Table of contents
Volume 431 Number 7006 pp229-384
Editorials
Better to be talked about... p229
The prominence of embryonic stem cells as a key issue in the US presidential election campaign is, at best, a mixed blessing for science.
doi:10.1038/431229a
How to interfere with RNA p229
Using RNA to manipulate gene expression is a powerful experimental tool, but can lead researchers astray.
doi:10.1038/431229b
News
Security restrictions lead foreign students to snub US universities p231
Admissions down by as much as a third.
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/431231a
Congress may force drug firms to reveal clinical trial data p232
Lawmakers push for easier access to medical information.
Erika Check
doi:10.1038/431232a
Critics slate ethical leeway in California stem-cell proposal p232
A $3-billion pot of funding could create moral dilemmas.
Jonathan Knight
doi:10.1038/431232b
Plan to cull aquarium tuna dead in the water p233
Fish cause trouble in the tank by harassing sharks, say staff.
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/431233a
Rule change set to cost Britain Framework cash p233
UK researchers face loss of millions in European funding.
Jim Giles
doi:10.1038/431233b
Repeal of embryo law urged after child's cure p234
Italian health minister's gaffe provokes call for resignation.
Federica Castellani
doi:10.1038/431234a
NASA probes Genesis wreck in bid to salvage data p234
Crashed mission to capture solar wind may yet yield some science.
Nicola Jones
doi:10.1038/431234b
Ecologists mount protest over lofty plans for Alpine ski runs p235
Climate change drives ski resorts into higher wilderness areas.
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/431235a
Burnt books get cold shoulder in restoration effort p235
Library gets freezer treatment after being ravaged by fire.
Karoline Schwarzberg
doi:10.1038/431235b
News Feature
Head to head p238
The party conventions are over, and the candidates have been anointed. Now it's a straight race to the tape between President George W. Bush and his challenger John Kerry. Nature asked them where they stand on science.
doi:10.1038/431238a
Correspondence
Crick and Darwin's shared publication in Nature p244
A humble cockle and the family link between two minds that explored the origins of life.
Matt Ridley
doi:10.1038/431244a
It's the science that's a disaster in the movies ... p244
Keay Davidson
doi:10.1038/431244b
... yet even flawed films raise interest in research p244
J. Justin Gooding and Katharina Gaus
doi:10.1038/431244c
Books and Arts
Economic interests p245
Do strangers cooperate when they have to work together?
Herbert Gintis reviews The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life by Paul Seabright
doi:10.1038/431245a
Hidden history p246
Benno Müller-Hill reviews Adolf Butenandt und die Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gesellschaft: Wissenschaft, Industrie und Politik im "Dritten Reich"
doi:10.1038/431246a
Science in culture p247
A documentary film reveals the great surrealist's passion for science.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/431247a
Defeating dementia p247
George M. Martin reviews New Frontiers in Cognitive Aging
doi:10.1038/431247b
Back to the walls p248
Clive Gamble reviews The Urban Cliff Revolution: New Findings on the Origins and Evolution of Human Habitats by Douglas Larson, Uta Matthes, Peter E. Kelly, Jeremy Lundholm and John Gerrath
doi:10.1038/431248b
Essay
Turning pointsEnter transfer RNA p249
Theory and experiment meet to find the key adaptor for gene translation.
Mahlon Hoagland
doi:10.1038/431249a
News and Views
Nanophysics: Carbon nanotubes tune up p251
Electromechanical resonators are components in many technologies. A nanometre-size version — a resonating carbon nanotube — has now been created that can be tuned over a range of frequencies.
A. N. Cleland
doi:10.1038/431251a
Cell biology: Myosins meet microtubules p252
A central part of the machinery of cell division is the spindle. The creation and operation of this structure seem to require a component of the cell's infrastructure not previously associated with it.
Margaret A. Titus
doi:10.1038/431252a
Geochemistry: The clock's second hand p253
The relative abundances of magnesium isotopes in the Allende meteorite reveal the precise chronology of the early Solar System — a geochemical second hand on the clock of creation.
Alex Halliday
doi:10.1038/431253a
100 and 50 years ago p254
doi:10.1038/431254a
Evolution: Affinity for arrow worms p254
The origins of the arrow worms have long been obscure, but molecular studies are finally bringing the true evolutionary position of these beautiful marine predators into sharper focus.
Maximilian J. Telford
doi:10.1038/431254b
Physical chemistry: Quantum mechanics for plants p256
To what extent do photosynthetic organisms use quantum mechanics to optimize the capture and distribution of light? Answers are emerging from the examination of energy transfer at the submolecular scale.
