Table of contents
Volume 434 Number 7033 pp545-680
In this issue (31 March 2005)
Also this week
Editorials
Drug safety on trial p545
The current US system for checking the safety of drugs already on the market is toothless. Why isn't the government doing more to strengthen it?
doi:10.1038/434545a
A state of ignorance p545
Severe brain damage attracts little research attention, yet science could help inform the decisions of doctors and families.
doi:10.1038/434545b
News
Millennium group nails down the financial value of ecosystems p547
Governments need to stop taking environmental benefits for granted, report says.
Jim Giles
doi:10.1038/434547a
Indonesia spared tsunami as disaster quake strikes p547
Seismologists say fault line was likely to slip, but puzzle over lack of waves.
Michael Hopkin
doi:10.1038/434547b
Stray seeds had antibiotic-resistance genes p548
Accidental release of genetically modified crops sparks new worries.
Colin Macilwain
doi:10.1038/434548a
Deal paves way for Congress vote on stem-cell rules p548
US restrictions on human embryonic research may loosen.
Erika Check
doi:10.1038/434548b
Journals lack explicit policies for separating eds from ads p549
Ethics committee suggests rules for internal conflicts of interest.
Jim Giles
doi:10.1038/434549a
WWF warns that China's forests are not out of the woods p549
Incentives to restore tree cover are harming environment, report says.
Rachael Williams
doi:10.1038/434549b
Biologists snub 'kangaroo court' for Darwin p550
Kansas scientists protest revisions to how evolution is taught.
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/434550a
Viennese lab renovations stall as cash goes unspent p550
Ethology institute hamstrung as half the annual budget is returned.
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/434550b
Space agencies mull over mutual mission to Europa p551
US and Europe could join forces to reach Jupiter's moon.
Tony Reichhardt
doi:10.1038/434551a
Political aide sails into top job at maritime institute p551
Finance adviser winds up in science slot after scandal.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/434551b
News Features
Drug safety special: The safety catch p554
The past year has seen a beleaguered Food and Drug Administration publicly denounced as unable to protect the US public. As the political pressure mounts, Meredith Wadman joins the agency's hunt for a remedy to its ills.
doi:10.1038/434554a
Drug safety special: Chasing shadows p557
Why do current safety systems sometimes fail to notice that approved drugs are causing serious adverse effects? And can surveillance methods be improved? Simon Frantz investigates.
doi:10.1038/434557a
Correspondence
Time to speak up for climate-change science p559
If debate is left to greens and sceptics, people think the evidence is equal on each side.
doi:10.1038/434559a
We Africans must take our future in our hands p559
Justin Hategekimana
doi:10.1038/434559b
Driving passion brought rare bird to the masses p559
Rupert C. Marshall and Helen E. Nice
doi:10.1038/434559c
Authors say that they prefer online submission p559
Mark Ware
doi:10.1038/434559d
Commentary
Confronting the human dilemma p561
How can ecosystems provide sustainable services to benefit society?
doi:10.1038/434561a
See also: Editor's summary
Books and Arts
Words of wisdom p563
A scholarly selection of scientific soundbites and sayings.
Steven Shapin reviews Oxford Dictionary of Scientific Quotations
doi:10.1038/434563a
A natural history of India p564
Deepak Apte reviews Inventing Global Ecology: Tracking the Biodiversity Ideal in India, 1947–1997 by Michael L. Lewis
doi:10.1038/434564a
Science in culture p565
Thomas Heatherwick's sculpture for the Wellcome Trust's new building in London.
Martin Kemp reviews
doi:10.1038/434565a
Erratum p565
doi:10.1038/434565b
Essay
ConceptThe Janus face of Mnemosyne p567
Memory: some systems in the brain may be better equipped to handle the future than the past.
Yadin Dudai and Mary Carruthers
doi:10.1038/434567a
News and Views
Structural biology: DNA search and rescue p569
How do DNA-repair enzymes find aberrant nucleotides among the myriad of normal ones? One enzyme has been caught in the act of checking for damage, providing clues to its quality-control process.
Sheila S. David
doi:10.1038/434569a
See also: Editor's summary
Techniques: Spectroscopy at a stretch p570
Two-dimensional spectroscopy can now be done using visible light. This allows the electronic couplings between energy levels to be measured directly and sheds new light on how molecules function in photosynthesis.
