Lonesome George Was Not Alone

See page 173See for more. immune cells to target cancer. or modification disease cell of mutations that cause sickle- — such as correction of the on passed to offspringbe editing applications that cannot cautious development of gene- Washington for called also DC, Academy of in Sciences day meeting at USNational the Human Editing, Gene athree- The International Summit on conference on genome editing. statement prepared by aglobal declared a3 December establishing apregnancy, that are intended for in use human modify embryos should to not used be Gene-editing technologies talks Gene-editing formalized. with Metformin, are being still Targeting called trial, Aging related of Details the disease. have,who or are at risk, of age- study inindividuals drug the and his colleagues plan to Medicine inNew York City Einstein ofAlbert College Physician Nir Barzilai of the on 30 November. trial clinical said leaders of aproposed healthy lifespan inhumans, metformindrug prolongs to test diabetes the whether agreed to allow researchers Administration has informally The USFood and Drug Anti-ageing trial 168 | NATURE | VOL 528 | 10 DECEMBER 2015 NATURE168 | VOL | DECEMBER 528|10 on 11 December. talks, the bydeal end scheduled the of agreeing climate global a new ministers, with aim the of debatedbe by government The 48-page document will greenhouse-gas emissions. agreement to reduce global inParistalks released adraft at United the Nations climate On 5 December, negotiators Draft climate deal SEVEN DAYS EVENTS POLICY reported and reviewed. The be meeting pledges their will how countries’ progress on One of big the questions is Vigne and Esmond Martin, independent researchers Lucy according kilogram, per to pricethe last month was $1,100 inBeijing in2014,butkilogram an average of US$2,100per fetched Rawivory poaching. for areduction inelephant has plummeted, raising hopes The price of inChina ivory Ivory pricefalls coante for more. go.nature.com/doing See this. about cost the and feasibility of many of nations these worry by developing countries, but better monitoring of emissions United States has pushed for 4 December GNPannounced the that its hybridsto be with mixed ancestry, and on Wolf Volcano, on Isabela Island, are known George in2012. Many died of tortoises the on thatspecies went Lonesome when extinct giant tortoise, including Pinta the tortoise attempting to restore two lineages of extinct The Galapagos National Park (GNP)is Lonesome George was notalone © 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited. Allrights reserved The news in brief in news The advised toadvised close. When the shut down and schools were plants and construction sites 10 December. Some industrial until midnight ineffect on be more days, was planned to to last forexpected three or foralert, heavy pollution put in place in2013.The red air pollution under asystem issued its for first red alert On 7December, Beijing Red smogalert Save Elephants. the elephants says in Africa, killed in price couldto lead fewer elephant populations. A drop have damage highlighted the to trade, andivory celebrities to clamp down on its domestic Elephants. has China attempted working with charity Save the for more. for nineteenth century. go.nature.com/tqsidx See Floreana tortoise, vanished which inthe Five animals are hybrid descendants of the sharethey some genes with his Pinta species. a female, are not relatives close of George, but captivity (pictured). Two of and amale these, rangers had brought 32 of tortoises these into assessment had improved departments submitted for that 35% of university Australia exercise found Excellence in Research for on 4December. The 2015 nationwide audit published according to results the of a Australia has improved, The quality of research in Australian rankings can to start health. affect greater than 25 micro Organization says that levels cubic metre. The World Health was nearly 300micrograms per 2.5 micrometres indiameter, of matter particulate less than measure of air quality, level the came intoalert one effect, RESEARCH grams grams

GALAPAGOS NATL PARK SEVEN DAYS THIS WEEK

on the results obtained in a similar 2012 exercise, with 32% of submissions being COMING UP judged “well above world standard” compared with 18% 14–18 DECEMBER three years ago. An unofficial Scientists gather in San ranking by The Australian Francisco, California,

BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY/SPL BRITISH ANTARCTIC based on the audit judged the for an American Australian National University Geophysical Union in Canberra to be the country’s meeting — and an top institution. advance screening of the latest Star Wars film. FACILITIES fallmeeting.agu.org/2015

Telescope blow 15–20 DECEMBER Hawaii’s supreme court dealt Chemists head to a major blow to the Thirty Honolulu, Hawaii, for Meter Telescope (TMT) threatened by a crack in the ice his wife, Priscilla Chan. In an the Pacifichem congress. project on 2 December, 7 kilometres away that could open letter on 1 December www.pacifichem.org/ when it revoked the permit cut it off from the rest of the to their daughter, Maxima, allowing the mega-telescope shelf. The station consists of the couple announced that to be built near the summit 8 connected pods resting on they will invest most of their a digital and data of Mauna Kea. Many Native skis on the 150-metre-thick wealth in a limited-liability productivity network, and Hawaiians have protested Brunt Ice Shelf. It is designed corporation called the Aus$127 million for research against construction on to be transportable, but the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, grants. The government what they regard as a sacred move will be the first since the dedicated to improving also made a Aus$1.5-billion mountain. The court said that station became operational health and education. The promise to secure funding Hawaii’s Board of Land and in 2012, and comes earlier letter names as priorities for the country’s threatened Natural Resources should not than expected. In July 2014, disease prevention, heart research infrastructure over have approved the permit in during the Antarctic winter, disease, cancer, stroke and the next 10 years. National 2011, because it did so before the base temporarily lost neurodegenerative and research agency the CSIRO, protestors could air their side power as temperatures infectious diseases. which last year suffered a in a contested case hearing. outside plummeted to –55 °C. Aus$111-million funding TMT officials must now apply The move is expected to be Australian cash cut, will get Aus$70 million for a new construction permit completed in the 2016–17 The Australian government towards a Aus$200-million if they wish to proceed. See Antarctic research season. on 7 December announced innovation fund. page 176 for more. a 4-year, Aus$1.1-billion FUNDING (US$790-million) National PEOPLE Base on skis Innovation and Science The British Antarctic Facebook fund Agenda. The pot includes ORI head named Survey has started planning Health research is among the Aus$106 million of tax Neuroscientist Kathryn the process of moving its priorities of a new foundation incentives for early- Partin has been made head Halley VI research station to be created by Facebook stage ‘angel’ investors, of the US Office of Research (pictured), which is founder Mark Zuckerberg and Aus$75 million for Integrity (ORI), according to an article in the Report on Research Compliance on 3 December. The ORI oversees TREND WATCH FUNDING BOOST FOR NEGLECTED DISEASES investigations into misconduct Funding in research and development for neglected diseases concering researchers funded increased in 2014, but only because of investments for Ebola. Money spent on neglected-disease by the US Department of research rose by US$150 million HIV/AIDS Malaria Tuberculosis Other diseases Ebola Health and Human Services. in 2014 to $3,377 million, says 4 Partin is currently assistant the latest G-FINDER report from vice-president for research at analysts Policy Cures in Sydney, Colorado State University in SOURCE: G-FINDER/POLICY CURES Australia. Investments made to 3 Fort Collins, where she heads tackle the 2014 Ebola epidemic the university’s research- in West Africa were responsible integrity office. She replaces for the rise. Apart from Ebola, 2 interim director Don Wright, three diseases received the most who has led the agency since funding: HIV/AIDS, malaria and US$ (billions) previous director David 1 tuberculosis, as in previous years. Wright resigned in March But removing Ebola investments 2014. from the figures shows that public 0 funding for neglected diseases is at 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 NATURE.COM a seven-year low, says the report. For daily news updates see: www.nature.com/news