Biophysical Society Bulletin | July/August 2019

Public Affairs and Outreach

Brazilian Academics Protest Against Budget Cuts Protestors in Brazil took to the streets in mid-May. The protestors—made up of students and faculty—sought to call attention to the government contingency cuts believed to be 1.69 billion reais ($412 million US) and the impact they will have on the future of Brazilian science and higher education. One of the first consequences of the cuts was the suspension of more than 3,500 new research scholarships for under- graduate and graduate student stipends. One researcher, having recently completed his PhD in the United Kingdom and returned to Brazil to begin his career, has seen his fellowship vanish overnight. Given the uncertainty involved, he must now consider whether to remain in Brazil or look for more stable opportunities abroad. European-Based cOAlition S Announces Plan S Principles and Implementation Guide On May 31, cOAlition S, an initiative aimed at making research publications fully and immediately open access, released their Plan S Principles and Guidance on the Implementation of Plan S. This plan impacts publication of research funded by participating organizations including Wellcome, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and several national funders in Europe with support from the European Commission and the European Research Council. The overarching principle states that “all scholarly (peer reviewed) publications on the results from research funded by public or private grants provided by national, regional, and international research councils and funding bodies, must be published in open access journals, on open access platforms, or made immediately available through open access reposito- ries without embargo.” Compliance with Plan S principles will apply to research from grants awarded from January 2021 forward. Guidance on the implementation is available at https:/www.coalition-s.org/ principles-and-implementation/

and practitioners of federal science, intelligence, and national security agencies; law enforcement and key stakeholders in scientific enterprise including institutions of higher education; federal research labs; industry; and non-profit organizations. The roundtable will be tasked with exploring and identify- ing effective approaches to mitigating foreign threats, while maintaining an open exchange of ideas and international talent required for scientific progress. While participating in the Senate finance hearing on foreign threats to research, US Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) announced that he would be introducing the Secure Our Research Act, to increase congressional oversight of federal research spending. Citing concerns of foreign influence, the legislation would establish a federal working group that would develop a framework to enhance cyber security protocols and protect federally funded research from foreign interference, espio- nage, and exfiltration. On June 7, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a directive prohibiting employees and most contractor personnel from certain participating talent recruitment programs operated by rival nations. The policy does not directly name which countries’ programs are prohibited, but officials from DOE have stated the policy applies to China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. The Biophysical Society will continue to monitor this issue and the impact it might have on US and international members. Around TheWorld Fertility Clinics Seek Help with Gene-Editing Embryos Following the announcement that geneticist He Jiankui gene-edited two babies using CRISPR and the subsequent condemnation of his peers in the scientific community, re- ports are emerging that fertility clinics from around the world have been reaching out to He for help in gene-editing babies. He has gene-edited a third embryo that is believed to be in its seventh month of gestation. In response to the outcry from the scientific community, and concerns raised by one of the co-inventors of the CRISPR gene-editing tool as to its readiness for clinical use in human embryos, the World Health Organization has formed an advi- sory committee to develop global standards for governance and oversight of human genome editing. In addition, the US National Academy of Medicine, the US National Academy of Sciences, and the Royal Society of the UK, along with other academic institutions, have started putting together an inter- national commission to address genome editing.

Connect with BPS

July/August 2019

7

T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E B I O P H Y S I C A L S O C I E T Y