Hansjörg Wyss gives $125M to create institute - Harvard News ...

By David CameronHMS CommunicationsResearchers at Harvard Medical School and theUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison, have discoveredhow beetles and bacteria form a symbiotic and mutualisticrelationship — one that ultimately results inthe destruction of pine forests. In addition,they’ve identified the specificmolecule that drives this whole phenomenon.The findings, published in the Oct. 3 issue of Science,indicate that the tiny creatures — responsiblefor rampant and widespread forest destruction —carry on their backs battling species of fungi, plus apowerful antibiotic molecule that can destroy pathogenicfungi — something that no current medicationshave achieved.Pathogenic fungal infections are a significant clinicalchallenge. These findings suggest a potential newsource of pharmaceuticals for that purpose. In addition,this study shows how the symbiotic relationshipsbetween plants, animals, and microbes are essentialfor the diversification of life and evolution oforganisms.The context of this discovery can easily be imaginedas a story arc that includes some of the most unlikelycharacters and props.Setting: The interior of a pine tree.Enter the protagonist: The pine beetle, boring itsway through the bark, a 5 millimeter arthropod readyto go into labor and lay a few hundred eggs. Tucked ina specialized storage compartment in its shell, theOctober 9-15, 2008 Harvard University Gazette/ 5The pine beetle’s tale: Destructive insect has pharmaceutical potentialsciencebeetle has a ready supply of spores for Entomocorticium,a nourishing fungal babyfood for the beetle’s gestating larvae.Enter the antagonist: The mite, a microscopicinterloper that secretly hitcheda ride on the beetle.Conflict: Unbeknownst to mother pinebeetle, the mite has snuck in a supply ofOphiostoma minus, a pathogenic fungi thatcan wipe out the entire supply of fungal larvaefood. The mite releases this toxin.Climax: Will the baby beetles die of starvation?Resolution: Catching the mite off guard — as wellas the scientists conducting the study! — the motherbeetle is ready with actinomycetes, a bacteria that(See Beetle, next page)By Todd DatzHSPH CommunicationsImage courtesy of Clardy LabThe tree-destroyingpine beetle in flight.Smoking, burningsolid fuels inhomes in Chinaprojected to causemillions of deathsGiving faculty a leg up the ladderHarvard University is launching a newinitiative for ladder faculty designed to helpprofessors meet their family caregivingneeds while succeeding throughout theiracademic careers.Assistant and associate professors mustachieve milestones within a limited timeframe, one that can overlap significantlywith childbearing years. And once they’reawarded tenure, the demands on full professors’time only increase. Balancing thiswith the extremely high cost of quality childcare in the Boston area can lead to hardchoices, including whether to stay on an academicpath, to leave the region in search ofPhoto courtesy of Work/Life Resources @ HarvardA new program, nicknamed Ladder ACCESS, will provide significant financial assistanceto income-eligible ladder faculty with very young children.New initiative designed to help professors meet family needs without sacrificing advancementa less expensive environment, or to delay orforego childbearing.“Harvard’s mission of learning, teaching,and research relies on our ability to attractthe best scholars to our campus,” said PresidentDrew Faust. “Investing in this initiativemeans keeping the academy open toparents, which is one of many routes to increaseddiversity in academia.”The program, nicknamed Ladder AC-CESS (Access to Child Care Excellence, Services,and Support), will make significant financialassistance to income-eligible ladderfaculty with very young children. “We knowthat young scholars weigh quality-of-life issuesalong with professional opportunitywhen considering an appointment,” said JudithD. Singer, senior vice provost for FacultyDevelopment and Diversity and JamesBryant Conant Professor of Education.“Among faculty, those who are parents canbe disproportionately burdened by the costof child care in this region. We need to makesure this is not a deciding factor when facultyare offered appointments at Harvard oran impediment to a faculty member’s successin meeting the demands inherent in achallenging academic career.”(See Ladder, next page)If current levels of smoking and ofburning biomass and coal fuel in homescontinues in China, researchers estimatethat between 2003 and 2033, 65 milliondeaths will be attributed to chronic obstructivepulmonarydisease (COPD) and18 million deaths to lung cancer, accountingfor 19 percent and 5 percent ofall deaths in that country during this period,respectively.Researchers at the Harvard School ofhealthPublic Health (HSPH) predictthat the combined effectsof these two major factors alone willbe responsible for more than 80 percentof COPD deaths and 75 percent of lungcancer deaths in China over a 30-year period.But interventions to reduce smokingand household use of biomass fuelsand coal for cooking and heating couldsignificantly reduce the number ofdeaths.The findings are from a study that willappear in the Oct. 25 print issue of theBritish medical journal The Lancet. It isthe first quantitative analysis to look atthe combined effects of smoking andhousehold fuel use on COPD, lung cancer,and tuberculosis (TB).Respiratory diseases are among the 10leading causes of deaths in China. Abouthalf of Chinese men smoke, and in morethan 70 percent of homes in China residentscook and heat with wood, coal, andcrop residues. Smoking and pollutionfrom indoor burning of these fuels aremajor risk factors for COPD and lungcancer and have been linked with tuberculosis.Globally, more than 900 millionof the world’s 1.1 billion smokers currentlylive in low- and middle-incomecountries, and about one-half of theworld’s population uses biomass fuelsand coal for household energy.Drawing from data on smoking, fueluse, and current as well as projected levelsof COPD, lung cancer, and TB, the authorsset out to estimate the effects ofmodifying smoking and fuel use on futureCOPD and lung cancer deaths and TB incidence.They grouped the results intoscenarios based on whether interven-(See Smoke, next page)