Table of contents

Editorial

Don't rely on Uncle Sam p807

European regulators should pursue their own investigation into how the 'wrong' genetically modified corn was allowed on the market for years. Unfortunately, their US equivalents show little sign of rising to the challenge.

doi:10.1038/434807a

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News

Divergent local laws threaten to stifle Europe's stem-cell project p809

Germans and Italians placed in legal quagmire

Quirin Schiermeier

doi:10.1038/434809a

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US health officials rally behind bid to relax rules on embryo research p809

NIH backs plea by scientists for access to more cells.

Erika Check

doi:10.1038/434809b

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Law change imperils studies of ancient human remains p810

Anthropologists horrified as US bill gains momentum

Rex Dalton

doi:10.1038/434810b

Vaccination will work better than culling, say bird flu experts p810

Control strategy changes tack, now H5N1 virus is endemic

Declan Butler

doi:10.1038/4344810a

Shuttle reports for duty...despite the risks p811

Launches to resume, two years after disaster

Tony Reichhardt

doi:10.1038/434811a

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Ideas abound as Japan aims to boost its space image p811

But critics claim 20-year plan lacks focus

Ichiko Fuyuno

doi:10.1038/434811b

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Health study sets sights on a million people p812

Huge Asian project to track genes, lifestyle and health

David Cyranoski and Rachael Williams

doi:10.1038/434812a

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Gene therapists urged to learn more immunology p812

Troubled field can bounce back, if practitioners make changes

Erika Check

doi:10.1038/434812b

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Palestinian unease sparks fresh calls for Israeli boycott p813

Dissenters fear that research ties legitamize occupation

Jim Giles

doi:10.1038/434813a

War of words deepens divide over biodefence funds p813

Microbiologists and research chiefs clash again

Emma Marris

doi:10.1038/434813b

news in brief p814

doi:10.1038/434814a

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News Features

Climate science: The dustiest place on Earth p816

Dust clouds can cool the Earth and halt hurricanes. But the world's biggest dust source was until recently a war zone. Jim Giles joins one of the few research teams to make the trip.

doi:10.1038/434816a

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See also: Editor's summary

Physics and the public: Science as illusion p820

When a magician uses science to present his tricks, the effects are seductive. Alison Abbott takes a masterclass in sorcery.

doi:10.1038/434820a

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Correspondence

Influenza drug could abort a pandemic p821

It should be taken, not pre-emptively, but after infection is revealed by a rapid flu test.

Graeme Laver

doi:10.1038/434821a

Changes in China call for new health solutions p821

Yonghong Li

doi:10.1038/434821b

NIH conflicts rules are not right for universities p821

David Korn and Susan H. Ehringhaus

doi:10.1038/434821c

Books and Arts

Touching memories p823

A reminder of the joy and sorrow of reminiscence.

Yadin Dudai reviews Why Life Speeds Up As You Get Older: How Memory Shapes Our Past by Douwe Draaisma

doi:10.1038/434823a

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Down to business p824

Graham Richards reviews University, Inc: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education by Jennifer Washburn

doi:10.1038/434824a

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Exhibition: Passing thoughts p824

doi:10.1038/434824b

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Politics and history through the mill p825

Robert Tripp reviews Maize and Grace: Africa's Encounter with a New World Crop 1500–2000 by James C. McCann

doi:10.1038/434825a

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Essay

Turning points

Flight of fancy p827

How an 'eccentric' line of research proved its worth.

Carol Robinson

doi:10.1038/434827a

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News and Views

Medicine: Aborting the birth of cancer p829

Can cells sense and stop uncontrolled division driven by cancer-promoting stimuli? Perhaps so, given evidence that aberrant division can trigger the cellular response to DNA damage — blocking growth — at early stages in human cancer.

Ashok R. Venkitaraman

doi:10.1038/434829a

Full Text | PDF (149K)

See also: Editor's summary

Climate change: Water cycle shifts gear p830

Various studies indicate that the hydrological cycle is speeding up at high northern latitudes. The resulting increase in freshwater flow into the Arctic Ocean is predicted to have long-range effects.

Thomas F. Stocker and Christoph C. Raible

doi:10.1038/434830a

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Evolution: Warm-hearted crocs p833

Our ideas about how crocodiles evolved have just taken a battering. It seems that these cold-blooded creatures, with their limited capacity for prolonged activity, might have had active, warm-blooded ancestors.

