Table of contents
Volume 459 Number 7245 pp299-472
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
The female underclass p299
Funding agencies and universities should collaborate to make the most of women in research.
doi:10.1038/459299a
Can coal be clean? p299
New money must provide stimulus to get carbon capture and storage up and running.
doi:10.1038/459299b
Responsible interrogation p300
Psychologists have a moral duty to help prevent torture.
doi:10.1038/459300a
Research Highlights
Geology: Middle Ordovician orgy p302
doi:10.1038/459302a
Genetics: Long-lasting without fasting p302
doi:10.1038/459302b
Nanomaterials: Inked in p302
doi:10.1038/459302c
Microbiology: Tag-teaming tuberculosis p302
doi:10.1038/459302d
Climate: Cyclones take it higher p302
doi:10.1038/459302e
Chemistry: Mini magnets p302
doi:10.1038/459302f
Evolution: Home-field advantage p303
doi:10.1038/459303a
Neurogenetics: Protecting plasticity p303
doi:10.1038/459303b
Ecology: Pollinators get a grip p303
doi:10.1038/459303c
Cancer biology: Cancer cop back on the beat p303
doi:10.1038/459303d
News
Sunny outlook for Australian science p304
Research programmes win big in budget, but critics say environment is 'overlooked'.
Stephen Pincock
doi:10.1038/459304a
Public donations to lift research p305
Website paves way for people power.
Mark Schrope
doi:10.1038/459305a
Research from rubble p306
University returns to work in makeshift lecture halls and laboratories.
Alison Abbott
doi:10.1038/459306a
Elements reveal fossils' origins p307
Chemical fingerprint could foil poachers.
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/459307a
The planetary police p308
Planetary scientists are looking for new ways to sterilize their spacecraft, so that they won't be excluded from exploring interesting places. Eric Hand reports.
Eric Hand
doi:10.1038/459308a
Alzheimer's theory makes a splash p310
Neuroscientists probe idea that neuronal pruning may contribute to degenerative disorder.
Jim Schnabel
doi:10.1038/459310a
Canadian charged with smuggling Ebola p311
doi:10.1038/459311a
New York's health commissioner to head CDC p311
doi:10.1038/459311b
Lawsuit targets validity of human-gene patents p311
doi:10.1038/459311c
Re-election of Indian prime minister aids nuclear deal p311
doi:10.1038/459311d
Austrian scientists celebrate CERN U-turn p311
doi:10.1038/459311e
Astronauts complete Hubble repairs p311
doi:10.1038/459311f
News Features
Lighting Technology: Time to change the bulb p312
The incandescent light bulb is being phased out, but what will replace it? Stefano Tonzani investigates the technologies that are vying for our sockets.
doi:10.1038/459312a
Origin of life: Nascence man p316
Like an alchemist of yore, Mike Russell is taking basic elements and trying to transform them — not into gold, but into the stirrings of life, John Whitfield reports.
doi:10.1038/459316a
Correspondence
Calls to counter science scepticism are irrelevant in India p321
Lalit M. Kukreja
doi:10.1038/459321a
Protecting the environment can boost the economy p321
Drew Shindell
doi:10.1038/459321b
Time for China to restore its natural wetlands p321
Xubin Pan & Bin Wang
doi:10.1038/459321c
Erasmus Darwin saw sexual selection before his grandson p321
C. U. M. Smith
doi:10.1038/459321d
Commentary
Pandemics: good hygiene is not enough p322
The US government is doing well to communicate uncertainty over swine flu. It must also help the public to visualize what a bad pandemic might be like, says Peter M. Sandman.
doi:10.1038/459322a
Essay
Pandemics: avoiding the mistakes of 1918 p324
As bodies piled up, the United States' response to the 'Spanish flu' was to tell the public that there was no cause for alarm. The authority figures who glossed over the truth lost their credibility, says John M. Barry.
John M. Barry
doi:10.1038/459324a
Books and Arts
Paul Dirac: a physicist of few words p326
A detailed biography argues that the Nobel prizewinner's notorious reticence delayed experimentalists from discovering the antimatter that would confirm his elegant theory, explains Frank Close.
