Category Archives: Biology

Biology

Why genes mean less than you think, and other reads: Books in brief – Nature.com

The Master Builder

Alfonso Martinez Arias Basic (2023)

The structure of DNA was discovered in Cambridge, UK, in 1953. How ironic, then, that it was while he was a researcher in the department of genetics at the University of Cambridge that biologist Alfonso Martinez Arias developed doubts that genes constitute an organisms operating manual. For example, he says, genes cannot explain why the human heart is usually on the left or why the hand has five fingers. In his revolutionary book on cell biology, he argues: I feel certain that cells hold a creative potential that genes cannot dream of.

Igor Tulchinsky & Christopher E. Mason MIT Press (2023)

Chief executive of a quantitative-investment firm Igor Tulchinsky, and Christopher Mason, who runs a genomic medicine laboratory, share an interest in prediction. Predictive algorithms have changed the world, and all the worlds to come, and there is no going back, they say in their articulate book on how current and future artificial-intelligence algorithms will change apprehension of risk and affect human behaviour. They accept that economics, business, finance and some aspects of medicine are not governed by scientific logic.

Caleb Everett Harvard Univ. Press (2023)

In the Amazonian region of Brazil, where anthropologist Caleb Everett spent much of his childhood, speakers of Tupi-Kawahb never refer to time passing by. Indeed, the language has no word for time. By contrast, most European languages have few abstract words for odours, whereas languages in a number of other cultures have more than a dozen. Everetts fascinating book based on collaboration with biologists, chemists, political scientists and engineers ponders such differences between the worlds 7,000-plus languages.

Paul Mattick Reaktion (2023)

According to Paul Mattick, former editor of the International Journal of Political Economy, who trained in philosophy, economists have a long record of theoretical and predictive failure. After failing to predict the 2008 financial crisis, they failed to explain why inflation stayed unexpectedly low for a decade, before suddenly rising in 2021. Was the COVID-19 pandemic responsible for the high inflation? If so, why does it continue? This book, from a left-wing perspective, argues that modern capitalism is inherently inflationary.

Graeme Blair et al. Princeton Univ. Press (2023)

This is a research design book, not a statistics textbook, note political scientists Graeme Blair, Alexander Coppock and Macartan Humphreys. It is aimed at readers launching their first research projects in the social sciences, at graduate students wishing to understand research findings and at funders assessing a projects design rather than its results. Its unique framework, MIDA (model, inquiry, data strategy and answer strategy), uses DeclareDesign, a software package co-created by the authors.

The author declares no competing interests.

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Why genes mean less than you think, and other reads: Books in brief - Nature.com

Biology

‘They thought we were nuts.’ Rocky Mountain BioAg puts the biology … – Montrose Daily Press

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'They thought we were nuts.' Rocky Mountain BioAg puts the biology ... - Montrose Daily Press

Biology

Why we have better maps of Mars than of the seafloorand what … – United States Geological Survey (.gov)

Compared to the terrestrial surfaces of our own planet, or even those that are millions of miles away in the solar system, we know so little about the topography of the seafloor that new discoveries of massive features like seamountssuch as this one off the coast of Californiacontinue to be made today.

At the root of this is a problem of technology. The tools we use to image land above water rely on sending and recording wavelengths of light through methods such as satellite imaging or LiDAR. These can produce highly accurate and detailed pictures of the surface of the earth in a matter of days.

But light does not penetrate through seawater beyond the first few hundred feet. With the maximum depth of the ocean plunging to more than 36,000 feet, we need alternative methods for surveying the seafloor.

While light is rapidly attenuated in seawater, sound can travel for thousands of miles. Seafloor mapping technology relies on sonar devices

mounted either to the hull of a ship or on remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles. These devices emit pulses of sound in a fan shape across the seafloor, measuring the time it takes for the sound to travel and reflect off the seafloor, then return to the ship. With as many as 60 pulses of sound per second, the swath of the sonar survey can collect millions of data points of water depth as the ship travels.