Adam P. Summers

doi:10.1038/434833a

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Geophysics: Double-crossed again p834

An idea that a mineral phase transition may occur not once, but twice, close to the core–mantle boundary has been tested with seismic data. The resulting picture of the deep Earth is sure to provoke debate.

Michael E. Wysession and Viatcheslav S. Solomatov

doi:10.1038/434834a

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Neurobiology: Channels for pathfinding p835

TRP channels are best known for their role in sensory systems: detecting heat and cold, taste, pain and so on. Unexpectedly, they have also been shown to help the growing axons of nerve cells find their way.

Timothy Gomez

doi:10.1038/434835a

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100 and 50 years ago p837

doi:10.1038/434837a

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Astrophysics: Two's company p838

The matter from which the first stars formed was that left behind by the Big Bang. Stars containing extremely small amounts of heavy elements such as iron provide clues to the chemical composition of this matter.

Roger Cayrel

doi:10.1038/434838a

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See also: Editor's summary

research highlights p839

doi:10.1038/434839a

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Brief Communications

Greenhouse gases: Low methane leakage from gas pipelines p841

A switch from coal or oil to natural gas could mitigate climate effects in the short term.

J. Lelieveld, S. Lechtenböhmer, S. S. Assonov, C. A. M. Brenninkmeijer, C. Dienst, M. Fischedick and T. Hanke

doi:10.1038/434841a

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (226K) | Supplementary information

Planetary science: Constant illumination at the lunar north pole p842

D. Ben J. Bussey, Kirsten E. Fristad, Paul M. Schenk, Mark S. Robinson and Paul D. Spudis

doi:10.1038/434842a

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (152K)

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Review

Wnt signalling in stem cells and cancer p843

Tannishtha Reya and Hans Clevers

doi:10.1038/nature03319

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (4,291K)

Articles

Lead isotopes reveal bilateral asymmetry and vertical continuity in the Hawaiian mantle plume p851

W. Abouchami, A. W. Hofmann, S. J. G. Galer, F. A. Frey, J. Eisele and M. Feigenson

doi:10.1038/nature03402

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (318K) | Supplementary information

A common sex-dependent mutation in a RET enhancer underlies Hirschsprung disease risk p857

Eileen Sproat Emison, Andrew S. McCallion, Carl S. Kashuk, Richard T. Bush, Elizabeth Grice, Shin Lin, Matthew E. Portnoy, David J. Cutler, Eric D. Green and Aravinda Chakravarti

doi:10.1038/nature03467

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (421K) | Supplementary information

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DNA damage response as a candidate anti-cancer barrier in early human tumorigenesis p864

Jirina Bartkova, Zuzana Ho r caron ej s caron í, Karen Koed, Alwin Krämer, Frederic Tort, Karsten Zieger, Per Guldberg, Maxwell Sehested, Jahn M. Nesland, Claudia Lukas, Torben Ørntoft, Jiri Lukas and Jiri Bartek

doi:10.1038/nature03482

Abstract | Full Text | PDF (488K) | Supplementary information

Letters to Nature

Nucleosynthetic signatures of the first stars p871

Anna Frebel, Wako Aoki, Norbert Christlieb, Hiroyasu Ando, Martin Asplund, Paul S. Barklem, Timothy C. Beers, Kjell Eriksson, Cora Fechner, Masayuki Y. Fujimoto, Satoshi Honda, Toshitaka Kajino, Takeo Minezaki, Ken'ichi Nomoto, John E. Norris, Sean G. Ryan, Masahide Takada-Hidai, Stelios Tsangarides and Yuzuru Yoshii

doi:10.1038/nature03455

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (182K)

Planet–planet scattering in the upsilon Andromedae system p873

Eric B. Ford, Verene Lystad and Frederic A. Rasio

doi:10.1038/nature03427

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (313K) | Supplementary information

See also: Editor's summary

Sensitivity gains in chemosensing by lasing action in organic polymers p876

Aimée Rose, Zhengguo Zhu, Conor F. Madigan, Timothy M. Swager and Vladimir Bulovi c acute

doi:10.1038/nature03438

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (663K) | Supplementary information

Light-induced shape-memory polymers p879

Andreas Lendlein, Hongyan Jiang, Oliver Jünger and Robert Langer

doi:10.1038/nature03496

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (290K) | Supplementary information

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A doubling of the post-perovskite phase boundary and structure of the Earth's lowermost mantle p882

