Table of contents
Volume 414 Number 6859 pp1-132
Opinion
Finding a future for GM crops p1
Some parties to debates over the safety of genetically modified crops don't want to hear the results of objective research. But that isn't an excuse for not doing it.
doi:10.1038/35102215
Double standards p1
Developing countries deserve as much leeway to deal with their public-health crises as the United States has allowed itself.
doi:10.1038/35102217
News
Crackdown on hazardous agents raises concern for bona fide labs p3
Jonathan Knight
doi:10.1038/35102219
Atomic-bomb experts interrogated over Taliban links p3
David Adam
doi:10.1038/35102221
News
Legal provision for electronic eavesdropping ignites debate p4
David Adam
doi:10.1038/35102223
Science marshalled to cut bioterror confusion p5
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/35102225
Germany warned over threat posed by nuclear reactor p5
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/35102228
Chance encounter hints at planetary origins p6
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/35102231
UK changes policy on life insurance p6
David Adam
doi:10.1038/35102234
Spotlight on scrapie in hunt for sheep BSE p7
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/35102237
Middle Eastern promise as synchrotron wins approval p7
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/35102239
news feature
The flu HQ p10
Leading virologists plan to thwart emerging strains of influenza by creating a global laboratory to keep tabs on this ever-changing virus. Alison Abbott reports.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/35102245
Exploring a virtual universe p12
Cosmologists have already created entire universes within computers. Now astrophysicists are focusing on the fine details of asteroid collisions and supernovae. Govert Schilling investigates.
Govert Schilling
doi:10.1038/35102249
Correspondence
Vanishing websites are the weakest link p15
Joseph Cheung
doi:10.1038/35102257
Recognizing risks and potential promise of germline engineering p15
The consequences of mitochondrial DNA manipulation are unknown, but sufferers of some diseases might benefit.
Sharon E. Hesterlee
doi:10.1038/35102259
Give and take the lead p15
Susan M. Fitzpatrick
doi:10.1038/35102261
Book Reviews
Counting on science p17
Scientific uncertainties relating to the social issues of today.
Robert M. May reviews Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians and Activists by Joel Best and Fragile Science: The Reality Behind the Headline by Robin Baker
doi:10.1038/35102094
Jewels on the wing p18
doi:10.1038/35102097
Science and war p18
John Ziman reviews Le scientifique et le guerrier by Jean-Jacques Salomon
doi:10.1038/35102100
The American dream personified? p19
Richard A. Fortey reviews Smithsonian Institution Secretary, Charles Doolittle Walcott by Ellis Leon Yochelson
doi:10.1038/35102102
Elementary tales p20
Andrea Sella reviews Nature's Building Blocks: An A–Z of the Elements by John Emsley
doi:10.1038/35102105
News and Views
See potassium run p23
Nearly all cells have membranes spanned by potassium-conducting channel proteins, without which your nerves (and much else) simply wouldn't work. Ion permeation through these channels can now be seen in dazzling detail.
Christopher Miller
doi:10.1038/35102126
Quantum optics: The atomic nanoscope p24
An ideal probe should be as small as possible so it doesn't interfere with the observation. When measuring the distribution of a light field, it seems that a single atom is up to the job.
Andrew Steane
doi:10.1038/35102129
Cancer: How cells choose to die p25
Humans have several ways of keeping cancer at bay, and the p53 protein forms a crucial part of this self-defence. The newly discovered action of a p53-binding protein helps explain how cells respond to p53.
David Lane
doi:10.1038/35102132
Surface science: The insulator uncovered p27
Microscopes that reveal the structures of surfaces one atom at a time are good at imaging conductors but perform poorly with insulators. That may be about to change.
John B. Pethica and Russ Egdell
doi:10.1038/35102135
100 and 50 years ago p28
doi:10.1038/35102137
Cell biology: Bacteria thread the needle p29
When bacteria attack another organism, one of the first steps is the injection of 'virulence effector proteins' into its cells. Two of the main players in such a system have been caught in action.
Craig L. Smith and Scott J. Hultgren
doi:10.1038/35102139
Theoretical physics: In search of exact solutions p31
Many-body systems, such as electrons flowing in a superconductor, are among the most difficult theoretical problems to study. A new family of exactly solvable models may offer some answers.
Michel Héritier
doi:10.1038/35102143
Daedalus: Recycled oil p32
David Jones
doi:10.1038/35102145
Brief Communications
Water capture by a desert beetle p33
This insect has a tailor-made covering for collecting water from early-morning fog.
