Table of contents
Volume 452 Number 7187 pp503-664
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
Broken promises p503
Intense public support for clinical research can be a mixed blessing — and the hunt for a vaccine against AIDS offers an important lesson for many biomedical initiatives on what can go wrong.
doi:10.1038/452503a
Double vision p503
The need to transform the world's energy technology is even greater than many perceive.
doi:10.1038/452503b
Mismanaged measures p504
Surrogate end points can be helpful in clinical trials — but only if they are used with care.
doi:10.1038/452504a
News
Are the IPCC scenarios 'unachievable'? p508
Claim that the challenge of cutting emissions has been underestimated is debated.
Quirin Schiermeier
doi:10.1038/452508a
Carbon-trading market has uncertain future p508
Clean development mechanism may be capped.
Jeff Tollefson
doi:10.1038/452508b
Drug markers questioned p510
A recent spate of worrying clinical-trial data has researchers questioning drugs approved on the basis of how they affect biomarkers rather than clinical endpoints. Heidi Ledford looks at surrogate markers.
Heidi Ledford
doi:10.1038/452510a
EPA feels heat over flame retardant p513
Dismissal of toxicologist raises concerns over delayed safety report.
Brian Vastag
doi:10.1038/452513a
Sidelines p514
Scribbles on the margins of science.
doi:10.1038/452514a
Easy ways to other Earths p514
Laser combs offer ground-based telescopes a chance to spot planetary homes from home.
Eric Hand
doi:10.1038/452514b
Snapshot: Flirty in pink p515
Dolphins turn on the charm.
Anna Petherick
doi:10.1038/452515a
Back to basics for HIV vaccine development p516
doi:10.1038/452516a
Tasting a geyser p516
doi:10.1038/452516b
US medical school to require master's degree p516
doi:10.1038/452516c
Too much haste in US drug approval? p516
doi:10.1038/452516d
Italy to help Kenya develop space programme p517
doi:10.1038/452517a
Muslim nations raise status of science p517
doi:10.1038/452517b
Correction p517
doi:10.1038/452517c
Column
Hazy reasoning behind clean air p519
Science alone can't determine how regulations are written, argues David Goldston.
David Goldston
doi:10.1038/452519a
News Features
Architecture: Architects of a low-energy future p520
Low- and zero-energy buildings could have a huge impact on energy use and carbon emissions. We have the technologies, but if they are to mitigate climate change, green-building design must hit the mass market, says Declan Butler.
doi:10.1038/452520a
Anatomy: Truly gross anatomy p525
Sometimes it is necessary to immerse yourself in a subject. Erik Vance meets a woman whose research takes her deep — waist-deep — into cetacean anatomy.
doi:10.1038/452525a
Portugal: Navigating new waters p528
Portugal's spending on research is near the lowest in western Europe. Can a single-minded lady with half a billion euros change things, asks Alison Abbott.
doi:10.1038/452528a
Correspondence
Radical rethink is needed on climate-change policy p530
Gwyn Prins
doi:10.1038/452530a
Comparing the legacies of Gauss, Pasteur and Darwin p530
Jürgen Schmidhuber
doi:10.1038/452530b
Spanish funds will finance Bilbao's spallation bid p530
Juan Urrutia
doi:10.1038/452530c
Give south Indian authors their true names p530
Nalini Puniamoorthy, Jeevananthinee Jeevanandam & Sujatha Narayanan Kutty
doi:10.1038/452530d
Commentary
Dangerous assumptions p531
How big is the energy challenge of climate change? The technological advances needed to stabilize carbon-dioxide emissions may be greater than we think, argue Roger Pielke Jr, Tom Wigley and Christopher Green.
doi:10.1038/452531a
See also: Editor's summary
Books and Arts
From spies to servers p533
Fastidious history chronicles how a suburb of Washington DC became home to the Internet.
