In May 2019, Nature magazine invited readers between the ages of 18 and 25 to participate in a youth scientist paper competition. The theme was to tell us, in no more than 1000 words, what scientific advancements they would most like to see in their lifetime and why it is important to them. Here are the three winning articles.
Beethoven's Dream#
Beethoven’s dream by Yasmin Ali
The composer hoped to cure his hearing loss. Soon, research might make this a reality for my brother and millions of others.
In June 1802, under the sun's rays, 31-year-old Beethoven wandered around the countryside near Vienna. The sunlight filtered through the trees, and the hard ground creaked beneath his feet as birds played in their own orchestra. But Beethoven was not amazed by these details; he was plagued by thoughts of suicide. A few years earlier, he had started losing his hearing, and although it wasn't severe yet, he was deeply troubled by his condition. He wrote that living in a world without hearing made his life "miserable" and plunged him into despair. He still persisted with his work and created timeless music. But he found little joy in the process.
I witnessed a similar struggle firsthand when my younger brother, Islam, began losing his hearing at the age of 18. I also noticed a change in his personality. He used to be an outgoing troublemaker, but now he became silent and introverted. Since his hearing loss wasn't obvious, I didn't know what he was going through, which made it difficult for me to support him.
According to the World Health Organization, there are 466 million people worldwide with severe hearing loss, and it is estimated that by 2050, over 900 million people will have this condition. Compared to other disabilities, hearing loss is often underestimated, but people with hearing impairments constantly face communication difficulties in their daily lives. They often mishear what others say and struggle to keep up with conversations. These misunderstandings can lead to individuals feeling isolated and ultimately disconnected from society. As Helen Keller once wrote, "Blindness separates us from things, but deafness separates us from people."
To this day, there is still no cure for sensorineural hearing loss (the most common type, which Beethoven had). We have advanced technological devices like hearing aids and cochlear implants that amplify sound, but they still cannot restore hearing. In my and my brother's lifetime, I hope to see research that can achieve this.
Sensorineural hearing loss is caused by damage to the hair cells in the cochlea, the organ of hearing. In humans and other mammals, the damage to hair cells is irreversible. However, other animals such as birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles can spontaneously regenerate cochlear hair cells, meaning any hearing loss they experience is temporary.
Scientists have been studying the process of hair cell regeneration in non-mammalian animals and have identified various genes and proteins that play a crucial role. It is possible to stimulate supporting cells in the cochlea using these genes and proteins to generate more hair cells to replace the ones that have died.
Some of these cell therapies have successfully restored hearing in mice and guinea pigs: a breakthrough! These advancements have paved the way for the development of more therapies, one of which is currently undergoing its first human trials. The international collaborative project called the REGAIN clinical trial, led by researchers from University College London, is testing a molecule called a γ-secretase inhibitor that has the potential to restore hearing by prompting supporting cells to transform into new hair cells.
If it proves successful, such scientific progress could completely change our understanding of hearing healthcare. My research explores the impact of hearing loss on people's mental health. Many individuals feel despair, like Beethoven, when they realize their hearing cannot be restored. Hope is an important factor in maintaining good mental health.
Members of the deaf community view themselves as a cultural minority rather than a disabled group in need of "curing." My research, along with that of other scientists, aims to help those inconvenienced by hearing impairments and those who hope to hear sound.
Islam and I come from parents of different races, so we look different. I have freckled white skin, while his skin is olive (he turns perfect in the sun, and I turn into a tomato). I have blue eyes, while his eyes are hazel. My hearing is normal, while his hearing is severely impaired. He and I share many chapters in life, and as his hearing declined, what helped us cope was being able to understand it together. Communication, self-expression, hearing and being heard (even through sign language) are basic human needs. I hope that in the future, when I express support to my brother, he can hear, accept, and no longer feel lonely.
When Beethoven lost his hearing, he isolated himself from society, but one thing gave him strength: the hope that one day his hearing would be restored. However, every medical method he tried failed. In 1802, he wrote, "But imagine, for six years I have been tormented, foolish physicians made my condition worse, year after year deceived by false hopes of recovery, and finally forced to face the prospect of a long-lasting illness (which may take years to cure or may be incurable)."