Computer software transforms these data into a visual image of the seafloor. In November 2023, scientists from the USGS sailed approximately 350 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii, to explore a little-surveyed, crescent-shaped area of the seafloor south of the Hawaiian Islands. Working in partnership with BOEM and the NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, the USGS conducted bathymetric surveys and environmental DNA sampling aboard the ten-day expedition. This is the first time this partnership has investigated and characterized the seafloor geology and biology of the Hawaiian abyssal plain.

The deeper the seafloor, the more challenging it is to obtain a high-resolution map, because the sound must travel farther. Abyssal plains are often neglected in mapping efforts since they are deeper than the average depth of the seafloor and therefore challenging to map; they also generally have less charismatic fauna than shallower seamounts. Further, mapping efforts often focus on resolving features that can be seen through low-resolution satellite imagery, and at this resolution abyssal plains appear flat and featureless. However, abyssal plains are the largest ocean floor environment, and their sediments preserve the history of oceanic processes and support crucial biogeochemical processes, including carbon sequestration.

Bathymetric surveys allow us to understand not only the ocean depths and the shape of the seafloor (is it flat or steeply sloping?) but also tells us about its composition (is the surface texture hard or soft?) based on the relative intensity of the sound reflection. This information is crucially important because the shape and composition of the seafloor affects the physical and biological processes within the ocean. Bathymetric maps are the foundation for deep-sea exploratory missions aiming to understand regional biology, geology, and chemistry, and serve as important tools for defining marine protected areas.

Much in the way that a house with stairs as opposed to ramps to walk up and downor soft, plush carpet versus hardwood floorswould affect your comfort and mobility in your home ecosystem, the dynamic topography and structure of the seafloor shapes the types of ecosystems found on the seafloor. The sharp vertical relief offered by submarine canyons and continental shelves is also what drives ocean currents that cycle vital nutrients and oxygen to sustain marine food webs.

As the nations lead scientific mapping agency, the USGS brings a wealth of expertise in the interpretation of bathymetric survey data to understand the shape and geologic structure of the seafloor. Accurate, modern, high-resolution bathymetric maps are essential for delineating and protecting sensitive marine habitats, guiding the wise use of marine resources, ensuring safe maritime navigation, and detecting seafloor geologic hazards that can threaten coastal populations and infrastructure.

Because of the importance of this information and the existing data gaps, the U.S. is supporting global advancements in ocean mapping through a consortium of federal agencies forming the National Ocean Mapping, Exploration, and Characterization Council (NOMEC). As co-chair of the NOMEC council, the USGS helps lead the charge in coordinating and implementing collaborative mapping, exploring, and characterization of the nations ocean waters. With this Hawaiian expedition, the USGS contributes to mapping the gaps in U.S. waters and provides insight into this understudied ecosystem by characterizing its deep-sea biology and geology.

Strategic partnerships developed with other federal agencies such as BOEM and NOAA, as well as with private and academic collaborators such as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Schmidt Ocean Institute, and Ocean Exploration Trust, have greatly expanded mapping and exploration of hazards and deep-sea ecosystems off the west coast of the United States.

The USGS has a unique role and mission as the federal provider of research expertise on marine geology, geophysics, and the processes that form and alter seabed and sub-bottom environments. USGS capacities in marine geology, geologic and oceanographic processes, and marine biology, ecology and geochemistry are all essential to NOMEC goals to map and characterize marine hazard and resource potential, seabed ecosystems, and the consequences of human and natural change.

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Why we have better maps of Mars than of the seafloorand what ... - United States Geological Survey (.gov)

Biology

In failure, Simcox finds a way to learn – ASBMB Today

When Judith Simcox was an undergraduate at Carroll College in Montana, she went to a lecture by the evolutionary biologist Gerald Shields on speciation, the process by which a new species emerges. In a conversation after the lecture, Shields was intrigued by Simcoxs curiosity and depth of scientific thinking. He took her under his wing, funding her education and mentoring her to develop her scientific aptitude.

That opened up a world of science for me, and there was no way I could repay him, Simcox said.

