Table of contents
Volume 423 Number 6935 pp1-99
Editorials
A chance for change in France p1
A budget crisis is crippling French science, despite the best efforts of the research minister. But the time is right for a radical and necessary reorganization of research.
doi:10.1038/423001a
Rice institute needs strong support p1
Despite rumours to the contrary, the role of the International Rice Research Institute is as important as ever.
doi:10.1038/423001b
News
Apartment complex holds clues to pandemic potential of SARS p3
David Cyranoski and Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/423003a
Biologists seek to head off future sources of infection p3
Alison Abbott and David Cyranoski
doi:10.1038/423003b
Critics slam treatment for SARS as ineffective and perhaps dangerous p4
David Cyranoski
doi:10.1038/423004a
Neutron source powers ahead with weapons-grade uranium p5
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/423005a
Human fatality adds fresh impetus to fight against bird flu p5
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/423005b
Commission lays foundations for rise in research spending p6
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/423006a
French researchers demand radical overhaul of funding p6
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/423006b
Arizona institute names leader p6
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/423006c
Columbia inquiry homes in on faulty foam p7
Tony Reichhardt
doi:10.1038/423007a
Stealth ship sets sail for a quiet life fishing for data p7
John Moore
doi:10.1038/423007b
news feature
Cell nanotechnology: The tiny toolkit p10
Can we probe the workings of cells without destroying them? Yes, says an influential and interdisciplinary group of US researchers — the answer lies in nanotechnology. Catherine Zandonella reports.
Catherine Zandonella
doi:10.1038/423010a
Brazilian forensic medicine: Back from the dead p13
Under successive military governments, the discipline of forensic medicine nearly perished in Brazil. But it is starting to bounce back, inspired by a remarkable institute near São Paulo. David Adam pays the centre a visit.
David Adam
doi:10.1038/423013a
Correspondence
Improving science through online commentary p15
The Internet offers a timely opportunity to widen, and reduce delays in, scientific debate.
David M. Eagleman and Alex O. Holcombe
doi:10.1038/423015a
Oil and war: we had the warning 30 years ago p15
Michael D. Jennings
doi:10.1038/423015b
Books and Arts
The buck stops here p17
Do we have free will, or are all of our choices predetermined?
Melvin Konner reviews Freedom Evolves by Daniel Dennett
doi:10.1038/423017a
Secrets of the tomb p18
Sarah U. Wisseman reviews The Scientific Study of Mummies by Arthur C. Aufderheide
doi:10.1038/423018a
The pathology of history p19
W. F. Bynum reviews The Deadly Truth: A History of Disease in AmericaGerald Grob
doi:10.1038/423019a
Art: A leap into the future p19
doi:10.1038/423019b
News and Views
Structural biology: Life's transistors p21
Voltage-gated ion channels control electrical activity in nerve, muscle and many other cell types. The crystal structure of a bacterial voltage-gated channel reveals the astonishingly simple design of its voltage sensor.
Fred J. Sigworth
doi:10.1038/423021a
Optics: Positively negative p22
An artificially created material with negative refractive index has opened the door to new phenomena — and controversy. New work finally sets the seal of experimental confirmation on negative refraction.
John Pendry
doi:10.1038/423022a
Genomics: Relative pathogenic values p23
The bacterium that causes anthrax has several close relatives. Comparison of their genome sequences should provide insight into the biology of these organisms as agents of disease — and of terrorism.
Julian Parkhill and Colin Berry
doi:10.1038/423023a
100 and 50 years ago p23
doi:10.1038/423023b
Earth science: Subduction the hard way p24
Alison Wright
doi:10.1038/423024a
Chemical physics: How to keep dry in water p25
What does water look like close to biological surfaces? The question has provoked heated debate for decades. Experiments suggest that this 'vicinal' water may be markedly different from the bulk liquid.
Philip Ball
doi:10.1038/423025a
Molecular biology: Complicity of gene and pseudogene p26
'Pseudogenes' are produced from functional genes during evolution, and are thought to be simply molecular fossils. The unexpected discovery of a biological function for one pseudogene challenges that popular belief.
Jeannie T. Lee
doi:10.1038/423026a
Genetics: Suicidal mushroom cells p26
Nicholas P. Money
doi:10.1038/423026b
Atmospheric chemistry: Burning domestic issues p28
In the developing world much of the energy for heating, lighting and cooking comes from burning 'biomass', mainly wood. A first attempt has been made to quantify the resulting emissions to the atmosphere.
Joel S. Levine
doi:10.1038/423028a
Astronomy: Elements of surprise p29
The discovery of a very distant galaxy for which the abundances of around 25 elements can be measured promises new insight into the history of element creation and star formation in the Universe.
John Cowan
doi:10.1038/423029a
news and view in brief p30
doi:10.1038/423030a
Brief Communications
Insect communication: Polarized light as a butterfly mating signal p31
This optical feature of some iridescent wings catches a suitor's eye in the deep forest.