Frank Close
doi:10.1038/459326a
The end of the invasion? p327
Emma Marris reviews Invasion Biology by Mark A. Davis
doi:10.1038/459327a
Paper ambassadors of science p328
Philip Parker of Britain's Royal Mail celebrates special stamps and his new set for the 250th anniversary of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
Philip Parker
doi:10.1038/459328a
Q&A: The exhibition designer p329
A pioneer of interactive museum installations, Edwin Schlossberg lets young visitors experience science first hand, from launching a space shuttle to seeing the world through an animal's eyes. As his neuroscience-inspired paintings are shown this month in New York City, he explains how he applies cognitive science to harness children's curiosity.
Jascha Hoffman
doi:10.1038/459329a
News and Views
Nanotechnology: Another dimension for DNA art p331
Many of nature's intricate nanostructures self-assemble from subunits. Efforts to mimic these assembly processes enter a new phase with a method to design and build three-dimensional DNA nanostructures.
Thomas H. LaBean
doi:10.1038/459331a
See also: Editor's summary
Computation: The edge of reductionism p332
Research at the frontier between computer science and physics illustrates the shortcomings of the reductionist approach to science, which explains macroscopic behaviour using microscopic principles.
P.-M. Binder
doi:10.1038/459332a
50 & 100 years ago p333
doi:10.1038/459333a
Systems biology: When it is time to die p334
Why do cells of the same population respond differently to external death-inducing stimuli? Individuality seems to originate from non-genetic differences in the levels and activation states of proteins.
Philippe Bastiaens
doi:10.1038/459334a
See also: Editor's summary
Earth science: Life battered but unbowed p335
Early in its history, Earth experienced a pounding from extraterrestrial impacts. But instead of sterilizing the planet, it allowed microbial life to persist, according to numerical models of Earth's crust.
Lynn J. Rothschild
doi:10.1038/459335a
See also: Editor's summary
Cancer: Melanoma troops massed p336
In many cancers, regulation of specific signalling molecules goes awry, affecting a host of other proteins and cellular processes. Proteomics is a useful systemic approach for identifying such extensive effects.
Paul H. Huang & Richard Marais
doi:10.1038/459336a
Plant biotechnology: Zinc fingers on target p337
The existing methods of creating genetically modified plants are inefficient and imprecise. Zinc-finger technology offers the prospect of opening up a swifter and more exact route for crop improvement.
Matthew H. Porteus
doi:10.1038/459337a
See also: Editor's summary
News and Views Q&A
Obesity: Causes and control of excess body fat p340
Obesity is a major health problem in developed countries and a growing one in the developing world. It increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver and some forms of cancer. A better understanding of the biological basis of obesity should aid its prevention and treatment.
Jeffrey M. Friedman
doi:10.1038/459340a
Insight: Membrane protein biophysics -
Insight: Membrane protein biophysics
Membrane protein biophysics p343
Lesley Anson
doi:10.1038/459343a
Biophysical dissection of membrane proteins p344
Stephen H. White
doi:10.1038/nature08142
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,272K)
Unlocking the molecular secrets of sodium-coupled transporters p347
Harini Krishnamurthy, Chayne L. Piscitelli & Eric Gouaux
doi:10.1038/nature08143
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (3,028K)
The structure and function of G-protein-coupled receptors p356
Daniel M. Rosenbaum, Søren G. F. Rasmussen & Brian K. Kobilka
doi:10.1038/nature08144
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (2,573K)
Torque generation and elastic power transmission in the rotary FOF1-ATPase p364
Wolfgang Junge, Hendrik Sielaff & Siegfried Engelbrecht
doi:10.1038/nature08145
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,918K) | Supplementary information
How intramembrane proteases bury hydrolytic reactions in the membrane p371
Elinor Erez, Deborah Fass & Eitan Bibi
doi:10.1038/nature08146
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (2,364K)
Emerging roles for lipids in shaping membrane-protein function p379
Rob Phillips, Tristan Ursell, Paul Wiggins & Pierre Sens
doi:10.1038/nature08147
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (2,310K)
Articles
Bmi1 regulates mitochondrial function and the DNA damage response pathway p387
Mice deficient in the Polycomb repressor Bmi1 have a shortened lifespan and develop numerous abnormalities including defects in stem cell self-renewal and thymocyte maturation. Here it is demonstrated that cells derived from Bmi1-/- mice also show a marked elevation in the intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species, corresponding to the derepression of previously identified Polycomb target genes and sufficient to engage the DNA damage response pathway.
