Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna have been awarded the 2020 Nobel prize in chemistry for the discovery of the Crispr genetic scissors used to edit the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision.The genome editing method has revolutionised the field of genetic engineering, with its impact felt across biomedical research, clinical medicine, agriculture and wider society.The researchers will share the 10m Swedish kronor (£870,000) prize announced on Wednesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm – the first time that two women have shared the prize

The prime minister seems to be bored by pandemic politics and craving less gloomy times. He needs to focus on today’s crisis, not fantasy futuresGovernments have a wide range of measures and different degrees of compulsion at their disposal when dealing with a pandemic, from full lockdown to targeted interventions, from urging compliance to enforcing it by law. Boris Johnson has tried it all with no underlying strategic concept. The result is a shambles: mixed messages, unclear guidance and failure to limit the spread of the virus.Infections are rising in nearly every area subject to tighter controls, and the criteria for the application of those restrictions is opaque. There are no special measures in London, but prevalence in the borough of Hillingdon (in the prime minister’s constituency) is 67 cases per 100,000, more than double the rate in places that face stricter restrictions. The infection rate has gone up in 19 of 20 areas subject to localised controls for the past two months. The plan, if there is such a thing, is not working. Challenged on that point by Sir Keir Starmer in parliament on Wednesday, Mr Johnson offered no defence, only vacuity. “The problem is, alas, that the disease continues to spread,” he said. Continue reading...

Rising emissions of nitrous oxide from farming are putting world on track to exceed 2C heatingThe spread of intensive farming is threatening to jeopardise the world’s chances of meeting the terms of the Paris agreement on the climate crisis, as the increasing use of artificial fertiliser and growing populations of livestock are raising the concentration of a key greenhouse gas to levels far beyond those seen naturally.Nitrous oxide is given off by the overuse of artificial fertilisers, and by organic sources such as animal manure, and has a heating effect 300 times that of carbon dioxide. Levels of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere are 20% higher than in pre-industrial times, with most of that increase coming from farming. Continue reading...

Projects from freewheeling lullabies to food growing are fostering a sense of togetherness during the pandemic

Public Health England’s study likely to accelerate calls for further measures such as sugar taxThe food industry has cut out only 3% of sugar from its supermarket, cafe and restaurant products over the last three years, according to a damning report from Public Health England that will accelerate calls for taxes or other compulsory measures to be introduced.PHE launched its flagship sugar reduction programme in 2016 with a mission to help bring down childhood obesity by introducing a voluntary target for the food industry to remove 20% of sugar by 2020. But the third year of data – gathered before the coronavirus outbreak Covid – suggests it is unattainable without a “big stick” such as taxation. Continue reading...

Dr Rick Bright says administration ‘ignores scientific expertise and overrules public health guidance’

Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A Doudna share prize for genome editing methodTwo scientists have been awarded the 2020 Nobel prize in chemistry for developing the genetic scissors used in gene editing – the first time two women have shared the prize.Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A Doudna will share the 10m Swedish kronor (£870,000) prize announced on Wednesday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm. Continue reading...

More than 170 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Here is their progressResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 170 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...

Fever, runny nose, headache? Lost your sense of taste or smell? Your guide to differentiating between the three illnesses

Cross-party group warns many businesses are falling through the cracks due to being with ‘wrong bank’

Behavioural experts in London find socio-economic factors to be the keys to helpfulnessConventional wisdom is that people living in big cities are less likely than smaller towns to help strangers in need, but new research suggests the likelihood of securing assistance is associated with socio-economic factors, and has little to do with the anonymity and the fast pace of urban living.Researchers at University College London (UCL) measured whether people posted a lost letter, returned a dropped item, and stopped cars to let someone cross the road in 37 different neighbourhoods in 12 cities and 12 towns across the UK. Continue reading...

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It is thought the celestial body was created in a cosmic crash 4.5bn years agoCorrected version:It could so easily have turned out differently. About 4.5bn years ago the Earth is believed to have collided with another planet, Theia, resulting in the formation of the moon. A more glancing blow might have resulted in a “hit and run” and a moon-less Earth; while a head-on collision may have blasted away much of Earth’s mantle, leaving no atmosphere. Instead it seems to have been something in between, which eroded between 10 and 60% of Earth’s atmosphere, but also left us with the moon. Continue reading...

