The Selfish Gene, 50 years on: what biologists think of its big idea now

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Today we explore how the subject of a new film haunts science, discover a bacterium that makes its own MOFs and look back at 50 years of The Selfish Gene.

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What did biotech learn from Theranos?

Elizabeth Holmes and her failed blood-testing start-up, Theranos — subject of the new documentary You Can See Everything — left “a crater in the whole field of monitoring and diagnostics”, says bioengineer Paul Yager. But the field hasn’t given up on the promise of blood tests that are faster, more convenient and more accessible than current methods.

‘Hell chicken’ dino kept a strict diet

The newly described Infernogallus jamesi — or ‘hell chicken’ — is among the first non-bird dinosaurs thought to have exclusively eaten fruit. The species, about the size of a modern turkey, lived around 120 million years ago. Analysis of bones in an I. jamesi fossil revealed that it probably had a weak bite, strong lower-jaw muscles associated with gnashing and ridges across its beak — adaptations that closely resemble those of modern fruit-eating parrots. Researchers hypothesize that the dinosaur ate the ancient equivalent of fruits such as cherries and peaches.

‘Cable bacteria’ make their own MOFs

For the first time, researchers have discovered living creatures that make their own MOFs — metal-organic frameworks — with exceptional conductivity. Chemists Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year for their work on synthetic MOFs. Candidatus Electrothrix gigas is relatively huge — up to 8 µm long — and appears to produce centimetre-long filaments of a nickel-based MOF that help it to access energy and electron sources in the sediment of the seafloor.

Features & opinion

50 years on, go beyond The Selfish Gene

The idea set out in Richard Dawkins’s 1976 book The Selfish Gene — that bodies are just genes’ way of making more of themselves — “seemed pretty harmless”, writes historian of science Nathaniel Comfort. Today, “the determinism baked into the ‘gene’s-eye view’ in the book troubles me, as does the passivity of the organism in Dawkins’s telling”. Comfort dives into modern efforts to synthesize ecology, evolution, genetics and developmental biology to create “a less gene-centred view” that “is more accurate — and infinitely more satisfying”.

Should I disclose my disability?

A new PhD student whose disability requires rest has found themselves in a lab where long hours are rampant, colleagues are burnt out and time off is a no-go. They ask: ‘should I risk disability stigma by disclosing to my principal investigator?’ Four researchers weigh in on how to proceed. “Regardless of what you decide about your PI, informal goodwill evaporates under pressure, while documented accommodations do not,” says management researcher Deepti Sharma.

Video: how to keep coral reefs afloat

As the El Niño weather event turns up the heat in oceans already warmed by climate change, scientists are turning to a suite of unorthodox methods to save temperature-sensitive corals. Underwater speakers that play the sounds of a healthy coral reef can encourage free-roaming larvae to settle in areas where adult corals are struggling, and a low-tech ‘one-star hotel’ helps to raise resilient youngsters.

Quote of the day

Fields Medal-winning mathematician Terence Tao reflects on the hundreds of “terrible proofs” released by OpenAI earlier this month. (The Observer | 7 min read)

Read more: OpenAI posts 700 maths preprints online: mathematicians are up in arms (Nature | 6 min read)

On Friday, Leif Penguinson was exploring the dramatic rock formations in Hongshilin (红石林), the Red Stone Forest National Geopark in Hunan Province, China. Did you find the penguin? When you’re ready, here’s the answer.

Thanks for reading,
Flora Graham, chief editor, Nature Briefing
With contributions by Jacob Smith

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