Richard Gold - p409

Hannah Hoag

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-409

Lawyer Richard Gold argues that superfluous patents stifle innovation. Industry should adopt new models, he says, in which knowledge is viewed as a club good.

Abstract - | Full Text - Richard Gold | PDF (492 KB) - Richard Gold

Biotech braves the winter in 1Q09 - p410

Walter Yang

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-410

Full Text - Biotech braves the winter in 1Q09 | PDF (258 KB) - Biotech braves the winter in 1Q09

Academia and the company coin - pp411 - 414

Jim Kling

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-411

As the economic downturn chokes spin-outs from academia, a spate of newly minted university-industry partnerships are springing up. Failing to address the financial conflicts in such partnerships could spell trouble for both faculty and drug companies. Jim Kling investigates.

Abstract - | Full Text - Academia and the company coin | PDF (804 KB) - Academia and the company coin

Prepare to meet your partner - pp415 - 418

Cori Gorman, Cammie Edwards & Robert Meister

doi:10.1038/bioe.2009.3

PDF (123 KB) - Prepare to meet your partner

Regulating laboratory-developed tests - p419

Hal Barron

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-419a

Full Text - Regulating laboratory-developed tests | PDF (331 KB) - Regulating laboratory-developed tests

Regulating laboratory-developed tests - pp419 - 420

Kathy Hudson & Gail Javitt

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-419b

Full Text - Regulating laboratory-developed tests | PDF (342 KB) - Regulating laboratory-developed tests

Regulating laboratory-developed tests - pp420 - 421

Alan Mertz

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-420

Full Text - Regulating laboratory-developed tests | PDF (82 KB) - Regulating laboratory-developed tests

Regulating laboratory-developed tests - p421

Drew Fromkin

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-421

Full Text - Regulating laboratory-developed tests | PDF (71 KB) - Regulating laboratory-developed tests

In need of a reality check - p422

Steven Murphy

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-422

Full Text - In need of a reality check | PDF (870 KB) - In need of a reality check

Gilead's deal of a lifetime - p423

Brady Huggett & Christopher Scott

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-423

Gilead Sciences' ascent to the upper echelon of biotech centered around one very savvy acquisition that launched an HIV franchise.

Abstract - | Full Text - Gilead's deal of a lifetime | PDF (87 KB) - Gilead's deal of a lifetime

Proceeding in a receding economy - pp424 - 425

George A Scangos

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-424

The biotech sector must not only maintain an emphasis on ground-breaking products and focus on retaining key staff but also mobilize to ensure that US health policy continues to reward its innovations.

Abstract - | Full Text - Proceeding in a receding economy | PDF (282 KB) - Proceeding in a receding economy

Be reasonable - p426

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-426

Full Text - Be reasonable | PDF (139 KB) - Be reasonable

Combine and conquer: handling biotech combination inventions in the wake of KSR - pp446 - 448

Ha Kung Wong & Dana Lau

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-446

To what extent will KSR limit combination inventions in biotech?

Abstract - | Full Text - Combine and conquer: handling biotech combination inventions in the wake of KSR | PDF (114 KB) - Combine and conquer: handling biotech combination inventions in the wake of KSR

Recent patent applications in biological imaging - p449

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-449

Full Text - Recent patent applications in biological imaging | PDF (60 KB) - Recent patent applications in biological imaging

How to map billions of short reads onto genomes - pp455 - 457

Cole Trapnell & Steven L Salzberg

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-455

Mapping the vast quantities of short sequence fragments produced by next-generation sequencing platforms is a challenge. What programs are available and how do they work?

Abstract - | Full Text - How to map billions of short reads onto genomes | PDF (274 KB) - How to map billions of short reads onto genomes

Embryonic stem cell–specific microRNAs promote induced pluripotency - pp459 - 461

Robert L Judson, Joshua E Babiarz, Monica Venere & Robert Blelloch

doi:10.1038/nbt.1535

Judson et al. show that microRNAs specific to mouse embryonic stem cells can substitute for the reprogramming factor cMyc in the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells. The development of reprogramming methods that do not rely on transgenes may facilitate clinical translation of this technology.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Embryonic stem cell–specific microRNAs promote induced pluripotency | PDF (528 KB) - Embryonic stem cell–specific microRNAs promote induced pluripotency | Supplementary information

Antibacterial discovery in actinomycetes strains with mutations in RNA polymerase or ribosomal protein S12 - pp462 - 464

Takeshi Hosaka, Mayumi Ohnishi-Kameyama, Hideyuki Muramatsu, Kana Murakami, Yasuhisa Tsurumi, Shinya Kodani, Mitsuru Yoshida, Akihiko Fujie & Kozo Ochi

doi:10.1038/nbt.1538

Hosaka et al. show that selection of bacteria for antibiotic resistance can be used to discover new antibacterials. Some of the mutant strains they generated, which bear mutations in RNA polymerase and in a ribosomal protein, produce a previously unknown class of antibacterial called piperidamycin.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Antibacterial discovery in actinomycetes strains with mutations in RNA polymerase or ribosomal protein S12 | PDF (226 KB) - Antibacterial discovery in actinomycetes strains with mutations in RNA polymerase or ribosomal protein S12 | Supplementary information

Diversity-based, model-guided construction of synthetic gene networks with predicted functions - pp465 - 471

Tom Ellis, Xiao Wang & James J Collins

doi:10.1038/nbt.1536

Ellis et al. describe a strategy for rationally assembling gene networks with predictable behaviors. Using mathematical models, they predict the responses of complex synthetic gene networks built from quantitatively characterized promoter libraries, and harness these networks to regulate an industrially relevant yeast phenotype.

