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People from the Xhosa ethnic group have greater genetic diversity than people of non-African descent.Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty

The first genomic analysis of schizophrenia in an African population has identified multiple rare mutations that occur more frequently in people with the condition. The mutations are mainly in genes that are important for brain development and the brain’s synapses, tiny structures that coordinate communication between neurons. The work helps fill a gap in our genetic knowledge, which is drawn mostly from people of European descent. It’s also significant because African people as a group have genomes that are much more diverse than those of other populations, and harbour a large number of unique gene variants (because the vast majority of human evolution took place in Africa).

Nature | 4 min read

India’s latest budget includes more than a billion dollars in funding for quantum computing, communications and cryptography, to be spent over five years. The considerable sum places India alongside the United States, Europe and Russia in terms of quantum-technologies investment. Overall, India’s science ministry received a 10.8% increase in the 2020–21 budget over promised funds in 2019–20.

Nature | 3 min read

Researchers are stunned by the arrest of Charles Lieber, a prominent Harvard University chemist and nanotechnology pioneer. US prosecutors allege that Lieber hid a lucrative agreement with China’s Thousand Talents Plan and with a leading Chinese university. “Charlie is the purest scientific scholar I have ever seen and personally I have 100% trust and confidence in him,” says biomedical engineer Xiaocheng Jiang, a former student of Lieber’s.

Nature | 5 min read

Features & opinion

A mean and aggressive research working culture threatens people’s respect for scientists and their expertise, says science engagement expert Gail Cardew. “A kinder research culture will build stronger, deeper support for research, as well as higher-quality science,” she says. “Maintaining public trust should not mean shouting more loudly in a noisy world.”

Nature | 5 min read

To build algorithms that treat people equally, we need to take account of the pathways that give rise to inequity, argue computer scientist Matt Kusner and statistician Joshua Loftus. They outline (with helpful graphics) three ways in which causal models can smoke out unfairness in predictive algorithms using counterfactuals, sensitivity to unobserved quantities and the long-term impacts of decisions.

Nature | 11 min read

When he arrived in the United States as a tenure-track faculty member, water sustainability researcher Jaivime Evaristo found himself in a stressful immigration limbo. He and his family eventually found a happier home in the Netherlands. “I hope that other immigrant scientists take heed from my tale,” he says. Don’t let excitement over a new job blind you to the complexities of a country’s immigration system, and don’t assume that your university will have a system in place to deal with foreign hires.

Science | 5 min read