Table of contents
Volume 445 Number 7123 pp1-E3
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Avoiding a chimaera quagmire p1
Researchers need to take the initiative in addressing a controversial and urgent ethical issue: under what circumstances should the fusion of cells of animals and humans be permitted?
doi:10.1038/445001a
Libya and human values p2
Death sentences issued by a Libyan court highlight more than one type of injustice.
doi:10.1038/445002a
Enter Nature Photonics p2
doi:10.1038/445002b
News
Europe condemns Libyan trial verdict p7
Death sentence for medics sparks outrage.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/445007a
The dark side of E. coli p8
How can we prevent more food poisoning outbreaks?
Helen Pearson
doi:10.1038/445008a
European funding targets big biology p8
Metagenomics and variomics benefit from round of grants.
Nora Eichinger
doi:10.1038/445008b
Open-access journal will publish first, judge later p9
PLoS One aims to challenge academia's obsession with journal status.
Jim Giles
doi:10.1038/445009a
Special Report: Alien Earth p10
With improved techniques, growing data sets and a new space mission, 2007 is the first year in which we might discover another planet like our own. Katharine Sanderson reports.
doi:10.1038/445010a
Business
When the party's over p13
A drug-trial failure leaves Pfizer in search of a new corporate strategy to deal with the post-blockbuster age, as Meredith Wadman reports.
doi:10.1038/445013a
News Features
Energy: That's oil, folks... p14
Optimists see oil gushing for decades; pessimists see the planet's energy future already drying up. Alexandra Witze reports.
doi:10.1038/445014a
See also: Editor's summary
Social sciences: Life's a game p18
Manipulating society has traditionally been the preserve of politicians and the gods. Does the current boom in virtual worlds give social scientists and economists an opportunity to join them? Jim Giles investigates.
doi:10.1038/445018a
See also: Editor's summary
Correspondence
RIKEN aids international structural genomics efforts p21
Shigeyuki Yokoyama, Thomas C. Terwilliger, Seiki Kuramitsu, Dino Moras & Joel L. Sussman
doi:10.1038/445021a
Advances in biology reveal truth about prokaryotes p21
Michael F. Dolan & Lynn Margulis
doi:10.1038/445021b
Pollution analysis flawed by statistical model p21
Suresh Moolgavkar
doi:10.1038/445021c
Books and Arts
The making of Britain p23
Who are the "amphibious ill-born mob" who gave rise to the British nation?
Clive Gamble
doi:10.1038/445023a
Treasure islands p24
doi:10.1038/445024a
A physics travelogue p24
David Lindley
doi:10.1038/445024b
On the right path p25
Joseph Mazur reviews The Best of All Possible Worlds: Mathematics and Destiny by Ivar Ekeland
doi:10.1038/445025a
Essay
ConceptConstructive memory: The ghosts of past and future p27
A memory that works by piecing together bits of the past may be better suited to simulating future events than one that is a store of perfect records.
Daniel L. Schacter & Donna Rose Addis
doi:10.1038/445027a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Planetary science: Titan's lost seas found p29
When the Cassini spacecraft found no methane ocean swathing Saturn's moon Titan, it was a blow to proponents of an Earth-like world. The discovery of northern lakes on Titan gives them reason for cheer.
Christophe Sotin
doi:10.1038/445029a
See also: Editor's summary
Neurobiology: Scent secrets of insects p30
The perception of carbon dioxide provides insects with sensory data on their environment, and informs many insect behaviours. It seems that this sense relies on two dedicated neural receptors.
Rachel I. Wilson
doi:10.1038/445030a
See also: Editor's summary
Bioorganic chemistry: A sweet synthesis p31
Peptides and proteins with sugars attached have many desirable biological properties, but their chemical synthesis is a technical challenge. An ingenious take on an old idea might simplify things considerably.
Linda C. Hsieh-Wilson
doi:10.1038/445031a
50 & 100 Years Ago p32
doi:10.1038/445032a
Developmental biology: This worm is not for turning p33
Molecular investigations of the origin of the dorso-ventral axis in an obscure marine invertebrate illuminate one of the longest-running debates in evolutionary biology — that over the origin of vertebrates.
Henry Gee
doi:10.1038/445033a
Materials science: Alloys go with the grain p34
How do metallic alloys solidify from their original liquid state? A study of the deformation of cooling alloys confirms what had been suspected for some time: solidifying alloys bear exciting similarities to granular materials.
Christophe L. Martin
doi:10.1038/445034a
Evolutionary biology: Oxygen at life's boundaries p35
Proteins are made of amino acids. But amino acids are made of atoms. Exploration of this self-evident principle opens up fresh perspectives on the evolution of biological membranes and multicellular life.
Peggy Baudouin-Cornu & Dominique Thomas
doi:10.1038/nature05521
See also: Editor's summary
Neurobiology: Hit and miss p36
Helen Dell
doi:10.1038/445036a
Cosmology: Ripples of early starlight p37
After all known sources are accounted for, puffy blobs of infrared light persist on deep-field telescope images. Evidence is mounting that these could be the signatures of stars in early 'protogalaxies'.