Scientists question purchase of tests from British consortium before evaluation made public

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsWhy are the majority of people right-handed rather than there being equal numbers of left and right? What is the factor causing the difference and what about other primates – or are we the only species to exhibit this imbalance?Peter Hanson, Whitestone, Exeter Continue reading...

Pressure mounts on manufacturer to allow other companies to supply remdesivir

The pandemic has exposed the weakness in the UK’s austerity-hit social safety net – something many claimants have only just discovered

Young people no longer understand traditional gestures, from miming a phone call to requesting the bill. Are we losing part of our cultural heritage?Name: Hand gestures.Age: Older than language. Continue reading...

Roger Penrose says win, shared with Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez, ‘is in some ways a distraction’Three scientists have won the 2020 Nobel prize in physics for their work on black hole formation and the discovery of a supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy.Sir Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez together scooped the 114th Nobel prize in physics. Continue reading...

Though far from common, some patients developed worse symptoms the second time they became infected with Covid-19

Authorities urged to develop policies to tackle ‘virus fatigue’ as Finland, Poland and Russia join nations with rapidly rising cases

Exclusive: research finds insertion of breathing tube produces barely any aerosols

Ministers reject health chiefs’ recommendation to impose highest level of restrictions

The president has returned home but only after receiving treatments normally reserved for serious cases

Nobel winner Sir Paul Nurse says his Francis Crick Institute alone could process 60,000 tests a week

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Study of brain activity shows no difference when dogs see back or front of a headDog owners might love their pet’s endearing puppy dog eyes and cute furry features, but it turns out the doggy brain is just as excited by the back of our heads as the front.For despite having evolved facial expressions that tug on the heartstrings of owners, researchers have found that unlike humans, dogs do not have brain regions that respond specifically to faces. Continue reading...

Harvey Alter, Michael Houghton, Charles Rice share 10m Swedish kronor prizeTwo Americans and a British scientist have won the 2020 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their groundbreaking work on blood-borne hepatitis, a health problem that causes cirrhosis and liver cancer around the world.Harvey J Alter at the US National Institutes of Health in Maryland, Charles M Rice from Rockefeller University in New York, and Michael Houghton, a British virologist at the University of Alberta in Canada, were honoured for their joint discovery of the hepatitis C virus, a major cause of liver disease. Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese says the nation could have been better prepared for Covid-19 if it had a national body to monitor infectious diseases

The grand ‘reveal’ of today’s magic tricksEarlier today I showed you four optical illusions, and asked you to explain how the effect was achieved. None of the images were digitally altered.1. The Soup Tin Continue reading...

Though the country is a huge polluter, it leads the world in the clean technologies that could make this feasibleWhen I first moved to China in 1990, winter meant coal. The moment Beijing turned on the municipal heating system, our faces would become covered with soot. People stockpiled loose coal in huge piles outside their homes for heating and cooking. I could see the smokestacks of four large coal power plants and the country’s largest steel mill in the distance. China’s addiction to this most carbon-intensive of fossil fuels made the prospect of a country dedicated to fighting climate change seem fanciful.Now, in perhaps the most important news of 2020 that you may have missed, China has stepped up on its own as a climate leader. On 22 September, President Xi Jinping announced in a video address to the UN general assembly that China would aim to become “carbon neutral” before 2060 – Beijing’s first long-term target. In so doing it joins the European Union, the UK and dozens of other countries in adopting mid-century climate targets, as called for by the Paris agreement. Continue reading...

Musician posed with fans at a Los Angeles bookshop wearing a glittery mesh mask that did not fully cover her nose and mouthFans of Lana Del Rey have criticised her for wearing a glittery mesh mask that did not appear to fully cover her nose and mouth at a surprise poetry reading and book signing event.The musician read from her new collection, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass, and posed with fans at a Barnes and Noble store in Los Angeles at the weekend, wearing a net facial covering that did not seem to assist in preventing the spread of the coronavirus. Continue reading...

Covid restrictions make regular physical activity even harder to achieve – but evolutionary psychology can provide help

Fever, runny nose, headache? Lost your sense of taste or smell? Your guide to differentiating between the three illnesses

Cédric O comments follow revelation PM and other ministers had not downloaded app

More than 170 teams of researchers are racing to develop a safe and effective vaccine. Here is their progressResearchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine against Covid-19, with more than 170 candidate vaccines now tracked by the World Health Organization (WHO). Continue reading...

