Table of contents
Volume 460 Number 7259 pp1057-1170
(this content only available online) indicates content that is available online only
Editorials
The ethics of egg manipulation p1057
Cell research reopens the debate on embryo destruction, egg donation and what is natural.
doi:10.1038/4601057a
All the news you need p1057
doi:10.1038/4601057b
Research Highlights
Human behaviour: Walking in circles p1060
doi:10.1038/4601060a
Physiology: Smooth transitions p1060
doi:10.1038/4601060b
Cancer biology: A nasty cut p1060
doi:10.1038/4601060c
Ecology: Winter warmer p1060
doi:10.1038/4601060d
Model organisms: A new kind of knock out p1060
doi:10.1038/4601060e
Nanotechnology: Origami bridge p1060
doi:10.1038/4601060f
Biology: Following in the wake p1061
doi:10.1038/4601061a
Physics: Trip the light magnetic p1061
doi:10.1038/4601061b
Plant biology: The other garden path p1061
doi:10.1038/4601061c
Geoscience: Ground down p1061
doi:10.1038/4601061d
News
News briefing p1062
doi:10.1038/4601062a
Chemical-safety costs uncertain p1065
Researchers and regulators disagree on how REACH legislation will affect costs and loss of animal lives.
Natasha Gilbert
doi:10.1038/4601065a
China boosts pandemic surveillance p1066
But lack of screening could hamper efforts.
Jane Qiu
doi:10.1038/4601066a
US plans for science outreach to Muslim world p1067
White House to send scientists as envoys.
Alexandra Witze
doi:10.1038/4601067a
Fossil protection law comes under fire p1067
Palaeontologists aim to clamp down on illegal trade.
Rex Dalton
doi:10.1038/4601067b
Japan relaxes human stem-cell rules p1068
But scientists fear it is too late to regain lost ground.
David Cyranoski
doi:10.1038/4601068a
FDA narrows drug label usage p1069
Cancer treatments limited to specific gene variants.
Elie Dolgin
doi:10.1038/4601069a
Canada assumes weighty mantle p1070
Instrument to help redefine the kilogram makes a transatlantic move.
Nicola Jones
doi:10.1038/4601070a
News Features
Medicine: Last chance clinic p1071
Some diseases defy diagnosis. Brendan Maher meets two people who hope that the US National Institutes of Health can help.
doi:10.1038/4601071a
Robotics: The bot that plays ball p1076
He looks like a child and plays like a child. But can the iCub robot reveal how a child learns and thinks? Nicola Nosengo reports.
doi:10.1038/4601076a
Correspondence
Italy leads the way in supporting African biotechnology p1079
Francisco E. Baralle
doi:10.1038/4601079a
Investors likely to venture back as crisis subsides p1079
J. Leslie Glick
doi:10.1038/4601079b
Czech bibliometric system fosters mediocre research p1079
Jan Konvalinka,
Helena Illnerová,
Pavel Hobza,
Václav Ho
ej
í,
Antonín Holý,
Pavel Jungwirth,
Václav Pa
es,
Pavel Martásek
&
Jií Zlatuka
doi:10.1038/4601079c
Non-scientists could still contribute to reform of the ERC p1079
Wilhelm Krull, Jakob Edler & Michael Stampfer
doi:10.1038/4601079d
Opinion
Chemical regulators have overreached p1080
The costs — both in animal lives and euros — of the European REACH legislation on chemical testing are escalating. Thomas Hartung and Costanza Rovida argue for a suspension of certain toxicity tests.
Thomas Hartung & Costanza Rovida
doi:10.1038/4601080a
Books and Arts
Bridging the gender gap in Indian science p1082
A set of biographies reveals the trials and triumphs of India's women researchers, says Asha Gopinathan.
