Table of contents
Volume 418 Number 6895 pp3-352
Opinion
New research council needed p259
Ad hoc collaborations between Europe's national funding agencies need to be complemented and, to some extent, replaced by a funding agency charged with supporting outstanding researchers from across the continent.
doi:10.1038/418259a
News
Government spending promise offers British research a boost p261
David Adam and Natasha McDowell
doi:10.1038/418261a
California lab fires physicist over retracted finding p261
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/418261b
German council confounds plans for neutron project p262
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/418262a
Senate nod prompts fresh analysis of nuclear waste dump p262
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/418262b
Cutbacks 'will cripple space station science' p263
Tony Reichhardt
doi:10.1038/418263a
NASA aims to reach Pluto by 2020 p263
Tony Reichhardt
doi:10.1038/418263b
Publishers soldier on despite electronic bugs p264
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/418264a
US panel split on research cloning p264
Kendall Powell
doi:10.1038/418264b
Poliovirus advance sparks fears of data curbs p265
Erika Check
doi:10.1038/418265a
Monkey smallpox trial suspended over painkiller use p265
Erika Check
doi:10.1038/418265b
news feature
Correction p267
doi:10.1038/418267a
Ion channel structures: They said it couldn't be done... p268
Determining the structure of cell-membrane ion channels was thought to be mission impossible. Alison Abbott meets the researcher who proved the doubters wrong, opening new windows on cellular function.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/418268a
Quantum cryptography: Can you keep a secret? p270
Practical products are about to emerge from the weird world of quantum mechanics. Erica Klarreich finds out how quantum cryptography made it from the lab to the marketplace
Erica Klarreich
doi:10.1038/418270a
Correspondence
Names: a historical or political perspective? p273
Sharona Even-Ram
doi:10.1038/418273a
Only vital need justifies primate experiments p273
Richard M. Lebovitz
doi:10.1038/418273b
Little funding to develop non-animal testing p273
Gill Langley
doi:10.1038/418273c
Are results of primate research worth the suffering it causes? p273
Researchers must be honest about methods and goals.
Michelle Thew
doi:10.1038/418273d
Book Reviews
Viewing life as cooperation p275
Can symbiosis and genome acquisition account for all speciation?
Axel Meyer reviews Acquiring Genomes: A Theory of the Origin of Species by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan
doi:10.1038/418275a
Unravelling a heavenly mystery p276
Luigi Piro reviews The Biggest Bangs: The Mystery of Gamma-Ray Bursts, The Most Violent Explosions in the Universe by Jonathan I. Katz and Flash! The Hunt for the Biggest Explosions in the Universe by Govert Schilling, translated from Dutch and Naomi Greenberg-Slovin
doi:10.1038/418276a
Darwin's personal voyage p277
Keith Thomson reviews Fossils, Finches and Fuegians: Charles Darwin's Adventures and Discoveries on the Beagle, 1832–1836 by Richard Keynes
doi:10.1038/418277a
Science in culture p278
Martin Kemp reviews
doi:10.1038/418278a
concepts
Development: Weaving life's pattern p279
Development is not just more than growth — it is more than maturation, requiring constant negotiation with the environment.
Melvin Konner
doi:10.1038/418279a
News and Views
Quantum physics: Survival of the entangled p281
At the quantum level, common sense is often violated — for example, by pairs of entangled photons in which each seems to 'know' about the state of the other. Entanglement may be more robust than had been thought.
William Barnes
doi:10.1038/418281a
Developmental biology: Decisions, decisions! p282
Early embryo cells can develop either into specialized body cells or into precursors of eggs or sperm. It is not understood how this crucial decision is made in mammals, but new work brings us closer to the answer.
Brigid Hogan
doi:10.1038/418282a
Population genetics: Malaria variorum p283
A genetic study of the malaria parasite finds that this species is unexpectedly diverse. A second study shows multiple independent origins of mutations in one parasite gene that confer resistance to a widely used drug.
Andrew G. Clark
doi:10.1038/418283a
100 and 50 years ago p284
doi:10.1038/418284a
Materials science: Plastic parameter p285
Materials may deform permanently under pressure, but it's difficult to guess exactly what will happen to their structure at the atomic level. A new model, and a powerful parameter, might allow firm predictions to be made.
Jonathan A. Zimmerman
doi:10.1038/418285a
Cell biology: The extraordinary phagosome p286
The finding that a cellular compartment called the endoplasmic reticulum can merge with the cell's outer membrane is surprising. It would not have been predicted from our knowledge of cell organization.
Joel A. Swanson
doi:10.1038/418286a
Longevity: Don't hold your breath p287
In some organisms a reduced-calorie diet increases lifespan. Conventional thinking about the mechanism involved now comes under question from the results of experiments with yeast.
Siu Sylvia Lee and Gary Ruvkun
doi:10.1038/418287a
Brief Communications
Archaeology: Cacao usage by the earliest Maya civilization p289
Foaming chocolate prepared in spouted vessels made a delectable Preclassic drink.