Beethoven's dream of regaining his hearing never came true, but with the scientific advancements in hair cell regeneration, 217 years after his wandering in June, this dream may become a reality. It is said that Beethoven's last words on his deathbed were, "I shall hear in heaven!" Fortunately, those facing hearing difficulties will soon be able to hear on Earth.
The Role of Energy#
Nuclear fusion power plants could be part of the solution to the climate crisis.
If you believe me, I conducted my first high-power energy experiment at the age of one.
On New Year's Eve in 1995, I somehow got hold of two silver objects that I now know were screws, and as my gaze wandered, I was captivated by something snake-like protruding from the wall. At its end, I would soon discover, was the head of an extension cord with two tiny openings, black insides standing out against a white plastic background. Unaware of the cautionary tale I was about to write, I acted without hesitation. I took one last deep breath, aimed, and plugged those two silver objects into those two small holes, thus igniting my newfound career—fortunately, not my last—of negative results.
Twenty-four years later, as a physicist playing with dangerous devices—currently as a graduate student at Harvard University in Cambridge—I have recovered fully from my parents' shock, and my mishandling of energy has expanded to a larger scale, threatening not only my survival but that of countless species worldwide. Unlike when I was a child, today we can no longer claim ignorance. Even if global warming remains at just 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned of "climate-related risks to health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security, and economic growth" that will increase. The IPCC estimates that warming to 2.0 degrees Celsius will further jeopardize hundreds of millions of people in vulnerable regions worldwide. Yet, the voluntary emission levels pledged by countries under the Paris Agreement would warm the Earth by about 3.0 degrees Celsius over the next 80 years, and it seems even these targets may not be met.
The failure of global political institutions to adequately address climate change has sparked a desire for some kind of breakthrough, be it political or technological.
Our greatest hope for the former—a movement that has already emerged globally in the wave of climate action—may be an unprecedented political movement that significantly increases the pressure for action on the crisis.
Our greatest hope for the latter is nuclear fusion.
Nuclear fusion is the process of combining light atomic nuclei to release enormous amounts of energy. It is the energy source of the sun and other stars and has long been the principle researchers hope to harness in building fusion power plants. In theory, these power plants could use hydrogen isotopes as fuel from sustainable sources for thousands of years, while being safer and producing less long-lived nuclear waste than nuclear fission power plants. Unfortunately, building such power plants has proven to be extremely challenging.
This is because fusion on Earth requires temperatures of tens of millions of degrees Celsius, at which fusion fuel exhibits violent plasma behavior. Despite over six decades of extensive research, fusion energy power plants have yet to be realized, primarily due to the difficulty of controlling plasma behavior. However, these years of research have yielded valuable insights, and now, with fusion becoming more realistic than ever, a clean energy future with fusion seems within reach.
The most ambitious fusion project to date, ITER, is under construction in southern France with the explicit goal of achieving "ignition," where the output power of the fusion process exceeds the input power needed to sustain the plasma, something that has proven elusive so far. With the assistance of dozens of laboratories worldwide, ITER is scheduled to begin full operation in 2035 and will also test auxiliary technologies necessary for a working fusion power plant, while other places continue research on competitive fusion reactor types, and breakthroughs like deep learning are also driving the field forward (J. Kates-Harbeck et al. Nature 568, 526–531; 2019). Considering all this, I hold hope that a working fusion power plant can be built and fusion energy can significantly help mitigate the impact of the climate crisis by the end of this century.
Despite the crisis at hand, there are many other reasons to be excited about fusion. As a physicist, I am humbled by the idea of taming plasma that is hotter than the core of the sun. As a researcher, I am amazed by the complexity required in every aspect of designing a fusion power plant. As a writer, I am in awe of the prospect of emulating stars rather than just gazing at them.
But as a human, thinking of other humans, I feel that the breakthrough of controlling fusion could surpass all else. After all, the consequences of human-induced climate change—rising sea levels and temperatures, more frequent droughts and extreme weather events—must be reckoned with. And these consequences will ultimately have to be paid for. They will be borne first by those who are most impoverished and at the bottom, but they should not have been entangled in this crisis, just as a one-year-old boy cannot be blamed for being electrocuted.
