SeriouslySillyScience

HARUKO OBOKATA
Once the Japanese postergirl for women in
science, now a vilified scapegoat? PAGE 12

SOLVING
WORLD HUNGER

SAVED BY
YOUR POO

THE CURE
FOR BLINDNESS

Exploring the solutions of

an unnecessary evil

The rise of faecal transplants

as a cure to infection

A new contact lense could

replace lost cells

PAGE 2

PAGE 9

PAGE 14

22 JUNE 2014 | 2

CONTENTS
Seriously

Silly

Science

2 842 million people are hungry

Solutions to world hunger

6 Whats pink, 15ft high and

50ft long and lives in
Scotland?
A personal account of
EdSciFest

10 Profile: Dr Eugenia Cheng

Professor of Mathematics
gives us a tasty treat

4 The rise of the resistance

Could super-bugs bring back
the era of plague?

8 Babies and their bendy bodies

Computer modelling of
bones offers a solution to
fractures
9 He really is a smelly old fart
Old people smell - fact
9 This sh*t is good
Your poo could save
someones life

12 The Stem Cell Scandal

Is Haruko Obokata just an
easy target?
14 Current Research
New blindness therapy/
improved cancer drug/
autism study/antibiotic
breakthrough

Editors Note
Here at S.S.Science, we celebrate the serious and the silly science that
make impacts all over the world. This editions serious articles dissect the
solutions to world hunger and the scary senario where our antibiotics no
longer work.
We also have the usual array of bonkers yet brilliant science, exploring the
practicalities of poo and whether old people really smell (spoiler - they do!).
I will be stepping down as editor in chief after this edition but it has been a
phenomenal experience being just a small cog in the S.S.Science machine.
Joseph Burton is editor in chief of S.S.Science.
Find him on Twitter @jburton227

11||22
22JUNE
JUNE2014
2014

Seriously

842 MILLION PEOPLE

ARE HUNGRY
Its 2014, the age of prosperity.
Yet 12% of the global population are undernourished.
Seriously explores the solutions to the food problem.

ts a basic necessity. Its also a

First World luxury. Almost one
billion people are hungry now.
98% of them live in developing
countries - the Africas, Asias and
Latin Americas.
If statistics are to believed,
todays food production is
enough to satisfy the global
population and more. But it is
unevenly distributed, with the
West overconsuming and leaving
large wastages.
Does scientific innovation
hold the key to solving world
hunger? Or is there something
innately wrong with the system?
We discuss just a few of the
possible solutions to mankinds
food problem.

Frankenfood

Frankenfood is the infamous

name given to food grown from
genetically
modified
(GM)
crops. GM crops are grown from
seeds that have been created in a
laboratory so they have attractive
qualities.
An example of a GM crop
is Golden Rice, which is like
normal rice, except it has an
added nutritional element, betacarotene. Beta-carotene is
broken down by the body
into Vitamin A. This
could be particularly
useful for many
countries that

22 JUNE 2014 | 2

have severe Vitamin A deficiencies

which contributes to the deaths
of an estimated 670,000 children
under the age of 5 each year.
Other than the benefits of added
nutritional value, many people
hail GM food as the solution to
world hunger, as crops could be
produced to withstand the harsh
environments of developing
and starving countries. The GM
seeds could produce higher yields
of crops with less space, water,
nutrients and the need for harsh
chemicals.
Despite
the
romantic
perspectives that pro-GM groups
endorse, there are many critics.
They believe that GM food will
create a global dependence on
the suppliers who are ultimately
seeking financial gain.
Many lobby groups also
question the safety of GM, fearing
the long term effect of consuming
genetically altered food.
Promises of resistant and
sustainable crops are yet to
have produced,

leaving people disenchanted with

the possibilities.
The promises of reduced
reliance on chemical substances
are yet to be reported as current
GM crops actually require more
pesticides/herbicides and there
are fears that the GMs unnatural
resistance to the them could
be past on to weeds and pests,
giving rise to superweeds and
superpests.
While there has been no
conclusive scientific evidence to
suggest GM is unsafe, there has
been much speculation which
has attributed to current UK laws
banning their agricultural use.
However, legislation is loosening
and the top 6 supermarkets in the
UK now sell meat that has been
fed on GM feed.
GM, in its most idealistic form,
could provide food in arid and
starving regions and nutrition
in areas with

Seriously
inadequate variety. But GM food
may never be free of the corporate
stranglehold
that
prevents
widespread benefit without a
price.

