Table of contents
Volume 447 Number 7145 pp613-752
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Editorials
Half way to real reform p613
Universities in Germany have undertaken overdue reform, but more change is needed to fully tap their potential.
doi:10.1038/447613a
Bad execution p613
China won't achieve a tenable drug regulation policy by hanging public officials.
doi:10.1038/447613b
Community service p614
Introducing three free-access websites for research networking and outreach.
doi:10.1038/447614a
News
Simple switch turns cells embryonic p618
Technique removes need for eggs or embryos.
David Cyranoski
doi:10.1038/447618a
Bush's climate plan 'nothing new' p618
President's call for global goal fails to impress.
Emma Marris & Colin Macilwain
doi:10.1038/447618b
NASA explores scope for far-flung fix p620
Will it be possible to service the James Webb Space Telescope?
Geoff Brumfiel
doi:10.1038/447620a
DNA reveals how the chicken crossed the sea p620
Ancient Polynesians may have brought birds to the Americas.
Brendan Borrell
doi:10.1038/447620b
Disgraced official was paid work bonus p621
Irregularities highlight political interference in Endangered Species Act.
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/447621a
Genome miners rush to stake claims p623
Race to discover disease-linked genes reaches fever pitch.
Meredith Wadman
doi:10.1038/447623a
Sidelines p624
doi:10.1038/447624a
Diplomatic talks spur hope in Libya HIV case p624
Deal may be in sight for hospital workers on death row.
Declan Butler
doi:10.1038/447624b
Terror terms for arsonists p624
Radical environmental activists are put behind bars.
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/447624c
Sibling rivalry hits Swiss institutes p625
Establishments clash over funding.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/447625a
Column
Party of OneOver a pork barrel p628
The US Congress is well-known for tucking special provisions for favoured projects into budget bills. David Goldston explains why 'earmarks' for research and development have risen so dramatically in recent years.
David Goldston
doi:10.1038/447628a
Business
Meeting in the middle p629
Support for copycat versions of biotechnology drugs is growing quickly in the US Congress. Meredith Wadman reports.
doi:10.1038/447629a
News Features
Science in Germany: A beacon of reform p630
Long a symbol of East German pride, the Charité medical school is flourishing in the twenty-first-century shake-up of German universities. Alison Abbott reports.
doi:10.1038/447630a
See also: Editor's summary
Primatology: Peaceful primates, violent acts p635
Brought up in the Congo basin, Jonas Eriksson has worked through a war and battled poachers to help reveal the secrets of bonobo societies. Carl Gierstorfer reports.
doi:10.1038/447635a
Full Text | PDF (608K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Correspondence
Those who are crossing boundaries need less talk, more help and flexibility p638
James A. Smith & Gemma E. Carey
doi:10.1038/447638a
Limitations of molecular genetics in conservation p638
Matthew A. Cronin
doi:10.1038/447638b
Information from patent office could aid replication p638
Harry Thangaraj
doi:10.1038/447638c
Books and Arts
Scot on the rocks p639
Philippe Janvier reviews Hugh Miller — Stonemason, Geologist, Writer by Michael A Taylor
doi:10.1038/447639a
Brain botch p640
Georg Striedter reviews The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God by David Linden
doi:10.1038/447640a
See also: Editor's summary
Rare insights p641
doi:10.1038/447641a
Cancer case histories p641
Karol Sikora reviews The Cancer Treatment Revolution by David G Nathan
doi:10.1038/447641b
Essay
ConceptDeterminism: Chaos tamed p643
Even though our view of the physical world has shifted from that of determinism to randomness, randomness itself can now be exploited to retrieve a system's deterministic response.
Kees Wapenaar & Roel Snieder
doi:10.1038/447643a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Genomics: Guilt by association p645
In a tour-de-force demonstration of feasibility, a consortium of 50 research teams uses 500,000 genetic markers from each of 17,000 individuals to identify 24 genetic risk factors for 7 common human diseases.
Anne M. Bowcock
doi:10.1038/447645a
See also: Editor's summary
Spectroscopy: The magic of solenoids p646
A technique known as magic-angle spinning has helped make nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy as sensitive for solids as it is for solutions. Inductive thinking leads to even better signal detection.
Arthur S. Edison & Joanna R. Long
doi:10.1038/447646a
See also: Editor's summary
Climatology: Tempests in time p647
The frequency of severe hurricanes in the North Atlantic has increased during the past decade. Scrutiny of the prehistoric record left by such storms helps to assess the factors contributing to hurricane activity.
James B. Elsner
doi:10.1038/447647a
See also: Editor's summary
Stem cells: Recycling the abnormal p649
Using human eggs in the quest to make donor-specific embryonic stem cells is controversial. A method developed in mice, if applicable to humans, could eliminate the need to obtain eggs for this purpose.
Alan Colman & Justine Burley
doi:10.1038/447649a
See also: Editor's summary
Astrophysics: Gravitational waves constrained p651
Cosmic gravitational waves could provide unprecedented information on the early Universe. The effects that are of interest are small, but experiments are gradually achieving a sensitivity that will test cosmological models.
Michele Maggiore
doi:10.1038/447651a
50 & 100 Years Ago p651
doi:10.1038/447651b
Disease ecology: The silence of the robins p652
A continent-wide analysis suggests that West Nile virus has severely affected bird populations associated with human habitats in North America. The declines parallel patterns of human disease caused by the virus.
Carsten Rahbek
doi:10.1038/nature05889
See also: Editor's summary
Obituary: Theodore H. Maiman (1927–2007) p654
Maker of the first laser.
Charles H. Townes
doi:10.1038/447654a
Feature
Replicating genotype–phenotype associations p655
What constitutes replication of a genotype–phenotype association, and how best can it be achieved?