Joel Shurkin reviews Internet Alley: High Technology in Tysons Corner, 1945–2005 by Paul E. Ceruzzi
doi:10.1038/452533a
Theatre: Ten years of science off Broadway p534
Alan Packer reviews
doi:10.1038/452534a
History: An astrolabe for the people p534
Philip Ball reviews
doi:10.1038/452534b
Film: Celluloid explores life of graduate student killer p535
Emma Marris
doi:10.1038/452535a
News and Views
Genomics: When the smoke clears ... p537
Three studies identify an association between genetic variation at a location on chromosome 15 and risk of lung cancer. But they disagree on whether the link is direct or mediated through nicotine dependence.
Stephen J. Chanock & David J. Hunter
doi:10.1038/452537a
See also: Editor's summary
Extrasolar planets: With a coarse-tooth comb p538
The search for Earth-like planets outside our Solar System is bedevilled by the lack of an adequate frequency standard for calibrating starlight. Tweaking existing laser 'frequency combs' could be a way forward.
Gordon Walker
doi:10.1038/452538a
See also: Editor's summary
Geophysics: Humming a different tune p539
Earth breathes in and out, murmuring gently to itself as it does so. The habit has been ascribed to the tickling effects of ocean waves — but a new-found twisting oscillation might reopen the search for the source.
Toshiro Tanimoto
doi:10.1038/452539a
Drug resistance: The fight against fungi p541
Although several drugs are available to combat often-deadly fungal infections, many of these pathogens have acquired multidrug resistance. Discerning how they have achieved this could help us hit back.
André Goffeau
doi:10.1038/452541a
See also: Editor's summary
Condensed-matter physics: Opposite of a superconductor p542
Magnetism and superconductivity are caused by spontaneous ordering on a macroscopic scale. Studies of a two-dimensional superconductor reveal another striking example of such behaviour — superinsulation.
Rosario Fazio
doi:10.1038/452542a
See also: Editor's summary
RNA interference: Generic block on angiogenesis p543
A virtue of using small interfering RNAs as therapeutics is their exquisite specificity. But when it comes to inhibiting blood-vessel growth, it seems that they can act generically without even entering a cell.
Raghu Kalluri & Keizo Kanasaki
doi:10.1038/452543a
See also: Editor's summary
Obituary: Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) p546
Visionary science-fiction author.
Gregory Benford
doi:10.1038/452546a
Insight: Molecular cancer diagnostics -
Produced with support from:
Insight: Molecular cancer diagnostics
Molecular cancer diagnostics p547
Barbara Marte, Alex Eccleston & Deepa Nath
doi:10.1038/452547a
The cancer biomarker problem p548
Charles L. Sawyers
doi:10.1038/nature06913
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (321K)
Translating insights from the cancer genome into clinical practice p553
Lynda Chin & Joe W. Gray
doi:10.1038/nature06914
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,024K)
Enabling personalized cancer medicine through analysis of gene-expression patterns p564
Laura J. van 't Veer & René Bernards
doi:10.1038/nature06915
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (756K)
Mining the plasma proteome for cancer biomarkers p571
Samir M. Hanash, Sharon J. Pitteri & Vitor M. Faca
doi:10.1038/nature06916
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,256K)
Imaging in the era of molecular oncology p580
Ralph Weissleder & Mikael J. Pittet
doi:10.1038/nature06917
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,763K)
Articles
Sequence- and target-independent angiogenesis suppression by siRNA via TLR3 p591
Mark E. Kleinman, Kiyoshi Yamada, Atsunobu Takeda, Vasu Chandrasekaran, Miho Nozaki, Judit Z. Baffi, Romulo J. C. Albuquerque, Satoshi Yamasaki, Masahiro Itaya, Yuzhen Pan, Binoy Appukuttan, Daniel Gibbs, Zhenglin Yang, Katalin Karikó, Balamurali K. Ambati, Traci A. Wilgus, Luisa A. DiPietro, Eiji Sakurai, Kang Zhang, Justine R. Smith, Ethan W. Taylor & Jayakrishna Ambati
doi:10.1038/nature06765