Robin M. Hochstrasser
doi:10.1038/434570a
Evolutionary biology: Why sex is good p571
According to a proposal put forward many years ago, sexual reproduction makes natural selection more effective because it increases genetic variation. Experiments now verify that idea — at least in yeast.
Rolf F. Hoekstra
doi:10.1038/434571a
See also: Editor's summary
Aceh–Andaman earthquake: What happened and what's next? p573
The huge earthquake of 26 December 2004 and ensuing tsunami were caused by a submarine rupture running from offshore Aceh, Indonesia, to the Andaman Islands. A clearer picture of events is starting to emerge.
Kerry Sieh
doi:10.1038/434573a
100 and 50 years ago p573
doi:10.1038/434573b
Cell biology: The more MAD, the merrier p575
Cells must pass the correct number of chromosomes to their progeny through the complex ballet of cell division. An unusual conformation-sensitive switch seems to maintain accurate chromosome segregation.
Robert S. Hagan and Peter K. Sorger
doi:10.1038/434575a
Cosmochemistry: A breath of solar air p577
The abundance of different isotopes of oxygen provides clues to the origin of matter in the Solar System. Hence the importance of studies of oxygen atoms from the Sun trapped in metal grains on the Moon.
Andrew M. Davis
doi:10.1038/434577a
See also: Editor's summary
Biochemistry: A pore way to die p578
Like Jekyll to Hyde, mitochondria can change from acting as the cell's powerhouses to become merciless killers. Mice lacking this mechanism develop normally, and their hearts are resistant to pathological damage.
Andrew Halestrap
doi:10.1038/434578a
Brief Communications
Seismology: Speed and size of the Sumatra earthquake p581
We now have a clearer picture of the seismic features of last year's gigantic event.
Seth Stein and Emile A. Okal
doi:10.1038/434581a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (640K)
See also: News and Views by Sieh
Seismology: Energy radiation from the Sumatra earthquake p582
Sidao Ni, Hiroo Kanamori and Don Helmberger
doi:10.1038/434582a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (567K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Sieh
Review
Chromatin remodelling and epigenetic features of germ cells p583
Sarah Kimmins and Paolo Sassone-Corsi
doi:10.1038/nature03368
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (451K)
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
An olivine-free mantle source of Hawaiian shield basalts p590
Alexander V. Sobolev, Albrecht W. Hofmann, Stephan V. Sobolev and Igor K. Nikogosian
doi:10.1038/nature03411
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (689K) | Supplementary information
CDK-dependent phosphorylation of BRCA2 as a regulatory mechanism for recombinational repair p598
Fumiko Esashi, Nicole Christ, Julian Gannon, Yilun Liu, Tim Hunt, Maria Jasin and Stephen C. West
doi:10.1038/nature03404
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (522K)
See also: Editor's summary
Conserved modes of recruitment of ATM, ATR and DNA-PKcs to sites of DNA damage p605
Jacob Falck, Julia Coates and Stephen P. Jackson
doi:10.1038/nature03442
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (483K) | Supplementary information
Structure of a repair enzyme interrogating undamaged DNA elucidates recognition of damaged DNA p612
Anirban Banerjee, Wei Yang, Martin Karplus and Gregory L. Verdine
doi:10.1038/nature03458
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (452K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by David
Letters to Nature
A non-terrestrial 16O-rich isotopic composition for the protosolar nebula p619
Ko Hashizume and Marc Chaussidon
doi:10.1038/nature03432
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (530K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Davis
Unconventional superconductivity in PuCoGa5 p622
N. J. Curro, T. Caldwell, E. D. Bauer, L. A. Morales, M. J. Graf, Y. Bang, A. V. Balatsky, J. D. Thompson and J. L. Sarrao
doi:10.1038/nature03428
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (475K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Two-dimensional spectroscopy of electronic couplings in photosynthesis p625
Tobias Brixner, Jens Stenger, Harsha M. Vaswani, Minhaeng Cho, Robert E. Blankenship and Graham R. Fleming