Judith Simcox

Shields generosity provided a rare entry into the world of science. Ever since Simcox has been striving to pay it forward by building programs and working with scientific societies. As a graduate student, she helped develop the Native American Research Internship to encourage Indigenous young people to consider careers in basic science, a program that has impacted many lives. With the internship, about 49% of participants go on to graduate schools as opposed to 1% of Indigenous science students nationally.

Simcox is now a Howard Hughes Medical InstituteFreeman Hrabowski scholar and an assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of WisconsinMadison. Her lab studies plasma lipids that regulate metabolic disease and explores how these lipids function using lipidomics, genetics and cellular and molecular biology techniques. For this work, she won the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biologys 2024 Walter A. Shaw Young Investigator Award in Lipids.

Simcox also works with the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, the American Indian Science and Engineering Society and other organizations, including the Native American Center for Health Professionals. She knows that with access to higher education can come the fear of failure and the fear of being noticed, especially when few people share your background. Simcox said she wants to change this. She wants to create a space where Indigenous students dont feel a sense of otherness.

It is really hard to fail when everybody's watching you, she said. That makes it harder for people to be brave. But dont be afraid to fail; the most important lessons for my life have come from failure.

Judith Simcoxs interest in lipid metabolism was sparked by her familys long history of obesity and metabolic disease. Although sometimes dismissed as excess fat reserves, lipids are essential signaling molecules and mediators of tissue inflammation during disease.

What's fascinating to me is that there are so many unknown lipids, and for the known lipids we still don't know their functions, Simcox said.

The Simcox lab is specifically interested in plasma lipids and how they regulate disease.She has spearheaded the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in human population studies to predict lipid biomarkers in cardiovascular disease and how these vary in different populations, especially in Black and Chicano communities.

To answer functional questions, the lab uses mass spectrometry, radio isotope studies in mouse models and cell culture studies. Simcox is optimistic about the use of AI in basic sciences.

But in the end, she said, you have to back it up with molecular biology.

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In failure, Simcox finds a way to learn - ASBMB Today

Biology

Yurok biologist has whirlwind couple of weeks | Community … – The Triplicate

Its been a busy couple of weeks for Yurok tribal citizen and Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Yurok Tribe of California Keith Parker.

He sat in his living room talking with a New York Times reporter answering questions and addressing issues pertinent to Northern California and fish management on the Klamath River.

He spent time out on the river with the Times photographer as the team put together a presentation that will run not only in the New York City daily, but another piece entitled The scientists watching their lifes work disappear, will run in the New York Times Sunday Magazine with a circulation of 6 million readers.

Then on Oct. 19-21, at the 2023 American Indian Science Engineering Society National Conference (AISES) in Spokane, Wash., he and the largest audience in conference history (3,500) watched a five-minute video of his work.

AISES is a national nonprofit organization focused on increasing representation of Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies and careers.

Senior Fisheries Biologist for the Yurok Tribe of California Keith Parker out on the Klamath River.

Parker was recognized as the AISES 2023 Professional of the Year for Technical Excellence.

It was a record turnout at Spokane, so that was special. Its been a lot of hard work, said Parker, a molecular biologist who helps monitor the Klamath Rivers fish stocks as part of the Klamath River Technical Team.

The New York Times article came out. Then in a separate article that just came out digitally, they did another article talking about scientists that are hoping to help fix climate change for their Sunday magazine. So, its been a hell of a week.

Growing up, Parker bore witness his grandfather leading protests of federal bans on tribal fishing rights, ironically, for water he is now responsible for, co-stewarding the Klamath Rivers 44 miles through the Yurok reservation.

His research has been published in the science journal, Molecular Ecology. In 2018, he discovered two new previously undiscovered subspecies of Pacific lamprey a jawless fish that looks like an eel one that matures in the river and another that matures in the ocean.

I used Yurok words to describe them because of the importance they are for our people. Kewsween means river, and the ocean maturing lamprey was named Tewol, which is the Yurok word for ocean, he explained. The lamprey has great cultural and historical value to Pacific Northwest tribes.