Food alternatives

Soylent is the brand-name for

a nutritiously-complete food
substitute in the form of a shake
created by Rob Rhinehart.
The shake claims to contain all
the vital components to our diet
so it could theoretically sustain
human life forever without any
other food.
It is made out of powders,
grains and thickeners, and
apparently it tastes like Play-Doh,
chalky, sweet and, oddly, dishcloths. In defence of his faintlyflavoured food, Rhinehart says,
Soylent purposely doesnt have
a taste, its a ultilty best forgotten.
Water doesnt have a lot of taste
or flavor, and its the worlds most
popular beverage.
Rhinehart says that he eats 3 or
4 regular meals a week, for social
and pleasure purposes, but the
rest are covered by Soylent. He
says hes fitter than ever, his teeth
whiter, his skin clearer, his mind
more alert.
Soylent strips down the broad
term food into what it really
is, nutrients. Soylent is the core
necessity without the fuss of

agriculture.
In an interview for the New
Yorker, he said the ultimate
goal would be to produce
superorganisms that physically
produce the Soylent product.
These superorganisms could
be air-dropped to a village of
malnourished people and they
could live off the product.
However, nothing is simple,
and again there have been many
criticisms. Nutritionists say there
is not enough known about the
human diet to strip down our
food to the basics. Others say that
Soylent disregards the reason we
eat food - for pleasure.
The fact is that Soylent offers
a healthy and nutritionallybalanced alternative to cooking,
which is surely attractive to the
masses of people who are too
busy, too lazy or too tired to make
a meal. Plus it offers a viable
solution for countries in need.
Soylent is currently only
available in the US but, upon
acceptance by the World Health
Organisation, they are set to
expand. Next stop, the world - if
we can stomach it.

Government action

In the UK, 20% of household food

is wasted. We live in a society of
over-buying, BOGOF and 2-41 offers. Just a quarter of the
food that is wasted in the US,
UK and Europe could feed the
malnourished millions across the
world.

There is enough food to remove

hunger, yet people go hungry.
From each according to his
ability, to each according to his
need
This quote made famous by
Karl Marx in 1875 underpinns
the idea of that resources ought to
be shared by necessity, not wealth
or royalty.
This ideal is the ultimate
solution. Forgoing food as a
commodity and realising it as a
right.
This simple idea, however,
is
fraught
with
pollitical
impossibility. Those with the
power to make changes will only
do so if it fills the capitalist criteria
- i.e. if it makes money or profile.
Feeding the hungry for free does
not fill this criteria, and so we
wonder if world hunger will ever
be resolved, innovations or not.
The people are hungry, for power.

If aliens were to come today, they

would comment on the plague
that affects an eighth of our
population.
They would ask how long we
have willfully endured this
sickness and we would have to
answer, Forever.

3 | 22 JUNE 2014

Seriously

OF THE

uch - papercut! Better head

straight to the morgue.
Bacteria
are
immediately
crawling through that cut on
your finger, seeping through
your bloodstream and they will
colonise your body. And not a
single drug can save you.
In late 2013, a New Zealander
died of a stroke. Doctors reported
however, that the stroke was
brought on by an infection - one
that no drug could fight. Mark
Jones, clinical microbiologist at
the hospital, said, This man was
in the post-antibiotic era... Its the
first [bacteria] that weve ever seen
that is resistant to every single
antibiotic known.
In the UK, there are 18.7 daily
doses of antibiotics per 1000 people
to fight off bacterial infections.
Over 200,000 doses being taken
every day.
But the bacteria are clever, and
they are plotting our demise.
When
scientists
make
antibiotics, they make them to kill
bacteria. If the bacteria manages to
evolve to not have that weakness
any more, the scientists need to
find a different way of killing the
bacteria.
This is becoming increasingly
difficult as bacteria are overcoming
more and more of our antibiotics.
In 2000, 2-4% of E.Coli
infections were resistant to
standard antibiotics, today the
number is between 11 and 21%.
This is not the end of the world,
yet. Almost all bacterial infections

22 JUNE 2014 | 4

can be tackled with current

antibiotics. But were getting
towards our reserve antibiotics antibiotics that bacteria have never
been exposed to yet, and therefore
cant be resistant to.
These reserve antibiotics are
called carbapenems. If bacteria
achieve resistance to carbapenems,
there will be no defence and we will
enter an ill-fated post-antibiotic
era.
In this era, skin infections
will kill. If theres 10 people with
pneumonia, 3 of them are going
to die. Childbirth? Not for me! 5
out of 1000 women will die giving
birth. Say goodbye to surgery,
transplants, transfusions. Anything
that can open a wound could kill
you. Doesnt sound great right?
Despite this and other claims
of invincible bacteria, all is not
lost, yet. The World Health
Organisation (WHO) has laid
out simple recommendations to
combat the rise of the resistance.
Hospitals are rife with illness,
and bacteria. Who, though, spreads
the most germs? The patient? The
visitors? Or the doctor? Doctors
move from one ill patient to
another to another, collecting a
wealth of bacteria along the way.
It is imperative then, that they
maintain a proper hand-washing
routine. Many studies have shown
the link between compliance with
hand-washing routines and the
reduction in severe infections such
as MRSA.
The WHO also suggests GPs

