2020年5月最受欢迎的5篇科学论文

诸平

据《自然指数》（Nature Index）网站2020年6月25日的报道，《自然指数》追踪的82种高质量期刊（82 high-quality journals），筛选出2020年5月份最受欢迎的5篇自然科学论文，其中4篇是与新冠肺炎（COVID-19）疫苗及疫情有关，另外一篇是与COVID-19无关的环境问题研究。

这是与COVID-19相关的研究占据主导地位的第一个月。根据Altmetric关注分数（Altmetric attention score）的排名，5月最受欢迎的研究主要发现了人体对病毒的免疫反应和研制疫苗的潜力。下面列出的五篇论文中有两篇是由免疫学家Dan H. Barouch和他在美国马萨诸塞州波士顿的哈佛医学院的

贝斯以色列女执事医疗中心的病毒学和疫苗研究中心（Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at the Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts）的研究团队完成的。

2020年5月20日发表在《细胞》（Cell）杂志上的研究获得了最多的关注，到目前为止，此文已被169家在线新闻媒体报道，并被6000多个推特（Twitter）账号转发，通过推特收藏此文的人数已经超过2200万。

2020年5月份最受欢迎的5篇论文简介摘引于下，仅供参考。

1. “Targets of T Cell Responses to SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus in Humans with COVID-19 Disease and Unexposed Individuals”

Cell

One of the earliest detailed analyses of the human immune response to SARS-COV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19), this paper supported hopes that a viable vaccine could be developed.

Led by Alba Grifoni from the US Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, the study describes a robust immune response to SARS-CoV-2 in a group of 20 adults who had recovered from COVID-19. Most of the patients had recovered from a mild case of the virus, but a few in the group had more severe cases.

The findings show that the body's immune system is able to recognize SARS-CoV-2 in several ways – a factor that is crucial for vaccine development.

The paper, which was the most talked-about for May 2020, has been covered by 169 online news outlets so far, and was tweeted about by more than 6,000 accounts.

2. “Temporary reduction in daily global CO2 emissions during the COVID-19 forced confinement”

Nature Climate Change

When the world went into lockdown, many pondered the effect that self-isolation would have on the environment.

A team led by Corinne Le Quéré, professor of climate change science and policy at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, used a combination of energy, activity, and policy data to estimate the changes in daily carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during the COVID-19 confinement period (January to April 2020).

They found that average daily global CO2 emissions fell by 17% compared with 2019 levels. At the height of the pandemic in April, daily emissions were comparable to 2006 levels.

Le Quéré’s team identified the shutting down of international borders, reduced daily transport, and a shift in consumption patterns as the main drivers for change.

A more recent report, released by the same researchers on June 11, showed that emissions are now only about 5% lower than 2019 levels.

“We still have the same cars, the same roads, the same industries, same houses,” Le Quéré told National Geographic. “So as soon as the restrictions are released, we go right back to where we were.”

The original study in Nature Climate Change in May, has been covered by 282 online news outlets so far, and retweeted by 3,500 Twitter users.

3. “SARS-CoV-2 infection protects against rechallenge in rhesus macaques”

Science

This study set out to address a key unanswered question: does infection with SARS-CoV-2 result in protective immunity against re-exposure?

A team led by Abishek Chandrashekar and Dan H. Barouch from the Harvard Medical School developed a rhesus macaque model of SARS-CoV-2 infection. They wanted to see how the monkeys’ immune systems would respond when they were infected, allowed to recover, and then infected again.

The study reports that the immune response stimulated by the initial infection provided protectionfrom the disease the second time around. The results suggest the viability of a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2.

The paper has been covered by almost 100 online news outlets and more than 8,500 users on Twitter, reaching an audience on the platform of almost 46 million.

4. “DNA vaccine protection against SARS-CoV-2 in rhesus macaques”

Science

Another study involving Dan H. Barouch’s team at Harvard, this one trialled 6 prototype vaccines on 25 rhesus macaques infected with SARS-CoV-2.

Compared with the 10 control animals, the vaccinated monkeys “saw a substantial degree of protection”, Barouch told Reuters. Eight showed no detectible signs of the virus.

Published in Science, the study could have implications for the effectiveness of vaccines in humans, but human trials are needed to demonstrate their potential.

The paper was covered by 75 online news outlets and more than 5,000 Twitter users retweeted it. Members of the public accounted for 85% of its Altmetric attention score.

5. “Future of the human climate niche”

PNAS

According to this paper, which is the only non-COVID-19-related study in May’s top five, humans have settled in a “surprisingly narrow” subset of Earth’s available climates for at least the past 6,000 years.

Sourcing data from the WorldClim dataset, a team led by Chi Xu from Nanjing University in China, found that the majority of people have lived in regions where the annual average temperature ranges from 11 to 15 degrees Celsius.

As global warming intensifies over the next 50 years, as many as 3 billion people could be forced to live outside such conditions, the paper predicts.

The study authors say that the development of countries in the Global South is imperative to ensuring the liveability of many parts of the world in the coming decades.

They also raise the question of how population redistribution could come into play, as certain regions become too hot.

“Absent climate mitigation or migration, a substantial part of humanity will be exposed to mean annual temperatures warmer than nearly anywhere today,” the team concludes.

Published in PNAS, the paper has been covered by more than 150 online news outlets so far, and reached almost 5 million people on Twitter.