He has also performed a great deal of genetics work on the Klamath salmon in collaboration with the University of California-Santa Cruz.

All that aside, having the New York Times reporter and photographer sitting in his living room while his son Beau shot some photos of the process is a memory they will share for a long, long time, he said.

I was humbled and at the same times excited, because every time these things happen, it gets the word out to more people about the plight of our salmon and our fisheries here on the West Coast, specifically Del Norte County, said Parker, who co-stewards harvest management on the lower 44-miles of the Klamath River eight-months of the year and conducts genetic analysis of returning Trinity River Hatchery salmon in collaboration with UC Santa Cruz the rest of the time

We had a full salmon closure this year in the ocean and the river. They shut down the rock fishing season, so all the local fishermen cant fish the shores. We have a lot of fishery issues because of degraded rivers and poor ocean conditions. So, if I can get in front of that many people (through the New York Times), then I can educate more people about these problems. Hopefully, more people are going to be thinking about solutions.

Parker, who also has family in the Karuk, Hupa and Tolowa communities, is a regular guest speaker, discussing climate change and drought on salmon populations.

He has conducted numerous fisheries biology, hydrology, and river ecology research projects in Alaska, Washington, Idaho and California. He received a BS degree in Fisheries Biology (2015) and a MS degree in Natural Resources (2018) from Cal Poly-Humboldt, with a thesis on conservation genetics.

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Yurok biologist has whirlwind couple of weeks | Community ... - The Triplicate

Biology

10x Genomics Wins Another Patent Infringement Case Against … – PR Newswire

Jury Awards 10x Genomics Over $31 Million in Damages and Finds All Seven Asserted Patents Valid and Willfully Infringed by NanoString

GeoMx Decision is Third Ruling Against NanoString, Showing Serial Infringement of 10x Patents

PLEASANTON, Calif., Nov. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- 10x Genomics, Inc. (Nasdaq: TXG), a leader in single cell and spatial biology, announced today that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware has reached a unanimous verdict in favor of 10x Genomics in the patent infringement suit 10x filed against the GeoMx products sold by NanoString Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: NSTG). In awarding over $31 million in damages, the jury found that NanoString's GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler and associated instruments, reagents and services for RNA and protein detection willfully infringe all seven asserted patents owned by Prognosys and exclusively licensed to 10x Genomics.

The jury awarded over $31 million in damages for sales of the infringing GeoMx products from May 6, 2021 through October 13, 2023. In post-trial proceedings, 10x intends to seek (a) ongoing royalties for NanoString's willful infringement by sales of the GeoMx products after October 13, 2023; (b) treble damages and attorney's fees for NanoString's willful infringement; (c) a permanent injunction barring the making, using, selling and offering for sale the GeoMx products in the United States; and (d) pre- and post-judgment interest.

"In the last six months, three separate courts have found that both NanoString's CosMx and GeoMx products infringe nine separate 10x patents," said Eric Whitaker, Chief Legal Officer at 10x Genomics. "At some point, NanoString must drop the charade that it is 'confident' it does not infringe the 10x patents and the patents are invalid. It is essential that 10x protect our patents from those who wrongly and willfully use them so we can advance our mission and continue to innovate and push science forward. We are thankful for the jury's careful attention to the extensive evidence presented in this case and their diligence in recognizing 10x's decade-long investment in innovation."

The jury heard testimony from the sole inventor of the patents, Illumina co-founder Mark Chee, and NanoString CEO Brad Gray and NanoString CSO Joe Beechem. After hearing all of the evidence, the jury confirmed that all seven of 10x's asserted patents had been infringed by NanoString, that each of 10x's seven patents was valid, that NanoString willfully infringed those patents and that monetary damages were owed to 10x for the infringement of all seven patents. For a patent to be willfully infringed, the jury had to find that NanoString acted in reckless disregard of 10x's rights, supported by evidence that NanoString acted maliciously, deliberately or in bad faith.

