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Genome sequencers intend that their community and others should deposit data in community databases immediately, even if it risks the loss of publishing priority. But enforcement of this ideal could be a step too far.
Four years ago, scientists claimed they would grow a functioning heart in the lab within a decade. That now looks like wishful thinking, but Catherine Zandonella finds that tissue engineers haven't given up on their grand vision.
Calculating the area of productive ecosystem required to support a population is a useful way to open people's eyes to the fact that we're stamping out the world's resources.
Newton devised his universal law of gravitation for planets, but does it work at small scales? A search for a deviation from the expected behaviour could provide the first evidence in support of string theory.
A study of reef fish in the Indian and Pacific oceans reveals that the structures of local communities and their regional context are intricately entwined. New species spread far from an oceanic 'hotspot' of diversity.
Isotope data provide insight into the earliest phases of terrestrial evolution. The latest reappraisal supports the view that the early Earth had a cratered crust which crystallized from a magma ocean.
Studies of the retinoblastoma gene can still deliver surprises, and enlightenment. Several of the abnormalities in mice lacking this gene are, it seems, the indirect consequence of a placental defect.
The influence of the Agulhas system of currents and eddies around southern Africa extends far beyond that region. Hence the especial need for a better understanding of the complex phenomena involved.
Many cell types in our body, ranging from neurons to the epithelial cells that line the lungs and skin, must be polarized to function properly. The same mechanism may establish the polarity of many of these cells.