carefully consider the three

Ds - drug, dose and duration.
The organisation pushes GPs to
prescribe the correct drug first
time, to prevent the bacteria from
surviving and becoming stronger.
Dosage is important because too
weak a dose will allow some bacteria
to survive and thrive once more.
However too strong a dose will be
detrimental to the patient. Finally,
the duration that the antibiotic is
taken is critically important. It is
thought that one in four people do
not finish their prescriptions. This
is understandable from a patient
perspective who wants to stop
taking the drugs once they feel
better. However, GPs and health
officials must make it clear that the
full course of antibiotics must be
finished.
The use of antibiotics must be
restricted and well understood.
Antibiotics defend against bacteria,
not other families of organisms
such as fungi and viruses. The
common cold is caused by a virus,
and so antibiotics are ineffective
to combat this illness. Regardless,
antibiotics are prescribed for 60%
of common colds. Ignorance, or
maybe empathy, from the GP
needs to be addressed in order
for the right medication to be
administered and preventing the
strengthening of any low-lying
bacteria.
We arent yet living in a world
where a simple papercut could kill
you. But, remember, the bacteria
are silently waiting for their day.

Seriously

Bacteria with reported growing resistance (top to bottom): Staphylococcus, E. Coli, Gonorhea
WHO recommended procedures to combat antibiotic resistance (top to bottom): hand washing, correct
prescriptions and avoiding prescriptions for viral infections
5 | 22 JUNE 2014

Silly

INSIGHT

what weve been up to

Whats pink, 15 foot high,

50 foot long and lives in Scotland?
N

o silly, its not the Loch Ness

Monster. Its the huge walkthrough digestive system in the
Edinburgh International Science
Festival!
Sixteen children cant seem to
divert their gaze from its glory, but Im standing in
front of them, heart racing. HELLO! I bellow and
welcome to ENERGISE, the workshop where we like
to move around and get active. My name is Joe.
My name is Joe, and I had the pleasure of working
at EdSciFest on a high-energy workshop (see pictures)
about how food affects the body. After 2 weeks of
crazy science engagement of one of Europes largest
science festivals, frankly Im exhausted.
That first sentence I say to the children in the
workshop is the scariest. In that moment I know what
the next 20 minutes will entail. Will it be an easy ride
or am I going to have to drag these kids through?
My workshop was at the envy and awe of many
of my colleagues. It was loud. It was fun. It was nonstop. Because of this though, it was very draining - a
brand new set of 16 children every 30 minutes, with a
2 minute break in between if were lucky.
2 days in, my voice is gravely and limbs weak, but
all the staff are in the same boat and we persevere
together. I have a new found respect for people who
work on exhibitions. Repetition is a killer. Luckily
the children are offer the odd comedic relief, often by
accident.
Energise! was funded by Diabetes
Scotland to try and get children to
understand the importance of balancing
their energy intake from their food
and the output with exercise. Its done
very subtly; in fact, the word diabetes
is never used. Its all fun and games,
letting the children come to their own
conclusions and choosing a healthier
lifestyle for our larger than life friend, Oscar.
The workshop is strictly for 5-8 year olds. So
naturally we get toddlers and we get kids who have
braces and acne. We meekly comply and silently laugh
as 12 year olds awkwardly take part in a digestive
dance along with a dozen primary schoolers.
The lesson here, parents, is to trust in the age guideline.
There are, however, exceptions to every rule. A
3-year old with Aspergers gave more answers than
any of the 10 year olds and a group of 17 year olds with
learning difficulties clapped along happily with the
children. Thats one of the great things I experienced,
we touched were able to touch the lives of people and
engage with them through a shared interest.
In fact, that is whats so special about EdSciFest, its
22 JUNE 2014 | 6

audience. Everyone from 3 to 133 is accommodated

with street-scientists, workshops, exhibitions,
performances, debates and talks.
Science is poured over Edinburgh like the milk
on your cereal. Frustratingly though, some of those
coco-pops seem to miss out on our milk. There is a
common problem in science communication where
the target audience is the people who are already
interested rather than engaging a new audience. Does
EdSciFest break the mould? Or does it just preach to
the converted?
I put this question to the director of the festival,
Dr Simon Gage who responded, Different
people love different things and we try
and tap into that to engage different
audiences. Every year we assess our
reach and add new things to build upon
our successes. Our evening events are
adult focussed and cover a broad range
of topics.
Theres everything from the science of
cocktails, sex and psychology to personal accounts
of OCD and substance abuse.
Science at the heart of everything is the tagline of
this years festival; cunningly broad though cleverly
meaningful, linking everyday topics back to science.
Science truly is at the heart of everything, and the
evening events are aptly varied to provide for the
equally varied interests of the Edinburgh and Scottish
populace.
As the festival ends and the scientific buzz dies
down, the staff of EdSciFest release a deep sigh.
Its been a taxing fortnight, but plans are already
underway for a bigger and better year to come. And
to sedate me until then, EdSciFest is linked with
the Abu Dhabi Festival which runs in November.
And apparently, theyre hiring bright and enthusiastic
people who want to communicate science to the
younglings of Abu Dhabi. Interested?
http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/about-us/jobs