John W. Hernlund, Christine Thomas and Paul J. Tackley

doi:10.1038/nature03472

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (386K)

Permian tetrapods from the Sahara show climate-controlled endemism in Pangaea p886

Christian A. Sidor, F. Robin O'Keefe, Ross Damiani, J. Sébastien Steyer, Roger M. H. Smith, Hans C. E. Larsson, Paul C. Sereno, Oumarou Ide and Abdoulaye Maga

doi:10.1038/nature03393

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (352K) | Supplementary information

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Hair cell synaptic ribbons are essential for synchronous auditory signalling p889

Darina Khimich, Régis Nouvian, Rémy Pujol, Susanne tom Dieck, Alexander Egner, Eckart D. Gundelfinger and Tobias Moser

doi:10.1038/nature03418

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (318K) | Supplementary information

Essential role of TRPC channels in the guidance of nerve growth cones by brain-derived neurotrophic factor p894

Yan Li, Yi-Chang Jia, Kai Cui, Ning Li, Zai-Yu Zheng, Yi-zheng Wang and Xiao-bing Yuan

doi:10.1038/nature03477

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (380K) | Supplementary information

Requirement of TRPC channels in netrin-1-induced chemotropic turning of nerve growth cones p898

Gordon X. Wang and Mu-ming Poo

doi:10.1038/nature03478

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (583K) | Supplementary information

Sheep retrovirus structural protein induces lung tumours p904

Sarah K. Wootton, Christine L. Halbert and A. Dusty Miller

doi:10.1038/nature03492

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (698K)

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Activation of the DNA damage checkpoint and genomic instability in human precancerous lesions p907

Vassilis G. Gorgoulis, Leandros-Vassilios F. Vassiliou, Panagiotis Karakaidos, Panayotis Zacharatos, Athanassios Kotsinas, Triantafillos Liloglou, Monica Venere, Richard A. DiTullio, Jr, Nikolaos G. Kastrinakis, Brynn Levy, Dimitris Kletsas, Akihiro Yoneta, Meenhard Herlyn, Christos Kittas and Thanos D. Halazonetis

doi:10.1038/nature03485

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (502K) | Supplementary information

Specific killing of BRCA2-deficient tumours with inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase p913

Helen E. Bryant, Niklas Schultz, Huw D. Thomas, Kayan M. Parker, Dan Flower, Elena Lopez, Suzanne Kyle, Mark Meuth, Nicola J. Curtin and Thomas Helleday

doi:10.1038/nature03443

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (304K) | Supplementary information

Targeting the DNA repair defect in BRCA mutant cells as a therapeutic strategy p917

Hannah Farmer, Nuala McCabe, Christopher J. Lord, Andrew N. J. Tutt, Damian A. Johnson, Tobias B. Richardson, Manuela Santarosa, Krystyna J. Dillon, Ian Hickson, Charlotte Knights, Niall M. B. Martin, Stephen P. Jackson, Graeme C. M. Smith and Alan Ashworth

doi:10.1038/nature03445

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (649K) | Supplementary information

Transcriptional regulation of a metastasis suppressor gene by Tip60 and -catenin complexes p921

Jung Hwa Kim, Bogyou Kim, Ling Cai, Hee June Choi, Kenneth A. Ohgi, Chris Tran, Charlie Chen, Chin Ha Chung, Otmar Huber, David W. Rose, Charles L. Sawyers, Michael G. Rosenfeld and Sung Hee Baek

doi:10.1038/nature03452

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (612K) | Supplementary information

Structure of the apoptotic protease-activating factor 1 bound to ADP p926

Stefan J. Riedl, Wenyu Li, Yang Chao, Robert Schwarzenbacher and Yigong Shi

doi:10.1038/nature03465

First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (595K) | Supplementary information

Naturejobs

Prospects

Out in the cold p935

Paul Smaglik

doi:10.1038/nj7035-935a

Full Text | PDF (120K)

Careers and Recruitment

High-energy career lines p936

As supplies of fossil fuels dwindle, the world is searching for alternative energy supplies. Materials scientists are in demand, says Virgina Gewin, but there are jobs in many areas.

Virginia Gewin

doi:10.1038/nj7035-936a

Full Text | PDF (300K)

Career View

Graduate Journal: Home truths p938

Karolina Tkaczuk

doi:10.1038/nj7035-938a

Recruiters & Industry p938

Paul Smaglik

doi:10.1038/nj7035-938b

Movers p938

doi:10.1038/nj7035-938c