BOOKS & ARTS NATURE|Vol 444|7 December 2006

FILM The quest for immortality

The Fountain directed by Darren Aronofsky Warner Brothers US release, 22 November 2006

Emma Marris PICTURES BROS WARNER The Fountain defies characterization by genre. Aimed at arthouse audiences, it uses one actor — Hugh Jackman — to play the lead in three ambiguously related stories. Is he the same man? We’re not sure. The three stories are set hundreds of years apart, but the common theme is the search for immortality, so he could be. The film won the Alfred P. Sloan Founda- tion’s annual prize for a feature film dealing with science and technology at the Hamptons International Film Festival this October. Its director, Darren Aronofsky, has previously directed Requiem for a Dream and π, a film with a mathematician as protagonist. In one of The Fountain’s three strands, a scientist (Jackman) races to find a drug that In a biosphere bubble in the future, Hugh Jackman’s character in The Fountain accepts the idea of death. will stop the growth of brain tumours before his wife (Rachel Weisz) dies of one. In drama- PhD in neurology but left the academic track is the Jackman character in the third segment tizing this situation, Aronofsky compresses to make films with his college room-mate, who, while flying through space in an attractive into about four minutes the whole process Aronofsky. Handel’s job was to keep an eye on biosphere bubble and working on his weight- of drug discovery, from lead identification accuracy. At one point, the hero’s boss snaps at less tai chi, figures out that the appropriate right through primate testing. In scenes that him for testing a drug on a monkey on a whim, response to death is acceptance. For those who intentionally call to mind TV hospital dramas, saying: “The NIH could shut us down.” On the are impatient with modern, diffuse spirituality, lab-coated scientists whirl around barking jar- other hand, the lab in the film is ridiculously this comes across as pretty silly stuff. gon at each other, their eyes wide with earnest stylish and tidy, but then Hollywood always Back in the central science strand, Jackman’s concentration. gives characters apartments they couldn’t pos- character says: “Death is a disease just like any Here, a researcher in the audience might sibly afford too. other, and there is a cure and I will find it.” But think, is science finally presented as the dra- The film is not really about science, but here we are seeing one of the oldest tropes matic and compelling endeavour it is. The film rather attitudes to death. In the first strand, about scientists played out yet again: the sci- makes science look sexy, and without wholly Jackman plays a Spanish conquistador who entist as an allegorical figure of hubris. ■ departing from actual lab realities. Indeed, the hopes to use Christianity to cheat death, which Emma Marris is a Nature reporter based in film was co-written by Ari Handel, who has a is wrong, wrong, wrong, the film says. And it Washington DC.

control measure that cut infection rates in half. Bugs with bugs Infestations of gypsy moths today are partly controlled by an arsenal of pathogens whose Big Fleas Have Little Fleas: How draws on these pathologies to open the door biology and utility have emerged from more Discoveries of Invertebrate Diseases on biological complexity and the splendour of than a hundred years of research. are Advancing Modern Science scientific enquiry. Much of the work described in the book by Elizabeth W. Davidson Davidson takes us through stories of infes- occurred during the founding era of inver- University of Arizona Press: 2006. 208 pp. tations and plagues, uncovering how scien- tebrate pathology, before the availability of $35 (hbk); $17.95 (pbk) tists have methodically unravelled both basic technologies such as gas chromatography, principles and potential control measures by electron microscopy and gene sequencing. Mark L. Winston studying parasites and diseases of inverte- Davidson’s book reminds us that intuition, Insects get sick too, and the curious inverte- brates. European investigations into rotting rigorous thinking and thorough probing were brate pathologists who have delved into this silkworms in the nineteenth century found the most important scientific tools for these diseased world have revealed some compel- maladies caused by fungi and protozoans, and early researchers. ling insights into nature, illness and scientific inspired Pasteur to establish the field of epide- Unfortunately, Davidson does not use a practice. That is the basic premise of Big Fleas miology. Elegant research into cholera found similar rigour to probe the relevant policy Have Little Fleas by Elizabeth Davidson, a the causative bacteria Vibrio cholerae hitch- issues, such as why biological control remains book based on tales about the diverse organ- hiking globally on copepods, and led US scien- a minuscule sideshow compared with chemical isms that plague not just insects, but crusta- tist Rita Colwell to suggest filtering drinking pesticides. Viral, fungal, protozoan, nematode ceans and horseshoe crabs too. The author water in India through old sari cloth, a simple and bacterial agents can provide a solution but

