Table of contents
Volume 448 Number 7155 pp727-838
In this issue (16 August 2007)
Also this week
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Mbeki's mistake p727
South Africa's government has removed the minister most closely associated with public discussion of the country's HIV epidemic. But it must stand by its promises to implement a fresh AIDS strategy.
doi:10.1038/448727a
Division of labour p727
The European Research Council shouldn't be coy about saying who will get its first set of grants.
doi:10.1038/448727b
Men [sic] p728
Our 1869 mission statement is out of date.
doi:10.1038/448728a
Research Highlights
Research highlights p730
doi:10.1038/448730a
Correction p731
doi:10.1038/448731a
News
Not so secure after all p732
How safe are our microbiology labs?
Daniel Cressey
doi:10.1038/448732a
Sidelines p732
doi:10.1038/448733a
Dengue fever climbs the social ladder p734
Dengue fever was once a disease restricted to poor people in tropical areas. Its resurgence now threatens middle-class urbanites in cities such as Singapore. Ewen Callaway asks whether Asia's ever-growing wealth will propel a treatment or vaccine to market.
doi:10.1038/448734a
Geneticist trades plants for politics p736
Nina Fedoroff begins as science and technology adviser to the US state department.
doi:10.1038/448736a
Achievement index climbs the ranks p737
Hirsch measure can predict future success of researchers, says Hirsch.
Philip Ball
doi:10.1038/448737a
Snapshot: Trouble in paradise p738
Bali's first human bird-flu victim.
David Cyranoski
doi:10.1038/448738a
Transparency urged over research payments p738
Senator calls for public register of drug-company funds to doctors.
Erika Check
doi:10.1038/448738b
News in brief p739
doi:10.1038/448739a
Correction p739
doi:10.1038/448739b
Business
Powerful incentives p741
Can an expanded loan guarantee programme dispel US power companies' hesitation about resuming construction of nuclear power plants? Geoff Brumfiel investigates.
doi:10.1038/448741a
News Features
Space exploration: Secrets of the martian soil p742
For 30 years scientists have believed that there are no organic molecules in the martian soil. Will NASA's Phoenix probe prove them right or wrong, asks Corinna Wu.
doi:10.1038/448742a
See also: Editor's summary
Materials chemistry: Space invaders p746
Space exploration usually means leaving Earth's orbit. But chemists are now burrowing inside solids to open new vistas. Katharine Sanderson reports from the internal frontier.
doi:10.1038/448746a
See also: Editor's summary
Correspondence
Scientific bodies must take own action on emissions p749
Andrew Biggin
doi:10.1038/448749a
Bush has not obstructed environmental protection p749
Granta Nakayama
doi:10.1038/448749b
Chemical reaction to the many-worlds hypothesis p749
Pedro Cintas
doi:10.1038/448749c
International research may leave women adrift p749
Asha Gopinathan
doi:10.1038/448749d
Books and Arts
The art of persuasion p751
Surprisingly, the rhetoric of the literary artist still has a place in persuasive scientific texts.
Steven Shapin reviews The Scientific Literature: A Guided Tour
doi:10.1038/448751a
Material metaphors p752
Robert N. Proctor reviews Origins and Revolutions: Human Identity in Earliest Prehistory by Clive Gamble
doi:10.1038/448752a
See also: Editor's summary
Science in culture: Left to digest p753
In ancient art, banqueters always recline on their left side — perhaps to aid digestion.
Paolo Mazzarello & Maurizio Harari
doi:10.1038/448753a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views
Biological chemistry: Enzymes line up for assembly p755
Many enzymes have a series of catalytic sites, lined up like beads on a string. A previously unknown link in one of these molecular assembly lines involves an unexpected approach to a common biochemical reaction.
Nicholas M. Llewellyn & Jonathan B. Spencer
doi:10.1038/448755a
See also: Editor's summary
Seismology: Talc at fault p756
The behaviour of the San Andreas fault varies along its length — it slips in some places and creeps in others. The discovery of the ultrasoft mineral talc in rocks from deep inside the fault could help to explain why.
Christopher Wibberley
doi:10.1038/448756a
See also: Editor's summary
Biochemistry: Designer enzymes p757
Evolution has crafted thousands of enzymes that are efficient catalysts for a plethora of reactions. Human attempts at enzyme design trail far behind, but may benefit from exploiting evolutionary tactics.
Michael P. Robertson & William G. Scott
doi:10.1038/448757a
Materials science: Metal turned to glass p758
In order to form a glass by cooling a liquid, the normal process of solid crystallization must be bypassed. Achieving that for a pure metal had seemed impossible — until pressure was applied to liquid germanium.
Gilles Tarjus
doi:10.1038/448758a
See also: Editor's summary
Parkinson's disease: Pro-survival effects of PINK1 p759
However parkinsonism is initiated, the progressive symptoms are similarly devastating. So insights from analyses of gene mutations linked to these disorders should aid a better general understanding of them.
Asa Abeliovich
doi:10.1038/448759a
Astrophysics: Photons from a hotter hell p760
Blazars are massive black holes sending out particle jets at close to the speed of light. Stupendously fast, intense bursts of highly energetic 
-rays indicate that the blazar environment is even more extreme than was thought.
Trevor Weekes
doi:10.1038/448760a
50 & 100 Years Ago p761
doi:10.1038/448761a
Computational biochemistry: Models of transition p762
Is it possible to determine the role of an enzyme from its structure? The latest findings suggest that it is, and prove the point by predicting the substrate for an enzyme of unknown function.