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (824K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Kalluri & Kanasaki
Following translation by single ribosomes one codon at a time p598
Jin-Der Wen, Laura Lancaster, Courtney Hodges, Ana-Carolina Zeri, Shige H. Yoshimura, Harry F. Noller, Carlos Bustamante & Ignacio Tinoco
doi:10.1038/nature06716
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (397K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A nuclear receptor-like pathway regulating multidrug resistance in fungi p604
Jitendra K. Thakur, Haribabu Arthanari, Fajun Yang, Shih-Jung Pan, Xiaochun Fan, Julia Breger, Dominique P. Frueh, Kailash Gulshan, Darrick K. Li, Eleftherios Mylonakis, Kevin Struhl, W. Scott Moye-Rowley, Brendan P. Cormack, Gerhard Wagner & Anders M. Näär
doi:10.1038/nature06836
PDB code
3D view
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (591K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Goffeau
Letters
A laser frequency comb that enables radial velocity measurements with a precision of 1 cm s-1 p610
Chih-Hao Li, Andrew J. Benedick, Peter Fendel, Alexander G. Glenday, Franz X. Kärtner, David F. Phillips, Dimitar Sasselov, Andrew Szentgyorgyi & Ronald L. Walsworth
doi:10.1038/nature06854
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (373K)
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Walker
Superinsulator and quantum synchronization p613
Valerii M. Vinokur, Tatyana I. Baturina, Mikhail V. Fistul, Aleksey Yu. Mironov, Mikhail R. Baklanov & Christoph Strunk
doi:10.1038/nature06837
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (502K)
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Fazio
Dust-climate couplings over the past 800,000 years from the EPICA Dome C ice core p616
F. Lambert, B. Delmonte, J. R. Petit, M. Bigler, P. R. Kaufmann, M. A. Hutterli, T. F. Stocker, U. Ruth, J. P. Steffensen & V. Maggi
doi:10.1038/nature06763
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (2,112K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Absolute plate motions and true polar wander in the absence of hotspot tracks p620
Bernhard Steinberger & Trond H. Torsvik
doi:10.1038/nature06824
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,521K)
Localization and functionality of microsporidian iron–sulphur cluster assembly proteins p624
Alina V. Goldberg, Sabine Molik, Anastasios D. Tsaousis, Karina Neumann, Grit Kuhnke, Frederic Delbac, Christian P. Vivares, Robert P. Hirt, Roland Lill & T. Martin Embley
doi:10.1038/nature06606
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,112K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Functional metagenomic profiling of nine biomes p629
Elizabeth A. Dinsdale, Robert A. Edwards, Dana Hall, Florent Angly, Mya Breitbart, Jennifer M. Brulc, Mike Furlan, Christelle Desnues, Matthew Haynes, Linlin Li, Lauren McDaniel, Mary Ann Moran, Karen E. Nelson, Christina Nilsson, Robert Olson, John Paul, Beltran Rodriguez Brito, Yijun Ruan, Brandon K. Swan, Rick Stevens, David L. Valentine, Rebecca Vega Thurber, Linda Wegley, Bryan A. White & Forest Rohwer
doi:10.1038/nature06810
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (299K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
A susceptibility locus for lung cancer maps to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit genes on 15q25 p633
Rayjean J. Hung, James D. McKay, Valerie Gaborieau, Paolo Boffetta, Mia Hashibe, David Zaridze, Anush Mukeria, Neonilia Szeszenia-Dabrowska, Jolanta Lissowska, Peter Rudnai, Eleonora Fabianova, Dana Mates, Vladimir Bencko, Lenka Foretova, Vladimir Janout, Chu Chen, Gary Goodman, John K. Field, Triantafillos Liloglou, George Xinarianos, Adrian Cassidy, John McLaughlin, Geoffrey Liu, Steven Narod, Hans E. Krokan, Frank Skorpen, Maiken Bratt Elvestad, Kristian Hveem, Lars Vatten, Jakob Linseisen, Françoise Clavel-Chapelon, Paolo Vineis, H. Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita, Eiliv Lund, Carmen Martinez, Sheila Bingham, Torgny Rasmuson, Pierre Hainaut, Elio Riboli, Wolfgang Ahrens, Simone Benhamou, Pagona Lagiou, Dimitrios Trichopoulos, Ivana Holcátová, Franco Merletti, Kristina Kjaerheim, Antonio Agudo, Gary Macfarlane, Renato Talamini, Lorenzo Simonato, Ray Lowry, David I. Conway, Ariana Znaor, Claire Healy, Diana Zelenika, Anne Boland, Marc Delepine, Mario Foglio, Doris Lechner, Fumihiko Matsuda, Helene Blanche, Ivo Gut, Simon Heath, Mark Lathrop & Paul Brennan