Silly

KIDS OVERHEARD AT EDSCIFEST

Where do we get our energy from?
Brains
Whats your favourite vegetable?
Pizza
Im exhausted, what have I run out of?
Apple juice!

Pictures clockwise: Quotes from children at the Energise workshop; the Energise workshop, with Mr
Broc Li sitting at end of the intestines; guests at the EdSciFest launch night; Colourful science display;
EdSciFests explosive display of science
7 | 22 JUNE 2014

Silly

How do babies break their bendy bones?

Almost 4800 babies break their bones before their 1st birthday. And we dont really know why.

ll
babies
are
born
However, there may be a solution
contortionists. Their limbs in the INSIGNEO Institute, a
flail and bend at will and its a pioneering initiative in Sheffield
common sight to see a baby with aiming to revolutionise medicine
his or her foot in their mouth.
using computer simulations of the
They can do this because their
human body.
bones are underdeveloped and
The Institute is a collaboration
its just soft cartilage surrounding
between the University of Sheffield
their joints. Imagine two sticks
and the citys teaching hospitals,
with a big blob of Playdough in
which have formed the biggest
the middle. Both bones are able to centre of in silico research within
rotate freely.
Europe. In silico literally means
Yet fractures in babies
in silicon. So computers create
bones are common. A subset
a virtual human skeleton that
of these fractures are
can simulate disease and
caused in birthing
damage.
(e.g. skull fractures
Dr Xinsham (Shannon) Li
during forceps) but
is working on the bone fracture
the large majority
problem, My work
go unexplained.
is at the forefront of
Its a difficult
in silico research,
area to research,
we hope to put the
people are unlikely
computer
simulations
into
to consent to research
clinical practice within five years.
on their children and
Once the bones are properly
animal testing is out of
simulated, the researchers could
the question - even the
simulate different pressures
most pro-science people
and forces to see how the
would not dream of
bone fractures. Clinicians
breaking monkeys
can then compare reallegs. And so
life fractures to the
were
simulations. This will
a bit
h e l p the clinicians
Illustration of
stuck.
to give proper
INSIGNEOs virtual human

22 JUNE 2014 | 8

treatments, but importantly it

could provide vital clues to when
fractures suggest abuse.
INSIGNEO isnt just working
on babies and bone fractures.
Researchers are busy with the
entire musculo-skeletal system
- the entire body of bones and
muscles.
The body will be pieced together
through the collaboration of many
different groups who focus on
specific sections of the body. There
are groups working on a DNA and
molecular level and others, like Dr
Xinsham Li, who seek to create a
broader systematic simulations.
Its part of an international
project whose mission is to create
an entire simulated human and
adopt it effectively into research
and the clinic.
Imagine a near future when
your clinical history moulds a
virtual you which your GP can
use to diagnose illness and decide
treatment even before it happens.

Silly

He really is a smelly old fart

Old people do have a distinctive smell says new study, but its not that unpleasant

ld people smell
says new study
from the University
of Pennsylvania. The
researchers
showed
that young people can
easily point out which
odour is from an older
person from a simple
sniff test.
The study got people of
a range of ages to wear the
same t-shirt for five nights in
a row. The t-shirts had cotton
pads in the armpits which were
cut out after the five nights and

placed in jars.
41 young people were then
asked to smell the jars and compare
the different odours.
When asked to compare two
jars, the smellers correctly put
them in age order. They described
the older peoples odours as less
unpleasant and intense than the
younger peoples.
In fact, it was the 45-55 age
group whose smells were least
pleasant, with the middle aged
man pulling out the worst whiff.
The research community are
yet to discover why elderly people

have this distinct smell.Johan

Lundstrm, senior leader of the
research in Pennsylvannia said
that human odors orginate from
skin gland secretions and bacterial
activity which is thought to change
thought to change throughout life.
Changes in odour have been
described in other members of the
animal kingdom, including mice,
monkeys and even owls.
So what has this pungent piece
of research taught us? Old people
truly do pong, but its okay.

This is good sh*t!