Asha Gopinathan reviews Lilavati's Daughters: The Women Scientists of India Edited by Rohini Godbole & Ram Ramaswamy
doi:10.1038/4601082a
The many faces of mathematics p1083
Eric L. Altschuler reviews Mathematicians: An Outer View of the Inner World by Mariana Cook and Recountings: Conversations with MIT Mathematicians by Joel Segel
doi:10.1038/4601083a
Numerical reading p1083
Joanne Baker
doi:10.1038/4601083b
Q&A: Science pop songsters p1084
The US band They Might Be Giants has played rock to adults for more than two decades — and to children since 2002. Next week it releases the album Here Comes Science, with educational tunes about the elements and evolution. John Linnell, who fronts the band with John Flansburgh, explains why a science-friendly thread runs through their music.
Brendan Maher
doi:10.1038/4601084a
News and Views
Stem cells: The promises and perils of p53 p1085
Five studies show that disabling p53, an essential tumour-suppressor protein, improves the efficiency of stem-cell production. Are these results a 'heads up' that cancer cells and stem cells are disturbingly similar?
Valery Krizhanovsky & Scott W. Lowe
doi:10.1038/4601085a
See also: Editor's summary
Extrasolar planets: Secrets that only tides will tell p1086
Evidence that the most recently discovered extrasolar planet is virtually at the end of its life is a surprise. The odds of that are very low — similar to drawing two consecutive red aces from a well-shuffled deck of cards.
Douglas P. Hamilton
doi:10.1038/4601086a
See also: Editor's summary
Developmental biology: Jumping-gene roulette p1087
Jumping genes, which make DNA copies of themselves through an RNA middleman, provide a stochastic process for generating brain diversity among humans. The effect of their random insertion, however, is a bit of a gamble.
Sandra L. Martin
doi:10.1038/4601087a
See also: Editor's summary
Optics: Ultrafast X-ray photography p1088
A super-fast, lensless microscope has been developed that works by decoding the diffraction patterns of bright, laser-like flashes of X-rays. This advance should enable ultrafast events at the nanoscale to be recorded.
Margaret M. Murnane & Jianwei Miao
doi:10.1038/4601088a
50 & 100 years ago p1090
doi:10.1038/4601090a
Solid-state physics: An insulator's metallic side p1090
Certain insulators have conducting surfaces that arise from subtle chemical properties of the bulk material. The latest experiments suggest that such surfaces may compete with graphene in electronic applications.
Joel Moore
doi:10.1038/4601090b
See also: Editor's summary
Gamma-ray bursts: Maybe not so old after all p1091
The discovery of a short-lived 
-ray burst at a surprisingly early epoch in the history of the Universe shows how much is still unknown about the evolution of the parent systems of such bursts.
Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz & William Lee
doi:10.1038/4601091a
Article
Developmental and species-divergent globin switching are driven by BCL11A p1093
The contribution of changes in cis-regulatory elements or trans-acting factors to differences in gene expression between species is not well understood. Here it is found that, in transgenic mice containing the human 
-globin locus, the expression of BCL11A differs between mouse and human and is a critical mediator of species-divergent globin switching.
Vijay G. Sankaran, Jian Xu, Tobias Ragoczy, Gregory C. Ippolito, Carl R. Walkley, Shanna D. Maika, Yuko Fujiwara, Masafumi Ito, Mark Groudine, M. A. Bender, Philip W. Tucker & Stuart H. Orkin
doi:10.1038/nature08243
Abstract | Full Text | PDF (1,132K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Letters
An orbital period of 0.94 days for the hot-Jupiter planet WASP-18b p1098
'Hot Jupiters' abound in lists of known extrasolar planets. Those closest to their parent stars have strong tidal interactions, leading to the suggestion that systems such as OGLE-TR-56 could be used as tests of tidal dissipation theory. Here, the discovery of planet WASP-18b is reported, with an orbital period of 0.94 days and a tidal interaction an order of magnitude stronger than that of OGLE-TR-56b. Either WASP-18 is in a rare, short-lived state, or the tidal dissipation in this system must be weaker than in the Solar System.