684 ©2006 Nature PublishingGroup NATURE|Vol 444|7 December 2006 BOOKS & ARTS are dwarfed by the almost 2 million tonnes of Big Fleas Have Little Fleas is a book in search investigative stories that thrill readers — ele- chemicals used globally each year. of a voice: it is not detailed enough for aca- ments that are too sparsely described here to Even Bacillus thuringiensis, the most wide- demic specialists, and not sufficiently well make the book a compelling read. spread biological control agent, is usually used written for a general audience. Chapters start Still, Davidson’s book reminds us of one by incorporating its toxins into genetically with interesting tidbits, but the writing quality fundamental point: there is still much to learn modified crops, rather than through more is not sustained. It is a frustrating tease, with from contemplating creatures smaller than ecologically compatible whole-organism field occasional elegant moments linked by formu- ourselves, and we have barely begun to unravel sprays. Rampant antibiotic resistance among laic descriptions of how this scientist did this, the vast biological complexity on which we human diseases and today’s rapidly evolv- then the next one did that, with each piece of humans rely. ■ ing pandemic agents that afflict or threaten research contributing in a tiny way to larger Mark L. Winston is at the Morris J. Wosk Centre humans, plants and animals are other serious scientific principles. Yes, science is a slow, for Dialogue, and the Department of Biological concerns that receive insufficient attention methodical and painstaking process, but it’s Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, from Davidson. the rare moments of brilliance and the great British Columbia, V6B 5K3, Canada. The birth of contraception

Contraception and Abortion from the The common name of one species Ancient World to the Renaissance of juniper, the savin (Juniperus by John M. Riddle sabina), was derived from its ability Harvard University Press: 1992 to save young women from shame, and modern science has finally Michel Raymond confirmed its contraceptive effects. The contraceptive pill — what a Many of the plants mentioned wonderful invention! At last, we could in old books have had their have a fulfilling sex life, free from contraceptive properties confirmed worry about the mischief wreaked by — most of them contain oestrogen. uncontrollable gametes, and could This traditional knowledge, separate the desires for pleasure and traces of which remain in the reproduction. Let’s spare a thought for memories of some Europeans, our poor ancestors, who were faced with started to disappear with the choice of reproducing like rabbits or depopulation of the countryside in miserably limiting their sex lives. We’ve the nineteenth century: in towns, made real progress since then. ancient knowledge ceased to be Or at least that’s what people thought transmitted. Probably for the first when science delivered modern time since the Graeco-Roman era contraception in the twentieth century. (at least), most Western women For some reason, this myth — and no longer had access to an effective it is one — still holds, 14 years after means of contraception. The the publication of John Riddle’s book contribution of modern medicine, Contraception and Abortion from the culminating in the pill, therefore Ancient World to the Renaissance. constituted real progress, but it Birth control, by contraception and must be seen in the context of abortion, has a long history. In the ancient history. world there were precise recipes, as we Riddle shows us that ancient know from books written by the doctors contraceptive medical practices of the time (Soranus, Dioscorides and were safe, effective and commonly Hippocrates). These doctors obtained Flower power: before the Pill, plants such as the used. Sociological studies on their their knowledge from direct contact with gentian were traditionally used as contraceptives. use remain to be carried out. But it is ordinary people. One plant in particular possible that, between the Middle was said to be a contraceptive — a giant traditional way of life continued. Ages and the rise of modern contraception, fennel, Ferula historica. It was so sought I visited an old alpine village this year the well-off and city dwellers had little after and harvested in such quantities that that had continued to use traditional access to effective contraception, thanks to it became extinct. agricultural practices until about 20 years the growth of conventional medicine and the In the Middle Ages, when universities ago. An old peasant of 92 told me about a soaring social power of the physician. started teaching medicine, knowledge plant with potent contraceptive properties This is just one of the many intriguing began to be passed from doctors to — knowledge she had obtained from her lines of investigation to arise from this book, their pupils, the next generation of grandmother, who must have learnt about it which shines a different light on what we are doctors. Contraception was conspicuous from her family. The plant concerned was a generally taught about the ‘progress’ of the by its absence in these courses for men, kind of juniper, the key part being the berries. modern world. and such knowledge was lost among According to Riddle’s book, juniper (which Michel Raymond is at the Institute of doctors. However, it was still transmitted has 23 entries in the index) has been used Evolutionary Sciences, University of between women — at least while the in contraceptive recipes since ancient times. Montpellier II, Montpellier 34095, France. IN RETROSPECT IN 685 ©2006 Nature PublishingGroup