Brown is the new black as faecal transplants are shown to cure with lethal bacterial infections

hit happens.
And feeding sterilised faeces to
a patient infected by bacteria may
offer an improbable but effective
treatment, according to researchers in Amsterdam.
Faecal Microbiota Transplant
(FMT) may cause anyones gut
to squirm, but its a real solution
to serious and potentially lethal
infections caused, ironically, by
taking antibiotics.
Antibiotics
attack
in
a
generalised way. They interfere
with natural bacteria and break
down their defences, which can
lead to infection by particularly
savage bacteria, such as Clostridium
Difficile, or C Difficile. That
can in turn cause a lethal toxic
megacolon - a severe swelling of
the bowel from a build up of gas.
Feeding faeces from a healthy
person into the infected individual
(either anally or orally) floods the
gut with healthy bacteria which
can fight off the malicious invaders.
A study published in the New
England Journal of Medicine
showed that FMT gave a 94% cure
rate compared to 31% with a drug
treatment.
The NHS UK website says
nothing about FMT as a treatment.
Yet there is a significant movement
happening online with DIY FMT
and in private clinics.

A website, The Power of Poop,

has been set up to promote the use
of FMT in a safe way. The success
stories relate not only to C. Difficile
infection though. There are many
personal stories of cures from a
range of conditions including IBS,
Ulterative Colitis, Crohns and even
food intolerances.
The Taymount Clinic in
Hertfordshire offers FMT for
the full range of conditions and
hails FMT as the most complete
probiotic treatment available
today. Their treatment prices range
from 2,000 to 8,000 for a 4 week
programme.
Glenn Taylor, Clinic Director
of the Taymount Clinic said With
many articles that we have seen
written by mainstream medical
doctors, we have found repeated
reference to the Yuk factor.
Roger Elliot spoke out on
YouTube faming the clinic to have
cured his restricted diet through
just one session of FMT. This came
after years of other therapies which
proved fruitless, I cant describe
how it feels to be able to have been
given some respite to the situation
I was in.
Despite good initial studies,
extensive research is very loose.
The effects of FMT shown from
personal stories are far-reaching,
and the possibilities may be

huge. The gut has obvious links

with diseases such as obesity and
diabetes, but researchers also
link the gut with diseases of the
mind such as Parkinsons and
Alzheimers.
Researchers are now trying to
create capsules which contain
all the healthy bacteria found in
faeces. This is in hope that it could
be used as an alternative to the
rather sickly options currently
available.
FMT may be a sticky issue, but its
certainly one worth exploring.

9 | 22 JUNE 2014

Science

PERSONAL PROFILE

r Eugenia Cheng is a
Mathematics lecturer at the
University of Sheffield. She loves
maths and she loves food.
We greet eachother over Skype
- Eugenia is guest lecturing in
Chicago - and shes keen to start
talking, All my lectures are in the
morning so Im done now for the
day. Whats the weather like in
Sheffield?
Shes a very excitable person,
and this is probably why she
has gathered popularity as a
quirky Sheffield lecturer and,
more broadly, as an engaging
spokesperson for maths.
Recently she was on SkyNews
talking about prime numbers and
why she thinks theyre important.
Her research interests is
specifically Category Theory.
When I ask her what category
theory is, shes smiles, Category
theory is a way of thinking.
Being able to lift heavy weights,
she says, isnt very useful in

22 JUNE 2014 | 10

meet todays seriously silly scientist

everyday life, but having a fit and

healthy body is great. Being able
to solve quadratic equations might
not be useful in everyday life,
but having a clear, powerful and
efficient mind is amazing.
She compares learning math
to sport, Noone ever asks why
running the 100 meters in 9
seconds is useful. The fact that its
useful isnt the point, its that its
fun! And I think that should be the
same with maths. People are hung
up on maths being useful, but
maths is better when its just fun.
Eugenias enthusiasm for the
subject is almost palpable; I can
feel myself getting sucked into the
allure of maths. Yet I cant help but
think that maths will never be as
much of a public interest as biology,
chemistry and physics. Eugenia
disagrees, When I was little, it was
basically just nature programmes.
Just David Attenborough running
around the desert looking for
lions. Then more biology crept in,

especially human biology, and now

weve seen the advent of Brian Cox
and Physics on our TV. Maybe its
time that some Maths could be
done.
4 months ago, Eugenia received
a phone-call from Professor Brian
Coxs agent who had heard about
Eugenias exploits and agreed with
her vision for maths to become
mainstream. And thus, Eugenia
got herself a 2-book deal, the first
of which is Cakes, Custard and
Category Theory, due for release
in March 2015.