NCI-NHGRI Working Group on Replication in Association Studies
doi:10.1038/447655a
See also: Editor's summary
Articles
Genome-wide association study of 14,000 cases of seven common diseases and 3,000 shared controls p661
The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium
doi:10.1038/nature05911
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (4,208K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Bowcock
Developmental reprogramming after chromosome transfer into mitotic mouse zygotes p679
Dieter Egli, Jacqueline Rosains, Garrett Birkhoff & Kevin Eggan
doi:10.1038/nature05879
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (2,104K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Colman & Burley
DNA repair is limiting for haematopoietic stem cells during ageing p686
Anastasia Nijnik, Lisa Woodbine, Caterina Marchetti, Sara Dawson, Teresa Lambe, Cong Liu, Neil P. Rodrigues, Tanya L. Crockford, Erik Cabuy, Alessandro Vindigni, Tariq Enver, John I. Bell, Predrag Slijepcevic, Christopher C. Goodnow, Penelope A. Jeggo & Richard J. Cornall
doi:10.1038/nature05875
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,232K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
The hottest planet p691
Joseph Harrington, Statia Luszcz, Sara Seager, Drake Deming & L. Jeremy Richardson
doi:10.1038/nature05863
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (253K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
High-resolution, high-sensitivity NMR of nanolitre anisotropic samples by coil spinning p694
D. Sakellariou, G. Le Goff & J.-F. Jacquinot
doi:10.1038/nature05897
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (383K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Edison & Long
Low Atlantic hurricane activity in the 1970s and 1980s compared to the past 270 years p698
Johan Nyberg, Björn A. Malmgren, Amos Winter, Mark R. Jury, K. Halimeda Kilbourne & Terrence M. Quinn
doi:10.1038/nature05895
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (963K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Elsner
Boron and oxygen isotope evidence for recycling of subducted components over the past 2.5 Gyr p702
Simon Turner, Sonia Tonarini, Ilya Bindeman, William P. Leeman & Bruce F. Schaefer
doi:10.1038/nature05898
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (215K)
See also: Editor's summary
Pollinator shifts drive increasingly long nectar spurs in columbine flowers p706
Justen B. Whittall & Scott A. Hodges
doi:10.1038/nature05857
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (379K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
West Nile virus emergence and large-scale declines of North American bird populations p710
Shannon L. LaDeau, A. Marm Kilpatrick & Peter P. Marra
doi:10.1038/nature05829
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (384K) | Supplementary information
See also: News and Views by Rahbek
The medaka draft genome and insights into vertebrate genome evolution p714
Masahiro Kasahara, Kiyoshi Naruse, Shin Sasaki, Yoichiro Nakatani, Wei Qu, Budrul Ahsan, Tomoyuki Yamada, Yukinobu Nagayasu, Koichiro Doi, Yasuhiro Kasai, Tomoko Jindo, Daisuke Kobayashi, Atsuko Shimada, Atsushi Toyoda, Yoko Kuroki, Asao Fujiyama, Takashi Sasaki, Atsushi Shimizu, Shuichi Asakawa, Nobuyoshi Shimizu, Shin-ichi Hashimoto, Jun Yang, Yongjun Lee, Kouji Matsushima, Sumio Sugano, Mitsuru Sakaizumi, Takanori Narita, Kazuko Ohishi, Shinobu Haga, Fumiko Ohta, Hisayo Nomoto, Keiko Nogata, Tomomi Morishita, Tomoko Endo, Tadasu Shin-I, Hiroyuki Takeda, Shinichi Morishita & Yuji Kohara
doi:10.1038/nature05846
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (748K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Dscam2 mediates axonal tiling in the Drosophila visual system p720
S. Sean Millard, John J. Flanagan, Kartik S. Pappu, Wei Wu & S. Lawrence Zipursky
doi:10.1038/nature05855
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,073K) | Supplementary information
Deficiencies in DNA damage repair limit the function of haematopoietic stem cells with age p725
Derrick J. Rossi, David Bryder, Jun Seita, Andre Nussenzweig, Jan Hoeijmakers & Irving L. Weissman
doi:10.1038/nature05862
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (577K) | Supplementary information
The ATM repair pathway inhibits RNA polymerase I transcription in response to chromosome breaks p730
Michael Kruhlak, Elizabeth E. Crouch, Marika Orlov, Carolina Montaño, Stanislaw A. Gorski, André Nussenzweig, Tom Misteli, Robert D. Phair & Rafael Casellas
doi:10.1038/nature05842
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (858K) | Supplementary information
Control of DNA methylation and heterochromatic silencing by histone H2B deubiquitination p735
Vaniyambadi V. Sridhar, Avnish Kapoor, Kangling Zhang, Jianjun Zhu, Tao Zhou, Paul M. Hasegawa, Ray A. Bressan & Jian-Kang Zhu
doi:10.1038/nature05864
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (787K) | Supplementary information
Technology Features
Antibodies: The generation game p741
Proteomics is hungry for well-validated antibodies. Nathan Blow looks at the options and sees how researchers are redefining the way to generate an antibody.
Nathan Blow
doi:10.1038/447741a
Antibodies: Antibodies in the fast lane p743
doi:10.1038/447743a
Antibodies: table of suppliers p745
doi:10.1038/447745a
Naturejobs
ProspectTaking the risky path can be exhilarating. p747
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7145-747a
Special Report
The hard cell p748
Ethical quandaries aside, stem-cell science is attracting researchers worldwide. Ricki Lewis reports.
Ricki Lewis
doi:10.1038/nj7145-748a
Recruiters
Great expectations p752
You may have got the job, but making sure it is the right fit is important for both employer and employee.
Joann Boughman
doi:10.1038/nj7145-752a
Highlights
Opportunities: The National Institutes of Health
doi:10.1038/nj0161