The asserted patents in Case No. 21-cv-653-MFK include (a) U.S. Patent No. 10,472,669; (b) U.S. Patent No. 10,961,566; (c) U.S. Patent No. 10,983,113; (d) U.S. Patent No. 10,996,219; (e) U.S. Patent No. 11,001,878; (f) U.S. Patent No. 11,008,607 and (g) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,917.

This ruling is the third time that NanoString has been found to infringe 10x patents in the past six months. Earlier this year, the European Unified Patent Court (the "UPC") and the Munich Regional Court each ruled that NanoString is infringing 10x Genomics patents and issued injunctions on NanoString's infringing CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager instruments as well as CosMx reagents for RNA detection.

Related Litigation10x has a separate suit pending against NanoString in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware alleging that NanoString's CosMx Spatial Molecular Imager and associated instruments, reagents and services infringe multiple patents. The patents asserted in the second U.S. suit against NanoString include (a) U.S. Patent No. 10,227,639; (b) U.S. Patent No. 11,021,737; (c) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,051; (d) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,052; (e) U.S. Patent No. 11,293,054 and (f) U.S. Patent No. 11,542,554. Trial is scheduled for September 2024.

About 10x Genomics10x Genomics is a life science technology company building products to accelerate the mastery of biology and advance human health. Our integrated solutions include instruments, consumables and software for single cell and spatial biology, which help academic and translational researchers and biopharmaceutical companies understand biological systems at a resolution and scale that matches the complexity of biology. Our products are behind breakthroughs in oncology, immunology, neuroscience and more, fueling powerful discoveries that are transforming the world's understanding of health and disease. To learn more, visit 10xgenomics.com or connect with us on LinkedIn or X (Twitter).

Forward Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the "safe harbor" created by those sections. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "might," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "intend," "target," "project," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "would," "likely," "seek" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding 10x Genomics, Inc.'s expectations regarding litigation and remedies as well as possible outcomes of litigation. These statements are based on management's current expectations, forecasts, beliefs, assumptions and information currently available to management, and actual outcomes and results could differ materially from these statements due to a number of factors. The material risks and uncertainties that could affect 10x Genomics, Inc.'s financial and operating results and cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements made in this press release include those discussed under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and elsewhere in the documents 10x Genomics, Inc. files with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

Although 10x Genomics, Inc. believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot provide any assurance that these expectations will prove to be correct nor can it guarantee that the future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or occur. These forward-looking statements do not reflect that our success will depend on our ability to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights, intellectual property litigation could be expensive, time-consuming, unsuccessful and could interfere with our ability to develop, manufacture and commercialize our products or technologies, litigation outcomes are unpredictable or there may be changes in our litigation strategy. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to 10x Genomics, Inc. as of the date hereof, and 10x Genomics, Inc. disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements provided to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing 10x Genomics, Inc.'s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.

Disclosure Information10x Genomics uses filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, our website (www.10xgenomics.com), press releases, public conference calls, public webcasts and our social media accounts as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

ContactsInvestors: [emailprotected] Media: [emailprotected]

SOURCE 10x Genomics, Inc

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10x Genomics Wins Another Patent Infringement Case Against ... - PR Newswire

Biology

UGs first batch biology graduate Dr. Paul went on to achieve greater … – Stabroek News

Dear Editor,

It is with great sadness I write of the passing in New York, USA, on November 9, 2023 of my dear friend, Dr. Morris O. Paul, a member of the first batch of students admitted to the University of Guyana (UG) in 1963. Morris and I were among the approximately twenty students admitted to the Biology Department that year. Of that number, only five of us survived the rigours of work and study to graduate and we became close friends. Morris is the first Biology graduate of the UG and the only one in our group to graduate in four years. After a stint as an instructor in the Biology Department and Research Assistant to Professor Harold Drayton, Head of the Biology Department, who was conducting research into equine encephalitis with facilities offered at the Central Medical Laboratory of the Georgetown Public Hospital, in 1969 Morris was admitted to the University of the West Indies in Jamaica to pursue a MSc in Medical Microbiology. Upon completion in 1971 he proceeded to the University of Manchester, UK, where he completed a PhD, majoring in virology.

