Table of contents
Volume 439 Number 7073 ppix-242
In this issue (12 January 2006)
Also this week
Authors
Making the paper pix
Plotting a course through the ethical minefield of stem cells.
Rudolph Jaenisch
doi:10.1038/7073ixa
Abstractions pix
doi:10.1038/7073ixb
Quantified: Costa Rica pix
doi:10.1038/7073ixc
Editorials
Ethics and fraud p117
The trajectory of the Hwang scandal highlights the shortness of the path between unethical behaviour and outright misconduct.
doi:10.1038/439117a
Three cheers for peers p118
Thanks are due to researchers who act as referees, as editors resolve their often contradictory advice.
doi:10.1038/439118a
News
Verdict: Hwang's human stem cells were all fakes p122
Korean scientist did not clone a human embryo but did clone a dog.
David Cyranoski
doi:10.1038/439122a
French research chief quits over reforms p122
Plans for restructured agency prompt resignation.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/439122b
Yes, but will it jump? p124
Experts divided on whether H5N1 bird flu will gain ability to spread between people.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/439124a
Sidelines p126
doi:10.1038/439126a
DNA tests put death penalty under fire p126
Campaigners hope re-examination of evidence will undermine capital punishment.
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/439126b
Bird lovers keep sharp eye on owls p127
Visitors from Europe ruffle conservationists' feathers.
Jim Giles
doi:10.1038/439127a
Methane finding baffles scientists p128
Plant production of greenhouse gas throws up questions for climate models.
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/439128a
News in brief p129
doi:10.1038/439129a
Correction p129
doi:10.1038/439129b
News Features
Origins of DNA: Base invaders p130
Could viruses have invented DNA as a way to sneak into cells? John Whitfield investigates.
doi:10.1038/439130a
See also: Editor's summary
Space exploration: A shot in the dark? p132
Japan's mission to collect a sample from a distant asteroid looks to have ended in failure. Ichiko Fuyuno investigates how the setback will affect Japan's struggling space programme.
doi:10.1038/439132a
See also: Editor's summary
Prion disease: The shape of things to come p134
A number of fatal brain diseases are linked to misfolded proteins, an effect researchers are mimicking in the lab. But as they generate new versions of these malformed molecules, could they be creating a monster? Roxanne Khamsi finds out.
doi:10.1038/439134a
Business
All systems go p136
Industrial chemists are borrowing techniques from drug researchers to track down materials with desirable properties. Andrea Chipman reports.
doi:10.1038/439136a
In brief p137
doi:10.1038/439137a
Market Watch p137
doi:10.1038/439137b
Correspondence
Neuroscience gears up for duel on the issue of brain versus deity p138
Kenneth S. Kosik
doi:10.1038/439138a
Testing is necessary on animals as well as in vitro p138
Andrew Huxley
doi:10.1038/439138b
Animal-rights extremists lose public support p138
P. Browne
doi:10.1038/439138c
Why should child care be seen as a women's issue? p138
Maria José Hötzel
doi:10.1038/439138d
Books and Arts
In the grey zone p139
If behaviour arises from interactions between genes and the environment, in what sense is it hardwired?
Erik Parens reviews Hardwired Behavior: What Neuroscience Reveals about Morality by Laurence R. Tancredi
doi:10.1038/439139a
See also: Editor's summary
The monster that is medicine p140
W. F. Bynum reviews Dr Golem: How to Think about Medicine by Harry Collins and Trevor Pinch
doi:10.1038/439140a
A little judgement p141
Harry Collins reviews Nano-Hype: The Truth Behind the Nanotechnology Buzz by David M. Berube
doi:10.1038/439141a
Science in culture: A bigger picture of apes p142
The recent King Kong film highlights how our perceptions of gorillas have changed.
Janet Browne
doi:10.1038/439142a
News and Views
Extinctions: A message from the frogs p143
The harlequin frogs of tropical America are at the sharp end of climate change. About two-thirds of their species have died out, and altered patterns of infection because of changes in temperature seem to be the cause.
Andrew R. Blaustein and Andy Dobson
doi:10.1038/439143a
See also: Editor's summary
Space Physics: Breaking through the lines p144
Magnetic field lines are known to reorganize themselves in plasmas, converting magnetic to particle energy. Evidence harvested from the solar wind implies that the scale of the effect is larger than was thought.
Götz Paschmann
doi:10.1038/439144a
See also: Editor's summary
Medicine: Politic stem cells p145
Research on embryonic stem cells holds huge promise for understanding and treating disease. Many people oppose such research on religious and ethical grounds, but two new methods may bypass some of these objections.
Irving L. Weissman
doi:10.1038/439145a
See also: Editor's summary
50 & 100 years ago p147
doi:10.1038/439147a
Global change: A green source of surprise p148
Living terrestrial vegetation emits large amounts of methane into the atmosphere. This unexpected finding, if confirmed, will have an impact on both greenhouse-gas accounting and research into sources of methane.
David C. Lowe
doi:10.1038/439148a
See also: Editor's summary
Behaviour: Smells, brains and hormones p149
Contrary to the traditional view, the main olfactory pathway can mediate responses to pheromones as well as to common odours. Recent studies show that pheromone-activated hormonal systems extend widely within the brain.
Gordon M. Shepherd
doi:10.1038/439149a
Obituary
Lawrence C. Katz (1956–2005) p152
Neuroscientist who helped to make sense of sense.
Carla J. Shatz
doi:10.1038/439152a
Brief Communications
Teaching in tandem-running ants p153
Tapping into the dialogue between leader and follower reveals an unexpected social skill.