Coel Hellier, D. R. Anderson, A. Collier Cameron, M. Gillon, L. Hebb, P. F. L. Maxted, D. Queloz, B. Smalley, A. H. M. J. Triaud, R. G. West, D. M. Wilson, S. J. Bentley, B. Enoch, K. Horne, J. Irwin, T. A. Lister, M. Mayor, N. Parley, F. Pepe, D. L. Pollacco, D. Segransan, S. Udry & P. J. Wheatley
doi:10.1038/nature08245
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (290K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Hamilton
A tunable topological insulator in the spin helical Dirac transport regime p1101
Helical Dirac fermions are charge carriers that behave as massless relativistic particles with an intrinsic angular momentum (spin) locked to their translational momentum, a property desirable for spintronic and computing technologies. It has recently been proposed that such fermions may exist at the edges of certain types of topologically ordered insulators. Here, the realization and characterization of such a system is reported; the results reveal nearly 100 per cent spin polarization, even up to room temperature.
D. Hsieh, Y. Xia, D. Qian, L. Wray, J. H. Dil, F. Meier, J. Osterwalder, L. Patthey, J. G. Checkelsky, N. P. Ong, A. V. Fedorov, H. Lin, A. Bansil, D. Grauer, Y. S. Hor, R. J. Cava & M. Z. Hasan
doi:10.1038/nature08234
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (739K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Moore
Topological surface states protected from backscattering by chiral spin texture p1106
Topological insulators are materials in which a relativistic effect known as spin–orbit coupling gives rise to surface states that resemble chiral edge modes in quantum Hall systems, but with unconventional spin textures. It has been suggested that a feature of such spin-textured boundary states is their insensitivity to spin-independent scattering, which is thought to protect them from backscattering. Here, scanning tunnelling spectroscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy are used to confirm this prediction.
Pedram Roushan, Jungpil Seo, Colin V. Parker, Y. S. Hor, D. Hsieh, Dong Qian, Anthony Richardella, M. Z. Hasan, R. J. Cava & Ali Yazdani
doi:10.1038/nature08308
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,447K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Moore
Demonstration of a spaser-based nanolaser p1110
Nanoplasmonics promises to revolutionize applications ranging from sensing and biomedicine to imaging and information technology, but its full development is hindered by the lack of devices that can generate coherent plasmonic fields. In theory, this is possible with a so-called 'spaser' — analogous to a laser — which would generate stimulated emission of surface plasmons. This is now realized experimentally, and should enable many new technological developments.
M. A. Noginov, G. Zhu, A. M. Belgrave, R. Bakker, V. M. Shalaev, E. E. Narimanov, S. Stout, E. Herz, T. Suteewong & U. Wiesner
doi:10.1038/nature08318
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (448K)
See also: Editor's summary
2,000-year-long temperature and hydrology reconstructions from the Indo-Pacific warm pool p1113
Temperature reconstructions for the surface of the Northern Hemisphere are based largely on terrestrial records from extra-tropical or high-elevation sites, despite the fact that global average surface temperature changes closely follow those of the global tropics, which are 75 per cent ocean. Here, a decadally resolved continuous sea surface temperature is reconstructed for the Indo-Pacific warm pool that spans the past 2,000 years, allowing for comparison with observations.
Delia W. Oppo, Yair Rosenthal & Braddock K. Linsley
doi:10.1038/nature08233
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (621K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Surface hydrophobin prevents immune recognition of airborne fungal spores p1117
Fungal spores are ubiquitous in the air we breathe and contain many antigens and allergens, and yet they neither continuously activate the host innate immune cells nor induce detrimental inflammatory responses after their inhalation. Here, the surface layer on dormant spores is shown to mask their recognition by the immune system and hence prevent an immune response.