Graham R. Fleming and Gregory D. Scholes
doi:10.1038/431256a
Molecular biology: Genetic code seizes pyrrolysine p257
Identification of the enzyme that mediates insertion of a rare amino acid, pyrrolysine, into protein solves a puzzle and expands the rules of the genetic code established nearly half a century ago.
Paul Schimmel and Kirk Beebe
doi:10.1038/431257a
Brief Communications
Evolutionary biology: Adaptive developmental plasticity in snakes p261
Genes and environment stretch snake jaws to meet the demands of prey size.
Fabien Aubret, Richard Shine and Xavier Bonnet
doi:10.1038/431261a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (309K)
Ecology: Ultraviolet reflectance by the skin of nestlings p262
Violaine Jourdie, Benoît Moureau, Andrew T. D. Bennett and Philipp Heeb
doi:10.1038/431262a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (176K) | Supplementary information
Articles
Pliocene eclogite exhumation at plate tectonic rates in eastern Papua New Guinea p263
Suzanne L. Baldwin, Brian D. Monteleone, Laura E. Webb, Paul G. Fitzgerald, Marty Grove and E. June Hill
doi:10.1038/nature02846
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (714K) | Supplementary information
The DNA sequence and comparative analysis of human chromosome 5 p268
Jeremy Schmutz, Joel Martin, Astrid Terry, Olivier Couronne, Jane Grimwood, Steve Lowry, Laurie A. Gordon, Duncan Scott, Gary Xie, Wayne Huang, Uffe Hellsten, Mary Tran-Gyamfi, Xinwei She, Shyam Prabhakar, Andrea Aerts, Michael Altherr, Eva Bajorek, Stacey Black, Elbert Branscomb, Chenier Caoile, Jean F. Challacombe, Yee Man Chan, Mirian Denys, John C. Detter, Julio Escobar, Dave Flowers, Dea Fotopulos, Tijana Glavina, Maria Gomez, Eidelyn Gonzales, David Goodstein, Igor Grigoriev, Matthew Groza, Nancy Hammon, Trevor Hawkins, Lauren Haydu, Sanjay Israni, Jamie Jett, Kristen Kadner, Heather Kimball, Arthur Kobayashi, Frederick Lopez, Yunian Lou, Diego Martinez, Catherine Medina, Jenna Morgan, Richard Nandkeshwar, James P. Noonan, Sam Pitluck, Martin Pollard, Paul Predki, James Priest, Lucia Ramirez, James Retterer, Alex Rodriguez, Stephanie Rogers, Asaf Salamov, Angelica Salazar, Nina Thayer, Hope Tice, Ming Tsai, Anna Ustaszewska, Nu Vo, Jeremy Wheeler, Kevin Wu, Joan Yang, Mark Dickson, Jan-Fang Cheng, Evan E. Eichler, Anne Olsen, Len A. Pennacchio, Daniel S. Rokhsar, Paul Richardson, Susan M. Lucas, Richard M. Myers and Edward M. Rubin
doi:10.1038/nature02919
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (598K) | Supplementary information
Letters to Nature
Mg isotope evidence for contemporaneous formation of chondrules and refractory inclusions p275
Martin Bizzarro, Joel A. Baker and Henning Haack
doi:10.1038/nature02882
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (269K) | Supplementary information
Exceptional astronomical seeing conditions above Dome C in Antarctica p278
Jon S. Lawrence, Michael C. B. Ashley, Andrei Tokovinin and Tony Travouillon
doi:10.1038/nature02929
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (512K)
Magnetic trapping of rare-earth atoms at millikelvin temperatures p281
Cindy I. Hancox, S. Charles Doret, Matthew T. Hummon, Linjiao Luo and John M. Doyle
doi:10.1038/nature02938
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (268K)
A tunable carbon nanotube electromechanical oscillator p284
Vera Sazonova, Yuval Yaish, Hande Üstünel, David Roundy, Tomás A. Arias and Paul L. McEuen
doi:10.1038/nature02905
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (269K)
Supramolecular self-assembled molecules as organic directing agent for synthesis of zeolites p287
Avelino Corma, Fernando Rey, Jordi Rius, Maria J. Sabater and Susana Valencia
doi:10.1038/nature02909
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (202K) | Supplementary information
Anaerobic hydrocarbon biodegradation in deep subsurface oil reservoirs p291
Carolyn M. Aitken, D. M. Jones and S. R. Larter
doi:10.1038/nature02922
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (221K) | Supplementary information
Complex organic chemical balms of Pharaonic animal mummies p294
Stephen A. Buckley, Katherine A. Clark and Richard P. Evershed
doi:10.1038/nature02849
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (431K)
Early brain growth in Homo erectus and implications for cognitive ability p299
H. Coqueugniot, J.-J. Hublin, F. Veillon, F. Houët and T. Jacob
doi:10.1038/nature02852