Have you seen the Puff Pastry

one? Oh I do like that one, I get
really violent with a rolling pin
Eugenia says that the book is
intended for people who consider
themselves reasonably intelligent
but have somehow got put off
maths at some point in their life.
The book promises to open the
door to new maths by drawing

Science
analogies from a variety of food
types. Food is Eugenias trademark.
From the bagel to the Battenberg,
Eugenia has a mathematical theory
for it.
Everyone loves food, and I love
Maths, so Im connecting both.
Food can only get you so far in
maths, but its a good way to engage
the audience with the basic theory.
Eugenia is most famous for her
YouTube videos where she explains
a theory with some form of food
and things tend to get crazy,
Have you seen the Puff Pastry
one? Oh I do like that one, I get
really violent with a rolling pin.
Her videos are truly funny and
accessible. It all started a year ago
with her first video released on the
14th March, a.k.a. Pi day (3.14),
which saw Eugenia excitedly
making (and eating) pies of
different shape and widths.
But before that, Eugenia was
already a YouTube star, albeit for
a more specialist audience. 6 years
ago, Eugenia began making videos
for budding mathematicians
studying category theory. Maths
books are a bit dull, especially on
category theory. I started making
YouTube videos because theres so
many PhD students who are trying
to learn category theory.

Her first video on Monads

has gathered over 54,000 views, a
phenomenal amount for such an
abstract aspect of mathematics.
The
YouTube
channel,
TheCatsters, now has a whopping
82 videos and 2,800 regular
subscribers.

there is a kind of maths which

is nothing like the kind that
people did at school, which is
much cooler
Her other YouTube channel,
The Mathsters, is for beginners of
maths. There are a lot of schools
where, if there is only one person
who is good at maths then they get
ignored because the school needs
to help all the people who are
terrible at it.
Eugenia wanted to show these
people that there was something
better than A Level maths, which
she thinks is boring.
There is a kind of maths which
is nothing like the kind that people
did at school, which is much
cooler.
On top of all this, Eugenia also
does a Maths Camp where school
classes visit the university once
a fortnight and listen to a talk
from Eugenia. I wanted to bring

students into the university for

a number of reasons. I want to
make university less unknown to
students who havent ever been
exposed to a university, and I want
to group students together, so they
know they arent alone in their love
for maths.
As our Skype talk comes to a
close, I ask Eugenia what her vision
for the future is. She contemplates
for a second and says, In France,
maths is seen as quite romantic,
like poetry. In England, its a nerds
game. I want to change that.
Eugenia Cheng has big vision
and with her first book due out
next March, well have to wait and
see how well the pastry unfolds.

Eugenia talks about the classification of finite groups while showing how to make Battenberg cakes
11 | 22 JUNE 2014

Science

FEATURES

perspectives on top stories

The Stem Cell Scandal

Meet Dr. Haruko Obokata, once the poster girl for Japanese stem cell research.
Now, Haruko is battling to save her career as everyone turns against her, even her own research team.
Science gives a different perspective; once the poster girl, now the scapegoat?
Her career seemed set in stone
to be Japanese modern-day David
Attenborough, an inspiration for
all young female science students.
A month after Natures
publication, Harukos findings
were accused of fraudulence and
the research withdrawn, leaving
the academic community
disenchanted with this fascinating
possibility.

Japan isnt a great place to be a

professional woman. Currently,
only 11% of leadership positions
are held by females. And so,
Haruko became the role model for
the rising population of rikejo or
science girls when she and her
team managed to publish their
work in the prestigious Nature
magazine.
She is the pinnicle of classical
feminitiy, her lab has pink and yellow walls, her favourite couch, soft
pig toys, stickers, and, perhaps the
most odd addition, her pet turtle.

she sorely lacks, not only a

sense of research ethics, but
also integrity and humility as a
scientific researcher
And to top it off, instead of wearing a lab coat, she wears her
grandmothers apron.
22 JUNE 2014 | 12

been largely silent in the media

furore, leaving Haruko to take the
brunt of the scientific discourse.
In any piece of research, there are
supervisors, mentors, editors and
not one of them picked up on
Harukos mistakes. This, in itself, is
extreme negligence.
There also is the question of why
Nature magazine, after rejecting
the original papers the previous
year, allowed the publication to
go ahead. Nature has failed to
comment on the papers and is yet
to retract the papers from their
website.
Haruko gave a tearful press
statement asking for forgiveness
though indicating she believes
the research is still solid despite
misconduct. Since then, Haruko
The papers, published in Nature has issued a plea for privacy and
on the 30th January, offered an shied from the press, choosing to
exceptionally ordinary method speak through letters and press
to produce something truly releases.
extraordinary (see The Claims).
This research is surely a makeThe research came into or-break situation for the team at
disrepute a month later after the RIKEN Institute. But, sadly
readers commented on apparent for Dr Haruko Obokata, its her
faults and corrupted images in the reputation, her job and most likely
papers.
her career.
On March 31st, the RIKEN
Institute where Haruko worked
released a report on the research
paper, implicating Haruko in two
accounts of research misconduct
and bearing heavy responsibility.
Commenting on Obokatas actions
and data management skills, they
said she sorely lacks, not only
a sense of research ethics, but
also the integrity and humility as
a scientific researcher. For the
institute in Tokyo, this is a blow
to their credibility and a young
female, ditzy scientist offers an
easy escape.
Though Haruko is, of course,
guilty of misconduct, she is not Haruko during a tearful press
alone. Her 7 co-authors have release

Science

What are stem cells?