Andrew R. Parker and Chris R. Lawrence
doi:10.1038/35102108
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (208K) | Supplementary information
Metabolism: Partial leptin deficiency and human adiposity p34
I. Sadaf Farooqi, Julia M. Keogh, Sri Kamath, Sarah Jones, William T. Gibson, Rebecca Trussell, Susan A. Jebb, Gregory Y. H. Lip and Stephen O'Rahilly
doi:10.1038/35102112
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (202K)
Bird migration: Magnetic cues trigger extensive refuelling p35
Thord Fransson, Sven Jakobsson, Patrik Johansson, Cecilia Kullberg, Johan Lind and Adrian Vallin
doi:10.1038/35102115
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (204K)
Tumour suppressors (Communication arising): Effect of DNA damage on a BRCA1 complex p36
Foon Wu-Baer and Richard Baer
doi:10.1038/35102118
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (71K)
Tumour suppressors (Communication arising): Effect of DNA damage on a BRCA1 complex p36
Shang Li, Nicholas S. Y. Ting, Lei Zheng, Phang-Lang Chen and Wen-Hwa Lee
doi:10.1038/35102121
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (71K)
Articles
Energetic optimization of ion conduction rate by the K+ selectivity filter p37
João H. Morais-Cabral, Yufeng Zhou and Roderick MacKinnon
doi:10.1038/35102000
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (324K)
See also: News and Views by Miller
Chemistry of ion coordination and hydration revealed by a K+ channel–Fab complex at 2.0 Å resolution p43
Yufeng Zhou, João H. Morais-Cabral, Amelia Kaufman and Roderick MacKinnon
doi:10.1038/35102009
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (722K)
See also: News and Views by Miller
Letters to Nature
A single ion as a nanoscopic probe of an optical field p49
G. R. Guthöhrlein, M. Keller, K. Hayasaka, W. Lange and H. Walther
doi:10.1038/35102129
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (659K)
See also: Letter by Guthöhrlein et al.
Ultrafast generation of magnetic fields in a Schottky diode p51
Y. Acremann, M. Buess, C. H. Back, M. Dumm, G. Bayreuther and D. Pescia
doi:10.1038/35102026
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (162K)
Imaging the atomic arrangements on the high-temperature reconstructed 
-Al2O3(0001) surface p54
Clemens Barth and Michael Reichling
doi:10.1038/35102031
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (315K)
See also: News and Views by Pethica & Egdell
Photoselective adaptive femtosecond quantum control in the liquid phase p57
T. Brixner, N. H. Damrauer, P. Niklaus and G. Gerber
doi:10.1038/35102037
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (316K)
Thinning of the ice sheet in northwest Greenland over the past forty years p60
W. S. B. Paterson and Niels Reeh
doi:10.1038/35102044
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (178K)
Late Cretaceous relatives of rabbits, rodents, and other extant eutherian mammals p62
J. David Archibald, Alexander O. Averianov and Eric G. Ekdale
doi:10.1038/35102048
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (218K) | Supplementary information
Rapid responses of British butterflies to opposing forces of climate and habitat change p65
M. S. Warren, J. K. Hill, J. A. Thomas, J. Asher, R. Fox, B. Huntley, D. B. Roy, M. G. Telfer, S. Jeffcoate, P. Harding, G. Jeffcoate, S. G. Willis, J. N. Greatorex-Davies, D. Moss and C. D. Thomas
doi:10.1038/35102054
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (444K)
Perceptual basis of bimanual coordination p69
Franz Mechsner, Dirk Kerzel, Günther Knoblich and Wolfgang Prinz
doi:10.1038/35102060
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (447K)
Energetics of ion conduction through the K+ channel p73
Simon Bernèche and Benoît Roux
doi:10.1038/35102067
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (551K)
See also: News and Views by Miller
Maintenance of an unfolded polypeptide by a cognate chaperone in bacterial type III secretion p77
C. Erec Stebbins and Jorge E. Galán
doi:10.1038/35102073
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (642K)
See also: News and Views by Smith & Hultgren
In vitro evolution suggests multiple origins for the hammerhead ribozyme p82
Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani and Jack W. Szostak
doi:10.1038/35102081
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (867K)
correction: Retrotransposition of a bacterial group II intron p84
Benoit Cousineau, Stacey Lawrence, Dorie Smith and Marlene Belfort
doi:10.1038/35102087
correction: Crystal structures of SarA, a pleiotropic regulator of virulence genes in S. aureus p85
Maria A. Schumacher, Barry K. Hurlburt and Richard G. Brennan
doi:10.1038/35102089
correction: Biodegradation of oil in uplifted basins prevented by deep-burial sterilization p85
A. Wilhelms, S. R. Larter, I. Head, P. Farrimond, R. di-Primio and C. Zwach
doi:10.1038/35102091
insight
forewordStem cells p87
doi:10.1038/35102147
OVERVIEW
The future for stem cell research p88
Robin Lovell-Badge
doi:10.1038/35102150
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (273K)
review article
The end of the beginning for pluripotent stem cells p92
Peter J. Donovan and John Gearhart
doi:10.1038/35102154
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (751K)
Stem cells find their niche p98
Allan Spradling, Daniela Drummond-Barbosa and Toshie Kai
doi:10.1038/35102160
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (919K)
Stem cells, cancer, and cancer stem cells p105
Tannishtha Reya, Sean J. Morrison, Michael F. Clarke and Irving L. Weissman
doi:10.1038/35102167
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (638K)
The development of neural stem cells p112
Sally Temple
doi:10.1038/35102174
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (351K)
progress
Stem cells in tissue engineering p118
Paolo Bianco and Pamela Gehron Robey
doi:10.1038/35102181
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (545K)
review article
Reprogramming of genome function through epigenetic inheritance p122
M. Azim Surani
doi:10.1038/35102186
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (394K)
commentary
Ethical and social considerations of stem cell research p129
Anne McLaren
doi:10.1038/35102194
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (289K)
CORPORATE SUPPORT
Leaders In Stem Cell Medicine: Applications of Mesenchymal Stem Cells p132
doi:10.1038/35102201
When The Body Can't Heal Itself p132
Mark F. Pittenger, Ph.D.
doi:10.1038/35102206