Seconds, anyone?

Scientists and journalists don’t always see the world the same way. A “first” often makes news. But in science, the “second” – that is the confirmation – may actually be more important. Journalists are like toddlers, though, when it comes to seconds. They often need coaxing. Consider two recent cases. First, Neanderthal DNA. Back in 1997, reporters made a bit of a fuss when scientists announced that they had extracted DNA from Neanderthal remains for the first time. In late March, Nature published a second such find. A News and Views comment accompanying the story made a strong argument that the second find was scientifically more interesting than the first. It not only provided much welcomed corroboration, given how prone to error the technology is, but the discovery opened up the prospect of a whole new discipline – Neanderthal genetics – assuming, of course, that more genetic material would be forthcoming. Cerebral science writers mused over this story, but had to find a better angle than the actual scientific value – that is, the confirmation that the first find was genuine. That simply wasn’t grabby. Instead, reporters settled on a sub-plot: the new find suggests that humans and Neanderthals did not interbreed, as some researchers had argued of late. That was a reasonable tidbit to report – and for editors to bury, with headlines such as “Study Challenges Neanderthal Link” (USA Today, page 7), or “Neanderthals Ruled Out” (Daily Telegraph, page 5). Well, not all news, and especially science news, can fit on page 1. In the second example, readers around the globe woke up the morning of March 15 to page 1 news about something that wasn’t a first. It wasn’t even a second or a third. The fourth mammal to be cloned still managed to grab attention, thanks to a carefully orchestrated media release, cute and cuddly pictures (a sure draw for TV), endearing names and abundant claims of good health and good fortune. “Five little piggies are going into the record books as the first of their species to be cloned,” the New York Daily News reported, “bringing ever closer the possibility of animalto-human transplantation.” Officials from PPL Therapeutics, the company that produced the pigs at its research center in Virginia, were downright exuberant about the prospects in news interviews. “An end to the chronic organ shortage is now in sight,” Ron James, managing director of the company told the Irish Times, among others.