Jie Liu, Liu Cao, Jichun Chen, Shiwei Song, In Hye Lee, Celia Quijano, Hongjun Liu, Keyvan Keyvanfar, Haoqian Chen, Long-Yue Cao, Bong-Hyun Ahn, Neil G. Kumar, Ilsa I. Rovira, Xiao-Ling Xu, Maarten van Lohuizen, Noboru Motoyama, Chu-Xia Deng & Toren Finkel
doi:10.1038/nature08040
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (671K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
The origin of the electrostatic perturbation in acetoacetate decarboxylase p393
In 1966, Frank Westheimer proposed that the large shift in the pKa of a key lysine residue (Lys 115) in the active site of the enzyme acetoacetate decarboxylase was because of the neighbouring charge of another lysine reside (Lys 116); this is said to be a classic example of enzymatic 'microenvironment effects'. Here, the X-ray crystal structure of acetoacetate decarboxylase is solved, revealing that the shift in pKa cannot be due to Lys 116 but is instead due to the presence of a long hydrophobic funnel near Lys 115.
Meng-Chiao Ho, Jean-François Ménétret, Hiro Tsuruta & Karen N. Allen
doi:10.1038/nature07938
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,093K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
Non-radial oscillation modes with long lifetimes in giant stars p398
Towards the end of their lives, stars like the Sun expand greatly to become red giant stars that oscillate. Such evolved stars could provide stringent tests of stellar theory through the analysis of radial and non-radial stellar oscillations. Here, the presence of such oscillations in more than 300 giant stars is reported, with mode lifetimes of some of the giants in the order of a month.
Joris De Ridder, Caroline Barban, Frédéric Baudin, Fabien Carrier, Artie P. Hatzes, Saskia Hekker, Thomas Kallinger, Werner W. Weiss, Annie Baglin, Michel Auvergne, Réza Samadi, Pierre Barge & Magali Deleuil
doi:10.1038/nature08022
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (317K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Stability against freezing of aqueous solutions on early Mars p401
Many features of the Martian landscape are thought to have been formed by liquid water flow. However, several lines of evidence suggest that mean global temperatures on early Mars were well below the freezing point of pure water. Here, the modelling of freezing and evaporation of Martian fluids with a chemical composition resulting from the weathering of basalts—as reflected in the chemical compositions found at Mars landing sites—suggests that a significant fraction would remain in the liquid state at temperatures well below 273 K.
Alberto G. Fairén, Alfonso F. Davila, Luis Gago-Duport, Ricardo Amils & Christopher P. McKay
doi:10.1038/nature07978
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (278K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Breakdown of the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer ground state at a quantum phase transition p405
Although quantum phase transitions are attracting increasing attention as the conceptual link between conventional and exotic states of quantum matter—having been implicated, for example, in the properties of high-temperature superconductors—there are few model systems in which they can be studied and understood. Now it is revealed that placing simple elemental chromium under pressure suppresses its normal magnetic state and gives direct experimental access to the underlying quantum phase transition responsible for these changes.
R. Jaramillo, Yejun Feng, J. C. Lang, Z. Islam, G. Srajer, P. B. Littlewood, D. B. McWhan & T. F. Rosenbaum
doi:10.1038/nature08008
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (522K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Five-dimensional optical recording mediated by surface plasmons in gold nanorods p410
By exploiting not only the three spatial dimensions but also other ways to record information, it is theoretically possible to store much more onto an optical device such as a DVD than has hitherto been possible. Here, a five-dimensional optical recording technique using polarization of light and its wavelength as the two additional dimensions, is demonstrated. The method consists of using a substrate of gold nanorods immersed in polymer.