W. Jeffrey Hurst, Stanley M. Tarka, Jr, Terry G. Powis, Fred Valdez, Jr and Thomas R. Hester
doi:10.1038/418289a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (111K) | Supplementary information
Cell biology: Targeted transfection by femtosecond laser p290
Uday K. Tirlapur and Karsten König
doi:10.1038/418290a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (92K)
Neurodegenerative disease: Amyloid pores from pathogenic mutations p291
Hilal A. Lashuel, Dean Hartley, Benjamin M. Petre, Thomas Walz and Peter T. Lansbury, Jr
doi:10.1038/418291a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (63K)
Climate change (Communication arising): Recent temperature trends in the Antarctic p291
John Turner, John C. King, Tom A. Lachlan-Cope and Phil D. Jones
doi:10.1038/418291b
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (63K)
Climate change (Communication arising): Recent temperature trends in the Antarctic p292
J. E. Walsh, P. T. Doran, J. C. Priscu, W. B. Lyons, A. G. Fountain, D. M. McKnight, D. L. Moorhead, R. A. Virginia, D. H. Wall, G. D. Clow, C. H. Fritsen, C. P. McKay and A. N. Parsons
doi:10.1038/418292a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (31K)
Article
A molecular programme for the specification of germ cell fate in mice p293
Mitinori Saitou, Sheila C. Barton and M. Azim Surani
doi:10.1038/nature00927
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (825K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Hogan
Letters to Nature
Hot bubbles from active galactic nuclei as a heat source in cooling-flow clusters p301
Marcus Brüggen and Christian R. Kaiser
doi:10.1038/nature00857
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (199K)
Plasmon-assisted transmission of entangled photons p304
E. Altewischer, M. P. van Exter and J. P. Woerdman
doi:10.1038/nature00869
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (285K)
See also: News and Views by Barnes
Atomistic mechanisms governing elastic limit and incipient plasticity in crystals p307
Ju Li, Krystyn J. Van Vliet, Ting Zhu, Sidney Yip and Subra Suresh
doi:10.1038/nature00865
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (469K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Zimmerman
Dynamic fracture by large extraterrestrial impacts as the origin of shatter cones p310
Amir Sagy, Ze'ev Reches and Jay Fineberg
doi:10.1038/nature00903
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (354K)
Climate-mediated energetic constraints on the distribution of hibernating mammals p313
Murray M. Humphries, Donald W. Thomas and John R. Speakman
doi:10.1038/nature00828
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (224K) | Supplementary information
An antioxidant function for DMSP and DMS in marine algae p317
W. Sunda, D. J. Kieber, R. P. Kiene and S. Huntsman
doi:10.1038/nature00851
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (159K) | Supplementary information
Genetic diversity and chloroquine selective sweeps in Plasmodium falciparum p320
John C. Wootton, Xiaorong Feng, Michael T. Ferdig, Roland A. Cooper, Jianbing Mu, Dror I. Baruch, Alan J. Magill and Xin-zhuan Su
doi:10.1038/nature00813
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (304K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Clark
Chromosome-wide SNPs reveal an ancient origin for Plasmodium falciparum p323
Jianbing Mu, Junhui Duan, Kateryna D. Makova, Deirdre A. Joy, Chuong Q. Huynh, Oralee H. Branch, Wen-Hsiung Li and Xin-zhuan Su
doi:10.1038/nature00836
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (315K)
See also: News and Views by Clark
Dendritic spikes as a mechanism for cooperative long-term potentiation p326
Nace L. Golding, Nathan P. Staff and Nelson Spruston
doi:10.1038/nature00854
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (412K) | Supplementary information
Identification of genes expressed in C. elegans touch receptor neurons p331
Yun Zhang, Charles Ma, Thomas Delohery, Brian Nasipak, Barrett C. Foat, Alexander Bounoutas, Harmen J. Bussemaker, Stuart K. Kim and Martin Chalfie
doi:10.1038/nature00891
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,277K) | Supplementary information
Synaptotagmins I and IV promote transmitter release independently of Ca2+ binding in the C2A domain p336
Iain M. Robinson, Ravi Ranjan and Thomas L. Schwarz
doi:10.1038/nature00915
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (288K) | Supplementary information
The C2B Ca2+-binding motif of synaptotagmin is required for synaptic transmission in vivo p340
J. M. Mackler, J. A. Drummond, C. A. Loewen, I. M. Robinson and N. E. Reist
doi:10.1038/nature00846
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (302K) | Supplementary information
Calorie restriction extends Saccharomyces cerevisiae lifespan by increasing respiration p344
Su-Ju Lin, Matt Kaeberlein, Alex A. Andalis, Lori A. Sturtz, Pierre-Antoine Defossez, Valeria C. Culotta, Gerald R. Fink and Leonard Guarente
doi:10.1038/nature00829
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (444K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Lee & Ruvkun
Adenovirus oncoproteins inactivate the Mre11–Rad50–NBS1 DNA repair complex p348
Travis H. Stracker, Christian T. Carson and Matthew D. Weitzman
doi:10.1038/nature00863
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (442K)
corrigendum: The mammalian sodium channel BNC1 is required for normal touch sensation p352
Margaret P. Price, Gary R. Lewin, Sabrina L. Mcllwrath, Chun Cheng, Jinghul Xie, Paul A. Heppenstall, Cheryl L. Stucky, Anne G. Mannsfeldt, Timothy J. Brennan, Heather A. Drummond, Jing Qiao, Christopher J. Benson, Deirdre E. Tarr, Ron F. Hrstka, Baoll Yang, Roger A. Williamson and Michael J. Walsh
doi:10.1038/nature00916