Stem cells are special immature cells that

can grow to become mature and useful cells.

Some stem cells can grow to become ANY cell type,

some can only become a certain type (e.g. blood
cells). Imagine if we could make stem cells in a lab
that could turn into a new liver or kidney for people
who have damaged theirs.

WHERE DO YOU FIND STEM CELLS?

The earliest form of stem cells is inside the embryo

- the bundle of cells that develops into a baby in the
womb. These embryonic stem cells can become any
cell type, so they would be the best stem cells to use in
research.
However, because some people consider the embryo to
be a human life, they are banned from use.
Stem cells can also be found in an adult though. They
can be found in small numbers all over the body,
underneath every hair, in your eyes, the lining of your
mouth. These stem cells can only make particularly
types of cells (e.g. hair) so they are less useful in
research.

The Claims

Dr. Obokatas papers claim that stem cells can be created by putting normal cells under specific stresses
such as an acid bath, or squeezing them through a
small tube. The acid bath technique is said to take
only 30 minutes. Once the cells have been stressed,
they revert back to a stem cell likeness in that they
can develop into any other cell type.

THE FUTURE

Haruko and the research team appear to have

recognised the faults in the research papers but see
them as errors in structure of the paper rather than
outcome. Wakayama, a co-author to the papers, said
I hope we can withdraw our papers, redo our research
and republish articles that nobody can find fault with.
Currently, labs around the world are attempting
to recreate the findings and, as of yet, none have
succeeded, leading to the possible conclusion that this
is all a wild goose chase.

13 | 22 JUNE 2014

Science

CURRENT RESEARCH

new research explained

Sheffield proposal is
rev-eye-lutionary

A Sheffield-based research team

are poised to unveil a revolutionary
new treatment that offers to bright
sight to the blind.
The research builds upon a
decade of research, transplanting
cells from a healthy eye into a
damaged one using a special
contact lense.
The cells will sit on top of this

New hope for Pancreatic Cancer patients

lense and cleverly heal the damage.

In the past, surgeons have used
tissue from the placenta of a
baby to transplant these cells. For
reasons of consent and disease
transmission, this isnt ideal. The
limitations of using placental
tissue means that there are only 10
centres around the world that can
offer the treatment and so for the
vast majority of patients, there is
no treatment available.
This new method can be
produced on mass, sterilised to
prevent disease transmission and
be used in any routine ophthalmic
surgery.
The project is working in
partnership with the LV Prasad Eye
Institute in India and the first trials
will take place in Indian clinics.
Professor Sheila MacNeil, leader
of the research team in Sheffield,
commented on the progression of
the project, We are 3 and a half
years into a 4 year funded project
by the Wellcome Trust. Weve been
developing a better membrane for
taking limbal stem cells into the
clinic and weve completed all the
laboratory work.
Limbal stem cells have the job
of providing new cells to the front
of the eye to prevent scarring after
22 JUNE 2014 | 14

A new therapy appears to double

the 5-year survival rate of patients
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Current
records
show
shockingly low survival rates for
pancreatic cancer. There have
been no improvements since
the 1997 discovery of the drug,
Gemcitabine. However, the
survival rate with this drug is as
low as 2-4%.
New research suggests that
using Gemcitabine alongside
another drug nab-Paclitaxel
increases this rate to 9%, which
could save the lives of 10,000
more people every year. While 9%
is far from the ideal, it is certainly
a step in the right direction.
Nab-Paclitaxel is not a new
drug. It has been used successfully
in treatment against breast cancer
tumours that have dislodged
and moved to another tissue. It
works by hijacking natural gaps
damage or infection. However, if
the limbal stem cells are damaged,
the eye loses its ability to heal,
leading to a loss in vision and
substantial pain.
The research team are primed
to begin their first in-man study as
soon as they receive the go-ahead
from the Indian regulatory board.
They have proposed a simplified
version of their treatment in the
hope that they will be more likely
to gain permission to go into
the clinic. This version of their

in tumour cells to deliver highly

toxic chemicals, thus killing
those cells.
Side effects have been reported
including minor loss of feelings
in the extremities and also a
decrease in blood cell production;
however, these side effects are
reported to be reversible.
The past few decades have
brought us very few treatment
advances for patients with
advanced pancreatic cancer,
which is both deadly and
incredibly difficult to treat, said
Daniel Von Hoff, MD, leader
of the clinical trials in Arizona,
The fact that nab-paclitaxel
plus gemcitabine demonstrated
an overall survival benefit is
a significant step forward in
offering potential new hope for
our patients.
Research continues with the
hope of improving rates further.
research uses a technique known
as electrospinning to create a lense
that looks almost like cobwebs.
The vague structure loosely holds
the transplanted cells so that they
can be transplanted onto the eye.
The more elaborate version
is truly groundbreaking. The
researchers are able to create tiny
pockets for the stem cells to live in
on the eye. MacNeil likened these
pockets to unfurnished homes in
that they mimic what is usually in
the eye.