Peter Zijlstra, James W. M. Chon & Min Gu
doi:10.1038/nature08053
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (927K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Self-assembly of DNA into nanoscale three-dimensional shapes p414
DNA has proved to be a versatile building block in the creation of complex structures through self-assembly, exploiting the intermolecular forces between the components. Here, the arrangement of DNA helices on pleated strands which are then assembled into honeycomb-like three-dimensional structures, produces objects of unprecedented complexity.
Shawn M. Douglas, Hendrik Dietz, Tim Liedl, Björn Högberg, Franziska Graf & William M. Shih
doi:10.1038/nature08016
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (2,324K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by LaBean
Microbial habitability of the Hadean Earth during the late heavy bombardment p419
Diverse Solar System materials indicate that a cataclysmic spike occurred in the number of impacts within the inner Solar System about 3.9 billion years ago. Here, numerical models probe the degree of thermal metamorphism there would have been during this period in the Earth's crust, and thus how habitable the near- and subsurface would have been for microbes; analysis shows no plausible scenario in which the habitable zone was fully sterilized.
Oleg Abramov & Stephen J. Mojzsis
doi:10.1038/nature08015
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (579K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Rothschild
PEP1 regulates perennial flowering in Arabis alpina p423
The regulation of flowering is best understood in annual plants which flower only once in their lifetime, whereas the repeated cycles of growth and flowering in perennials have not been extensively studied. The identification and study of the perpetual flowering 1 mutant of the perennial Arabis alpina, now gives insight into the different mechanisms of flowering regulation in perennial and annual species, and suggests that patterns of chromatin modification may have a role.
Renhou Wang, Sara Farrona, Coral Vincent, Anika Joecker, Heiko Schoof, Franziska Turck, Carlos Alonso-Blanco, George Coupland & Maria C. Albani
doi:10.1038/nature07988
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (721K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Non-genetic origins of cell-to-cell variability in TRAIL-induced apoptosis p428
Noise in gene expression gives rise to cell-to-cell variability in protein concentrations and is increasingly recognized as a key source of non-genetic differences between cells. Through single cell imaging, it has now been possible to demonstrate that pre-existing differences in the levels of signalling proteins determine whether the addition of an external death signal will kill a cell or not—and how fast. This has implications for understanding 'fractional killing' of tumour cells after chemotherapy, in which some but not all tumour cells die.
Sabrina L. Spencer, Suzanne Gaudet, John G. Albeck, John M. Burke & Peter K. Sorger
doi:10.1038/nature08012
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (967K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Bastiaens
Syk kinase signalling couples to the Nlrp3 inflammasome for anti-fungal host defence p433
Interleukin-1
(IL-1) is a key pro-inflammatory factor in innate antifungal immunity, but the mechanism by which the mammalian immune system regulates IL-1 production after fungal recognition is unclear. Here it is demonstrated that the tyrosine kinase Syk controls both pro-IL-1 synthesis and Nlrp3 inflammasome activation after cell stimulation with Candida albicans.
Olaf Gross, Hendrik Poeck, Michael Bscheider, Catherine Dostert, Nicole Hannesschläger, Stefan Endres, Gunther Hartmann, Aubry Tardivel, Edina Schweighoffer, Victor Tybulewicz, Attila Mocsai, Jürg Tschopp & Jürgen Ruland
doi:10.1038/nature07965
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (406K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Precise genome modification in the crop species Zea mays using zinc-finger nucleases p437
Genetic engineering in plants remains laborious and time consuming, with no precise genetic engineering methods comparable to those available in animal models. A new approach that relies on the use of designed zinc-finger nucleases is showcased here in maize, inducing herbicide tolerance that is stably inherited.