Alison Sweeney, Christopher Jiggins and Sönke Johnsen
doi:10.1038/423031a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (103K)
Social insects: Cuticular hydrocarbons inform task decisions p32
Michael J. Greene and Deborah M. Gordon
doi:10.1038/423032a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (63K)
Articles
X-ray structure of a voltage-dependent K+ channel p33
Youxing Jiang, Alice Lee, Jiayun Chen, Vanessa Ruta, Martine Cadene, Brian T. Chait and Roderick MacKinnon
doi:10.1038/nature01580
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,814K)
See also: News and Views by Sigworth
The principle of gating charge movement in a voltage-dependent K+ channel p42
Youxing Jiang, Vanessa Ruta, Jiayun Chen, Alice Lee and Roderick MacKinnon
doi:10.1038/nature01581
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (439K)
See also: News and Views by Sigworth
Ligand–receptor binding revealed by the TNF family member TALL-1 p49
Yingfang Liu, Xia Hong, John Kappler, Ling Jiang, Rongguang Zhang, Liangguo Xu, Cheol-Ho Pan, Wesley E. Martin, Robert C. Murphy, Hong-Bing Shu, Shaodong Dai and Gongyi Zhang
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (721K) | Supplementary information
Letters to Nature
The elemental abundance pattern in a galaxy at z = 2.626 p57
Jason X. Prochaska, J. Christopher Howk and Arthur M. Wolfe
doi:10.1038/nature01524
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (214K)
See also: News and Views by Cowan
Interplanetary dust from the explosive dispersal of hydrated asteroids by impacts p60
Kazushige Tomeoka, Koji Kiriyama, Keiko Nakamura, Yasuhiro Yamahana and Toshimori Sekine
doi:10.1038/nature01567
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (272K)
Bose–Einstein condensation of the triplet states in the magnetic insulator TlCuCl3 p62
Ch. Rüegg, N. Cavadini, A. Furrer, H.-U. Güdel, K. Krämer, H. Mutka, A. Wildes, K. Habicht and P. Vorderwisch
doi:10.1038/nature01617
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (232K)
The origin of multiple superconducting gaps in MgB2 p65
S. Souma, Y. Machida, T. Sato, T. Takahashi, H. Matsui, S.-C. Wang, H. Ding, A. Kaminski, J. C. Campuzano, S. Sasaki and K. Kadowaki
doi:10.1038/nature01619
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (282K)
Extreme crustal oxygen isotope signatures preserved in coesite in diamond p68
Daniel J. Schulze, Ben Harte, John W. Valley, James M. Brenan and Dominic M. De R. Channer
doi:10.1038/nature01615
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (159K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Wright
Migration of a Late Cretaceous fish p70
Scott J. Carpenter, J. Mark Erickson and F. D. Holland, Jr
doi:10.1038/nature01575
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (372K) | Supplementary information
Fitness costs of R-gene-mediated resistance in Arabidopsis thaliana p74
D. Tian, M. B. Traw, J. Q. Chen, M. Kreitman and J. Bergelson
doi:10.1038/nature01588
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (184K)
Non-classical receptive field mediates switch in a sensory neuron's frequency tuning p77
Maurice J. Chacron, Brent Doiron, Leonard Maler, André Longtin and Joseph Bastian
doi:10.1038/nature01590
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (381K)
The genome sequence of Bacillus anthracis Ames and comparison to closely related bacteria p81
Timothy D. Read, Scott N. Peterson, Nicolas Tourasse, Les W. Baillie, Ian T. Paulsen, Karen E. Nelson, Hervé Tettelin, Derrick E. Fouts, Jonathan A. Eisen, Steven R. Gill, Erik K. Holtzapple, Ole Andreas Økstad, Erlendur Helgason, Jennifer Rilstone, Martin Wu, James F. Kolonay, Maureen J. Beanan, Robert J. Dodson, Lauren M. Brinkac, Michelle Gwinn, Robert T. DeBoy, Ramana Madpu, Sean C. Daugherty, A. Scott Durkin, Daniel H. Haft, William C. Nelson, Jeremy D. Peterson, Mihai Pop, Hoda M. Khouri, Diana Radune, Jonathan L. Benton, Yasmin Mahamoud, Lingxia Jiang, Ioana R. Hance, Janice F. Weidman, Kristi J. Berry, Roger D. Plaut, Alex M. Wolf, Kisha L. Watkins, William C. Nierman, Alyson Hazen, Robin Cline, Caroline Redmond, Joanne E. Thwaite, Owen White, Steven L. Salzberg, Brendan Thomason, Arthur M. Friedlander, Theresa M. Koehler, Philip C. Hanna, Anne-Brit Kolstø and Claire M. Fraser
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,490K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Parkhill & Berry
Genome sequence of Bacillus cereus and comparative analysis with Bacillus anthracis p87
Natalia Ivanova, Alexei Sorokin, Iain Anderson, Nathalie Galleron, Benjamin Candelon, Vinayak Kapatral, Anamitra Bhattacharyya, Gary Reznik, Natalia Mikhailova, Alla Lapidus, Lien Chu, Michael Mazur, Eugene Goltsman, Niels Larsen, Mark D'Souza, Theresa Walunas, Yuri Grechkin, Gordon Pusch, Robert Haselkorn, Michael Fonstein, S. Dusko Ehrlich, Ross Overbeek and Nikos Kyrpides
doi:10.1038/nature01582
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,654K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Parkhill & Berry
An expressed pseudogene regulates the messenger-RNA stability of its homologous coding gene p91
Shinji Hirotsune, Noriyuki Yoshida, Amy Chen, Lisa Garrett, Fumihiro Sugiyama, Satoru Takahashi, Ken-ichi Yagami, Anthony Wynshaw-Boris and Atsushi Yoshiki
doi:10.1038/nature01535
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (838K)
See also: News and Views by Lee
Naturejobs
ProspectsSeeking out the élite p97
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj6935-097a
POSTDOCS
Getting organized p98
Postdoctoral associations on both sides of the Atlantic are mobilizing to tackle long-standing problems and smooth the path through this transitional phase in a scientist's career. Sally Goodman and Karen Kreeger report.
Sally Goodman and Karen Kreeger
doi:10.1038/nj6935-098a