‘Raygun’ AI can shrink or supersize proteins

Hello Nature readers,
Today, we meet a dark horse in the race to build a useful quantum computer, discover a protein ‘shrink ray’ and consider the need to build public trust in efforts to contain the Ebola outbreak.

If you enjoy this newsletter, please consider recommending it to a friend or colleague. Click here to forward it by e-mail. Thank you!

Spin qubits catch up in quantum race

Four independent research teams have reported big advances in the design of quantum devices that rely on ‘spin qubits’ to encode information. Spin qubits are made by carving precise patterns into semiconductor wafers, forming wells that can hold a single electron. In the race to create a useful quantum computer, this design had previously not been considered a front-runner, because systems that used spin qubits were small and had high error rates. The new systems range from 5 to 18 qubits, and one has slashed the error rate to less than 0.01%.

Honey, I shrunk the proteins

An artificial-intelligence tool dubbed ‘Raygun’ can miniaturize or supersize a natural protein without disrupting the protein’s shape or ability to function. Raygun can modify existing proteins, using some of the same steps as natural evolution: adding or deleting single protein subunits or substituting one protein subunit for another. Raygun can make “exactly what researchers want — not a completely new protein, but a better, smaller, larger or more adaptable version of one they already trust,” says computational biologist Fajie Yuan.

Drugs show promise to prevent long COVID

The results of rigorous clinical trials suggest that two drugs can prevent an infection with COVID-19 from developing into long COVID, a chronic condition characterized by fatigue and cognitive impairment. The first trial reported that paxlovid, an antiviral COVID-19 treatment, reduced the risk of long COVID developing after three months by 40%. Another reports that the diabetes drug metformin reduces the risk of long COVID at six months after infection by around half. The trial results have divided physicians — some think the results are promising enough to start prescribing the drugs for this purpose; others disagree.

We can’t stop Ebola without trust

Without an available vaccine or treatments for the Bundibugyo species of Ebola spreading in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), controlling the outbreak relies on identifying and isolating cases. These measures can’t succeed without public trust, but efforts to build it aren’t considered a core public health intervention, argue a group of public-health researchers. The DRC, and other countries affected by Ebola, must plan and finance social and behavioural change programs “as a core pillar of outbreak preparedness and response, not as a communications add-on”, the group writes.

The dangerous return of the leopard

Since the 1990s, communities across Nepal have successfully led efforts to restore large areas of forest land in the country — and with it, habitats for predators such as leopards (Panthera pardus). The reintroduction of these carnivores is a conservation success, but their proximity to villages has led to attacks on people and livestock. Protections such as spiked collars for farm animals and strong fences could lessen the frequency of such encounters, researchers suggest. But programs that provide financial compensation are key to diffuse tension between residents and their new neighbours, they say.

Using stats to fight human-rights violations

Social-justice campaigner Mary Gray uses her background as a statistician to fight human-rights abuses. Her pursuit of law in the 1970s, after obtaining a PhD in mathematics, was fuelled by the inequitable retirement benefits for men and women. Since then, she’s worked to combat workplace discrimination in the United States, and led projects to combat human-rights violations in the wake of the genocide in Rwanda. “If you think something is important, stick with it yourself, work hard and try to enlist others,” she says.