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (286K) | Supplementary information
Genetic evidence supports demic diffusion of Han culture p302
Bo Wen, Hui Li, Daru Lu, Xiufeng Song, Feng Zhang, Yungang He, Feng Li, Yang Gao, Xianyun Mao, Liang Zhang, Ji Qian, Jingze Tan, Jianzhong Jin, Wei Huang, Ranjan Deka, Bing Su, Ranajit Chakraborty and Li Jin
doi:10.1038/nature02878
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (539K) | Supplementary information
Post-mating clutch piracy in an amphibian p305
David R. Vieites, Sandra Nieto-Román, Marta Barluenga, Antonio Palanca, Miguel Vences and Axel Meyer
doi:10.1038/nature02879
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (207K) | Supplementary information
Genomic analysis of regulatory network dynamics reveals large topological changes p308
Nicholas M. Luscombe, M. Madan Babu, Haiyuan Yu, Michael Snyder, Sarah A. Teichmann and Mark Gerstein
doi:10.1038/nature02782
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (404K) | Supplementary information
Long-lasting self-inhibition of neocortical interneurons mediated by endocannabinoids p312
Alberto Bacci, John R. Huguenard and David A. Prince
doi:10.1038/nature02913
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (954K) | Supplementary information
Conserved mechanisms of glucose sensing and regulation by Drosophila corpora cardiaca cells p316
Seung K. Kim and Eric J. Rulifson
doi:10.1038/nature02897
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (255K) | Supplementary information
Spermatid differentiation requires the assembly of a cell polarity complex downstream of junctional adhesion molecule-C p320
Georgia Gliki, Klaus Ebnet, Michel Aurrand-Lions, Beat A. Imhof and Ralf H. Adams
doi:10.1038/nature02877
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (429K) | Supplementary information
A microtubule-binding myosin required for nuclear anchoring and spindle assembly p325
Kari L. Weber, Anna M. Sokac, Jonathan S. Berg, Richard E. Cheney and William M. Bement
doi:10.1038/nature02834
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (361K) | Supplementary information
Pilus chaperones represent a new type of protein-folding catalyst p329
Michael Vetsch, Chasper Puorger, Thomas Spirig, Ulla Grauschopf, Eilika U. Weber-Ban and Rudi Glockshuber
doi:10.1038/nature02891
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (295K) | Supplementary information
Direct charging of tRNACUA with pyrrolysine in vitro and in vivo p333
Sherry K. Blight, Ross C. Larue, Anirban Mahapatra, David G. Longstaff, Edward Chang, Gang Zhao, Patrick T. Kang, Kari B. Green-Church, Michael K. Chan and Joseph A. Krzycki
doi:10.1038/nature02895
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (143K) | Supplementary information
insight
introductionRNA interference p337
Alex Eccleston and Angela K Eggleston
doi:10.1038/431337a
Revealing the world of RNA interference p338
Craig C. Mello and Darryl Conte, Jr
doi:10.1038/nature02872
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (333K)
review article
Mechanisms of gene silencing by double-stranded RNA p343
Gunter Meister and Thomas Tuschl
doi:10.1038/nature02873
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (446K)
The functions of animal microRNAs p350
Victor Ambros
doi:10.1038/nature02871
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (236K)
RNA silencing in plants p356
David Baulcombe
doi:10.1038/nature02874
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (471K)
The role of RNA interference in heterochromatic silencing p364
Zachary Lippman and Rob Martienssen
doi:10.1038/nature02875
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (224K)
Unlocking the potential of the human genome with RNA interference p371
Gregory J. Hannon and John J. Rossi
doi:10.1038/nature02870
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (399K)
Naturejobs
ProspectsLooking for a fast track p381
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7006-381a
Special Report
The changing length of PhDs p382
Four years has become the magic number for many graduate programmes in the United States and Europe. Eugene Russo explains the logic behind the maths.
Eugene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7006-382a
Career View
Graduate Journal: Tunnel vision p384
Amber Jenkins
doi:10.1038/nj7006-384a
Recruiters & Industry p384
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7006-384b
Movers p384
doi:10.1038/nj7006-384c