Prof Peter Doherty says monoclonal antibodies are ‘really powerful’ and could be manufactured in large quantities in Australia

A magician asks you to explain his tricksToday’s puzzles are four optical illusions devised by the magician Matt Pritchard. He calls them ‘perspec-tricks’. Each image is a photograph that seems to show something impossible. The puzzle is to work out exactly how Matt created the illusion.The magic he used is old school: none of the photographs has been digitally modified. What you see is exactly what the camera saw. All the illusions involve mirrors in some way. Continue reading...

Man buried with spears and a sword and scabbard at site overlooking River Thames

Increasing number of scientists believe risk from contaminated surfaces may have been overplayed

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With no bright stars in the same part of the sky, the red planet will be unmistakeableMars will be closer to Earth this week than at any other time for the next 15 years. The fourth planet from the sun, it is currently sitting just north of the celestial equator. That means it is almost perfectly placed to be seen from both hemispheres, and it is shining with brilliant intensity in the evening sky. The chart shows its position on 5 October, looking east-south-east from London at 22:00 BST. Continue reading...

Dexamethasone ‘normally reserved for people going into respiratory failure’, says expert

Pandemic stress can be relieved by cultivating greenery, which makes people happier and more relaxedThe essayist Jia Tolentino wrote last year about people being in the grip of “houseplant fever”; ads for houseplants called “Ken” or “Pippa” pop up on the internet; a Zoom call isn’t complete without a plant somewhere in evidence; and social media abounds with tips and pictures. It should surprise no one that greenery offers an antidote to pandemic anxiety.Caring for a living object and creating a tranquil indoor sanctuary can be soothing activities in an uncertain and stressful time. The Royal Horticultural Society reported a 23% rise in plant sales in July compared to 2019. Rare plants are sold on eBay and traded on Facebook. Many come from overseas and might look green in a living room but leave a large ecological footprint. Before the pandemic, in the US, getting paid to style houseplants was becoming a career. We are nowhere near the levels of mania that led to tulip bulb prices soaring and then collapsing in the 17th century. Still, today’s rarity-chasers will pay £4,000 for a four-leaf variegated minima – and such high prices pose a temptation to others: a variegated monstera, a cutting of which might fetch £1,500, was stolen last month in New Zealand. Continue reading...

Experts say the policy prompts people happy to vaccinate their children but doesn’t work on those who oppose vaccination scienceAustralia’s “no jab, no pay” policy has been associated with a drop in the number of children catching up on their first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, suggesting the policy has had little impact on those who reject vaccination science.However, the policy was associated with more children catching up on their second dose of the vaccine and on their diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis vaccine, especially in lower socioeconomic status areas, the study published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday found. Continue reading...

Can how much you love someone be judged by how comfortable you are in their kitchen?I am always falling in love in kitchens.Or rather, I suppose it’s not so much that I’m falling in love in kitchens but that I’m always realising I’m in love in kitchens; that the kind of love I love to fall into is the kind of love that’s most at home in the kitchen; a domestic kind of love; an intimate, easy, buttery kind of love. Continue reading...

Variety has only ever been found in Caribbean more than 4,000 miles across AtlanticEurope’s rarest fern has been discovered in Killarney, Ireland, leaving botanists baffled over how it remained undetected for so long.The neotropical fern, Stenogrammitis myosuroides, has only ever previously been found in the mountainous cloud forests of Jamaica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic – more than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic. Continue reading...

Cardiologists are finding that problems aren’t related to age or severity of infection

Research into antibodies could explain children’s protection against disease, or why virus causes life-threatening effects

This coronavirus blog has closed. Head to our latest blog for all the developments3.01am BSTThere’s a lot of news around today, so we will shortly be consolidating our live blogs. For continuing global coverage of the pandemic as well as the latest on President Donald Trump, please head here:Related: Trump says 'I feel much better now' in video posted from hospital – live2.46am BSTAAP: after New South Wales recorded its ninth consecutive day with no community transmission cases, state premier Gladys Berejiklian said today the state’s public sector workers would be urged to return to offices over coming weeks in a move considered to be a significant step in the virus recovery.“The health and safety of the people of NSW has always been our number one priority, however we are also focused on firing up the economy,” she said.