but 

it can exacerbate liver diseases, 

including cancer. The fact that 

allergy-relieving antihistamines 

can treat HCV was uncovered by 

He et al. in a screen of a library of 

approved drugs. Among these, 

the first-generation antihistamine 

chlorcyclizine showed highly 

specific anti-HCV activity in vitro 

and in mice with ìhumanizedî 

livers, without evidence of drug 

resistance, a common problem 

with antivirals. Moreover, chlor-

cyclizine synergized with other 

anti-HCV drugs such as ribavirin, 

sofosbuvir, and interferon-α. 

Antihistamines are widely 

available, safe, and inexpensive: 

ideal candidates for use in HCV-

endemic countries. — MLF

Sci. Transl. Med. 7, 282ra49 (2015).

MARS ATMOSPHERE

Mapping Mars’ 
water history 
We know the water cycle on 

Earth is complex. Neither is it 

simple on Mars. Infrared maps 

of water isotopes made by 

Villanueva et al. show the distri-

bution of H2O and “semiheavy” 

water (HDO: deuterated water PH
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I N  O T H E R  J O U R NA L S

CELLULAR MECHANICS

The mechanics of 
cellular left and right
Cells need to distinguish 

between left and right to interact 

during collective movement 

or embryonic development. To 

reveal the underlying cellular 

mechanics, Tee et al. studied 

the organization of actin in 

human cells using fluores-

cence, electron microscopy, 

and computational simulations. 

Actin fibers forming the cellular 

skeleton rearranged themselves 

from a symmetric to an asym-

metric pattern through interplay 

between two types of fibers. 

The unidirectional tilting of the 

radial fibers and swirling of the 

transverse fibers were driven by 

containing a mixture of hydrogen 

isotopes) across Mars. HDO 

enrichment varies with time and 

location; for example, irregular 

isotopic signals associate with 

different terrain features. The 

measurements also allow sea-

sonal sublimation levels of the 

northern ice cap to be estimated 

and thus could be used to reveal 

past climate behavior. — MMM 

Science, this issue p. 218

BIOANALYSIS 

Imaging lipid composition 
Chemical imaging of cell 

membranes can be performed 

with matrix-assisted laser 

desorption/ionization mass 

spectrometry (MALDI), but low 

ionization efficiency often leads 

to a signal dominated by the 

main lipid components, such as 

abundant phosphatidylcholine 

species. Soltwisch et al. used a 

tunable laser for post-ionization 

of neutral species to boost the 

signal for other membrane com-

ponents, such as cholesterol 

and phospho- and glycolipids. 

Imaging of cells and tissues with 

these methods allows differenti-

ation based on a more extensive 

chemical signature. — PDS 

Science, this issue p. 211

HUMAN GENETICS 

Chromosome number 
varies in humans
 Pregnancy loss is often associ-
ated with a loss of chromosome 

number, a condition known as 

aneuploidy. When examining 

aneuploid embryos during in 

vitro fertilization cycles, McCoy 

et al. found a large genomic 

region associated with defects in 

maternal chromosome number 

(see the Perspective by Vohr and 

Green). This region contains a 

gene, Polo-like Kinase 4 (PLK4), 

that is known to affect chro-

mosome segregation and has 

variants that correlate with an 

increased rate of maternal aneu-

ploidy. Surprisingly, such variants 

occur at relatively high levels in 

human populations and may be 

under positive selection. — LMZ

Science, this issue p. 235; 

see also p. 180

INFLAMMATION

How smoking makes infection worse

S
moking not only increases your risk of cancer but also 

increases inflammation and slows down recovery from 

infections, especially in people who have chronic obstruc-

tive pulmonary disorder (COPD). People with severe 

COPD have elevated levels of the cytokine interleukin-33 

(IL-33), a secreted protein that promotes airway inflammation. 

To determine whether IL-33 triggers exaggerated inflammatory 

responses in COPD, Kearley et al. exposed mice lacking IL-33 

to cigarette smoke and then infected them with influenza. A 

deficiency in IL-33 protected mice from excessive inflammation 

and weight loss. Cigarette smoke led to elevated production of 

IL-33 and altered expression of its receptor in exposed mice, 

causing lung inflammation to amplify. — KLM 

Immunity 42, 566 (2015).

Ancient Pacific-Caribbean link

Smoking increases inflammation 

and worsens infection

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sciencemag.org  S C I E N C E1 9 8     10 APRIL 2015 • VOL 348 ISSUE 6231

contractile stress and rotational 

growth. The actin-crosslinking 

protein controlled the clockwise 

or anticlockwise dynamics of 

the actin network, establishing 

the left-right asymmetry of the 

cell. — MSM

Nat. Cell Biol. 10.1038/ncb3137 (2015).