Vipula K. Shukla, Yannick Doyon, Jeffrey C. Miller, Russell C. DeKelver, Erica A. Moehle, Sarah E. Worden, Jon C. Mitchell, Nicole L. Arnold, Sunita Gopalan, Xiangdong Meng, Vivian M. Choi, Jeremy M. Rock, Ying-Ying Wu, George E. Katibah, Gao Zhifang, David McCaskill, Matthew A. Simpson, Beth Blakeslee, Scott A. Greenwalt, Holly J. Butler, Sarah J. Hinkley, Lei Zhang, Edward J. Rebar, Philip D. Gregory & Fyodor D. Urnov
doi:10.1038/nature07992
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (986K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Porteus
High-frequency modification of plant genes using engineered zinc-finger nucleases p442
An efficient method for gene targeting in plants has been lacking until now, frustrating efforts to engineer crop plants. Here it is demonstrated that zinc-finger nucleases—enzymes engineered to create DNA double-strand breaks at specific loci—can be used for gene targeting, in this case inducing mutations that confer resistance to herbicides in tobacco plants.
Jeffrey A. Townsend, David A. Wright, Ronnie J. Winfrey, Fengli Fu, Morgan L. Maeder, J. Keith Joung & Daniel F. Voytas
doi:10.1038/nature07845
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (210K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Porteus
Crystal structure of the sodium–potassium pump at 2.4 Å resolution p446
The sodium–potassium ATPase is an ATP-powered ion pump that creates concentration gradients for sodium and potassium ions across the plasma membrane of animal cells, a process essential, for example, in the action potentials of nerve cells. Here the crystal structure of the sodium–potassium pump in the shark, which is highly homologous to the human pump, is described.
Takehiro Shinoda, Haruo Ogawa, Flemming Cornelius & Chikashi Toyoshima
doi:10.1038/nature07939
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,079K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Detection and trapping of intermediate states priming nicotinic receptor channel opening p451
The acetylcholine receptor, which mediates rapid synaptic transmission, possesses two agonist binding sites, the occupation of which leads to channel opening; however, the precise molecular events that follow agonist binding are unclear. Here, the receptors are locked in conformations equivalent to agonist-bound states, and it is observed that each binding site initiates the formation of one of two 'primed' states from which the channels are able to open and close.
Nuriya Mukhtasimova, Won Yong Lee, Hai-Long Wang & Steven M. Sine
doi:10.1038/nature07923
PDB code
3D view
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (825K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
GlcNAcylation of a histone methyltransferase in retinoic-acid-induced granulopoiesis p455
The post-translational modifications of histone tails generate a 'histone code' that defines local and global chromatin states. Here it is shown that nuclear GlcNAcylation of a histone lysine methyltransferase, MLL5, by O-linked -N-acetylglucosamine transferase, facilitates retinoic-acid-induced granulopoiesis.
Ryoji Fujiki, Toshihiro Chikanishi, Waka Hashiba, Hiroaki Ito, Ichiro Takada, Robert G. Roeder, Hirochika Kitagawa & Shigeaki Kato
doi:10.1038/nature07954
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,200K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
CtIP-BRCA1 modulates the choice of DNA double-strand-break repair pathway throughout the cell cycle p460
Cells have two main DNA repair pathways, homologous recombination and end-joining, that are thought to function at different stages of the cell cycle, but how the cell recognizes these stages and switches its predominant repair pathway is not well known. The protein CtIP is now shown to serve as a switch between these pathways through a specific phosphorylation that recruits the breast cancer susceptibility protein, BRCA1, which in turn directs the cell to use homologous recombination.
Maximina H. Yun & Kevin Hiom
doi:10.1038/nature07955
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (424K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Naturejobs
Careers and RecruitmentOntario's attractive prospect p467
Investment may stem looming brain drain in Ontario.
Hannah Hoag
doi:10.1038/nj7245-467a
Postdoc journal
Interdisciplinary images p467
A struggle with a definition.
Sam Walcott
doi:10.1038/nj7245-467b
In Brief
Non-tenure on the rise p467
The proportion of US full-time and tenure-track faculty members at US colleges is falling.
doi:10.1038/nj7245-467c
Winding up p467
Wind technology centre offers exciting opportunities.
doi:10.1038/nj7245-467d
Biotech funding rethink p467
The state of publicly traded biotech firms.
doi:10.1038/nj7245-467e
Special Report
Unmasking the impostor p468
Feelings of inadequacy in one's field sometimes plague even the most accomplished scientists, especially women. Karen Kaplan analyses this apparent phenomenon and its impact.
Karen Kaplan
doi:10.1038/nj7245-468a