doi:10.1038/nature06885
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (311K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Chanock & Hunter
A variant associated with nicotine dependence, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease p638
Thorgeir E. Thorgeirsson, Frank Geller, Patrick Sulem, Thorunn Rafnar, Anna Wiste, Kristinn P. Magnusson, Andrei Manolescu, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Hreinn Stefansson, Andres Ingason, Simon N. Stacey, Jon T. Bergthorsson, Steinunn Thorlacius, Julius Gudmundsson, Thorlakur Jonsson, Margret Jakobsdottir, Jona Saemundsdottir, Olof Olafsdottir, Larus J. Gudmundsson, Gyda Bjornsdottir, Kristleifur Kristjansson, Halla Skuladottir, Helgi J. Isaksson, Tomas Gudbjartsson, Gregory T. Jones, Thomas Mueller, Anders Gottsäter, Andrea Flex, Katja K. H. Aben, Femmie de Vegt, Peter F. A. Mulders, Dolores Isla, Maria J. Vidal, Laura Asin, Berta Saez, Laura Murillo, Thorsteinn Blondal, Halldor Kolbeinsson, Jon G. Stefansson, Ingunn Hansdottir, Valgerdur Runarsdottir, Roberto Pola, Bengt Lindblad, Andre M. van Rij, Benjamin Dieplinger, Meinhard Haltmayer, Jose I. Mayordomo, Lambertus A. Kiemeney, Stefan E. Matthiasson, Hogni Oskarsson, Thorarinn Tyrfingsson, Daniel F. Gudbjartsson, Jeffrey R. Gulcher, Steinn Jonsson, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Augustine Kong & Kari Stefansson
doi:10.1038/nature06846
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (174K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Chanock & Hunter
A neural representation of depth from motion parallax in macaque visual cortex p642
Jacob W. Nadler, Dora E. Angelaki & Gregory C. DeAngelis
doi:10.1038/nature06814
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (395K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Tumour maintenance is mediated by eNOS p646
Kian-Huat Lim, Brooke B. Ancrile, David F. Kashatus & Christopher M. Counter
doi:10.1038/nature06778
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (603K) | Supplementary information
Cutaneous cancer stem cell maintenance is dependent on 
-catenin signalling p650
Ilaria Malanchi, Hector Peinado, Deepika Kassen, Thomas Hussenet, Daniel Metzger, Pierre Chambon, Marcel Huber, Daniel Hohl, Amparo Cano, Walter Birchmeier & Joerg Huelsken
doi:10.1038/nature06835
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,158K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Dendritic cell PAR1–S1P3 signalling couples coagulation and inflammation p654
Frank Niessen, Florence Schaffner, Christian Furlan-Freguia, Rafal Pawlinski, Gourab Bhattacharjee, Jerold Chun, Claudia K. Derian, Patricia Andrade-Gordon, Hugh Rosen & Wolfram Ruf
doi:10.1038/nature06663
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (512K) | Supplementary information
Naturejobs
ProspectProspects p659
The startling contrasts of Bangalore
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7187-659a
Region
Biotech in Bangalore p660
Bangalore has a growing biotech sector, supported by a tradition of academic science. But there are still challenges in committing to discovery science and retaining top talent. Gene Russo reports.
Gene Russo
doi:10.1038/nj7187-660a
Career View
Dave Tapolczay, chief executive, MRC Technology, London p662
Tapolczay looking to bolster MRC tech transfer
Jill U. Adams
doi:10.1038/nj7187-662a
Göttingen bridges the gap p662
Max Planck gets complex with new degree programme.
Virginia Gewin
doi:10.1038/nj7187-662b
Getting that lucky break p662
My project isn't working. Is it OK to quit?
Amanda Goh
doi:10.1038/nj7187-662c