Nigel R. Franks and Tom Richardson
doi:10.1038/439153a
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (257K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Hit-and-run planetary collisions p155
Erik Asphaug, Craig B. Agnor and Quentin Williams
doi:10.1038/nature04311
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (292K)
See also: Editor's summary
Widespread amphibian extinctions from epidemic disease driven by global warming p161
J. Alan Pounds, Martín R. Bustamante, Luis A. Coloma, Jamie A. Consuegra, Michael P. L. Fogden, Pru N. Foster, Enrique La Marca, Karen L. Masters, Andrés Merino-Viteri, Robert Puschendorf, Santiago R. Ron, G. Arturo Sánchez-Azofeifa, Christopher J. Still and Bruce E. Young
doi:10.1038/nature04246
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (388K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Blaustein & Dobson
A quantitative protein interaction network for the ErbB receptors using protein microarrays p168
Richard B. Jones, Andrew Gordus, Jordan A. Krall and Gavin MacBeath
doi:10.1038/nature04177
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,067K) | Supplementary information
Letters
A magnetic reconnection X-line extending more than 390 Earth radii in the solar wind p175
T. D. Phan, J. T. Gosling, M. S. Davis, R. M. Skoug, M. Øieroset, R. P. Lin, R. P. Lepping, D. J. McComas, C. W. Smith, H. Reme and A. Balogh
doi:10.1038/nature04393
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (334K)
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Paschmann
A semiconductor source of triggered entangled photon pairs p179
R. M. Stevenson, R. J. Young, P. Atkinson, K. Cooper, D. A. Ritchie and A. J. Shields
doi:10.1038/nature04446
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (284K)
Ultrafast superheating and melting of bulk ice p183
H. Iglev, M. Schmeisser, K. Simeonidis, A. Thaller and A. Laubereau
doi:10.1038/nature04415
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (659K)
See also: Editor's summary
Methane emissions from terrestrial plants under aerobic conditions p187
Frank Keppler,
John T. G. Hamilton,
Marc Bra
and
Thomas Röckmann
doi:10.1038/nature04420
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (260K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Lowe
Stability of hydrous melt at the base of the Earth's upper mantle p192
Tatsuya Sakamaki, Akio Suzuki and Eiji Ohtani
doi:10.1038/nature04352
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (353K)
A Cretaceous symmetrodont therian with some monotreme-like postcranial features p195
Gang Li and Zhe-Xi Luo
doi:10.1038/nature04168
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (772K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Outbred embryos rescue inbred half-siblings in mixed-paternity broods of live-bearing females p201
Jeanne A. Zeh and David W. Zeh
doi:10.1038/nature04260
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (172K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Specificity in Toll-like receptor signalling through distinct effector functions of TRAF3 and TRAF6 p204
Hans Häcker, Vanessa Redecke, Blagoy Blagoev, Irina Kratchmarova, Li-Chung Hsu, Gang G. Wang, Mark P. Kamps, Eyal Raz, Hermann Wagner, Georg Häcker, Matthias Mann and Michael Karin
doi:10.1038/nature04369
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (355K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Critical role of TRAF3 in the Toll-like receptor-dependent and -independent antiviral response p208
Gagik Oganesyan, Supriya K. Saha, Beichu Guo, Jeannie Q. He, Arash Shahangian, Brian Zarnegar, Andrea Perry and Genhong Cheng
doi:10.1038/nature04374
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (386K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Generation of nuclear transfer-derived pluripotent ES cells from cloned Cdx2-deficient blastocysts p212
Alexander Meissner and Rudolf Jaenisch
doi:10.1038/nature04257
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (330K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Weissman
Embryonic and extraembryonic stem cell lines derived from single mouse blastomeres p216
Young Chung, Irina Klimanskaya, Sandy Becker, Joel Marh, Shi-Jiang Lu, Julie Johnson, Lorraine Meisner and Robert Lanza
doi:10.1038/nature04277
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (327K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Weissman
Planar cell polarity signalling couples cell division and morphogenesis during neurulation p220
Brian Ciruna, Andreas Jenny, Diana Lee, Marek Mlodzik and Alexander F. Schier
doi:10.1038/nature04375
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (379K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A single amino acid governs enhanced activity of DinB DNA polymerases on damaged templates p225
Daniel F. Jarosz, Veronica G. Godoy, James C. Delaney, John M. Essigmann and Graham C. Walker
doi:10.1038/nature04318
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (262K) | Supplementary information
Palindromic assembly of the giant muscle protein titin in the sarcomeric Z-disk p229
Peijian Zou, Nikos Pinotsis, Stephan Lange, Young-Hwa Song, Alexander Popov, Irene Mavridis, Olga M. Mayans, Mathias Gautel and Matthias Wilmanns
doi:10.1038/nature04343
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (385K) | Supplementary information
Structure of the Sec13/31 COPII coat cage p234
Scott M. Stagg, Cemal Gürkan, Douglas M. Fowler, Paul LaPointe, Ted R. Foss, Clinton S. Potter, Bridget Carragher and William E. Balch
doi:10.1038/nature04339
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (430K) | Supplementary information
Naturejobs
ProspectThe best-laid plans p239
Planning should take into account the unexpected.
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7073-239a
Career Views
Miodrag Stojkovic, deputy director of regenerative medicine, Prince Felipe Research Centre, Valencia, Spain p240
Leading stem-cell biologist heads across Europe.
Siëlle Gramser
doi:10.1038/nj7073-240a
Mentors & Protégés p240
Physics student praises mentor for good career guidance.
Timothy Stoltzfus-Dueck
doi:10.1038/nj7073-240b
Alumnus Journal: Writing up p240
Finishing a thesis can be worrisome and wonderful.
Sidney Omelon
doi:10.1038/nj7073-240c