A numerical perspective on Nature authors.

At Merck's research lab in Madrid, Spain, Ángela Basilio belongs to a group of scientists who spend their time screening samples from natural products. They are on the lookout for molecules that have biological activity and so could be used to develop new drugs. Although the research is more strictly defined than it would be in an academic setting — following the interests and priorities of the company — Basilio says that the group has freedom to explore. The financial resources make the research more secure, she adds, and the company has tremendously diverse expertise, making multidisciplinary projects easier to tackle. One such project led to the discovery of platensimycin, a new antibiotic that is described by Basilio and her colleagues on page 358.

32 researchers working in Spain have contributed to Nature papers this year (<2% of all authors).

86% of 2006 Nature papers with contributing authors from Spain are related to biological sciences.

10 papers submitted to Nature in the past year came from Merck.

250,000 extracts from natural products and synthetic compounds had to be tested by Merck in Spain before it found platensimycin.