Dr. Paul is one of the most outstanding graduates of the UGs Biology Department. Over the years he pursued a career in medical research and teaching which took him to Canada, the United Kingdom, Nigeria, the West Indies, and the United States of America. From 1977 to 1985 he was Senior Lecturer in Medical Micro-biology and Parasitology at the University of Ife, Nigeria, and from 1980 to 1985 he served also as Consulting Microbiologist at the Ife University Hospitals Complex. Subsequently, he held teaching and research positions at a number of US institutions, including Research Associate at the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York; Director of the Retro-virology Laboratory, North Shore University Hospital, New York; and Assistant Professor of Microbiology at Cornell University Medical College, New York. Also, from 1992 to 1999 he was visiting Scholar, Regional Virus Laboratory, East Birming-ham, England. Prior to retiring, he was a Microbiologist with the US Food and Drug Administration and Adjunct Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Long Island University, New York.

Dr. Paul published extensively in scientific journals on AIDS, Immunology, and Microbiology, and made presentations at various international conferences. In 2002, he was the keynote speaker at the dinner and dance of the Ontario Chapter of the UG Guild of Graduates where he reconnected in person with many friends of his UG years. He leaves to mourn his caring and loving wife Doreen in whose arms he passed away, son Stephen, three grandchildren, and many relatives and friends. On behalf of myself and my family who he met for the first time in 2002 but who remembers him fondly, I extend our deepest sympathy to Doreen, Stephen, and the grandchildren. To Morris, I say good-bye dear friend, may your soul rest in eternal peace.

Sincerely,

Harry Hergash

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UGs first batch biology graduate Dr. Paul went on to achieve greater ... - Stabroek News

Biology

Schworer Earns the American Lung Association/AAAI Allergic … – UNC Health and UNC School of Medicine

Stephen Schworer, MD, PhD, will use the award to better understand the biology of small airways disease in asthma and provide a foundation for mechanistic studies that will inform new therapeutic targets for the condition.

More than 1.4 million people in North Carolina live with lung disease, and each year, millions of people are impacted by respiratory viruses like COVID-19 and influenza. In an effort to advance todays science to end lung disease tomorrow, the American Lung Association Research Institute has awarded $13.6 million in research grants, funding 129 innovative projects across the United States.

Stephen Schworer, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the UNC School of Medicine, was awarded the American Lung Association/AAAI Allergic Respiratory Diseases Research Award to better understand the biology of small airways disease in asthma and provide a foundation for mechanistic studies that will inform new therapeutic targets for the condition. The award will provide his lab with $75,000 per year for 2 years.

Schworers research will focus on asthma, specifically two features of the disease that could be targets for future treatments: blockages in the lungs airways caused by mucus and changes in the small airways themselves.

By studying the lungs of people who have died from asthma and people with severe asthma, he will investigate the relationship between airways epithelial cells and mucus production, potentially understanding how these genes are turned on and off.

Funding from the Allergic Respiratory Diseases Award is crucial to my work on two understudied and important features of asthma: mucus plugging and small airways disease, said Schworer. This opportunity allows me as an allergist physician-scientist to work with pulmonologists and pathologists to use cutting edge methods to study the molecular features of steroid-refractory severe asthma and fatal asthma.

About the American Lung Association

The American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research. The work of the American Lung Association is focused on four strategic imperatives: to defeat lung cancer; to champion clean air for all; to improve the quality of life for those with lung disease and their families; and to create a tobacco-free future. For more information about the American Lung Association, which has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator and is a Platinum-Level GuideStar Member, or to support the work it does, call 1-800-LUNGUSA (1-800-586-4872) or visit: Lung.org.

Media contact:Kendall Daniels, Communications Specialist, UNC Health | UNC School of Medicine

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Science curriculum that ‘shocked’ teachers on hold ahead of new govt – New Zealand Herald

The implementation of a controversial new science curriculum that caused outrage for its lack of any mention of physics, chemistry or biology has come to a halt - both delighting and frustrating educators.