Science
If the Sheffield team succeed in
proving that their pockets work,
it could mean big things for the
future. Disorders of these naturally
occurring pockets, known as
stem cell niches, are thought to
be involved in a variety of human
health problems, as far reaching as
ageing and cancer.
The current project is aimed
for trial in India, where there is a
huge problem within the chemical
industry with acid splashes and
chemical burns to the eye. This
project has potential worldwide.
As the Wellcome Trusts
funding comes to a close later
this year, Professor MacNeil and
the research team will be seeking
funding from a variety of sources
to continue their important project
to bring light to the millions in the
dark.

to processes including brain

development, the production
of new brain connections,
inflammation and body movement
coordination.
The researchers thought that
the same brain networks could be
linked with Autism and the same
drug could lift the veil in autistic
people.
The research team found
that one dose of Suramin either
corrected or improved these
processes in autistic mice.
Naviaux is keen to stress that
research in mice does not always
successfully translate into humans,
as humans have different and
often more complex processes
than mice. However, this research
is a very exciting brand new step
forward in autism research which
could have the potential to unlock
future treatments.

Single drug dose lifts

Breaking down walls
the veil of autism
Suramin, a drug once used against of antibiotic problem
an African sleeping sickness, will
be used in human clinic trials this
year to assess how it affects people
with Autism.
This comes after promising
results in mice studies by Robert
Naviaux at the University of
Calaifornia, San Diego.
The research team have shown
that just one dose of Suramin was
enough to relieve the autistic mice
of the behavioural traits such as
avoiding unfamiliar mice and new
runs of a maze.
Autism
is
a
lifelong
disability characterised by poor
communication
and
social
integration. From a scientific point
of view though, autism is caused
by messy connections in the brain,
so that messages are confused,
causing improper actions.
Many parents of autistic children
have accounted the lifting of the
veil when their children become
lucid, speaking and playing more
normally. This is usually linked
with a fever.
Suramin was used a 100 years
ago to kill organisms of African
sleeping sickness by blocking
certain brain networks that were
being overstimulated. Suramin
successfully prevented damage

Bacteria, which are becoming

increasingly resistant to our
antibiotics, are a global concern
(The Rise of the Resistance, Page
4). However, the University of East
Anglia have found a way to break
down their outer defence system
which could offer a brand new
solution to the antibiotic resistance
problem.
This new piece of research will
strip away the outer coating from
the bacteria which will cause them
to die without the need for further
drugs. Professor Haohao Dong
from the UAE team said: Because
new drugs will not need to enter
the bacteria itself, we hope that the
bacteria will not be able to develop
drug resistance in future.
The science community and
the Government said the research
was a welcome piece of news
though scientists urge officials and
health providers to not become lax
on their policies surrounding the
prescription and use of antibiotics.
Super-bugs is the name given
to bacteria such as MRSA and E.
Coli that are becoming immune
to the range of currently available
antibiotics.
Once these super-bugs are
immune to the full range, there

will be no way of fighting against

them. Many people speculate this
would bring about an era where
small infections could prove fatal.
The rise of super-bugs is
attributed to doctors prescribing
antibiotics frivolously and also
patients failing to complete their
prescription, allowing the most
resilient bacteria to survive and
regrow.
Experts have warned that the
rise of resistant poses a bigger
threat than climate change.

Chimpanzees prefer
an African beat

Scientists have observed that

chimpanzees like to listen to
rhythms associated with Africa and
India. Though, given the choice,
the chimps preferred silence rather
than listen to western music.

The research by the American

Psychological Association (APA)
highlights the part that music may
have played in human evolution.
Morgan Mingle, lead author
of the study, said, Chimpanzees
displaying a preference for music
over silence is compelling evidence
that our shared evolutionary
histories may include favoring
sounds outside of both humans
and chimpanzees immediate
survival cues.
African and Indian music have
extreme ratios of strong to weak
beats whereas western music tends
to have more regular strong beats.
Chimps were given freedom
to roam in an open environment
while music was played in a specific
area. The Chimps were sigificantly
more likely to hang around the
musical area when African and
Indian beats were played while
they tended to move away from
the area during more westernised
beats, such as Japanese music, were
played.
15 | 22 JUNE 2014

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