JoAnne Stubbe
doi:10.1038/448762a
See also: Editor's summary
Earth science: Coastal catastrophe in Phoenicia p763
Tim Lincoln
doi:10.1038/448763a
Correction p763
doi:10.1038/448763b
Obituary: Anne McLaren (1927–2007) p764
Inspiring reproductive biologist and mammalian geneticist.
Azim Surani & Jim Smith
doi:10.1038/448764a
Obituary: Donald Michie (1923–2007) p765
Father of artificial intelligence in Britain.
Margaret Boden
doi:10.1038/448765a
Review
The common biology of cancer and ageing p767
Toren Finkel, Manuel Serrano & Maria A. Blasco
doi:10.1038/nature05985
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (489K)
See also: Editor's summary
Article
Structure-based activity prediction for an enzyme of unknown function p775
Johannes C. Hermann, Ricardo Marti-Arbona, Alexander A. Fedorov, Elena Fedorov, Steven C. Almo, Brian K. Shoichet & Frank M. Raushel
doi:10.1038/nature05981
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (751K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
A turbulent wake as a tracer of 30,000 years of Mira's mass loss history p780
D. Christopher Martin, Mark Seibert, James D. Neill, David Schiminovich, Karl Forster, R. Michael Rich, Barry Y. Welsh, Barry F. Madore, Jonathan M. Wheatley, Patrick Morrissey & Tom A. Barlow
doi:10.1038/nature06003
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (2,116K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Generation of optical 'Schrödinger cats' from photon number states p784
Alexei Ourjoumtsev, Hyunseok Jeong, Rosa Tualle-Brouri & Philippe Grangier
doi:10.1038/nature06054
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (861K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Vitrification of a monatomic metallic liquid p787
M. H. Bhat, V. Molinero, E. Soignard, V. C. Solomon, S. Sastry, J. L. Yarger & C. A. Angell
doi:10.1038/nature06044
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,659K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Indirect radiative forcing of climate change through ozone effects on the land-carbon sink p791
S. Sitch, P. M. Cox, W. J. Collins & C. Huntingford
doi:10.1038/nature06059
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (432K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Talc-bearing serpentinite and the creeping section of the San Andreas fault p795
Diane E. Moore & Michael J. Rymer
doi:10.1038/nature06064
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (341K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Female mate-choice drives the evolution of male-biased dispersal in a social mammal p798
O. P. Höner, B. Wachter, M. L. East, W. J. Streich, K. Wilhelm, T. Burke & H. Hofer
doi:10.1038/nature06040
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (266K)
See also: Editor's summary
Correlation between neural spike trains increases with firing rate p802
Jaime de la Rocha,
Brent Doiron,
Eric Shea-Brown,
Kre
imir Josi
&
Alex Reyes
doi:10.1038/nature06028
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,112K) | Supplementary information
LKB1 modulates lung cancer differentiation and metastasis p807
Hongbin Ji, Matthew R. Ramsey, D. Neil Hayes, Cheng Fan, Kate McNamara, Piotr Kozlowski, Chad Torrice, Michael C. Wu, Takeshi Shimamura, Samanthi A. Perera, Mei-Chih Liang, Dongpo Cai, George N. Naumov, Lei Bao, Cristina M. Contreras, Danan Li, Liang Chen, Janakiraman Krishnamurthy, Jussi Koivunen, Lucian R. Chirieac, Robert F. Padera, Roderick T. Bronson, Neal I. Lindeman, David C. Christiani, Xihong Lin, Geoffrey I. Shapiro, Pasi A. Jänne, Bruce E. Johnson, Matthew Meyerson, David J. Kwiatkowski, Diego H. Castrillon, Nabeel Bardeesy, Norman E. Sharpless & Kwok-Kin Wong
doi:10.1038/nature06030
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (470K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Cdk1 is sufficient to drive the mammalian cell cycle p811
David Santamaría, Cédric Barrière, Antonio Cerqueira, Sarah Hunt, Claudine Tardy, Kathryn Newton, Javier F. Cáceres, Pierre Dubus, Marcos Malumbres & Mariano Barbacid
doi:10.1038/nature06046
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (699K) | Supplementary information
Small self-RNA generated by RNase L amplifies antiviral innate immunity p816
Krishnamurthy Malathi, Beihua Dong, Michael Gale, Jr & Robert H. Silverman
doi:10.1038/nature06042
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (347K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Break-induced replication and telomerase-independent telomere maintenance require Pol32 p820
John R. Lydeard, Suvi Jain, Miyuki Yamaguchi & James E. Haber
doi:10.1038/nature06047
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (380K) | Supplementary information
A transglutaminase homologue as a condensation catalyst in antibiotic assembly lines p824
Pascal D. Fortin, Christopher T. Walsh & Nathan A. Magarvey
doi:10.1038/nature06068
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (836K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Selection and evolution of enzymes from a partially randomized non-catalytic scaffold p828
Burckhard Seelig & Jack W. Szostak
doi:10.1038/nature06032
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (374K) | Supplementary information
Naturejobs
ProspectUS bill should give career opportunities in the physical sciences a boost. p833
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7155-833a
Postdocs and Students
The seven-year itch p834
Sabbaticals offer scientists respite and a chance at reinvention. Hannah Hoag explores the year off.
Hannah Hoag
doi:10.1038/nj7155-834a
Highlights
Opportunities: The National Institutes of Health
doi:10.1038/nj0167