Opinion

Patent rules should include a defence against monopolies p619

Although resentment persists against the patenting of genetic knowledge, the breadth of such patenting is of more urgent concern. The time is right for serious political scrutiny of the issue at a global level.

doi:10.1038/21248

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Boost US infrastructure p619

Congress should seize a welcome opportunity to strengthen dilapidated university laboratories.

doi:10.1038/21250

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News

Senate seeks $750m for NIH to rebuild ageing biomedical labs p621

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/21252

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Teams work elbow to elbow in cramped labs p621

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/21255

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UK to help fund US laser fusion research p622

Rex Dalton

doi:10.1038/21257

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DFG urges Germany to boost its spending on genome research p622

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/21260

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Markl warns Germany not to reduce budget increase p623

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/21262

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Referee quits journal over price rise as library faces cutbacks p623

Declan Butler

doi:10.1038/21265

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Japan may lift industry-academy barrier p624

Asako Saegusa

doi:10.1038/21267

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South African government seeks reassurances on AIDS initiative p624

Michael Cherry

doi:10.1038/21269

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Congress limits moratorium on lab visits p625

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/21272

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Energy secretary reassures Asian Americans p625

Rex Dalton

doi:10.1038/21275

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Patent on umbilical-cord cells rejected in Europe... p626

Declan Butler

doi:10.1038/21277

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... as US bid to patent human-animal hybrid fails p626

David Dickson

doi:10.1038/21279

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US agency seeks to boost funds for basic research in Russia p626

Tony Reichhardt

doi:10.1038/21281

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News Profile

Prance leaves Kew rooted in the present p627

Ehsan Masood

doi:10.1038/21283

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News in Brief p628

doi:10.1038/21287

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News

New Zealand and Australia call for wider access to knowledge p630

doi:10.1038/21289

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Private research and public access must go together, says Mayor p630

doi:10.1038/21291

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Non-governmental groups welcomed as observers p630

doi:10.1038/21293

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Correspondence

Latin America and the Dracula problem p631

Antonio Lazcano

doi:10.1038/21295

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Speaking up for our Japanese colleagues p631

Kathy Weston

doi:10.1038/21297

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Extinction needn't be for ever p631

K. P. Rajesh and P. V. Madhusoodanan

doi:10.1038/21299

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Proposed GMO rules lack scientific sense p631

Henry I. Miller

doi:10.1038/21301

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Others should follow the US line on bioweapons p632

D. A. Henderson

doi:10.1038/21303

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There's still a place for physics out west p632

Philip L. Dubois and Tom Buchanan

doi:10.1038/21305

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Commentary

Scientific societies build better nations p633

Scientific societies in the developing world must take a stake in their countries' future. They should be proactive in fostering a culture supportive of economic development driven by science and technology.

doi:10.1038/21307

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News and Views

Cultural primatology comes of age p635

Frans B. M. de Waal

doi:10.1038/21310

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Enzymes:  Picking a winner p636

Roger Sheldon

doi:10.1038/21316

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Photonics:  Crystals to order p637

Sarah Tomlin

doi:10.1038/21320

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DNA repair:  Variants on a theme p639

Richard D. Wood

doi:10.1038/21323

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Comets:  Putting the CO in coma p640

Jacques Crovisier

doi:10.1038/21326

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Neurobiology:  Turning a corner in vision research p641

Ulf Eysel

doi:10.1038/21329

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100 and 50 years ago p643

doi:10.1038/21333

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Carbohydrate chemistry:  Sugars out in the open p644

Ole Hindsgaul

doi:10.1038/21335

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Developmental neurobiology:  Decoding the Reelin signal p645

Isabelle Bar and André M. Goffinet

doi:10.1038/21340

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Daedalus:  Total digital recall p646

David Jones

doi:10.1038/21343

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Scientific Correspondence

Visual kin recognition in chimpanzees p647

Lisa A. Parr and Frans B. M. de Waal

doi:10.1038/21345

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (206K)

The oldest fossil ascomycetes p648

T. N. Taylor, H. Hass and H. Kerp

doi:10.1038/21349

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Is there solar argon in the Earth's mantle? p649

Joachim Kunz

doi:10.1038/21352

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Singing and hearing in a Tertiary bushcricket p650

Jes Rust, Andreas Stumpner and Jochen Gottwald

doi:10.1038/21356

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Book Reviews

A user's guide to two minutes of totality p651

Jay M. Pasachoff reviews Total Eclipses: Science, Observations, Myths and Legends by Pierre Guillermier and Serge Koutchmy and Solar Eclipse by Thomas Crump and Eclipse! The What, Where, When, Why & How Guide to Watchiing Solar and Lunar Eclipses by Philip S. Harrington and The Sun in Eclipse (Practical Astronomy) by Michael Maunder and Patrick Moore and UK Solar Eclipses from Year 1 by Sheridan Williams

doi:10.1038/21359

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An awkward dinner guest p652