Craig J. Hogan
doi:10.1038/445037a
Review
Light in tiny holes p39
C. Genet & T. W. Ebbesen
doi:10.1038/nature05350
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,073K)
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Oxygen content of transmembrane proteins over macroevolutionary time scales p47
Claudia Acquisti, Jürgen Kleffe & Sinéad Collins
doi:10.1038/nature05450
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,888K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Baudouin-Cornu & Thomas
Crystal structure of a protein phosphatase 2A heterotrimeric holoenzyme p53
Uhn Soo Cho & Wenqing Xu
doi:10.1038/nature05351
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,188K) | Supplementary information
Letters
Pulsar spins from an instability in the accretion shock of supernovae p58
John M. Blondin & Anthony Mezzacappa
doi:10.1038/nature05428
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (367K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
The lakes of Titan p61
E. R. Stofan, C. Elachi, J. I. Lunine, R. D. Lorenz, B. Stiles, K. L. Mitchell, S. Ostro, L. Soderblom, C. Wood, H. Zebker, S. Wall, M. Janssen, R. Kirk, R. Lopes, F. Paganelli, J. Radebaugh, L. Wye, Y. Anderson, M. Allison, R. Boehmer, P. Callahan, P. Encrenaz, E. Flamini, G. Francescetti, Y. Gim, G. Hamilton, S. Hensley, W. T. K. Johnson, K. Kelleher, D. Muhleman, P. Paillou, G. Picardi, F. Posa, L. Roth, R. Seu, S. Shaffer, S. Vetrella & R. West
doi:10.1038/nature05438
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (833K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Sotin
High-speed linear optics quantum computing using active feed-forward p65
Robert Prevedel, Philip Walther, Felix Tiefenbacher, Pascal Böhi, Rainer Kaltenbaek, Thomas Jennewein & Anton Zeilinger
doi:10.1038/nature05346
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (366K)
See also: Editor's summary
Dilatant shear bands in solidifying metals p70
C. M. Gourlay & A. K. Dahle
doi:10.1038/nature05426
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,688K) | Supplementary information
Influence of the intertropical convergence zone on the East Asian monsoon p74
Gergana Yancheva, Norbert R. Nowaczyk, Jens Mingram, Peter Dulski, Georg Schettler, Jörg F. W. Negendank, Jiaqi Liu, Daniel M. Sigman, Larry C. Peterson & Gerald H. Haug
doi:10.1038/nature05431
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (567K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
High-level similarity of dentitions in carnivorans and rodents p78
Alistair R. Evans, Gregory P. Wilson, Mikael Fortelius & Jukka Jernvall
doi:10.1038/nature05433
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (324K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Direct estimation of per nucleotide and genomic deleterious mutation rates in Drosophila p82
Cathy Haag-Liautard, Mark Dorris, Xulio Maside, Steven Macaskill, Daniel L. Halligan, Brian Charlesworth & Peter D. Keightley
doi:10.1038/nature05388
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (150K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Two chemosensory receptors together mediate carbon dioxide detection in Drosophila p86
Walton D. Jones, Pelin Cayirlioglu, Ilona Grunwald Kadow & Leslie B. Vosshall
doi:10.1038/nature05466
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,643K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Wilson
The cellular machinery of Ferroplasma acidiphilum is iron-protein-dominated p91
Manuel Ferrer, Olga V. Golyshina, Ana Beloqui, Peter N. Golyshin & Kenneth N. Timmis
doi:10.1038/nature05362
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (221K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A systems biology analysis of the Drosophila phagosome p95
L. M. Stuart, J. Boulais, G. M. Charriere, E. J. Hennessy, S. Brunet, I. Jutras, G. Goyette, C. Rondeau, S. Letarte, H. Huang, P. Ye, F. Morales, C. Kocks, J. S. Bader, M. Desjardins & R. A. B. Ezekowitz
doi:10.1038/nature05380
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,076K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Hsp70 regulates erythropoiesis by preventing caspase-3-mediated cleavage of GATA-1 p102
Jean-Antoine Ribeil, Yael Zermati, Julie Vandekerckhove, Severine Cathelin, Joelle Kersual, Michaël Dussiot, Séverine Coulon, Ivan Cruz Moura, Ann Zeuner, Thomas Kirkegaard-Sørensen, Bruno Varet, Eric Solary, Carmen Garrido & Olivier Hermine
doi:10.1038/nature05378
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (700K) | Supplementary information
A human colon cancer cell capable of initiating tumour growth in immunodeficient mice p106
Catherine A. O'Brien, Aaron Pollett, Steven Gallinger & John E. Dick
doi:10.1038/nature05372
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (491K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Identification and expansion of human colon-cancer-initiating cells p111
Lucia Ricci-Vitiani, Dario G. Lombardi, Emanuela Pilozzi, Mauro Biffoni, Matilde Todaro, Cesare Peschle & Ruggero De Maria
doi:10.1038/nature05384
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,088K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A prokaryotic proton-gated ion channel from the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor family p116
Nicolas Bocquet, Lia Prado de Carvalho, Jean Cartaud, Jacques Neyton, Chantal Le Poupon, Antoine Taly, Thomas Grutter, Jean-Pierre Changeux & Pierre-Jean Corringer
doi:10.1038/nature05371
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,136K) | Supplementary information
Brief Communications
Top of pageBrief Communications Arising
Neurophysiology: Hodgkin and Huxley model — still standing? pE1
David A. McCormick, Yousheng Shu & Yuguo Yu
doi:10.1038/nature05523
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (256K)
Neurophysiology: Hodgkin and Huxley model — still standing? (Reply) pE2
Björn Naundorf, Fred Wolf & Maxim Volgushev
doi:10.1038/nature05534
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (181K)
Naturejobs
ProspectDemand for PhDs is uncertain in a changing market. p121
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7123-121a
Career Views
A question of supply and demand p124
Simply having a PhD may not be enough — you need to marry scientific expertise with the right skills.
Michael Alvarez
doi:10.1038/nj7123-124a
The next step
In early 2006, the thought of completing my dissertation and graduating before the end of the year seemed impossible. I was deeply involved in three different projects. Although they were closely related scientifically, I thought it impossible to complete all of them in such a short time. To my surprise, my adviser repeatedly told me that this was the year I would finish and that I should start thinking about what to do next. How could I possibly finish this year? Deciding my next step would be even more difficult.
Andreas Andersson
doi:10.1038/nj0140