Fusion power plants, more than any other technology, have the potential to be a unique and powerful tool in reducing this cost.
That is why I hope to see them in my lifetime.
Rethinking Reproduction#
Reproduction, rethought by Matthew Zajac
One day, same-sex couples should be able to jointly raise a biological offspring.
One afternoon during my sophomore year, I called my parents from my dorm room. For them, it was a routine call home, but for me, it was a conversation long overdue. I had rehearsed with my closest friends how to start; my words needed to be confident yet gentle. Like protecting them from the blast of a grenade I was about to throw.
"Well...actually, there is some romance in my life. With a boy."
I had practiced the typical questions parents ask when they find out their child is gay: "Are you sure?", "Why didn't you tell us?", "Didn't you like girls before?" But those questions never came, and I wasn't prepared for the one my mom asked: "What about children?"
Whether out of sympathy for my desire to have children or because she had plans to dote on grandchildren, my mom quickly realized that my sexual orientation could threaten my ability to form a family. She wasn't wrong; according to a 2013 survey, 74% of adult Americans are parents, but only 35% of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults are parents, despite 51% expressing a desire to have children. As of 2015, two-thirds of minors living with same-sex couples were from previous opposite-sex relationships. But that is changing. As homosexuality becomes more accepted in certain parts of the world, people are realizing their sexual orientation earlier and may not enter into opposite-sex marriages as readily. As a result, while there are fewer same-sex couples raising children, these children are more likely to be born into same-sex relationships.
This trend is partly due to increased opportunities for same-sex couples to parent through adoption and other means. In vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy provide some genetic relatedness for same-sex female and male couples, respectively. However, neither option offers complete genetic relatedness. While there is no evidence that genetic relatedness is necessary or sufficient for parenting, studies of heterosexual couples unable to conceive naturally have shown its importance. A 2017 study found that over 97% of respondents preferred having a genetically related child (S. Hendriks et al. Hum. Reprod. 32, 2076–2087; 2017).
Now, as a graduate student in chemical biology at the University of Chicago in Illinois, I often contemplate the intersection of my sexual orientation and scientific interests. Gene-editing technologies are changing our ability to study fundamental biology. But for me, more importantly, they offer a glimmer of hope that one day I could raise a biological offspring with my partner.
The path to same-sex human reproduction has been considered insurmountable by many. Beyond ethical and socio-political barriers, there are fundamental biological challenges.
Parthenogenesis, reproduction without fertilization, occurs naturally in birds and sharks through the use of egg cells. However, mammalian reproduction is influenced by genomic "imprinting," where certain genes are modified or silenced in either the sperm or the egg, and their alleles are expressed, like the two halves of a zipper coming together. To address this, researchers have obtained "imprint-free" stem cells. A 2018 report in the journal Cell Stem Cell described a method of deleting imprinting regions from the mouse genome using CRISPR, effectively removing the teeth from the biological zipper (Z.-K. Li et al. Cell Stem Cell 23, 665–676; 2018). Using this technique in combination with eggs from female mice resulted in offspring that grew into healthy, fertile pups. However, using this technique with sperm from male mice did not yield adult offspring. While this is a significant breakthrough, the low birth rates have led many to believe that mammals can only reproduce sexually (embryos from two mothers are 14%, and embryos from two fathers are 2.5%). Nevertheless, this technology offers hope that same-sex human reproduction may be feasible, given further advances in understanding imprinting and other breakthroughs.
The development of same-sex reproduction technologies may still be science fiction in 2019 and their use will be controversial. But in 1869, in the same journal, Nature set sail on the basis of academic liberalism and daring science, when in vitro fertilization and same-sex marriage were also unimaginable. The disruptive innovation of same-sex reproduction is merely a continuation of that effort, providing capable parents with children, provided there is sufficient research to mitigate risks, make it economically viable, and regulate it responsibly.
For me, when my partner and I are ready, I yearn to give my parents a grandchild in any feasible way. But to raise a child with a genetic connection to both me and my partner? That is a dream I will always hold.