Science News Roundup: Biden names geneticist Lander for new Cabinet-level post, elevating role of science; NASA's Boeing moon rocket cuts short 'once-in-a-generation' ground test and more

The research led by the University of Pretoria, published in the Nature Communications journal this week, found that chemical compounds undergoing trials for the treatment of tuberculosis and cancer -- the JmjC inhibitor ML324 and the antitubercular clinical candidate SQ109 -- can kill the disease-causing parasite at a stage when it normally infects others.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 17-01-2021 18:34 IST | Created: 17-01-2021 18:29 IST
Science News Roundup: Biden names geneticist Lander for new Cabinet-level post, elevating role of science; NASA's Boeing moon rocket cuts short 'once-in-a-generation' ground test and more
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Biden names geneticist Lander for new Cabinet-level post, elevating role of science

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden named pioneering geneticist Eric Lander as the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy on Friday, elevating the post to Cabinet-level status for first time. Lander, a Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who helped lead the Human Genome Project, will also serve in the role of presidential science adviser, Biden's team said.

NASA's Boeing moon rocket cuts short 'once-in-a-generation' ground test

NASA's deep space exploration rocket built by Boeing briefly ignited all four engines of its behemoth core stage for the first time on Saturday, cutting short a crucial test to advance a years-delayed U.S. government program to return humans to the moon in the next few years. Mounted in a test facility at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, the Space Launch System’s (SLS) 212-foot tall core stage roared to life at 4:27 p.m. local time (2227 GMT) for just over a minute — well short of the roughly four minutes engineers needed to stay on track for the rocket's first launch in November this year.

Progress reported on one-dose J&J vaccine; COVID-19 reinfections seen as rare

The following is a roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Johnson & Johnson vaccine advancing through clinical trials South African scientists discover new chemicals that kill malaria parasite

South African scientists have discovered chemical compounds that could potentially be used for a new line of drugs to treat malaria and even kill the parasite in its infectious stage, which most available drugs do not. The research led by the University of Pretoria, published in the Nature Communications journal this week, found that chemical compounds undergoing trials for the treatment of tuberculosis and cancer -- the JmjC inhibitor ML324 and the antitubercular clinical candidate SQ109 -- can kill the disease-causing parasite at a stage when it normally infects others.

(With inputs from agencies.)

Give Feedback