Organoids grown from amniotic fluid

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Hello Nature readers, Today we learn why some rare pandas are brown, hear that organoids have been grown from amniotic fluid and discover what fasting does to the body on a molecular level.

Qizai is a celebrity panda — the only brown-and-white panda in captivity — who lives at Louguantai Wild Animal Breeding and Protection Center in Xi'An after he was abandoned in the wild. (Katherine Feng/Minden Pictures via Alamy)

Genetics solves mystery of brown panda Only seven brown-and-white pandas have ever been documented — all from Qinling, a mountain range in the Chinese province of Shaanxi. Their unusual colour appears to stem from a short missing sequence of DNA in Bace2, a pigmentation-related gene. "The breakthrough of this paper is the finding that the missing of a gene or genetic segment could also lead to the change of colour," says evolutionary geneticist Shi Peng. "From a genetics perspective, this is a brand-new discovery." Nature | 4 min read Reference: PNAS paper

Organoids grown from amniotic fluid For the first time, researchers have grown organoids — 3D bundles of cells that mimic tissue — directly from cells taken from ongoing pregnancies. The cells were extracted from amniotic fluid around growing fetuses between the 16th and 34th weeks of gestation during standard procedures independent of the study. The team grew organoids from three organs — the small intestines, kidneys and lungs — and also modelled congenital diaphragmatic hernia, a disorder where the diaphragm fails to develop correctly, using cells from samples affected by the disorder. Unlike organoids made from pluripotent stem cells, the amniotic fluid cells already have an organ identity. "There is no reprogramming, no manipulation," says stem-cell biologist and study co-author Mattia Gerli, "we're just allowing the cells to express their potential." Nature | 4 min read Reference: Nature Medicine paper

How a 7-day fast affects the body Twelve volunteers consumed nothing but water for a week to reveal, for the first time, what fasting does to the body on a molecular level. Researchers found that the body undergoes significant, systematic changes across multiple organs — but any potentially health-altering changes appear to occur only after three days without food. For example, fasting slashed levels of a protein called SWAP70, which is linked to rheumatoid arthritis — hinting at one reason why fasting can help with the painful condition. The results could help understand why the age-old practice has benefits — and whether these can be harnessed for people who can't fast for health reasons. IFL Science | 6 min read Read an expert analysis of the research by epidemiologist Benjamin Horne in the Nature Metabolism News & Views article (6 min read) Reference: Nature Metabolism paper

Oldest known animal sex chromosome Researchers have found the oldest known sex chromosome in animals — the octopus Z chromosome. It first evolved in an ancient ancestor of octopuses between 455 and 248 million years ago. "Sex determination in cephalopods, such as squids and octopi, was a mystery — we found the first evidence that genes are in any way involved," says evolutionary geneticist and co-author Andrew Kern. Nature | 4 min read Reference: bioRxiv preprint

The California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) has one or two copies of chromosome 17, depending on its sex. (Norbert Wu/Minden Pictures via Alamy)

Features & opinion

Climate in the year of elections Voters in five of the world's biggest carbon-emitting territories are going to the polls this year — the United States, India, Indonesia, Russia and the European Union. The results could determine whether humanity can correct its trajectory of dangerous global warming. Nature explores how the policies and personalities in these regions could play out. Nature | 13 min read

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'I sent back my grant to save the planet' His growing concern about the climate crisis caused Adam Aron to turn away from his neuroscience research — including returning his NIH grant. "Crashing my neuroscience career and then sending the money back was not something anybody wanted me to do or encouraged me to do," he says. "But because I had the privilege of tenure, I was able to make the shift … I've changed just about everything I'm doing, including the research. My laboratory is now called the Climate Psychology and Action Lab." Nature | 7 min read

Make better digital tools for chronic pain There are plenty of examples showing that data-driven alternatives to addictive drugs can help to fight chronic pain, notes sociologist Benjamin Lipp. But there are caveats: inequalities — such as lack of Internet access — mean that digital health technologies could make health disparities worse. And some digital approaches can oversimplify a complex situation. "The competitive mentality of Silicon Valley does not mesh with the continuity of care and inter-professional communication and organization that are needed to manage this condition," argues Lipp. Nature | 5 min read

Infographic

An advanced light source for research would boost growth in the Greater Caribbean region, argue four members of the LAMISTAD (Latin American International Synchrotron for Technology, Analysis and Development) project, which aims to construct one. "Large scientific facilities do more than just deliver breakthroughs — they build capacity," write Victor Castaño, Pedro Fernández de Córdoba, Juan Sans and Galileo Violini. (Nature | 9 min read) (Source: https://lightsources.org)

Quote of the day "Someone who has biomarker evidence of amyloid in the brain has [Alzheimer's] disease, whether they're symptomatic or not." Neuroscientist Clifford Jack Jr is the chair of an Alzheimer's Association working group that has proposed new criteria for diagnosing the disease on the basis of the amyloid 'plaques' that are hallmarks of the disease. Some call the idea premature: a 2015 study estimated that 10% of cognitively normal 50-year-olds would test positive for that biomarker, and most will never develop dementia. (The New York Times | 6 min read)

Today I'm imagining tipping over a styrofoam refrigerator to explore why it's so difficult to land a spacecraft upright on the Moon — in the lower gravity, things fall over with even a scrap of sideways momentum. National space agencies and companies alike are attempting this difficult goal. India landed on the Moon for the first time last year, and Japan earlier this year; a private company landed there for the first time last month. Nature is reporting on the missions, and we'd like to hear what questions you have about the Moon and this new era of exploration. Please tell us using this handy form. Thanks for reading, Flora Graham, senior editor, Nature Briefing

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