What happened
The World Health Organization yesterday declared an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a “public health emergency of international concern.” More than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths have been reported, with at least one confirmed case in the rebel-held city of Goma and two others in neighboring Uganda. There have been more than 20 Ebola outbreaks in the region since the deadly virus was discovered in 1976, but this is only the third caused by the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments. 

Who said what
This is not yet a “pandemic emergency,” the WHO said, but all indications “point toward a potentially much larger outbreak than what is currently being detected,” with “significant local and regional risk of spread.” The emergency declaration “indicates that the outbreak requires coordination among countries, given its risk of international spread,” Politico said.

What next?
A “handful of Americans” in the DRC “may have been exposed to suspected cases of Ebola,” and one or more with symptoms “may need to be medically evacuated,” The Washington Post said. “The risk to Americans is low,” said Satish Pillai at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What happened
Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall yesterday for a daylong religious-political celebration backed by the White House with public and private funds. The “Rededicate 250” rally was billed as a “rededication of our country as One Nation under God.” 

Top Trump administration officials and Republican lawmakers addressed the crowd, in person or via video, and “the long list of faith leaders who attended consisted largely of evangelical Christians — except for one Orthodox rabbi and two conservative Catholic bishops,” CNN said. The “Christian focus” was clear from the “worship music,” The Associated Press said, and a stage that “depicted the nation’s founders alongside a white cross” inside “arched stained-glass windows.”

Who said what
Sunday’s gathering was the “most visible example yet” of the Trump administration “elevating evangelical Christianity inside the White House and across federal institutions,” The Wall Street Journal said. “Attendees in MAGA hats and cross necklaces” said they felt affirmed. The mix of “Christian prayer and political fervor”, said The New York Times, aimed to “crystallize the narrative that the nation’s founding was an intentionally Christian project,”  despite America’s “bedrock principle” of church-state separation. 

What next?
Yesterday’s event was the first of several this year organized by Freedom 250, a White House-backed public-private nonprofit that Democrats call an “end run around a separate commission charted by Congress a decade ago to prepare semiquincentennial events,” the AP said.

Common bacteria may be able to help mass-produce a natural UV-protectant ingredient called gadusol that is found in many fish and marine organisms. The chemical could be used to make sunscreen safer and greener in the future. 

Gadusol could potentially be produced using E. coli, according to a study published in the journal Trends in Biotechnology. The compound helps protect against ultraviolet damage, but it is “scarce in nature, and extracting it is inefficient and can carry environmental costs,” Ping Zhang, a biochemist at Jiangnan University in China and lead author of the study, said in a press release. 

Gadusol is “transparent, unlike melanin, and yet is perfectly tuned to block out harmful UV rays from the sun, which makes it ideal for organisms hiding from prey,” said New Scientist. Instead of harvesting the compound directly from fish, researchers opted to turn the bacteria E. coli into “mini chemical factories,” said Popular Science. 

There is heightened interest in finding natural sunscreens amid a growing backlash against conventional sunscreen ingredients, “which can irritate sensitive skin, harm marine organisms or rely on petrochemicals,” said the press release. Gadusol is promising not only for its sun protection but also because of its “antioxidant activity comparable to that of vitamin C, suggesting it may help neutralize cell-damaging free radicals from UV exposure.” 

Despite the compound’s promise, much more testing is needed to determine its efficacy and safety compared to other currently available sunscreens. Gadusol “won’t join your next beach day just yet,” said Popular Science.