Abstract - | Full Text - Diversity-based, model-guided construction of synthetic gene networks with predicted functions | PDF (418 KB) - Diversity-based, model-guided construction of synthetic gene networks with predicted functions | Supplementary information

See also: News and Views by Bennett & Hasty

Allelic imbalance sequencing reveals that single-nucleotide polymorphisms frequently alter microRNA-directed repression - pp472 - 477

Jinkuk Kim & David P Bartel

doi:10.1038/nbt.1540

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms in microRNA target sites can disrupt the effects of the microRNA. Kim and Bartel use sequencing to investigate this phenomenon on a large scale and find that such polymorphisms generate gene-regulatory diversity in mice.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Allelic imbalance sequencing reveals that single-nucleotide polymorphisms frequently alter microRNA-directed repression | PDF (256 KB) - Allelic imbalance sequencing reveals that single-nucleotide polymorphisms frequently alter microRNA-directed repression | Supplementary information

Allele-specific silencing of mutant huntingtin and ataxin-3 genes by targeting expanded CAG repeats in mRNAs - pp478 - 484

Jiaxin Hu, Masayuki Matsui, Keith T Gagnon, Jacob C Schwartz, Sylvie Gabillet, Khalil Arar, Jun Wu, Ilya Bezprozvanny & David R Corey

doi:10.1038/nbt.1539

Strategies for allele-specific knockdown of the mutant genes in triplet-repeat disorders have relied on point or deletion mutations that differ among affected individuals. Hu et al. show that antisense oligomers can selectively recognize expanded CAG repeats in mRNAs, allowing silencing of mutant but not wild-type alleles.

Abstract - | Full Text - Allele-specific silencing of mutant huntingtin and ataxin-3 genes by targeting expanded CAG repeats in mRNAs | PDF (475 KB) - Allele-specific silencing of mutant huntingtin and ataxin-3 genes by targeting expanded CAG repeats in mRNAs | Supplementary information

See also: News and Views by Aronin

Corrigendum: Highly efficient neural conversion of human ES and iPS cells by dual inhibition of SMAD signaling - p485

Stuart M Chambers, Christopher A Fasano, Eirini P Papapetrou, Mark Tomishima, Michel Sadelain & Lorenz Studer

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-485a

Full Text - Corrigendum: Highly efficient neural conversion of human ES and iPS cells by dual inhibition of SMAD signaling | PDF (75 KB) - Corrigendum: Highly efficient neural conversion of human ES and iPS cells by dual inhibition of SMAD signaling

Corrigendum: Targeted and genome-scale strategies reveal gene-body methylation signatures in human cells - p485

Madeleine P Ball, Jin Billy Li, Yuan Gao, Je-Hyuk Lee, Emily M LeProust, In-Hyun Park, Bin Xie, George Q Daley & George M Church

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-485b

Full Text - Corrigendum: Targeted and genome-scale strategies reveal gene-body methylation signatures in human cells | PDF (75 KB) - Corrigendum: Targeted and genome-scale strategies reveal gene-body methylation signatures in human cells

Erratum: Biotech patents—business as usual? - p485

Stacy Lawrence

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-485c

Full Text - Erratum: Biotech patents—business as usual? | PDF (75 KB) - Erratum: Biotech patents—business as usual?

Erratum: Proprietary science, open science and the role of patent disclosure: the case of zinc-finger proteins - p485

Subhashini Chandrasekharan, Sapna Kumar, Cory M Valley & Arti Rai

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-485d

Full Text - Erratum: Proprietary science, open science and the role of patent disclosure: the case of zinc-finger proteins | PDF (75 KB) - Erratum: Proprietary science, open science and the role of patent disclosure: the case of zinc-finger proteins

Erratum: Biotech scientists bank on big pharma's biologics push - p485

Grace Wong

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-485e

Full Text - Erratum: Biotech scientists bank on big pharma's biologics push | PDF (75 KB) - Erratum: Biotech scientists bank on big pharma's biologics push

Erratum: Identification of selective inhibitors of uncharacterized enzymes by high-throughput screening with fluorescent activity-based probes - p485

Daniel A Bachovchin, Steven J Brown, Hugh Rosen & Benjamin F Cravatt

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-485f

Full Text - Erratum: Identification of selective inhibitors of uncharacterized enzymes by high-throughput screening with fluorescent activity-based probes | PDF (75 KB) - Erratum: Identification of selective inhibitors of uncharacterized enzymes by high-throughput screening with fluorescent activity-based probes

People - p486

doi:10.1038/nbt0509-486

Full Text - People | PDF (297 KB) - People