Jeffrey Gray reviews Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter

doi:10.1038/21362

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A theory that's hard to digest p653

Christophe Boesch reviews The Hunting Apes: Meat Eating and the Origins of Human Behavior by Craig Stanford

doi:10.1038/21364

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Courting success for the future p653

Calestous Juma reviews Eco-pragmatism: Making Sensible Environmental Decisions in an Uncertain World by Daniel A. Farber

doi:10.1038/21367

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Hoffman's Erdös is number one p654

Paul Hoffman's book The Man Who Loved Only Numbers was announced as this year's winner of the Rhône-Poulenc Prize for Science Books at a dinner at London's Science Museum last week. Hoffman was one of six finalists:

doi:10.1038/21369

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Article

Topography of contextual modulations mediated by short-range interactions in primary visual cortex p655

Aniruddha Das and Charles D. Gilbert

doi:10.1038/21371

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (456K) | Supplementary information

Letters to Nature

Identification of two sources of carbon monoxide in comet Hale–Bopp p662

Michael A. DiSanti, Michael J. Mumma, Neil Dello Russo, Karen Magee-Sauer, Robert Novak and Terrence W. Rettig

doi:10.1038/21378

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Collective and plastic vortex motion in superconductors at high flux densities p665

A. M. Troyanovski, J. Aarts and P. H. Kes

doi:10.1038/21385

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (243K) | Supplementary information

Full sintering of powdered-metal bodies in a microwave field p668

Rustum Roy, Dinesh Agrawal, Jiping Cheng and Shalva Gedevanishvili

doi:10.1038/21390

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (218K) | Supplementary information

Laboratory evolution of peroxide-mediated cytochrome P450 hydroxylation p670

Hyun Joo, Zhanglin Lin and Frances H. Arnold

doi:10.1038/21395

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (256K)

Reassessment of ice-age cooling of the tropical ocean and atmosphere p673

S. W. Hostetler and A. C. Mix

doi:10.1038/21401

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Gold concentrations of magmatic brines and the metal budget of porphyry copper deposits p676

T. Ulrich, D. Günther and C. A. Heinrich

doi:10.1038/21406

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (556K)

A diapsid skull in a new species of the primitive bird Confuciusornis p679

Lianhai Hou, Larry D. Martin, Zhonghe Zhou, Alan Feduccia and Fucheng Zhang

doi:10.1038/21411

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (539K)

Cultures in chimpanzees p682

A. Whiten, J. Goodall, W. C. McGrew, T. Nishida, V. Reynolds, Y. Sugiyama, C. E. G. Tutin, R. W. Wrangham and C. Boesch

doi:10.1038/21415

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (332K) | Supplementary information

Jasmonate-inducible plant defences cause increased parasitism of herbivores p686

Jennifer S. Thaler

doi:10.1038/21420

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Auditory cortical responses in the cat to sounds that produce spatial illusions p688

Li Xu, Shigeto Furukawa and John C. Middlebrooks

doi:10.1038/21424

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The SIL gene is required for mouse embryonic axial development and left–right specification p691

Shai Izraeli, Linda A. Lowe, Virginia L. Bertness, Deborah J. Good, David W. Dorward, Ilan R. Kirsch and Michael R. Kuehn

doi:10.1038/21429

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Regions of variant histone His2AvD required for Drosophila development p694

Michael John Clarkson, Julian R. E. Wells, Frank Gibson, Robert Saint and David John Tremethick

doi:10.1038/21436

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G-protein-coupled receptor heterodimerization modulates receptor function p697

Bryen A. Jordan and Lakshmi A. Devi

doi:10.1038/21441

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The XPV (xeroderma pigmentosum variant) gene encodes human DNA polymerase p700

Chikahide Masutani, Rika Kusumoto, Ayumi Yamada, Naoshi Dohmae, Masayuki Yokoi, Mayumi Yuasa, Marito Araki, Shigenori Iwai, Koji Takio and Fumio Hanaoka

doi:10.1038/21447

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (475K)

A specific partner for abasic damage in DNA p704

Tracy J. Matray and Eric T. Kool

doi:10.1038/21453

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Basis for recognition of cisplatin-modified DNA by high-mobility-group proteins p708

Uta-Maria Ohndorf, Mark A. Rould, Qing He, Carl O. Pabo and Stephen J. Lippard

doi:10.1038/21460

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (375K)

New on the Market

Looking for a solution p713

New biochemicals, the latest catalogues and (where would reagents be without it?) laboratory quality water constitute this 'biochemicals and reagents' collection.
These notes are compiled in the Nature office from information provided by the manufacturers. For more details, fill in the reader service card.

doi:10.1038/21466

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