Vishukumar Aimanianda, Jagadeesh Bayry, Silvia Bozza, Olaf Kniemeyer, Katia Perruccio, Sri Ramulu Elluru, Cécile Clavaud, Sophie Paris, Axel A. Brakhage, Srini V. Kaveri, Luigina Romani & Jean-Paul Latgé
doi:10.1038/nature08264
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (487K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
EBI2 mediates B cell segregation between the outer and centre follicle p1122
B cells migrate to the outer or centre lymphoid follicle at different stages of antibody responses. Here it is shown that activated B cells must downregulate the orphan G protein-coupled receptor EBI2 to migrate to the centre follicles, where they mount T dependent antibody responses and establish germinal centres.
João P. Pereira, Lisa M. Kelly, Ying Xu & Jason G. Cyster
doi:10.1038/nature08226
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,505K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
L1 retrotransposition in human neural progenitor cells p1127
Long interspersed element 1 (LINE-1 or L1) retrotransposons have been shown to move throughout the genomes of adult rat neural progenitor cells (NPCs) in vitro and in the mouse brain. Here, NPCs isolated from human fetal brain and derived from human embryonic stem cells are shown to support the retrotransposition of engineered human L1s in vitro, which could contribute to individual somatic mosaicism.
Nicole G. Coufal, José L. Garcia-Perez, Grace E. Peng, Gene W. Yeo, Yangling Mu, Michael T. Lovci, Maria Morell, K. Sue O'Shea, John V. Moran & Fred H. Gage
doi:10.1038/nature08248
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (1,040K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Martin
Suppression of induced pluripotent stem cell generation by the p53–p21 pathway p1132
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are generated from mouse and human somatic cells by the introduction of four genes, but with low efficiency. Here it is reported that 10% of transduced mouse embryonic fibroblasts lacking p53 became iPS cells, even without the Myc retrovirus, and iPS cells were also generated from terminally differentiated T lymphocytes in the p53-null background.
Hyenjong Hong, Kazutoshi Takahashi, Tomoko Ichisaka, Takashi Aoi, Osami Kanagawa, Masato Nakagawa, Keisuke Okita & Shinya Yamanaka
doi:10.1038/nature08235
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (526K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Krizhanovsky & Lowe
The Ink4/Arf locus is a barrier for iPS cell reprogramming p1136
The Ink4/Arf tumour suppressor locus encodes the three potent tumour suppressors p16Ink4a, p15Ink4b and p19Arf. Here the locus is shown to be rate-limiting for reprogramming, and its transient inhibition significantly improves the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells. Furthermore, ageing is shown to upregulate the Ink4/Arf locus, with less efficient reprogramming seen in cells from old organisms.
Han Li, Manuel Collado, Aranzazu Villasante, Katerina Strati, Sagrario Ortega, Marta Cañamero, Maria A. Blasco & Manuel Serrano
doi:10.1038/nature08290
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (551K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Krizhanovsky & Lowe
Linking the p53 tumour suppressor pathway to somatic cell reprogramming p1140
Expression of pluripotency factors and oncogenes can reprogram somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells, albeit with low frequency and a tendency to induce malignant transformation. Here, reprogramming factors are shown to activate the p53 pathway, providing insights into reprogramming mechanisms.
Teruhisa Kawamura, Jotaro Suzuki, Yunyuan V. Wang, Sergio Menendez, Laura Batlle Morera, Angel Raya, Geoffrey M. Wahl & Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte
doi:10.1038/nature08311
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (916K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Krizhanovsky & Lowe
Immortalization eliminates a roadblock during cellular reprogramming into iPS cells p1145
Pluripotency can be induced in somatic cells by overexpression of a set of transcription factors, but the process has extremely low efficiency and slow kinetics. Here, cells with low endogenous p19Arf levels and immortal fibroblasts deficient for components of the Arf–Trp53 pathway yield induced pluripotent stem cell colonies with up to threefold faster kinetics and at a significantly higher efficiency than wild-type cells, reaching frequencies of up to 100%.