Consultation on the draft new science curriculum, which caused uproar when an early version was leaked, has been put on hold for a second time, with the Ministry of Education waiting to engage with the new Government before it is sent out.

The National Party waded into the education debate during the election campaign, promising to rewrite the New Zealand school curriculum, meaning the controversial proposal may never see the light of day.

Principals spoken to by the Herald said teachers were frustrated by the lack of certainty but pleased there was an opportunity to make improvements or start over.

A fast draft of the former Governments new science curriculum was sent to a few teachers for feedback in July, ahead of its wider release for consultation scheduled for August, but was leaked by concerned educators.

The draft contained no mention of physics, chemistry or biology and set out that science would be taught through four contexts - the Earth system; biodiversity; food, energy and water; and infectious diseases.

Teachers who had seen the document said they had grave concerns. It was embarrassing, and would lead to appalling declines in student achievement, they said.

One of the curriculum writers, director of the University of Waikatos Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, Cathy Buntting, defended it, saying teachers would be teaching the chemistry and the physics that you need to engage with the big issues of our time.

In August, the Ministry of Education informed the peak bodies that the draft science curriculum would instead go out for consultation in October, saying it wanted to make sure the next draft accounts for the concerns raised so far.

The ministry said it would release the draft arts and technology curriculums at the same time.

This month, the ministry told the Herald the release had again been delayed as staff waited to engage with the incoming government before releasing the updated drafts of the refreshed science, technology and the arts learning areas.

St Cuthberts College principal Justine Mahon said delaying consultation was a positive move because New Zealands education was in dire straits at the moment and the incoming Government needed to make it a priority to lift the standard.

Its actually really urgent, secondary teachers need certainty, she said.

She said it was particularly frustrating for teachers of subjects like science that needed to be taught very systematically.

An awful lot of planning needs to go into this and then you need to have time to ensure that the teachers have the training and support to implement these changes properly, Mahon said.

So its a matter of extreme urgency because you cant have cohorts of young people not being prepared to compete in the STEM world. New Zealand cannot afford to fall behind.

She said it was quite possible the new Government would decide to scrap the current proposal and believed starting over would provide the best outcome for students.

Teachers always put the needs of their students first. Theyre very good at pivoting and preparing but they want to prepare and provide a curriculum thats robust and rigorous and its very difficult for them, as professionals, to be asked or expected to teach anything thats not.

Secondary Principals of New Zealand president Vaughan Couillault, who is also Secondary Principals of New Zealand president, said he believed it would be imprudent to rush ahead with consultation now. He hoped work could continue in earnest once a Government had been formed.

He acknowledged science teachers around the country were frustrated. While getting it sorted was a pressing issue, it was not urgent given it did not have to be implemented until 2027, he said.

There are frustrations but its borne of how the process has gone up until this point in terms of whose voice is loudest. Theres discontent and so I think it is very prudent to just leave it there at the moment - wait for the Government to form, see what the direction the new minister, whoever that may be, wants to take in this regard. And it may not happen before Christmas.

As for the new Government scrapping the refreshed curriculum entirely, Couillault said it would be problematic and a waste of taxpayer money.

He believed the direction of travel would change but the current work could be built on.

A National Party spokesman said they were unable to comment while coalition negotiations were ongoing.

In July, Association of Science Educators president Doug Walker said he was shocked when he saw a copy of the draft new science curriculum.

Certainly, in its current state, I would be extremely concerned with that being our guiding document as educators in Aotearoa. The lack of physics, chemistry, Earth and space science, I was very surprised by that.

New Zealand Institute of Physics education council chairman David Housden said physics teachers were not happy either.

We were shocked. I think that physics and chemistry are fundamental sciences and we would expect to find a broad curriculum with elements of it from space all the way down to tiny particles.

Amy Wiggins is an Auckland-based reporter who covers education. She joined the Herald in 2017 and has worked as a journalist for 12 years.

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Science curriculum that 'shocked' teachers on hold ahead of new govt - New Zealand Herald