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Rethink jail for 
juvenile justice
The U.S. criminal justice system 

is strikingly punitive: The 

incarcerations-to-convictions 

ratio is 70% larger than that of 

the next highest country. The 

U.S. juvenile incarceration rate 

is five times larger than that of 

any other country. But we don’t 

randomly assign juveniles to jail, 

and thus it’s difficult to isolate 

the impacts of incarceration on 

later-life outcomes, versus the 

impacts of underlying socio-

economic, cognitive, and other 

factors that influence juvenile 

criminal behavior as well as 

education, employment, and 

other outcomes. Studying 10 

years of data on over 35,000 

Chicago juvenile offenders, Aizer 

and Doyle noticed that judges 

were randomly assigned to 

juvenile cases, and judges had 

different tendencies to sentence 

incarceration versus probation. 

Assignment to a high–

incarceration-rate judge 

decreased the likelihood of juve-

niles completing high school and 

increased the likelihood of adult 

incarceration. — BW

Quart. J. Econ. 10.1093/
qje/qjv003 (2015). 

NEURODEGENERATION

Deconstructing cell 
death in MS
Oligodendrocytes are often 

referred to as “support” cells for 

neurons, but in fact they play a 

critical role in the transmission 

of nerve impulses. These cells 

produce the myelin sheath that 

surrounds and protects axons 

in the central nervous system. 

In multiple sclerosis (MS), this 

myelin sheath erodes because 

of an inflammatory reaction that 

triggers the death of oligo-

dendrocytes. Several distinct 

mechanisms of cell death 

exist, and understanding 

which one underlies 

oligodendrocyte death 

could lead to new 

therapies. Studying 

mouse models of MS, 

Ofengeim et al. find that 

oligodendrocytes die by a regu-

lated process called necroptosis. 

A small-molecule inhibitor of 

a protein kinase that mediates 

necroptosis prevented oligo-

dendrocyte death in the mouse 

models. — PAK

Cell Rep. 10, 1836 (2015).

SURFACE IMAGING

Submolecular 
resolution in 3D
Surface probe microscopy has 

recently achieved submolecular 

resolution with metal tips made 

atomically sharp by decorating 

them with adsorbed molecules 

such as carbon monoxide. This 

method works well with adsorbed 

molecules that are small or flat. 

Moreno et al. now show how to 

achieve subatomic resolution in 

atomic force microscopy with 

commercial silicon tips, for three-

dimensional structures such as 

absorbed fullerene molecules or 

the step edges of oxide surfaces. 

The van der 

Waals interac-

tion is mapped 

with the tip a 

few nanome-

ters above 

the surface 

in a closed 

feedback loop. A second higher-

resolution scan with an open 

feedback loop follows this map 

with a constant offset distance 

that is adjusted to provide high 

resolution. — PDS.

Nano Lett. 10.1021/nl504182w (2015).

PHYSICS

Pairing in an off-kilter 
atomic gas
In a process called Cooper pair-

ing, two electrons of opposite 

spin and momentum form a pair 

and join a larger “condensate” 

to flow effortlessly through a 

superconducting material. In 

cold atomic gases, the atomic 

state plays the role of the spin. 

But what happens if there is a 

different number of atoms in 

the two spin states, so that pair-

ing cannot be perfect? Ong 

et al. tackled that question for 
6Li atoms trapped in a weakly 

coupled array of pancake-

shaped clouds. As they cranked 

up the interaction between the 

atoms and increased the relative 

number of minority spins, the 

gas in each pancake separated 

into a core of paired spins 

surrounded by the majority 

atoms. — JS

Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 110403 (2015).

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY

Measuring effective dispersal

D
ispersal fundamentally shapes ecological 

communities and maintains biodiversity, yet it 

is extremely difficult to quantify. Estimating seed 

dispersal effectiveness (SDE) requires measurement of 

both the number of seeds dispersed and the probability 

of successful germination. González-Castro et al. labori-

ously measured the SDE of frugivorous lizards and birds as 

dispersers of seeds over 6 years in plant communities on the 

oceanic island of Tenerife. Their results allowed for compari-

sons between the SDE of the two main frugivore groups for 

different plant species and different communities (such as 

woodland and shrubland), revealing the networks of mutualis-

tic interactions that underpin community persistence. — AMS

Ecology 96, 808 (2015). 

Gallotia galloti is an 

important seed disperser 

on Tenerife

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Rethink jail for juvenile justice
Brad Wible

DOI: 10.1126/science.348.6231.197-d
 (6231), 197-198.348Science 

ARTICLE TOOLS http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6231/197.4

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 is a registered trademark of AAAS.ScienceScience, 1200 New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20005. The title 
(print ISSN 0036-8075; online ISSN 1095-9203) is published by the American Association for the Advancement ofScience 

Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science

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