doi:10.1038/nature03429
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (289K)
See also: News and Views by Hochstrasser
Decline of the marine ecosystem caused by a reduction in the Atlantic overturning circulation p628
Andreas Schmittner
doi:10.1038/nature03476
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (796K)
See also: Editor's summary
Structural and temporal requirements for geomagnetic field reversal deduced from lava flows p633
Brad S. Singer, Kenneth A. Hoffman, Robert S. Coe, Laurie L. Brown, Brian R. Jicha, Malcolm S. Pringle and Annick Chauvin
doi:10.1038/nature03431
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (471K) | Supplementary information
Sex increases the efficacy of natural selection in experimental yeast populations p636
Matthew R. Goddard, H. Charles J. Godfray and Austin Burt
doi:10.1038/nature03405
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (797K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Hoekstra
Functional consequences of a CKI
mutation causing familial advanced sleep phase syndrome p640
Ying Xu,
Quasar S. Padiath,
Robert E. Shapiro,
Christopher R. Jones,
Susan C. Wu,
Noriko Saigoh,
Kazumasa Saigoh,
Louis J. Ptá
ek
and
Ying-Hui Fu
doi:10.1038/nature03453
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (323K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Deletion of active ADAMTS5 prevents cartilage degradation in a murine model of osteoarthritis p644
Sonya S. Glasson, Roger Askew, Barbara Sheppard, Brenda Carito, Tracey Blanchet, Hak-Ling Ma, Carl R. Flannery, Diane Peluso, Kim Kanki, Zhiyong Yang, Manas K. Majumdar and Elisabeth A. Morris
doi:10.1038/nature03369
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (322K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
ADAMTS5 is the major aggrecanase in mouse cartilage in vivo and in vitro p648
Heather Stanton, Fraser M. Rogerson, Charlotte J. East, Suzanne B. Golub, Kate E. Lawlor, Clare T. Meeker, Christopher B. Little, Karena Last, Pamela J. Farmer, Ian K. Campbell, Anne M. Fourie and Amanda J. Fosang
doi:10.1038/nature03417
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (364K)
See also: Editor's summary
Cyclophilin D-dependent mitochondrial permeability transition regulates some necrotic but not apoptotic cell death p652
Takashi Nakagawa, Shigeomi Shimizu, Tetsuya Watanabe, Osamu Yamaguchi, Kinya Otsu, Hirotaka Yamagata, Hidenori Inohara, Takeshi Kubo and Yoshihide Tsujimoto
doi:10.1038/nature03317
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (625K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Halestrap
Loss of cyclophilin D reveals a critical role for mitochondrial permeability transition in cell death p658
Christopher P. Baines, Robert A. Kaiser, Nicole H. Purcell, N. Scott Blair, Hanna Osinska, Michael A. Hambleton, Eric W. Brunskill, M. Richard Sayen, Roberta A. Gottlieb, Gerald W. Dorn, II, Jeffrey Robbins and Jeffery D. Molkentin
doi:10.1038/nature03434
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (694K) | Supplementary information
Structural insights into mRNA recognition from a PIWI domain–siRNA guide complex p663
James S. Parker, S. Mark Roe and David Barford
doi:10.1038/nature03462
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (447K) | Supplementary information
Structural basis for 5'-end-specific recognition of guide RNA by the A. fulgidus Piwi protein p666
Jin-Biao Ma, Yu-Ren Yuan, Gunter Meister, Yi Pei, Thomas Tuschl and Dinshaw J. Patel
doi:10.1038/nature03514
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (549K) | Supplementary information
Friction and torque govern the relaxation of DNA supercoils by eukaryotic topoisomerase IB p671
Daniel A. Koster, Vincent Croquette, Cees Dekker, Stewart Shuman and Nynke H. Dekker
doi:10.1038/nature03395
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (304K)
See also: Editor's summary
Naturejobs
ProspectsSizing up the odds p675
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7033-675a
Regions
Ontario p676
Messages from MaRS
Hannah Hoag
doi:10.1038/nj7033-676a
Career View
Graduate Journal: International aid to pay the rent p678
Karolina Tkaczuk
doi:10.1038/nj7033-678a
Recruiters & Industry p678
Roger Bezdek and Robert Wendling
doi:10.1038/nj7033-678b
Movers p678
doi:10.1038/nj7033-678c