Jochen Utikal, Jose M. Polo, Matthias Stadtfeld, Nimet Maherali, Warakorn Kulalert, Ryan M. Walsh, Adam Khalil, James G. Rheinwald & Konrad Hochedlinger
doi:10.1038/nature08285
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (571K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Krizhanovsky & Lowe
A p53-mediated DNA damage response limits reprogramming to ensure iPS cell genomic integrity p1149
It is shown that p53 is critically involved in preventing the reprogramming of cells carrying various types of DNA damage, including short telomeres, DNA repair deficiencies, or exogenously inflicted DNA damage. Eliminating p53 expression allows efficient reprogramming in the face of DNA damage and the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells carrying persistent DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations.
Rosa M. Marión, Katerina Strati, Han Li, Matilde Murga, Raquel Blanco, Sagrario Ortega, Oscar Fernandez-Capetillo, Manuel Serrano & Maria A. Blasco
doi:10.1038/nature08287
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (779K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary | News and Views by Krizhanovsky & Lowe
Initiation of myoblast to brown fat switch by a PRDM16–C/EBP-
transcriptional complex p1154
Here it is shown that PRDM16, a zinc finger protein that controls the switch from myoblastic precursors to brown fat cells, works together with C/EBP- and that expression of this transcriptional unit is sufficient to induce a fully functional brown fat program in naive fibroblasts. Transplantation of such fibroblasts into mice creates a brown fat pad that acts as a sink for glucose.
Shingo Kajimura, Patrick Seale, Kazuishi Kubota, Elaine Lunsford, John V. Frangioni, Steven P. Gygi & Bruce M. Spiegelman
doi:10.1038/nature08262
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (932K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Riboflavin kinase couples TNF receptor 1 to NADPH oxidase p1159
Riboflavin kinase is shown to couple TNF receptor 1 to reactive oxygen production by the FAD-dependent NADPH oxidase.
Benjamin Yazdanpanah, Katja Wiegmann, Vladimir Tchikov, Oleg Krut, Carola Pongratz, Michael Schramm, Andre Kleinridders, Thomas Wunderlich, Hamid Kashkar, Olaf Utermöhlen, Jens C. Brüning, Stefan Schütze & Martin Krönke
doi:10.1038/nature08206
First paragraph | Full Text | PDF (863K) | Supplementary information
See also: Editor's summary
Corrigenda
Liquid water on Enceladus from observations of ammonia and 40Ar in the plume p1164
J. H. Waite Jr, W. S. Lewis, B. A. Magee, J. I. Lunine, W. B. McKinnon, C. R. Glein, O. Mousis, D. T. Young, T. Brockwell, J. Westlake, M.-J. Nguyen, B. D. Teolis, H. B. Niemann, R. L. McNutt Jr, M. Perry & W.-H. Ip
doi:10.1038/nature08352
CBP/p300-mediated acetylation of histone H3 on lysine 56 p1164
Chandrima Das, M. Scott Lucia, Kirk C. Hansen & Jessica K. Tyler
doi:10.1038/nature08360
Full Text | PDF (103K) | Supplementary information
Naturejobs
ProspectsA sequence for success p1167
The next generation of DNA sequencers could create more genomics jobs, says Paul Smaglik.
Paul Smaglik
doi:10.1038/nj7259-1167a
Postdoc journal
A strong idea p1167
Hard work can sometimes bring success.
Sam Walcott
doi:10.1038/nj7259-1167b
In Brief
UK grants in refund threat p1167
Research councils will decide how to repay government.
doi:10.1038/nj7259-1167c
College salaries put on ice p1167
Pay caps and cuts expected at most academic institutions.
doi:10.1038/nj7259-1167d
A guide for policy work p1167
Updated, expanded edition freely available online.
doi:10.1038/nj7259-1167e
Futures
The Gower Street cuckoos p1170
It's a growing problem.
Joe Dunckley
doi:10.1038/4601170a
